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 - 2018/8/22

Y1 - 2018/8/22

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 -