Understanding and forecasting fluctuating populations is a central aim in population ecology. Further, how temporal variability of a single species scales to the community level is an interesting applied and theoretical question, as shifting environmental conditions may change population and community stability. In this talk, we will use existing data resources from sources like BioTime and NEON to explore temporal variability in population dynamics, the potential drivers of this variability, and the scaling of temporal variability from species to communities. We will compare the results from the empirical data sources to null models of species population dynamics, providing a link between a clear theoretical expectation and what we observe in natural systems. We find that average species temporal variability to scale positively with community variability, with empirical communities varying much more relative to model simulations. The range of temporal variability observed depended on the environment (e.g., latitude and freshwater/terrestrial/marine), a finding which we do not see for some taxa (NEON carabid beetles do not show a signal of environmental drivers of species temporal variability). Together, we will identify the important next steps and the nuance of examining temporal variability in population and community dynamics in the face of changing environments and across spatial gradients.