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Contribution of tree community structure to forest productivity across a thermal gradient in eastern Asia.

ABSTRACT: Despite their fundamental importance the links between forest productivity, diversity and climate remain contentious. We consider whether variation in productivity across climates reflects adjustment among tree species and individuals, or changes in tree community structure. We analysed data from 60 plots of humid old-growth forests spanning mean annual temperatures (MAT) from 2.0 to 26.6 °C. Comparing forests at equivalent aboveground biomass (160 Mg C ha^-1), tropical forests ≥24 °C MAT averaged more than double the aboveground woody productivity of forests <12 °C (3.7 ± 0.3 versus 1.6 ± 0.1 Mg C ha^-1 yr^-1). Nonetheless, species with similar standing biomass and maximum stature had similar productivity across plots regardless of temperature. We find that differences in the relative contribution of smaller- and larger-biomass species explained 86% of the observed productivity differences. Species-rich tropical forests are more productive than other forests due to the high relative productivity of many short-stature, small-biomass species.

SUBMITTER: Kohyama TI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10011560 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Contribution of tree community structure to forest productivity across a thermal gradient in eastern Asia.

Kohyama Tetsuo I TI Sheil Douglas D Sun I-Fang IF Niiyama Kaoru K Suzuki Eizi E Hiura Tsutom T Nishimura Naoyuki N Hoshizaki Kazuhiko K Wu Shu-Hui SH Chao Wei-Chun WC Nur Hajar Zamah S ZS Rahajoe Joeni S JS Kohyama Takashi S TS

Nature communications 20230313 1

Despite their fundamental importance the links between forest productivity, diversity and climate remain contentious. We consider whether variation in productivity across climates reflects adjustment among tree species and individuals, or changes in tree community structure. We analysed data from 60 plots of humid old-growth forests spanning mean annual temperatures (MAT) from 2.0 to 26.6 °C. Comparing forests at equivalent aboveground biomass (160 Mg C ha<sup>-1</sup>), tropical forests ≥24 °C ...[more]

PMID: 36914632

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Project description:Forest structural complexity can mediate the light and water distribution within forest canopies, and has a direct impact on forest biodiversity and carbon storage capability. It is believed that increases in forest structural complexity can enhance tree species diversity and forest productivity, but inconsistent relationships among them have been reported. Here, we quantified forest structural complexity in three aspects (i.e., horizontal, vertical, and internal structural complexity) from unmanned aerial vehicle light detection and ranging data, and investigated their correlations with tree species diversity and forest productivity by incorporating field measurements in three forest biomes with large latitude gradients in China. Our results show that internal structural complexity had a stronger correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.85) with tree species richness than horizontal structural complexity (correlation coefficient = -0.16) and vertical structural complexity (correlation coefficient = 0.61), and it was the only forest structural complexity attribute having significant correlations with both tree species richness and tree species evenness. A strong scale effect was observed in the correlations among forest structural complexity, tree species diversity, and forest productivity. Moreover, forest internal structural complexity had a tight positive coordinated contribution with tree species diversity to forest productivity through structure equation model analysis, while horizontal and vertical structural complexity attributes have insignificant or weaker coordinated effects than internal structural complexity, which indicated that the neglect of forest internal structural complexity might partially lead to the current inconsistent observations among forest structural complexity, tree species diversity, and forest productivity. The results of this study can provide a new angle to understand the observed inconsistent correlations among forest structural complexity, tree species diversity, and forest productivity.

Dataset Information

Contribution of tree community structure to forest productivity across a thermal gradient in eastern Asia.

Publications

Contribution of tree community structure to forest productivity across a thermal gradient in eastern Asia.

Similar Datasets

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