Species richness and wood production: a positive association in Mediterranean forests

Abstract

A major debate in the study of biodiversity concerns its influence on ecosystem functioning. We compared whether wood production in forests was associated with tree functional group identity (i.e. deciduous, conifer or sclerophylous), tree species richness (1-> or = 5) and tree functional group richness (1-3) by comparing more than 5000 permanent plots distributed across Catalonia (NE Spain). Deciduous forests were more productive than coniferous and sclerophylous forests. Wood production increased with tree species richness. However, functional group richness increased wood production only in sclerophylous forests. When other forest structure, environmental variables and management practices were included in the analysis, tree functional group identity and species richness still remained significant, while functional species richness did not. Our survey indicates that across a regional scale, and across a broad range of environmental conditions, a significant positive association exists between local tree species richness and wood production at least in typical early successional Mediterranean-type forests.

Incorporating plant functional diversity effects in ecosystem service assessments

“…Links of local CWM of such plant traits with biogeochemistry-derived ES have been documented in several cases (21)(22)(23)(24)(25). After accounting for such effects, the distribution (e.g., FDvg) of plant trait values may play only a secondary role.…”

“…As a result, the effects of nitrogen addition (e.g., by atmospheric deposition or through management) often depend on CWM of those leaf traits (37). Productivity is also the complex outcome of climate, management (e.g., fertilization), trait values of dominant species, and sometimes various effects of species richness or trait distribution (21,23,25). Most studies, however, especially the majority of those considering effects of species richness on productivity, have not conducted a systematic analysis of the different FD components.…”

Forest Carbon Sequestration: The Impact of Forest Management

“…Vilà et al, 2007;Paquette and Messier 2011). As a result, mixedspecies forests are likely to have higher carbon storage capacity.…”

Scenario analysis of planting density and pre-commercial thinning: will the mixed forest have a chance?

“…When managing Norway spruce-birch mixtures, the challenge is to identify and apply appropriate treatments at appropriate times, i.e., when the species complement each other rather than compete with each other. Mixtures have often been evaluated in terms of either species-specific or total yields (Tham 1994;Valkonen and Valsta 2001;Frivold and Frank 2002;Johansson 2003;Fahlvik et al 2005;Vila et al 2007;Piotto 2008;Gamfeldt et al 2013), or from a unilateral perspective, using birch to facilitate Norway spruce cultivation (Bergqvist 1999;Langvall and Löfvenius 2002), as when one species is used as a nurse tree for other species (Ambrozy 2010).…”