Drivers of plant community (in)stability along a sea-inland gradient

Global change pressures are highlighting the need to better understand the mechanisms driving the temporal stability of natural communities under different environmental conditions. There is ample evidence that species richness helps communities to withstand environmental fluctuations and stabilise over time. However, it is still debated whether richness promotes stability through the diversity of species functional traits, phylogenetic lineages, and ecological strategies in the community or because of the likelihood of including stable species. Further, it is unclear whether the positive effect of diversity on stability is maintained in conditions of strong environmental fluctuations (e.g. frequent disturbances and stress). 

To address these questions, we analysed long-term monitoring data of 84 permanent plots in coastal dune plant communities distributed along a gradient of natural stress and disturbance, with communities closer to the sea subject to greater stress and more frequ..., ,