Forests are critical habitats for biodiversity and they are also essential for the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services that are important to human well-being. There is increasing evidence that biodiversity contributes to forest ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. Here we provide a review of forest ecosystem services including biomass production, habitat provisioning services, pollination, seed dispersal, resistance to wind storms, fire regulation and mitigation, pest regulation of native and invading insects, carbon sequestration, and cultural ecosystem services, in relation to forest type, structure and diversity. We also consider relationships between forest biodiversity and multifunctionality, and trade-offs among ecosystem services. We compare the concepts of ecosystem processes, functions and services to clarify their definitions. Our review of published studies indicates a lack of empirical studies that establish quantitative and causal relationships between forest biodiversity and many important ecosystem services. The literature is highly skewed; studies on provisioning of nutrition and energy, and on cultural services, delivered by mixed-species forests are under-represented. Planted forests offer ample opportunity for optimising their composition and diversity because replanting after harvesting is a recurring process. Planting mixed-species forests should be given more consideration as they are likely to provide a wider range of ecosystem services within the forest and for adjacent land uses. This review also serves as the introduction to this special issue of Biodiversity and Conservation on various aspects of forest biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The amount of carbon stored in deadwood is equivalent to about 8% of global forest carbon stocks 1 . Deadwood decomposition is largely governed by climate [2][3][4][5] with decomposer groups, such as microbes and insects, contributing to variations in decomposition rates 2,6,7 . At the global scale, the contribution of insects to deadwood decomposition and carbon release remains poorly understood 7 . Here we present a field experiment of wood decomposition across 55 forest sites on six continents. We find that deadwood decomposition rates increase with temperature, with the strongest temperature effect at high precipitation levels. Precipitation affects decomposition rates negatively at low temperature and positively at high temperatures. As net effect, including direct consumption and indirect effects via interactions with microbes, insects accelerate decomposition in tropical forests (3.9% median mass loss per year).In temperate and boreal forests we find weak positive and negative effects with a median mass loss of 0.9% and -0.1% per year, respectively. Furthermore, we apply the experimentally derived decomposition function to a global map of deadwood carbon synthesised from empirical and remote sensing data. This allows for a first estimate of 10.9 ± 3.2 Pg yr -1 of carbon released from deadwood globally, with 93% originating from tropical forests. Globally, the net effect of insects accounts for a carbon flux of 3.2 ± 0.9 Pg yr -1 or 29% of the total carbon released from deadwood, which highlights the functional importance of insects for deadwood decomposition and the global carbon cycle.
Given the expansion of plantation forests in Ireland over recent years, there is a need to assess their impact on biodiversity and to identify how sustainable forest management strategies can incorporate biodiversity. We aimed to assess the impact of plantation forests on spider communities and identify structural indicators of their diversity. Pitfall traps were used to sample spiders in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior) plantations at different stages of the forest cycle and cover of vegetation, dead wood and soil organic content were measured within each site. Ordinations revealed that spider assemblages were separated by both forest development and canopy species across the forest cycle. The pre-thicket ash and spruce assemblages were similar, whereas canopy species had a greater effect in the more structurally developed stands. The mature ash plots formed a distinct group from the other stands. Overall species richness was highest in the spruce and ash pre-thicket stands, and in the mature spruce stands with a more open canopy.Mature ash stands had the lowest species richness. Lower field layer vegetation was positively correlated with total spider species richness and open habitat specialist species richness whereas canopy closure had a negative effect on these species variables. Forest spider species were positively correlated with litter cover, depth and twig cover. To enhance the diversity of open and forest spider species within a stand, the growth of lower field layer vegetation should be encouraged at all stages of the forest cycle, whilst retaining features typical of a mature forest. Within a plantation, a mosaic of different aged stands will sustain both open and forest specialists to enhance diversity. The distinct assemblages found in the mature plantations indicate that on a landscape scale, the establishment of both ash and spruce plantations will enhance overall diversity.
Plantation forests are an important part of the forest estate in many countries. In Ireland, they cover around 9% of the land area and many that are commercially mature are now being felled 15 and reforested. The potential biodiversity value of such second rotation forests has yet to be determined, yet this may be particularly significant in Ireland where cover of semi-natural woodland is only 1%. Invertebrates are a vital component of forest biodiversity, functioning as decomposers and pollinators, to herbivores, predators and prey. Spiders and Carabid beetles are often used in biodiversity assessment as they are easily captured using pitfall traps, are 20 taxonomically well known and respond to changes in habitat structure. This study aimed to examine spider and Carabid beetle diversity in second rotation Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) plantations at different stages of the forest cycle (5 yrs, 8-12 yrs, 20-30yrs, 35-50yrs), and compare the spiders captured in second rotation forests with those from first rotation. Spider and beetle diversity was influenced by stand structural development in second rotation plantations 25 with numbers of forest-associated species increasing over the forest cycle. Overall, spider richness declined over the forest cycle and this was related to decreasing cover of field layer vegetation and fewer open-associated species. In contrast, total beetle richness increased and became more specialised over the forest cycle which may be related to slower colonisation of Such measures may provide refuge for forest species after clearfell. In countries where forest fragments exist in a landscape dominated by agriculture, consideration should be given to the 5 capacity of mature forest adjacent to felled stands to support forest species, and to the configuration of over-mature areas retained after felling.
Highlights Spider, staphylinid richness was similar in non-native spruce and native ash stands In contrast, carabid diversity was greater in ash than spruce or mixed stands Assemblages differed among forest types but beta diversity was greater in ash Equitably mixed stands support some species associated with native ash and spruce Native ash enhances plantation diversity and heterogeneity
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