Scale‐dependent relationships between tree species richness and ecosystem function in forests

作者：Ryan A. Chisholm, Helene C. Muller‐Landau, Kassim Abdul Rahman, Daniel P. Bebber, Yue Bin, Stephanie Bohlman, Norman A. Bourg, Joshua S. Brinks, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Nathalie Butt, Honglin Cao, Min Cao, Dairón Cárdenas, Li‐Wan Chang, Jyh‐Min Chiang, George Bindeh Chuyong, RICHARD C. CONDIT, Handanakere Shivaramaiah Dattaraja, Stuart James Davies, Álvaro Javier Duque, Christine Dawn Fletcher, I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke, Savitri Gunatilleke, Zhanqing Hao, Rhett D. Harrison, Robert W. Howe, Chang‐Fu Hsieh, Stephen P. Hubbell, Akira Itoh, David Kenfack, Somboon Kiratiprayoon, Andrew J. Larson, Juyu Lian, Dunmei Lin, Haifeng Liu, James A. Lutz, Keping Ma, Yadvinder Singh Malhi, Sean M. McMahon, William Joseph McShea, Madhava Meegaskumbura, Salim Mohd Razman, Michael D. Morecroft, Christopher J. Nytch, Alexandre Adalardo de Oliveira, Geoffrey G. Parker, Sandeep Pulla, Ruwan Punchi‐Manage, Hugo G. Romero‐Saltos, Weiguo Sang, Jon Schurman, Sheng‐Hsin Su, Raman Sukumar, I‐Fang Sun, H. S. Suresh, Sylvester Tan, Duncan W. Thomas, Sean C. Thomas, Jill F. Thompson, Renato Valencia, Amy Wolf, SANDRA L. YAP, Wanhui Ye, Zuoqiang Yuan, Jess K. Zimmerman · 发表于：Journal of Ecology · 年份：2013 · DOI：10.1111/1365-2745.12132 · 被引用次数：369 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Forest Management and Policy、Forest ecology and management

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 metho...