Succession stages‐dependent shifts in grassland community stability from asynchrony to population stability mediated by nitrogen enrichment

Understanding the stability dynamics of naturally occurring grassland succession under nutrient enrichment is crucial for effective ecosystem management. We carried out an 11‐year field experiment to examine how grassland community stability responds to nitrogen (N) enrichment across the three successional stages (early‐, mid‐ and late‐successional stages). Our results showed that stability did not increase linearly over time; instead, natural successional grasslands became less stable in later stages due to a loss of species diversity. However, N enrichment helped slow this decline by strengthening population stability. We also found that in the early successional stage, species asynchrony driven by compensatory effects supports community stability, while in the mid‐ and late‐successional stages, it is maintained by the conservative growth strategies of dominant species. These results highlight the importance of stage‐specific nitrogen management, where reducing inputs during early stages maintains diversity‐driven asynchrony, and moderate applications in later stages promote population stability.