How do trees respond to species mixing in experimental compared to observational studies?

Kambach, Stephan; Allan, Eric; Bilodeau‐Gauthier, Simon; Coomes, David A.; Haase, Josephine; Jucker, Tommaso; Kunstler, Georges; Müller, Sandra; Nock, Charles; Paquette, Alain; Plas, Fons; Ratcliffe, Sophia; Roger, Fabian; Ruiz‐Benito, Paloma; Scherer‐Lorenzen, Michael; Auge, Harald; Bouriaud, Olivier; Castagneyrol, Bastien; Dahlgren, Jonas; Gamfeldt, Lars; ... (2019). How do trees respond to species mixing in experimental compared to observational studies? Ecology and evolution, 9(19), pp. 11254-11265. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 10.1002/ece3.5627

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For decades, ecologists have investigated the effects of tree species diversity on tree productivity at different scales and with different approaches ranging from observational to experimental study designs. Using data from five European national forest inventories (16,773 plots), six tree species diversity experiments (584 plots), and six networks of comparative plots (169 plots), we tested whether tree species growth responses to species mixing are consistent and therefore transferrable between those different research approaches. Our results confirm the general positive effect of tree species mixing on species growth (16% on average) but we found no consistency in species‐specific responses to mixing between any of the three approaches, even after restricting comparisons to only those plots that shared similar mixtures compositions and forest types. These findings highlight the necessity to consider results from different research approaches when selecting species mixtures that should maximize positive forest biodiversity and functioning relationships.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Plant Community Ecology

UniBE Contributor:

Allan, Eric

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISSN:

2045-7758

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas

Date Deposited:

21 Oct 2019 16:02

Last Modified:

21 Nov 2023 11:52

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/ece3.5627

Uncontrolled Keywords:

biodiversity, ecosystem function and services, FunDivEUROPE, national forest inventories, productivity, species richness, synthesis, tree growth, TreeDivNet

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.133927

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/133927

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