The stability of aboveground productivity in a semiarid steppe in China is influenced by the plant community structure

The temporal stability of aboveground net primary productivity is generally regulated by plant community structure and species diversity. There are recurring debates on the mechanisms by which environmental changes impact productivity stability in semiarid steppes. Here we revealed that plant community structure, rather than species diversity, regulates productivity stability in a semiarid Steppe. We conducted a decade-long in situ warming and precipitation addition experiment in a semiarid steppe in Inner Mongolia, China, to monitor plant productivity, species asynchrony, species diversity, and stability. We found that Leymus chinensis productivity increased and the Shannon–Wiener decreased under warming conditions, while Stipa krylovii productivity decreased under precipitation addition. Warming reduced the stability of Stipa krylovii and the plant community stability, whereas it did not affect the stability of L. chinensis. These results deepen our understanding of the regulatory role played by community structure and species diversity regarding productivity stability in semiarid steppes. Dominant plant species and species asynchrony, rather than diversity, significantly impact ecosystem stability, leading to increased primary productivity and decreased diversity, according to a 10-year field experiment of the effects of warming and precipitation increase on ecosystem stability in a semi-arid steppe in Inner Mongolia, China.