Good things take time—Diversity effects on tree growth shift from negative to positive during stand development in boreal forests

Jucker, Tommaso; Koricheva, Julia; Finér, Leena; Bouriaud, Olivier; Iacopetti, Giovanni; Coomes, David A.

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13464

Cited by 38 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This reduces competition for light and allows these communities to grow faster overall, compared to their respective monocultures (Jucker et al, 2015; Sapijanskas et al, 2014). Therefore, the increase in competition associated with the canopy closure and stem exclusion phases seems to be a key factor in allowing conditions for mixtures to overyield through niche partitioning or facilitation (Jucker et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few studies have analysed the temporal dynamics of diversity effects on productivity during stand development (e.g. Huang et al, 2018; Jucker et al, 2020; Taylor et al, 2020). Furthermore, much less is known about how underlying mechanisms (Complementarity and Selection) drive this relationship through succession (Huang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…forest development (Grossman et al, 2018;Huang et al, 2018;Jucker et al, 2020;Taylor et al, 2020). In particular, diversity effects are thought to be especially important during the early phases of forest development (i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

No complementarity no gain—Net diversity effects on tree productivity occur once complementarity emerges during early stand development

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although there is compelling evidence that tree diversity has an overall positive effect on forest productivity, there are important divergences among studies on the nature and strength of these diversity effects and their timing during forest stand development. To clarify conflicting results related to stand developmental stage, we explored how diversity effects on productivity change through time in a diversity experiment spanning 11 years. We show that the strength of diversity effects on productivity progressively increases through time, becoming significantly positive after 9 years. Moreover, we demonstrate that the strengthening of diversity effects is driven primarily by gradual increases in complementarity. We also show that mixing species with contrasting resource‐acquisition strategies, and the dominance of deciduous, fast‐developing species, promote positive diversity effects on productivity. Our results suggest that the canopy closure and subsequent stem exclusion phase are key for promoting niche complementarity in diverse tree communities.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

No complementarity no gain—Net diversity effects on tree productivity occur once complementarity emerges during early stand development

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It has been shown that the effects of species diversity on tree growth vary during forest succession (Taylor et al., 2020) with biodiversity effects on productivity strengthening from young to middle‐aged forests (Huang et al., 2018; Jucker et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2012). Time is needed for plant species assemblages in diverse communities to realize the potential niche differentiation in order to optimize the use of limiting resources (Reich et al., 2012; Zuppinger‐Dingley et al., 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Above‐ and below‐ground complementarity rather than selection drive tree diversity–productivity relationships in European forests

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biodiversity experiments have identified both complementarity and selection as important drivers of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, their relative importance in above‐ and below‐ground ecosystem compartments of mature forests remains yet to be explored. We adopted a trait‐based approach to partition biodiversity effects in above‐ and below‐ground complementarity and selection. This approach was based on canopy and root traits measured in single‐ and mixed‐species plots in mature forests across a European latitudinal gradient. We assessed the relative importance of above‐ and below‐ground selection and complementarity in driving the relationship between tree species diversity and above‐ground wood production. We used the expected values (based on the values measured in monocultures) of leaf area index (LAI) and fine root biomass as proxies for above‐ and below‐ground selection, whereas canopy packing and rooting depth variability were used as proxies for above‐ and below‐ground complementarity. Our results showed that tree species richness–wood production relationships were driven by above‐ and below‐ground complementarity (i.e. canopy packing and rooting depth variability), rather than selection. The proxies for selection were found to have a positive effect on wood production but were not affected by tree species richness. We concluded that above‐ground‐ but also the largely neglected below‐ground complementarity drives biodiversity–productivity relationships in mature forests. Our findings suggest that choosing tree species with complementary above‐ and below‐ground traits should be considered in afforestation and forest management to promote tree diversity and productivity in European forests.

show abstract

“…Our expectation that the diverse native communities should be more resistant against invaders was based on the idea that due to niche complementarity diverse communities should better fill in the available niche space, and thus use more of the available resources (Loreau & Hector, 2001). Possibly, as niche complementarity has been reported to increase over time (Fargione et al, 2007;Jucker et al, 2020), resistance of the native communities against the alien invaders might have increased with diversity if our experiment would have lasted longer.…”

Section: Competition Per Se Rather Than Diversity Plays a More Import...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil heterogeneity tends to promote the growth of naturalized aliens when competing with native plant communities

Wei

Kleunen

2022

Journal of Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Elton's diversity‐invasibility hypothesis predicts that diverse communities are more resistant against alien invaders. However, observational studies frequently find positive relationships between the numbers of alien and native species. It has been suggested, but rarely tested, that environmental heterogeneity may cause such positive relationships. Here, we experimentally tested the effects of soil heterogeneity and diversity (species richness) on the invasibility of native communities. We first filled mesocosm pots with either a heterogeneous soil, consisting of one patch of sand, one patch of peat and one patch of an equal mixture of both substrates, or a homogeneous soil, consisting of the mixture only. Then, we planted those pots with 29 native communities consisting of one, four or eight species, and invaded them with populations of four individuals of one of five alien species. In the heterogeneous soils, individual alien plants benefited more strongly from the resource‐rich peat soil than the native communities did. Moreover, in the mixture soil of the heterogeneous treatment, individual alien plant over‐proportionally produced more biomass than in the mixture soil of the homogeneous treatment. Consequently, the populations of naturalized alien plants in each pot benefited from heterogeneous soil conditions, and this tended to be particularly the case when a native community was present. The native communities did not respond to soil heterogeneity, but they had a negative effect on the naturalized plants, irrespective of their diversity. Synthesis. Our results indicate that soil heterogeneity might alleviate the competitive effects of native communities on the alien invaders, as the latter took more advantage of the high resource patches than the natives did. The beneficial effect of heterogeneity on invasion success could thus explain why observational studies usually find positive relationships between the numbers of alien and native species.

show abstract

Good things take time—Diversity effects on tree growth shift from negative to positive during stand development in boreal forests

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 38 publications

References 56 publications

No complementarity no gain—Net diversity effects on tree productivity occur once complementarity emerges during early stand development

No complementarity no gain—Net diversity effects on tree productivity occur once complementarity emerges during early stand development

Above‐ and below‐ground complementarity rather than selection drive tree diversity–productivity relationships in European forests

Soil heterogeneity tends to promote the growth of naturalized aliens when competing with native plant communities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About