Changed ecosystem stability in response to climate anomalies in the context of ecological restoration projects

Abstract Dryland ecosystems are fragile and under the context of climate change, the increased frequency of short‐term climate variability will put them under additional stress, so the ability of dryland ecosystems to stabilize against exposure to climate anomalies is becoming increasingly critical. To mitigate the degradation of dryland ecosystems in China, the Chinese Government has launched ambitious ecological restoration projects (ERPs) in drylands, and understanding the effects and mechanisms of these projects on dryland stability is particularly important for the future integration of stability enhancement into ecosystem management goals. However, few researchers have focused on such effects. Here, the agro‐pastoral ecotone in northern China, which is located in the northern drylands of China and contains several national ERPs, was used to analyze the above problem. Specifically, the stability of ecosystems in response to climate anomalies was evaluated from the perspectives of resilience and resistance, and we analyzed the impacts of ERPs and parallel policies on ecosystem stability combined with a social‐ecological systemic perspective. Our results showed that the ecosystem stability has improved in the last 20 years, and although environmental factors dominated the spatial heterogeneity and temporal variations in the stability, afforestation and socioeconomic processes associated with ERPs and parallel policies also showed significant effects. Therefore, guiding and establishing a solid and low‐ecological impact rural livelihoods is an important guarantee to achieving stability improvement through relevant policies. Our study decoupled the complex outcomes of ERPs from the perspective of ecosystem stability and contributes to the understanding of dryland stability from a social‐ecological perspective. Furthermore, new insights and theoretical foundations are provided for incorporating stability enhancement into future goals of dryland ecosystem management.