Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species

Gamfeldt, Lars; Snäll, Tord; Bagchi, Robert; Jonsson, Micael; Gustafsson, Lena; Kjellander, Petter; Ruiz-Jaén, María C.; Fröberg, Mats; Stendahl, Johan; Philipson, Christopher D.; Mikusiński, Grzegorz; Andersson, Erik; Westerlund, Bertil; Andrén, Henrik; Moberg, Fredrik; Moen, Jon; Bengtsson, Jan

doi:10.1038/ncomms2328

Cited by 1,179 publications

(942 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…In some settings, such as forest management or grassland restoration, such experiments closely mimic realistic scenarios (4,6,23,31). Managers have the option of planting few or many species, and it is clear that greater productivity and stability can be expected from more diverse mixtures of species, with the gain in productivity on par with gains expected from other management actions such as fertilization (4).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time

Vellend

Baeten

Myers‐Smith

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

503

582

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Global biodiversity is in decline. This is of concern for aesthetic and ethical reasons, but possibly also for practical reasons, as suggested by experimental studies, mostly with plants, showing that biodiversity reductions in small study plots can lead to compromised ecosystem function. However, inferring that ecosystem functions will decline due to biodiversity loss in the real world rests on the untested assumption that such loss is actually occurring at these small scales in nature. Using a global database of 168 published studies and >16,000 nonexperimental, local-scale vegetation plots, we show that mean temporal change in species diversity over periods of 5-261 y is not different from zero, with increases at least as likely as declines over time. Sites influenced primarily by plant species' invasions showed a tendency for declines in species richness, whereas sites undergoing postdisturbance succession showed increases in richness over time. Other distinctions among studies had little influence on temporal richness trends. Although maximizing diversity is likely important for maintaining ecosystem function in intensely managed systems such as restored grasslands or tree plantations, the clear lack of any general tendency for plant biodiversity to decline at small scales in nature directly contradicts the key assumption linking experimental results to ecosystem function as a motivation for biodiversity conservation in nature. How often real world changes in the diversity and composition of plant communities at the local scale cause ecosystem function to deteriorate, or actually to improve, remains unknown and is in critical need of further study.spatial scale | permanent plots | ecosystem services A huge number of experiments has investigated the effects of species diversity (typically the number of species) on ecosystem function in small study plots (≤400 m 2 ), with a general consensus emerging that processes such as primary productivity and nutrient uptake increase as a function of the number of species in a community (1-6). These experiments thus appear to provide a powerful motivation for biodiversity conservation, given that ecosystem functions underpin many ecosystem services from which people benefit, such as forage production and carbon sequestration (1). However, the link between diversityfunction experiments and the widespread argument that ecosystem function should motivate biodiversity conservation (7-11) hinges on the untested assumption that global biodiversity declines apply to the small scale (2). Experimental studies typically focus on small spatial scales not only for practical reasons, but also because organisms, plants in particular, typically interact over short distances (12), and so it is at the small scale that biodiversity is most likely to have an important impact on the functioning of ecosystems (13-15).Habitat loss, invasive species, and overexploitation, among other factors, have accelerated global species' extinction well beyond the background rate (16-18), and it is temptin...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time

Vellend

Baeten

Myers‐Smith

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

503

582

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“…The scale-dependent nature of ESs makes the integral trade-off evaluation very difficult and complex (Bennett et al 2009). Mass allocation and competition, as other examples, are usually related to the manner of resource utilization and partitioning (e.g., light, water, and nutrient) within the same or among different populations (Gamfeldt et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-off analyses of multiple ecosystem services by plantations along a precipitation gradient across Loess Plateau landscapes

et al. 2014

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Trade-off is defined as a situation where one ecosystem service (ES) increases while another decreases. In a broader sense, trade-off also refers to unidirectional changes with uneven paces or rates in ESs. Although trade-off analysis for multiple ESs is more integral for ecosystem assessment and management, studies regarding trade-offs are rare in the literature, especially at the landscape scale or across large environmental gradients. Here, we evaluated the co-variations of multiple ESs of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) plantations along a precipitation gradient (400-650 mm) on the Loess Plateau using a quantitative trade-off approach. The multiple ESs had complex relationships, with significant regional variations along the gradient. Aboveground carbon, soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (STN), and soil water content (SWC) showed increasing trends with precipitation, but understory plant diversity (UPD) did not. The highest trade-offs were between UPD and SWC and the lowest trade-offs were between SOC and STN among all of the ES pairs. The differences in the trade-offs of varied ES combinations could be the result of unique competition relationships, mass allocation strategies, and time lags. Stand age appeared to be another critical variable in determining the values of ESs and their trade-offs along the precipitation gradient. The decreasing SWC with stand age indicated that the gaining of the other ESs was at the cost of SWC consumption. Because multiple ESs and their trade-offs exhibit high spatial variations across the landscape, spatially explicit management is needed to maintain the benefits while mitigating negative impacts in this water-limited landscape.

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“…This applies for monocultures which dominated forestry in the past, but even more so for mixed-species stands which are currently receiving a lot of interest (Puettmann et al, 2012) since they can have a higher structural heterogeneity (Varga et al, 2005;Río et al, 2016) and positive effects on various ecosystems services (Gamfeldt et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixing of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) enhances structural heterogeneity, and the effect increases with water availability

Pretzsch

Rı́o

Schütze

et al. 2016

Forest Ecology and Management

130

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a b s t r a c tThe mixing of tree species with complementary ecological traits may modify forest functioning regarding productivity, stability, or resilience against disturbances. This may be achieved by a higher heterogeneity in stand structure which is often addressed but rarely quantified. Here, we use 32 triplets of mature and fully stocked monocultures and mixed stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) located along a productivity and water availability gradient through Europe to examine how mixing modifies the stand structure in terms of stand density, horizontal tree distribution pattern, vertical stand structure, size distribution pattern, and variation in tree morphology. We further analyze how site conditions modify these aspects of stand structure. For this typical mixture of a light demanding and shade tolerant species we show that (i) mixing significantly increases many aspects of structural heterogeneity compared with monocultures, (ii) mixing effects such as an increase of stand density and diversification of vertical structure and tree morphology are caused by species identity (additive effects) but also by species interactions (multiplicative effects), and (iii) superior heterogeneity of mixed stands over monocultures can increase from dry to moist sites. We discuss the implications for analyzing the productivity, for modelling and for the management of mixed species stands.

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Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species

Cited by 1,179 publications

References 52 publications

Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time

Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time

Trade-off analyses of multiple ecosystem services by plantations along a precipitation gradient across Loess Plateau landscapes

Mixing of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) enhances structural heterogeneity, and the effect increases with water availability

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