Fig. 5 Changes in intra-annual biomass stability of (a) community, (b) PR, (c) PB, (d)PF, (e) SS, (f) AB, (g) dominant species and (h) intra-annual species asynchrony from 1981–2011.
Asterisks indicates significant changes in biomass stability (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01).
Abbreviations: perennial rhizome grass (PR), perennial bunchgrasses (PB), perennial forbs (PF), shrubs and semi-shrubs (SS), and annuals and biennials (AB).
Linear regressions showed that intra-annual community biomass stability was positively correlated with biomass stability of functional group PR (R2 = 0.29, P = 0.004), dominant species stability (R2 = 0.28, P = 0.004), and species asynchrony (R2 = 0.48, P < 0.001; Fig. 6a, h and i), while it was negatively correlated with intra-annual biomass stability of functional group PF (R2 = -0.19, P = 0.024; Fig. 6c). In addition, no significant relationships between community intra-annual biomass stability and intra-annual biomass stability of functional groups PB, SS and AB, species richness and community biomass were found (Fig. 6b, d-g).