No Cover Image

Journal article 348 views 69 downloads

Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship

Jordi Sola Codina, Tom Fairchild Orcid Logo, Matthew J. Perkins Orcid Logo, James Bull Orcid Logo, John Griffin Orcid Logo

Ecology Letters, Volume: 28, Issue: 8

Swansea University Authors: Jordi Sola Codina, Tom Fairchild Orcid Logo, James Bull Orcid Logo, John Griffin Orcid Logo

  • 69742.VoR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

    Download (3.41MB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1111/ele.70158

Abstract

Spatial environmental heterogeneity is widely assumed to enhance ecological stability by promoting refugia, biodiversity and asynchrony. Yet, we lack field experiments testing this fundamental relationship and its underlying mechanisms in naturally assembled multitrophic systems. To address this gap...

Full description

Published in: Ecology Letters
ISSN: 1461-023X 1461-0248
Published: Wiley 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69742
first_indexed 2025-06-16T10:50:31Z
last_indexed 2025-09-30T08:54:14Z
id cronfa69742
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2025-09-29T14:29:06.6168967</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>69742</id><entry>2025-06-16</entry><title>Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity&#x2014;Stability Relationship</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>4fff6e0a3f35c758f680f267f14edca0</sid><firstname>Jordi</firstname><surname>Sola Codina</surname><name>Jordi Sola Codina</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>029ccd52181e00b3711e9234a8d200b7</sid><ORCID>0000-0001-7133-8824</ORCID><firstname>Tom</firstname><surname>Fairchild</surname><name>Tom Fairchild</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>20742518482c020c80b81b88e5313356</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-4373-6830</ORCID><firstname>James</firstname><surname>Bull</surname><name>James Bull</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>9814fbffa76dd9c9a207166354cd0b2f</sid><ORCID>0000-0003-3295-6480</ORCID><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Griffin</surname><name>John Griffin</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2025-06-16</date><deptcode>BGPS</deptcode><abstract>Spatial environmental heterogeneity is widely assumed to enhance ecological stability by promoting refugia, biodiversity and asynchrony. Yet, we lack field experiments testing this fundamental relationship and its underlying mechanisms in naturally assembled multitrophic systems. To address this gap, we monitored experimental substrates replicating topographic heterogeneity on a rocky shore over 3&#x2009;years. Contrary to theory, heterogeneity showed no net effect on community stability due to four counteracting pathways. Heterogeneity increased stability by (i) providing refugia that enhanced population stability and (ii) boosting species richness, which promoted asynchrony. At the same time, it decreased stability by (iii) reducing a dominant non-native species and (iv) suppressing consumers, both of which otherwise stabilised community composition. These opposing processes cancelled out the heterogeneity&#x2013;stability relationship, highlighting the complex and multi-causal nature of this relationship. We caution against the assumption that increasing heterogeneity universally enhances stability, particularly in systems with strong consumer interactions and dominant species.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Ecology Letters</journal><volume>28</volume><journalNumber>8</journalNumber><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher>Wiley</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>1461-023X</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1461-0248</issnElectronic><keywords>habitat complexity; habitat structure; marine rocky shore; stress gradient; substrate topography</keywords><publishedDay>1</publishedDay><publishedMonth>8</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2025</publishedYear><publishedDate>2025-08-01</publishedDate><doi>10.1111/ele.70158</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Biosciences Geography and Physics School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>BGPS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders>Natural Environment Research Council (Grant Number: NE/W006650/1); Swansea University</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-09-29T14:29:06.6168967</lastEdited><Created>2025-06-16T11:45:27.6643908</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Jordi</firstname><surname>Sola Codina</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Tom</firstname><surname>Fairchild</surname><orcid>0000-0001-7133-8824</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Matthew J.</firstname><surname>Perkins</surname><orcid>0000-0002-1076-0527</orcid><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>James</firstname><surname>Bull</surname><orcid>0000-0002-4373-6830</orcid><order>4</order></author><author><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Griffin</surname><orcid>0000-0003-3295-6480</orcid><order>5</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>69742__35193__cfac7aa26a7446b5a26139b0f3781af5.pdf</filename><originalFilename>69742.VoR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2025-09-29T14:27:22.7277156</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>3579107</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>&#xA9; 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-09-29T14:29:06.6168967 v2 69742 2025-06-16 Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship 4fff6e0a3f35c758f680f267f14edca0 Jordi Sola Codina Jordi Sola Codina true false 029ccd52181e00b3711e9234a8d200b7 0000-0001-7133-8824 Tom Fairchild Tom Fairchild true false 20742518482c020c80b81b88e5313356 0000-0002-4373-6830 James Bull James Bull true false 9814fbffa76dd9c9a207166354cd0b2f 0000-0003-3295-6480 John Griffin John Griffin true false 2025-06-16 BGPS Spatial environmental heterogeneity is widely assumed to enhance ecological stability by promoting refugia, biodiversity and asynchrony. Yet, we lack field experiments testing this fundamental relationship and its underlying mechanisms in naturally assembled multitrophic systems. To address this gap, we monitored experimental substrates replicating topographic heterogeneity on a rocky shore over 3 years. Contrary to theory, heterogeneity showed no net effect on community stability due to four counteracting pathways. Heterogeneity increased stability by (i) providing refugia that enhanced population stability and (ii) boosting species richness, which promoted asynchrony. At the same time, it decreased stability by (iii) reducing a dominant non-native species and (iv) suppressing consumers, both of which otherwise stabilised community composition. These opposing processes cancelled out the heterogeneity–stability relationship, highlighting the complex and multi-causal nature of this relationship. We caution against the assumption that increasing heterogeneity universally enhances stability, particularly in systems with strong consumer interactions and dominant species. Journal Article Ecology Letters 28 8 Wiley 1461-023X 1461-0248 habitat complexity; habitat structure; marine rocky shore; stress gradient; substrate topography 1 8 2025 2025-08-01 10.1111/ele.70158 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Natural Environment Research Council (Grant Number: NE/W006650/1); Swansea University 2025-09-29T14:29:06.6168967 2025-06-16T11:45:27.6643908 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Jordi Sola Codina 1 Tom Fairchild 0000-0001-7133-8824 2 Matthew J. Perkins 0000-0002-1076-0527 3 James Bull 0000-0002-4373-6830 4 John Griffin 0000-0003-3295-6480 5 69742__35193__cfac7aa26a7446b5a26139b0f3781af5.pdf 69742.VoR.pdf 2025-09-29T14:27:22.7277156 Output 3579107 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship
spellingShingle Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship
Jordi Sola Codina
Tom Fairchild
James Bull
John Griffin
title_short Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship
title_full Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship
title_fullStr Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship
title_full_unstemmed Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship
title_sort Counteracting Cascades Challenge the Heterogeneity—Stability Relationship
author_id_str_mv 4fff6e0a3f35c758f680f267f14edca0
029ccd52181e00b3711e9234a8d200b7
20742518482c020c80b81b88e5313356
9814fbffa76dd9c9a207166354cd0b2f
author_id_fullname_str_mv 4fff6e0a3f35c758f680f267f14edca0_***_Jordi Sola Codina
029ccd52181e00b3711e9234a8d200b7_***_Tom Fairchild
20742518482c020c80b81b88e5313356_***_James Bull
9814fbffa76dd9c9a207166354cd0b2f_***_John Griffin
author Jordi Sola Codina
Tom Fairchild
James Bull
John Griffin
author2 Jordi Sola Codina
Tom Fairchild
Matthew J. Perkins
James Bull
John Griffin
format Journal article
container_title Ecology Letters
container_volume 28
container_issue 8
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1461-023X
1461-0248
doi_str_mv 10.1111/ele.70158
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Spatial environmental heterogeneity is widely assumed to enhance ecological stability by promoting refugia, biodiversity and asynchrony. Yet, we lack field experiments testing this fundamental relationship and its underlying mechanisms in naturally assembled multitrophic systems. To address this gap, we monitored experimental substrates replicating topographic heterogeneity on a rocky shore over 3 years. Contrary to theory, heterogeneity showed no net effect on community stability due to four counteracting pathways. Heterogeneity increased stability by (i) providing refugia that enhanced population stability and (ii) boosting species richness, which promoted asynchrony. At the same time, it decreased stability by (iii) reducing a dominant non-native species and (iv) suppressing consumers, both of which otherwise stabilised community composition. These opposing processes cancelled out the heterogeneity–stability relationship, highlighting the complex and multi-causal nature of this relationship. We caution against the assumption that increasing heterogeneity universally enhances stability, particularly in systems with strong consumer interactions and dominant species.
published_date 2025-08-01T05:24:43Z
_version_ 1851641229309116416
score 11.089988

Similar Items