Climate warming and nutrient enrichment destabilize plankton network stability over the past century

Global warming and anthropogenic activities have profoundly altered biodiversity and the stability of aquatic ecosystems. However, the underlying driving mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the temporal patterns of biodiversity and community stability over the past century by constructing 29 temporal planktonic network models. These models were based on the sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) extracted from downcore sediments of Lake Chagan, a seasonally frozen lake in Northeastern China, using high-throughput sequencing techniques. Our findings identified the mid-1990s as a critical tipping point, marked by substantial shifts in nutrient levels and annual average temperatures. We demonstrated that the temporal network stability of plankton communities was predominantly compromised by climate warming, followed by nutrient enrichment. This study highlights the intricate interplay between biotic and abiotic factors that determine the stability of aquatic ecological networks, which has important implications for the management and conservation of freshwater ecosystems facing ongoing climate warming. Aquatic ecological network stability of the plankton community declined substantially in the mid-1990s in response to climate warming and nutrient enrichment, according to a sedimentary DNA analysis in Lake Chagan, China coupled with planktonic network models.