Few large trees, rather than plant diversity and composition, drive the above-ground biomass stock and dynamics of temperate forests in northeast China

Yuan, Zuoqiang; Ali, Arshad; Sanaei, Anvar; Ruiz‐Benito, Paloma; Jucker, Tommaso; Fang, Lei; Bai, Edith; Ye, Ji; Lin, Fei; Fang, Shuai; Hao, Zhanqing; Wang, Xugao

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118698

Cited by 35 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…On the other hand, the weak negative effect of acquisitive species might be attributable to the increased species competition on nutrient-rich soils, and hence, a high turnover rate of fast-growing species in metacommunities (Quesada et al 2012, Yuan et al 2019. Furthermore, we found that both acquisitive and conservative species provided positive feedback to each other, but FunDom decreased the performance of conservative species which in turn decreased the FTD of a metacommunity, and hence, the positive effects of FunDom overruled the negative influences of CWMAT and CWMCT on AGB due to the effect of large trees (Ali et al 2019b, Bordin et al 2021, Yuan et al 2021.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Functional identity regulates aboveground biomass better than trait diversity along abiotic conditions in global forest metacommunities

Wang

Ali

2021

Ecography

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Although several studies have identified the effects of functional trait diversity (FTD) and/or identity, i.e. the community-weighted mean (CWM) of a trait, on aboveground biomass (AGB) along abiotic conditions, these effects on AGB in global forest metacommunities are still largely unexplored. Here, we modelled the effects of abiotic (i.e. climate, soil and plot physical conditions) and biotic [i.e. FTD, CWM of conservative traits (CWMCT), CWM of acquisitive traits (CWMAT) and functional dominance (FunDom; based on CWM of plant maximum height or diameter)] factors on AGB in 76 forest metacommunities (from 24 studies). Using multiple linear regression models and piecewise structural equation modeling (pSEM), we tested the hypothesis that both abiotic and biotic factors regulate AGB but that the mass ratio mechanism underpins AGB of metacommunities in global forests better than the niche complementarity mechanism. We found that abiotic and biotic factors contributed 45.39% and 54.07%, respectively, to the explained variance in AGB (R 2 = 0.59), and as such, abiotic factors shaped FTD (R 2 = 0.42-0.48), CWMCT (R 2 = 0.33-0.36), CWMAT (R 2 = 0.27-0.33) and FunDom (R 2 = 0.59-0.61) through divergent effect sizes and directions. The final best-fitted pSEM showed that FunDom increased (β = 0.49) but CWMCT (β = −0.35) and CWMAT (β = −0.11) decreased AGB (R 2 = 0.52) as compared to the negligible effect of FTD (β = 0.04). This study supports the mass ratio effect, specifically the overruling role of tall-stature or dominant trees on AGB, at a macroecological scale, and hence, suggests that a suitable species' functional strategy is important to promote carbon sequestration in forest metacommunities that underpins human well-being. We expect that our study will advance the field of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning at a macroecological scale by using the metacommunity concept and approach.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Functional identity regulates aboveground biomass better than trait diversity along abiotic conditions in global forest metacommunities

Wang

Ali

2021

Ecography

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“…Stand Structural has been shown that it could significantly influence the AGB in some studies [ 48 , 49 , 62 ]. Xiang et al reported that stem density significantly affected the biomass of a subtropical mountain moist forest [ 63 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spatial attribute has important effects on plant growth, community structure, and ecosystem processes [ 61 , 72 ]. Related studies have shown that increasing elevation leads to a decrease in humidity and temperature and an increase in precipitation or snowfall, which in turn have an impact on the AGB change [ 62 , 73 ]; the greater the topographic relief, the lower the AGB; and the AGB decreases significantly with increasing elevation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and Spatial Variation of Aboveground Biomass of Pinus densata and Its Drivers in Shangri-La, CHINA

Zhang

Bao

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Understanding the drivers of forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is essential to further understanding the forest carbon cycle. In the upper Yangtze River region, where ecosystems are incredibly fragile, the driving factors that make AGB changes differ from other regions. This study aims to investigate AGB’s spatial and temporal variation of Pinus densata in Shangri-La and decompose the direct and indirect effects of spatial attribute, climate, stand structure, and agricultural activity on AGB in Shangri-La to evaluate the degree of influence of each factor on AGB change. The continuous sample plots from National Forest Inventory (NFI) and Landsat time series were used to estimate the AGB in 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017. The structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the different effects of the four factors on AGB based on five scales: entire, 1987–2002, 2007–2017, low population density, and high population density. The results are as follows: (1) The AGB of Pinus densata in Shangri-La decreased from 1987 to 2017, with the total amount falling from 9.52 million tons to 7.41 million tons, and the average AGB falling from 55.49 t/ha to 40.10 t/ha. (2) At different scales, stand structure and climate were the drivers that directly affect the AGB change. In contrast, the agricultural activity had a negative direct effect on the AGB change, and spatial attribute had a relatively small indirect effect on the AGB change. (3) Analyzing the SEM results at different scales, the change of the contribution of the agricultural activity indicates that human activity is the main negative driver of AGB change in Shangri-La, especially at the high population density region. In contrast, the change of the contribution of the stand structure and climate indicates that the loss of old trees has an important influence on the AGB change. Forest resources here and other ecologically fragile areas should be gradually restored by adhering to policies, such as strengthening forest protection, improving forest stand quality, and limiting agricultural production activities.

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“…Such trees also serve as specific sites for the development of epiphytic plants, lichens [27][28][29], and fungi [30]. Besides being biodiversity hotspots, large trees play an important role in carbon storage [31][32][33]. They are an important element of the carbon cycle in forests worldwide, especially taking into account that the rate of carbon accumulation increases with the size of the tree [34,35] (but see [36]) and that it stays captured in their trunks for centuries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are an important element of the carbon cycle in forests worldwide, especially taking into account that the rate of carbon accumulation increases with the size of the tree [34,35] (but see [36]) and that it stays captured in their trunks for centuries. The effect of large trees on forest ecosystems' aboveground biomass is so large that the effect of species diversity and characteristics of the remaining trees may become negligible [33,37]. Therefore, it is essential to understand the role of large trees if we aim to understand the complete picture of the mechanisms shaping forest communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species Identity of Large Trees Affects the Composition and the Spatial Structure of Adjacent Trees

Cholewińska

Keczyński

Kusińska

et al. 2021

Forests

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Large trees are keystone structures for the functioning and maintenance of the biological diversity of wooded landscapes. Thus, we need a better understanding of large-tree–other-tree interactions and their effects on the diversity and spatial structure of the surrounding trees. We studied these interactions in the core of the Białowieża Primeval Forest—Europe’s best-preserved temperate forest ecosystem, characterized by high abundance of ancient trees. We measured diameter and bark thickness of the monumental trees of Acer platanoides L., Carpinus betulus L., Picea abies (L.) H. Karst, Quercus robur L., and Tilia cordata Mill., as well as the diameter and distance to the monumental tree of five nearest neighbor trees. The effects of the monumental tree on arrangements of the surrounding trees were studied with the help of linear models. We revealed that the species identity of a large tree had, in the case of C. betulus and T. cordata, a significant impact on the diversity of adjacent tree groupings, their distance to the central tree, and frequency of the neighboring trees. The distance between the neighbor and the large trees increased with the increasing diameter of the central tree. Our findings reinforce the call for the protection of large old trees, regardless of their species and where they grow from the geographical or ecosystem point of view.

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Few large trees, rather than plant diversity and composition, drive the above-ground biomass stock and dynamics of temperate forests in northeast China

Cited by 35 publications

References 64 publications

Functional identity regulates aboveground biomass better than trait diversity along abiotic conditions in global forest metacommunities

Functional identity regulates aboveground biomass better than trait diversity along abiotic conditions in global forest metacommunities

Temporal and Spatial Variation of Aboveground Biomass of Pinus densata and Its Drivers in Shangri-La, CHINA

Species Identity of Large Trees Affects the Composition and the Spatial Structure of Adjacent Trees

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