New Phytologist has published the last paper of Francesco’s PhD Xiaobin titled “Reconciling links between diversity and population stability across global plant communities”. Xiaobin analyzed data from more than 8,000 permanent vegetation plots across five continents to investigate why previous research has reported contrasting diversity–stability relationships. The study found that the effect of plant diversity on population stability strongly depends on how both diversity and stability are measured. When using metrics that emphasize dominant species and long-term species turnover, higher diversity was associated with lower population stability, particularly for dominant species. The results suggest that increasing species richness does not always enhance stability, and that methodological choices can fundamentally shape our understanding of biodiversity–stability dynamics in natural ecosystems worldwide.