Data from: Plants and soil biota co-regulate stability of ecosystem multifunctionality under multiple environmental changes

The increase in phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) inputs, as well as soil
acidification resulting from multiple environmental changes, has profound
effects on the attributes of plant and soil biota communities, and on
ecosystem functions. However, a comprehensive understanding of how these
community attributes impact ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) and its
stability under multiple environmental changes remains unclear. By
integrating datasets over four consecutive years from an experiment with
enrichments of soil acidification and N and P in a semiarid grassland on
the Mongolian Plateau, we explored the effects of environmental changes on
community attributes (species richness, asynchrony, and compositional
temporal stability) of plants and soil biota (bacteria, fungi, and
nematodes) and their associations with EMF stability. The attributes of
plants and soil biota showed opposite responses to nutrient enrichment
under soil acidification and non-acidification conditions. Soil
acidification had a more significant effect on the community attributes of
plants and soil biota, as well as on the components of EMF stability, than
nutrient enrichment. Soil acidification decreased both the mean and
stability of EMF, while N enrichment increased the mean of EMF. P did not
have a significant effect on the components of EMF stability, but N and P
showed positive interactive effects on the mean and stability of EMF. We
also found that plant and soil biota richness had a positive effect on
EMF, while plant asynchrony and soil biota compositional stability
determined EMF stability. The community attributes of plants and soil
biota co-regulate the components of EMF stability under multiple
environmental changes. These findings highlight the urgent need to protect
the biodiversity of plants and soil biota to maintain EMF and its
stability, especially for ecosystems undergoing multiple environmental
changes.