journal article·2026-05Open access

Coupled Above‐ and Belowground Ecosystem Stability Worldwide

Zexin Meng, Huiwen Li, Yiping Wu, Peter B. Reich, Nico Eisenhauer, Diego Abalos, Daniel Revillini, Shuguang Liu, Wende Yan, Ji Chen, Alexey Voinov, Zhifeng Yang, Ying‐Ping Wang, Fubo Zhao, Linjing Qiu, Jingfeng Xiao, Shantao An, Guopeng Liang, Manuel Delgado‐Baquerizo

Advanced Science· Volume 13· Issue 28

Abstract

ABSTRACT Upholding stable terrestrial ecosystems is integral to supporting climate regulation and planetary security. Yet, while aboveground ecosystem stability is widely described, global‐scale patterns in belowground ecosystem stability and how it connects to aboveground stability remain virtually unknown. Here, we assembled a global dataset including high‐resolution information on annual estimates of soil respiration from 4,544 communities and associated aboveground ecosystem productivity over the past four decades (1985–2018). We found that ecosystems with greater stability in aboveground productivity had greater long‐term stability in soil respiration, with a positive and significant connection between above‐ and belowground stability being especially strong in arid environments. Stable temperatures played a crucial role in reinforcing the stability and coupling of above‐ and belowground ecosystems. Our work provides new evidence of, and insights into, the local to global connections of stability of above‐ and belowground biological activity, and identifies a fundamental role of temperature stability in maintaining this stability under a changing climate.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Ecosystem dynamics and resilience · Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology · Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Institute of Global Environmental Change; Department of Earth & Environmental Science School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an China

School of Soil and Water Conservation Central South University of Forestry and Technology Changsha China

Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Intelligent Monitoring and Protection, School of Life Science and Technology Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an China

Institute For Global Change Biology, and School for the Environment and Sustainability University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA

Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota USA

Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment Western Sydney University Penrith New South Wales Australia

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Institute of Biology Leipzig University Leipzig Germany

Department of Agroecology Aarhus University Tjele Denmark

Laboratorio De Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS) Sevilla Spain

School of Ecology Hainan University Haikou China

Department of Civil Engineering The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China

Faculty of Engineering Technology University of Twente Enschede Netherlands

State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability School of Environment Beijing Normal University Beijing China

CSIRO Environment Clayton South Victoria Australia

Earth Systems Research Center Institute For the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire USA

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Yale University New Haven Connecticut USA

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · China Scholarship Council · Shaanxi Province Postdoctoral Science Foundation · Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación · California Department of Fish and Game · Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province

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