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
diversity and evaluated its relationship with ecosystem productivity and
stability. Our results indicate that plant elemental diversity decreased
with latitude, with interannual variability in temperature and mean annual
precipitation as the primary controls on its spatial distribution.
Moreover, ecosystems with higher plant elemental diversity exhibit greater
efficiency in the use of carbon, water, and light, thereby translating
into higher productivity and greater temporal stability across and within
forests and grasslands, and these effects persisted even after accounting
for climate and soil factors. Taken together, our results support the
influence of plant elemental diversity as a distinct dimension of
biodiversity with functional implications. Complementing trait- and
taxonomy-based measures, plant elemental diversity improves predictions of
ecosystem productivity and temporal stability under ongoing climatic
variability, and can substantially advance research on biodiversity and
ecosystem functioning.