Development stage-dependent effects of biodiversity on aboveground
biomass of temperate forests
Abstract
Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships (BEFs) have been
extensively explored across ecosystems. However, these relationships may
change as the forest matures, and the underlying mechanisms remain
underexplored. Using large temperate forest datasets from 2,392
permanent plots in northeastern China, we examined the relationships
between biodiversity and aboveground biomass (AGB) across different
developmental stages from young to over-mature stands. We found the
positive BEFs using both species richness and functional diversity, but
these positive effects decreased with forest development. However, the
effects of community-weighted mean on AGB showed two peaks in young and
mature stands. Notably, the effects of community-weighted mean on AGB
became larger than the effects of functional diversity after the forests
developed to near-mature/mature stands, indicating that BEFs are driven
by mass-ratio effects (i.e., dominant species) rather than niche
complementarity in old stands. Our findings on how the developmental
stage influences the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning in
natural forests will help identify effective strategies for maintaining
or enhancing ecosystem services at different forest successional stages.