TY - JOUR

T1 - Carbon–biodiversity relationships in a highly diverse subtropical forest

AU - Schuldt, Andreas

AU - Liu, Xiaojuan

AU - Buscot, François

AU - Bruelheide, Helge

AU - Erfmeier, Alexandra

AU - He, Jin Sheng

AU - Klein, Alexandra Maria

AU - Ma, Keping

AU - Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael

AU - Schmid, Bernhard

AU - Scholten, Thomas

AU - Tang, Zhiyao

AU - Trogisch, Stefan

AU - Wirth, Christian

AU - Wubet, Tesfaye

AU - Staab, Michael

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2023/9

Y1 - 2023/9

N2 - Carbon-focused climate mitigation strategies are becoming increasingly important in forests. However, with ongoing biodiversity declines we require better knowledge of how much such strategies account for biodiversity. We particularly lack information across multiple trophic levels and on established forests, where the interplay between carbon stocks, stand age, and tree diversity might influence carbon–biodiversity relationships. Using a large dataset (>4600 heterotrophic species of 23 taxonomic groups) from secondary, subtropical forests, we tested how multitrophic diversity and diversity within trophic groups relate to aboveground, belowground, and total carbon stocks at different levels of tree species richness and stand age. Our study revealed that aboveground carbon, the key component of climate-based management, was largely unrelated to multitrophic diversity. By contrast, total carbon stocks—that is, including belowground carbon—emerged as a significant predictor of multitrophic diversity. Relationships were nonlinear and strongest for lower trophic levels, but nonsignificant for higher trophic level diversity. Tree species richness and stand age moderated these relationships, suggesting long-term regeneration of forests may be particularly effective in reconciling carbon and biodiversity targets. Our findings highlight that biodiversity benefits of climate-oriented management need to be evaluated carefully, and only maximizing aboveground carbon may fail to account for biodiversity conservation requirements.

AB - Carbon-focused climate mitigation strategies are becoming increasingly important in forests. However, with ongoing biodiversity declines we require better knowledge of how much such strategies account for biodiversity. We particularly lack information across multiple trophic levels and on established forests, where the interplay between carbon stocks, stand age, and tree diversity might influence carbon–biodiversity relationships. Using a large dataset (>4600 heterotrophic species of 23 taxonomic groups) from secondary, subtropical forests, we tested how multitrophic diversity and diversity within trophic groups relate to aboveground, belowground, and total carbon stocks at different levels of tree species richness and stand age. Our study revealed that aboveground carbon, the key component of climate-based management, was largely unrelated to multitrophic diversity. By contrast, total carbon stocks—that is, including belowground carbon—emerged as a significant predictor of multitrophic diversity. Relationships were nonlinear and strongest for lower trophic levels, but nonsignificant for higher trophic level diversity. Tree species richness and stand age moderated these relationships, suggesting long-term regeneration of forests may be particularly effective in reconciling carbon and biodiversity targets. Our findings highlight that biodiversity benefits of climate-oriented management need to be evaluated carefully, and only maximizing aboveground carbon may fail to account for biodiversity conservation requirements.

KW - BEF-China

KW - carbon sequestration

KW - climate mitigation

KW - forest restoration

KW - species richness

KW - trophic levels

KW - Biology

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85152406734&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/gcb.16697

DO - 10.1111/gcb.16697

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 36970888

AN - SCOPUS:85152406734

VL - 29

SP - 5321

EP - 5333

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

SN - 1354-1013

IS - 18

ER -