Data for: Environmental filtering drives biodiversity‒spatial stability relationships in a large temperate forest region

The assumption that greater biodiversity enhances ecosystem stability, commonly known as \"portfolio effect\", has attracted considerable research attention. However, the potential portfolio effects on spatial stability (the similarity of ecosystem functioning among forest communities) are still poorly examined especially at different spatial scales and under varying environmental stress conditions. Accordingly, this study investigates the biodiversity-spatial stability relationship among regional communities across different spatial scales and environmental conditions in a temperate forest region.
We define spatial stability as the invariability of the productivity of woody plants among plots within a regional community. To test spatial stability, the N closest plots to a given plot were aggregated to form regional communities representing different spatial scales. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate how biodiversity (including taxonomic (TD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD..., The study region covers a large, natural forest area in northeastern China (39°N–54°N latitude, 119°E–134°E longitude) where coniferous and broadleaved mixed forests occur. The region belongs to a temperate continental climate, characterized by long and cold winters and warm summers. The annual average temperature ranged from -5.6°C to 9.8°C across the regional area. The annual average precipitation ranged from 363.8 mm to 1,073.7 mm, with more rainfall concentrated from June to September. The total study area covered approximately 700,000 km2, where the 456 circular field plots with relatively even cover, each measuring 0.1 ha, were used in this study. The elevational range of the study region extends from 79 to 1255 m.
The N plots closest to the focal plot were aggregated to form regional clusters of varying extents. These clusters represented local communities of different sizes, which in turn represented different regional communities in different geographical locations. Each spatia...,