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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Scale-dependent relationships between tree species richness and ecosystem function in forests
Journal of Ecology, Volume 101, No. 5, Year 2013
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Description
Summary: The relationship between species richness and ecosystem function, as measured by productivity or biomass, is of long-standing theoretical and practical interest in ecology. This is especially true for forests, which represent a majority of global biomass, productivity and biodiversity. Here, we conduct an analysis of relationships between tree species richness, biomass and productivity in 25 forest plots of area 8-50 ha from across the world. The data were collected using standardized protocols, obviating the need to correct for methodological differences that plague many studies on this topic. We found that at very small spatial grains (0.04 ha) species richness was generally positively related to productivity and biomass within plots, with a doubling of species richness corresponding to an average 48% increase in productivity and 53% increase in biomass. At larger spatial grains (0.25 ha, 1 ha), results were mixed, with negative relationships becoming more common. The results were qualitatively similar but much weaker when we controlled for stem density: at the 0.04 ha spatial grain, a doubling of species richness corresponded to a 5% increase in productivity and 7% increase in biomass. Productivity and biomass were themselves almost always positively related at all spatial grains. Synthesis. This is the first cross-site study of the effect of tree species richness on forest biomass and productivity that systematically varies spatial grain within a controlled methodology. The scale-dependent results are consistent with theoretical models in which sampling effects and niche complementarity dominate at small scales, while environmental gradients drive patterns at large scales. Our study shows that the relationship of tree species richness with biomass and productivity changes qualitatively when moving from scales typical of forest surveys (0.04 ha) to slightly larger scales (0.25 and 1 ha). This needs to be recognized in forest conservation policy and management. Our analysis of 25 forests across the world shows that the relationship of tree species richness to biomass (AGB) and productivity (CWP) changes qualitatively from positive at small spatial grains typical of forest surveys (0.04 ha) to mixed at slightly larger spatial grains (0.25 and 1 ha). This needs to be recognised in forest conservation policy and management. © 2013 British Ecological Society.
Authors & Co-Authors
Chisholm, Ryan A.
Unknown Affiliation
Muller-Landau, Helene C.
Unknown Affiliation
Abdul Rahman, Kassim
Unknown Affiliation
Bebber, Daniel P.
Unknown Affiliation
Bin, Yue
Unknown Affiliation
Bohlman, Stephanie Ann
Unknown Affiliation
Bourg, Norman A.
Unknown Affiliation
Brinks, Joshua
Unknown Affiliation
Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh
Unknown Affiliation
Butt, Nathalie
Unknown Affiliation
Cao, Honglin
Unknown Affiliation
Cao, Min
Unknown Affiliation
Cárdenas-López, Dairón
Unknown Affiliation
Chang, Liwan
Unknown Affiliation
Chiang, Jyh Min
Unknown Affiliation
Chuyong, George Bindeh
Unknown Affiliation
Condit, Richard S.
Unknown Affiliation
Dattaraja, Handanakere Shivaramaiah
Unknown Affiliation
Davies, Stuart James
Unknown Affiliation
Duque, Alvaro
Unknown Affiliation
Fletcher, Christine Dawn
Unknown Affiliation
Gunatilleke, Nimal I.A.U.
Unknown Affiliation
Gunatilleke, Savitri C.V.
Unknown Affiliation
Hao, Zhanqing
Unknown Affiliation
Harrison, Rhett D.
Unknown Affiliation
Howe, Robert W.
Unknown Affiliation
Hsieh, Chang Fu
Unknown Affiliation
Hubbell, Stephen P.
Unknown Affiliation
Itoh, Akira
Unknown Affiliation
Kenfack, David
Unknown Affiliation
Kiratiprayoon, Somboon
Unknown Affiliation
Larson, Andrew J.
Unknown Affiliation
Lian, Juyu
Unknown Affiliation
Lin, Dunmei
Unknown Affiliation
Liu, Haifeng
Unknown Affiliation
Lutz, James A.
Unknown Affiliation
Ma, Keping
Unknown Affiliation
Malhi, Yadvinder Singh
Unknown Affiliation
McMahon, Sean M.
Unknown Affiliation
McShea, William Joseph
Unknown Affiliation
Meegaskumbura, Madhava
Unknown Affiliation
Mohd. Razman, Salim
Unknown Affiliation
Morecroft, Michael
Unknown Affiliation
Nytch, C. J.
Unknown Affiliation
Oliveira, Alexandre A.
Unknown Affiliation
Parker, Geoffrey G.
Unknown Affiliation
Pulla, Sandeep
Unknown Affiliation
Punchi-Manage, Ruwan
Unknown Affiliation
Romero-Saltos, Hugo
Unknown Affiliation
Sang, Weiguo
Unknown Affiliation
Schurman, J.
Unknown Affiliation
Su, Sheng Hsin
Unknown Affiliation
Sukumar, Raman
Unknown Affiliation
Sun, I. Fang
Unknown Affiliation
Suresh, Hebbalalu Satyanarayana
Unknown Affiliation
Tan, Sylvester Kheng San
Unknown Affiliation
Thomas, Duncan W.
Unknown Affiliation
Thomas, Sean C.
Unknown Affiliation
Thompson, Jill K.
Unknown Affiliation
Valencia, Renato L.
Unknown Affiliation
Wolf, Amy T.
Unknown Affiliation
Yap, Sandra L.
Unknown Affiliation
Ye, Wanhui
Unknown Affiliation
Yuan, Zuoqiang
Unknown Affiliation
Zimmerman, Jess K.
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 278
Authors: 65
Affiliations: 42
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/1365-2745.12132
ISSN:
00220477
e-ISSN:
13652745
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study