scholarly journals Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6410) ◽  
pp. 80-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Huang ◽  
Yuxin Chen ◽  
Nadia Castro-Izaguirre ◽  
Martin Baruffol ◽  
Matteo Brezzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Species Loss ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Functional And Phylogenetic Diversity

Biodiversity experiments have shown that species loss reduces ecosystem functioning in grassland. To test whether this result can be extrapolated to forests, the main contributors to terrestrial primary productivity, requires large-scale experiments. We manipulated tree species richness by planting more than 150,000 trees in plots with 1 to 16 species. Simulating multiple extinction scenarios, we found that richness strongly increased stand-level productivity. After 8 years, 16-species mixtures had accumulated over twice the amount of carbon found in average monocultures and similar amounts as those of two commercial monocultures. Species richness effects were strongly associated with functional and phylogenetic diversity. A shrub addition treatment reduced tree productivity, but this reduction was smaller at high shrub species richness. Our results encourage multispecies afforestation strategies to restore biodiversity and mitigate climate change.

Comment on “Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment”

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 363 (6423) ◽  
pp. eaav9117
Author(s):  
Hua Yang ◽  
Zhongling Guo ◽  
Xiuli Chu ◽  
Rongzhou Man ◽  
Jiaxin Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Forest Productivity ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Species Loss ◽  
Subtropical China

Huang et al. (Reports, 5 October 2018, p. 80) report significant increases in forest productivity from monocultures to multispecies mixtures in subtropical China. However, their estimated productivity decrease due to a 10% tree species loss seems high. We propose that including species richness distribution of the study forests would provide more meaningful estimates of forest-scale responses.

scholarly journals More individuals but fewer species: testing the ‘more individuals hypothesis’ in a diverse tropical fauna

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrence P. McGlynn ◽  
Michael D. Weiser ◽  
Robert R. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Resource Abundance ◽  
Monotonic Increase ◽  
Ant Diversity ◽  
Unimodal Relationship

A positive relationship between species richness and productivity is often observed in nature, but the causes remain contentious. One mechanism, the ‘more individuals hypothesis’ (MIH), predicts richness increases monotonically with density, as a function of resource flux. To test the MIH, we manipulated resource abundance in a community of tropical rainforest litter ants and measured richness and density responses. A unimodal relationship between richness and density most closely fitted the control and disturbance (resource removal) treatments in contrast to expectations of the MIH. Resource addition resulted in a monotonic increase in richness relative to density, a shift from the pattern in the control. In the disturbance treatment, richness was greater than in the control, opposite to expectations of the MIH. While large-scale correlations between ant diversity and net primary productivity or temperature are reconcilable with the MIH, key elements of the hypothesis are not supported.

scholarly journals Response to Comment on “Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment”

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 363 (6423) ◽  
pp. eaav9863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Bruelheide ◽  
Yuxin Chen ◽  
Yuanyuan Huang ◽  
Keping Ma ◽  
Pascal A. Niklaus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Tree Species Richness ◽  
Species Pools

Yang et al. have raised criticism that the results reported by us would not be relevant for natural forests. We argue that productivity is positively related to species richness also in subtropical natural forests, and that both the species pools and the range of tree species richness used in our experiment are representative of many natural forests of this biome.

scholarly journals Water availability, bedrock, disturbance by herbivores, and climate determine plant diversity in South-African savanna

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Hejda ◽  
Jan Čuda ◽  
Klára Pyšková ◽  
Guin Zambatis ◽  
Llewellyn C. Foxcroft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
South African ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
African Savanna ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Large Herbivores

AbstractTo identify factors that drive plant species richness in South-African savanna and explore their relative importance, we sampled plant communities across habitats differing in water availability, disturbance, and bedrock, using the Kruger National Park as a model system. We made plant inventories in 60 plots of 50 × 50 m, located in three distinct habitats: (i) at perennial rivers, (ii) at seasonal rivers with water available only during the rainy season, and (iii) on crests, at least ~ 5 km away from any water source. We predicted that large herbivores would utilise seasonal rivers’ habitats less intensely than those along perennial rivers where water is available throughout the year, including dry periods. Plots on granite harboured more herbaceous and shrub species than plots on basalt. The dry crests were poorer in herb species than both seasonal and perennial rivers. Seasonal rivers harboured the highest numbers of shrub species, in accordance with the prediction of the highest species richness at relatively low levels of disturbance and low stress from the lack of water. The crests, exposed to relatively low pressure from grazing but stressed by the lack of water, are important from the conservation perspective because they harbour typical, sometimes rare savanna species, and so are seasonal rivers whose shrub richness is stimulated and maintained by the combination of moderate disturbance imposed by herbivores and position in the middle of the water availability gradient. To capture the complexity of determinants of species richness in KNP, we complemented the analysis of the above local factors by exploring large-scale factors related to climate, vegetation productivity, the character of dominant vegetation, and landscape features. The strongest factor was temperature; areas with the highest temperatures reveal lower species richness. Our results also suggest that Colophospermum mopane, a dominant woody species in the north of KNP is not the ultimate cause of the lower plant diversity in this part of the park.

Assessment of the network of protected areas for birds in Taiwan with regard to functional and phylogenetic diversity

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hungyen Chen ◽  
Satoshi Nagai ◽  
Hirohisa Kishino
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Phylogenetic Constraint ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Functional And Phylogenetic Diversity

In Taiwan, conserved areas represent more than 20% of the current jurisdiction, which is about twice that of the proportion of protected land worldwide. In this study, we explored the spatial distribution of bird assemblages in Taiwan. By analysing functional and phylogenetic diversity relative to elevational gradient, we assessed the network of bird protected areas. Hotspots of species richness were located at the coastal areas of northern and western Taiwan, although hotspots for protected bird species were located in the mountain areas. We found that phylogenetically close birds have similar trait values, and the protected species were evenly distributed in the functional and phylogenetic trees. The assemblages in higher-elevation areas were more phylogenetically clumped than those in lower-elevation areas, indicating that, in addition to elevational gradient, phylogenetic constraint may be a crucial factor that influences bird distribution in Taiwan. However, the current bird protected areas in Taiwan may overly depend on species richness and overlook the importance of the overall phylogenetic diversity.

scholarly journals The up-scaling of ecosystem functions in a heterogeneous world

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Lohrer ◽  
Simon F. Thrush ◽  
Judi E. Hewitt ◽  
Casper Kraan
Keyword(s):  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Marine Habitats

Abstract Earth is in the midst of a biodiversity crisis that is impacting the functioning of ecosystems and the delivery of valued goods and services. However, the implications of large scale species losses are often inferred from small scale ecosystem functioning experiments with little knowledge of how the dominant drivers of functioning shift across scales. Here, by integrating observational and manipulative experimental field data, we reveal scale-dependent influences on primary productivity in shallow marine habitats, thus demonstrating the scalability of complex ecological relationships contributing to coastal marine ecosystem functioning. Positive effects of key consumers (burrowing urchins, Echinocardium cordatum) on seafloor net primary productivity (NPP) elucidated by short-term, single-site experiments persisted across multiple sites and years. Additional experimentation illustrated how these effects amplified over time, resulting in greater primary producer biomass (sediment chlorophyll a content) in the longer term, depending on climatic context and habitat factors affecting the strengths of mutually reinforcing feedbacks. The remarkable coherence of results from small and large scales is evidence of real-world ecosystem function scalability and ecological self-organisation. This discovery provides greater insights into the range of responses to broad-scale anthropogenic stressors in naturally heterogeneous environmental settings.

scholarly journals Plant community diversity will decline more than increase under climatic warming

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1794) ◽  
pp. 20190106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Climatic Warming ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Local Species Richness ◽  
Local Species ◽  
Functional And Phylogenetic Diversity

Regions and localities may lose many species to extinction under rapid climate change and may gain other species that colonize from nearby warmer environments. Here, it is argued that warming-induced species losses will generally exceed gains and there will be more net declines than net increases in plant community richness. Declines in richness are especially likely in water-limited climates where intensifying aridity will increasingly exceed plant tolerances, but also in colder temperature-limited climates where steep climatic gradients are lacking, and therefore, large pools of appropriate species are not immediately adjacent. The selectivity of warming-induced losses may lead to declines in functional and phylogenetic diversity as well as in species richness, especially in water-limited climates. Our current understanding of climate-caused diversity trends may be overly influenced by numerous studies coming from north-temperate alpine mountaintops, where conditions are unusually favourable for increases—possibly temporary—in local species richness. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions’.

scholarly journals Patch size and vegetation structure drive changes to mixed-species flock diversity and composition across a gradient of fragment sizes in the Western Andes of Colombia

The Condor ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison H Jones ◽  
Scott K Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Edge Effects ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Patch Size ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Functional And Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Diversity Metrics

Abstract Forest fragmentation is a leading driver of biodiversity loss, yet its effects on positive species interactions remain poorly known. We examined the effects of fragmentation on mixed-species bird flocks in the Western Andes of Colombia. Using 500-m transect surveys (n = 14 transects), we sampled flocks in 8 fragments (range: 10–173 ha) and an unfragmented reference site within the same altitudinal band (1,900–2,200 m.a.s.l.) and matrix type (cattle pasture). We evaluated the relative contributions of 9 predictor variables, including patch size, distance from edge, and selective aspects of vegetation structure on the composition, size, species richness, functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity of flocks. We found effects of both patch size and vegetation structure on flock species richness, size, and functional diversity, but no support for edge effects. Generally, flock richness and size responded differently to fragmentation than did functional and phylogenetic diversity metrics. Both flock size and richness increased with patch size, but this variable had no effect on functional and phylogenetic diversity. Flock richness and size increased in high-canopy forests with greater foliage height diversity, whereas unlogged, old-growth primary forests with large-diameter trees had lower flock richness and size, but significantly greater functional diversity. Phylogenetic diversity was not affected by patch size, edge effects, or vegetation structure. We found differences in flock composition in response to fragmentation. Richness of Furnariidae in flocks increased with increasing distance from edge and foliage height diversity, whereas that of Thraupidae and boreal migrant species increased in early successional and forest edge flocks, respectively. All flock diversity metrics differed significantly seasonally, with smaller, less diverse flocks observed in January–March than in June–August. Flocking behavior persisted in 10-ha fragments, likely because Andean flocks are “open membership” in nature, but there was extensive species turnover as forest edge and generalist species replaced forest-interior species in smaller fragments.

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