Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relations in European forests depend on environmental context.

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Sophia Ratcliffe
  • Christian Wirth
  • Tommaso Jucker
  • Fons van der Plas
  • Michael Scherer-Lorenzen
  • Kris Verheyen
  • Eric Allan
  • Raquel Benavides
  • Helge Bruelheide
  • Alain Paquette
  • Evy Ampoorter
  • Cristina C Bastias
  • Jürgen Bauhus
  • Damien Bonal
  • Olivier Bouriaud
  • Filippo Bussotti
  • Monique Carnol
  • Bastien Castagneyrol
  • Ewa Checko
  • Seid Muhie Dawud
  • H. de Wandeler
  • Timo Domisch
  • Leena Finér
  • Markus Fischer
  • Mariangela Fotelli
  • Arthur Gessler
  • André Granier
  • Charlotte Grossiord
  • Virginie Guyot
  • Johannes Haase
  • Stephan Hättenschwiler
  • Hervé Jactel
  • Bogdan Jaroszewicz
  • Francois-Xavier Joly
  • Stephan Kambach
  • Simon Kolb
  • Julia Koricheva
  • Mario Liebergesell
  • Harriet Milligan
  • Sandra Müller
  • Bart Muys
  • Diem Nguyen
  • Charles Nock
  • Martina Pollastrini
  • Oliver Purschke
  • Kalliopu Radoglou
  • Karsten Rauland-Rasmussen
  • Fabian Roger
  • Paloma Ruiz-Benito
  • Rupert Seidl
  • Federico Selvi
  • Ian Seiferling
  • Jan Stenlid
  • Fernando Valladares
  • Lars Vesterdal
  • Lander Baeten
The importance of biodiversity in supporting ecosystem functioning is generally well accepted. However, most evidence comes from small-scale studies, and scaling-up patterns of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (B-EF) remains challenging, in part because the importance of environmental factors in shaping B-EF relations is poorly understood. Using a forest research platform in which 26 ecosystem functions were measured along gradients of tree species richness in six regions across Europe, we investigated the extent and the potential drivers of context dependency of B-EF relations. Despite considerable variation in species richness effects across the continent, we found a tendency for stronger B-EF relations in drier climates as well as in areas with longer growing seasons and more functionally diverse tree species. The importance of water availability in driving context dependency suggests that as water limitation increases under climate change, biodiversity may become even more important to support high levels of functioning in European forests.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEcology Letters
Volume20
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)1414-1426
Number of pages13
ISSN1461-023X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11.2017

DOI

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