Plant elemental diversity increases ecosystem productivity and temporal stability

The elemental composition of organisms (i.e., the elementome) directly constrains metabolic machinery and aligns with functional traits, linking organismal performance to nutrient cycling and energy flow at the ecosystem level. In theory, elemental diversity captures the community functional heterogeneity by quantifying variation in the multidimensional elementomes of co-occurring species within a community. However, empirical evidence connecting organismal elemental diversity to ecosystem functioning and identifying its environmental controls remains scarce. We compiled an unprecedented dataset on plant elemental concentrations, encompassing more than 2,500 species and 14 analyzed elements (including macronutrients, micronutrients, and trace elements) sampled from leaves, stems, trunks, and fine roots across eight biomes and 72 sites, covering multiple ecosystem types including forests and grasslands. Using these data, we investigated the spatial patterns and drivers of plant elemental..., , # Plant elemental diversity increases ecosystem productivity and temporal stability

From the Ecological Monographs manuscript.

**Title:** *Plant elemental diversity increases ecosystem productivity and temporal stability*\
**Running title:** Elemental diversity and ecosystem functioning\
**Authors:** Pu Yan; Nianpeng He; Kailiang Yu; Lawren Sack; Lin Jiang; Marcos Fernández-Martínez

## **Overview**

This Dryad package provides the analysis-ready datasets and R code used to reproduce all statistical analyses and Figures 2–6 (excluding Figure 1, which is a conceptual schematic) in the manuscript “Plant elemental diversity increases ecosystem productivity and temporal stability.”

The study is motivated by the idea that the elemental composition of organisms (i.e., the elementome) directly constrains metabolic machinery and aligns with functional traits, linking organismal performance to nutrient cycling and energy flow at the ecosystem level. Plant elemental diversity quantifies varia...,