Temporal complexity of terrestrial ecosystem functioning and its drivers
Fernández-Martínez, Marcos (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Janssens, Ivan (Universiteit Antwerpen. Departement Biologie)
Obersteiner, Michael (University of Oxford)
Manning, Peter (University of Bergen. Department of Biological Sciences)
Andrade de Matos, Filipe (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Rodríguez-Penedo, Eladio (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	The development of non-linear dynamics theory showed that simple processes can lead to high complexity in the functioning of nature, with ecological studies showing that non-linear dynamics are common across populations of different taxa. However, whether the energy and matter fluxes of entire ecosystems follow non-linear dynamics, and how complex these dynamics are, is still unknown. We investigate the drivers of- and trends in the temporal complexity of ecosystem functioning by calculating the correlation dimension of gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration, and net ecosystem production. We use long-term, eddy-covariance C fluxes from 57 terrestrial ecosystems, including boreal, temperate, and Mediterranean biomes. Generally, ecosystems located under more temporally complex weather also show more complex C fluxes. Causal analyses indicate that larger C fluxes generally cause higher temporal complexity, and larger and temporally complex C fluxes reduce interannual variability, suggesting higher resistance to perturbations. We report a positive trend in GPP complexity over time, which correlates with increasing GPP. This result may indicate that ecosystems are increasingly responsive to endogenous or exogenous stimuli, but the biology underlying these trends is not yet understood. We show that the short-term temporal complexity of ecosystem functioning can elucidate ecosystem properties otherwise missed by longer timescales.
Grants:	European Commission 101076740 "la Caixa" Foundation 100010434 Agencia Estatal de Investigación RYC2021-031511-I Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-01333 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2023/SGR-00118
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Nature communications, Vol. 16 (August 2025) , art. 7725, ISSN 2041-1723

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63246-z
PMID: 40830108

12 p, 2.2 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles