<b>Ecosystem stability, complexity and function in real food webs</b>

Marine ecosystems are vulnerable to environmental perturbations and regime shifts are often detected due to the loss of stability. Yet, the driving factors for the marine ecosystem stability in a global scale are still unknown. Here, using EwE food web models of 171 marine ecosystem data across the globe ocean, we quantified different dimensions of stability (resistance, resilience, and variability) and investigated the key drivers of marine ecosystem stability with machine learning method. Difference for stability metrics in habitats and their correlations revealed the multidimensionality of marine ecosystem stability. Random forest regression models showed that species richness and fishing stand out as the two most important factors for marine ecosystem stability. Specifically, we found that species richness underpins marine ecosystem configurations by strengthening resistance, resilience, and temporal stability (i.e. weakening variability), while fish exploitation weakens resistance and temporal stability. This study helps improve the understanding of what enhances stability in marine food webs from a causal perspective and, thus, helpful for restoration and management of marine ecosystems under future anthropogenic pressures.