Quantifying dynamical response diversity and its influences on ecosystem stability

Quantifying dynamical response diversity and its influences on ecosystem stability | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Quantifying dynamical response diversity and its influences on ecosystem stability Chih-hao Hsieh, Ruo-Yu Pan, Chun-Wei Chang, Orlane Anneville, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6568850/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Response diversity—the variation in species’ responses to environmental changes and to other species—has been recognized as a critical feature in maintaining the resilience and stability of ecosystem-level properties, such as total biomass. However, quantifying response diversity remains challenging. A key issue is the context-dependence nature of species responses: a species’ reaction to a specific environmental factor can vary depending on environmental conditions or interactions with other species. Consequently, these responses are dynamic rather than static. We propose a novel framework to quantify response diversity, incorporating time-varying species' responses to biotic and abiotic factors and accommodating high-dimensional, nonlinear interactions in complex systems without assuming equilibrium. Using a 40-year monthly dataset from Lake Geneva, we show that response diversity of the phytoplankton and zooplankton community stabilizes their respective biomass within but not across trophic levels. Importantly, the stabilizing effect of response diversity varies over time, being context-dependent on time-varying environmental conditions. Our method opens new avenues for uncovering the mechanisms linking biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics. Biological sciences/Ecology/Biodiversity Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem ecology Biological sciences/Ecology/Theoretical ecology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SIResponseDiversity20250428.pdf Supplementary Materials rs.pdf Reporting Summary Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6568850","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":473295513,"identity":"6bf9a00c-6fdf-4cdf-9a3e-290c6807557a","order_by":0,"name":"Chih-hao 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