Tree species richness increases ecosystem carbon storage in subtropical forests
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Jahrgang 285, Nr. 1885, 20181240, 2018.
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Tree species richness increases ecosystem carbon storage in subtropical forests
AU - Liu, Xiaojuan
AU - Trogisch, Stefan
AU - He, Jin Sheng
AU - Niklaus, Pascal A.
AU - Bruelheide, Helge
AU - Tang, Zhiyao
AU - Erfmeier, Alexandra
AU - Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael
AU - Pietsch, Katherina A.
AU - Yang, Bo
AU - Kühn, Peter
AU - Scholten, Thomas
AU - Huang, Yuanyuan
AU - Wang, Chao
AU - Staab, Michael
AU - Leppert, Katrin N.
AU - Wirth, Christian
AU - Schmid, Bernhard
AU - Ma, Keping
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The Authors.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Forest ecosystems are an integral component of the global carbon cycle as they take up and release large amounts of C over short time periods (C flux) or accumulate it over longer time periods (C stock). However, there remains uncertainty about whether and in which direction C fluxes and in particular C stocks may differ between forests of high versus low species richness. Based on a comprehensive dataset derived from field-based measurements, we tested the effect of species richness (3-20 tree species) and stand age (22-116 years) on six compartments of above- and below-ground C stocks and four components of C fluxes in subtropical forests in southeast China. Across forest stands, total C stock was 149 ±12 Mg ha-1 with richness explaining 28.5% and age explaining 29.4% of variation in this measure. Species-rich stands had higher C stocks and fluxes than stands with low richness; and, in addition, old stands had higher C stocks than young ones. Overall, for each additional tree species, the total C stock increased by 6.4%. Our results provide comprehensive evidence for diversity-mediated above- and below-ground C sequestration in species-rich subtropical forests in southeast China. Therefore, afforestation policies in this region and elsewhere should consider a change from the current focus on monocultures to multi-species plantations to increase C fixation and thus slow increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global warming.
AB - Forest ecosystems are an integral component of the global carbon cycle as they take up and release large amounts of C over short time periods (C flux) or accumulate it over longer time periods (C stock). However, there remains uncertainty about whether and in which direction C fluxes and in particular C stocks may differ between forests of high versus low species richness. Based on a comprehensive dataset derived from field-based measurements, we tested the effect of species richness (3-20 tree species) and stand age (22-116 years) on six compartments of above- and below-ground C stocks and four components of C fluxes in subtropical forests in southeast China. Across forest stands, total C stock was 149 ±12 Mg ha-1 with richness explaining 28.5% and age explaining 29.4% of variation in this measure. Species-rich stands had higher C stocks and fluxes than stands with low richness; and, in addition, old stands had higher C stocks than young ones. Overall, for each additional tree species, the total C stock increased by 6.4%. Our results provide comprehensive evidence for diversity-mediated above- and below-ground C sequestration in species-rich subtropical forests in southeast China. Therefore, afforestation policies in this region and elsewhere should consider a change from the current focus on monocultures to multi-species plantations to increase C fixation and thus slow increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global warming.
KW - BEF-China
KW - Carbon flux
KW - Carbon storage
KW - Ecosystem functioning
KW - Evergreen broad-leaved forest
KW - Forest biodiversity
KW - Biology
KW - Ecosystems Research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054752936&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2018.1240
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2018.1240
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 30135164
AN - SCOPUS:85054752936
VL - 285
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0962-8452
IS - 1885
M1 - 20181240
ER -