Temporal stability in estuarine systems: Implications for ecosystem services provision

Stability is thought to rely on the richness (identity) and abundance of the species present in an ecosystem, where higher biodiversity promotes higher stability. Several attempts have been done to test this connection; however, there is still a lack of comprehension regarding the relation between biodiversity and stability. The stability concept is a collective term, defined via three fundamental properties: constancy, resilience and persistence. This manuscript uses theoretical and experimental evidence to explore the effects of biodiversity on estuarine stability, using the temporal stability (TS) measure as a proxy. In 1999 Tilman proposed the use of TS to test the diversity–stability hypothesis in a decade-long grassland experiment. Can TS be useful in estuarine systems? Our approach attempted to analyse estuarine stability from complementary perspectives by allowing the measurement of stability change (i) depending on species number and abundance; (ii) according to the different habitats of the same system; and (iii) disturbances influence. The question that imposed next was if this system property could be related with estuarine services provision. From this study, the main outcomes were that different TS values were found for the same abundance (N) values and the same was observed for species richness (S); TS maximum values were achieved at an intermediate diversity range; and TS increased with species abundance. In general, our results suggest that temporal stability might be useful to address sustainable management of estuarine systems.

► Empirical and theoretical evidence suggest that diversity increases systems’ stability.
► We examined the relations between estuarine temporal stability (TS) and N and S diversity proxies.
► Results showed that higher TS values were achieved at intermediate levels of species richness (S).
► TS increased with species abundance (N).
► We conclude that TS might be useful to address sustainable management of estuarine systems.