Ecosystem stability in Inner Mongolia

Shiping Wang, Haishan Niu, Xiaoyong Cui, Shu Jiang, Yonghong Li, Xiangming Xiao, Jinzhi Wang, Guojie Wang, Dehua Huang, Qiuhui Qi and Zonggui Yang
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Shiping Wang: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Haishan Niu: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaoyong Cui: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shu Jiang: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yonghong Li: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiangming Xiao: Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire
Jinzhi Wang: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Guojie Wang: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dehua Huang: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qiuhui Qi: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zonggui Yang: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature, 2005, vol. 435, issue 7045, E5-E6

Abstract: Abstract Arising from: Bai, Y., Han, X., Wu, J., Chen, Z. & Li, L. Nature, 431, 181–184 (2004) ; see also communication from Guo ; Bai, Y., Han, X., Wu, J., Chen, Z. & Li, L. reply . Bai et al.1 suggest that in China's Inner Mongolia steppe, community-level stability arises from compensatory effects among the principal components at both the species and plant functional group (PFG) levels. By analysing a consistent 19-year data set (1980–98), we show here that their analysis of a 24-year field data set (1980–2003) is called into question by inconsistencies in sampling location and numbers after 1998; the authors' findings are further undermined because they do not distinguish temporal variation from spatial heterogeneity in analysing compensatory effects among species or PFGs. We believe that rigorous reanalysis is needed for a better understanding of grassland stability.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03862

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