Data from: Species contributions to ecosystem stability change with disturbance type

Simultaneous exposure to multiple stressors complicates the challenge of
predicting ecological responses to global environmental change. Here, we
show that the contributions of individual species and functional groups to
the overall stability of ecosystems can be modified by the presence of
different stressors, both individually and in combination. By disturbing
natural rocky shore communities with nutrients and sediments and
simulating extinction of predatory whelks and grazers, we also found that
consumers can simultaneously stabilise and destabilise communities along
different stability dimensions, irrespective of their trophic position.
Our results suggest that our experimental disturbances influenced consumer
contributions to stability indirectly by modifying the interactions
between consumers and macroalgae in different ways. These findings merit
further exploration in different systems exposed to a range of different
stressors to better understand how perturbations of different kinds can
modify the multifaceted contributions of species to the overall stability
of ecosystems.