Species richness and wood production: a positive association in Mediterranean forests.

A major debate in the study of biodiversity concerns its influence on ecosystem functioning. We compared whether wood production in forests was associated with tree functional group identity (i.e. deciduous, conifer or sclerophylous), tree species richness (1-> or = 5) and tree functional group richness (1-3) by comparing more than 5000 permanent plots distributed across Catalonia (NE Spain). Deciduous forests were more productive than coniferous and sclerophylous forests. Wood production increased with tree species richness. However, functional group richness increased wood production only in sclerophylous forests. When other forest structure, environmental variables and management practices were included in the analysis, tree functional group identity and species richness still remained significant, while functional species richness did not. Our survey indicates that across a regional scale, and across a broad range of environmental conditions, a significant positive association exists between local tree species richness and wood production at least in typical early successional Mediterranean-type forests.

[1]  L. Gillman,et al.  The influence of productivity on the species richness of plants: a critical assessment. , 2006, Ecology.

[2]  F. DeClerck,et al.  Resource use efficiency as a function of species richness and stand composition in upper montane conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada , 2005 .

[3]  F. Chapin,et al.  EFFECTS OF BIODIVERSITY ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING: A CONSENSUS OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE , 2005 .

[4]  W. Mason,et al.  Functioning of Mixed-Species Stands: Evidence from a Long-Term Forest Experiment , 2005 .

[5]  Hans Pretzsch,et al.  Diversity and Productivity in Forests: Evidence from Long-Term Experimental Plots , 2005 .

[6]  M. Vilà,et al.  Confounding Factors in the Observational Productivity-Diversity Relationship in Forests , 2005 .

[7]  J. Koricheva,et al.  The Design of Experimental Tree Plantations for Functional Biodiversity Research , 2005 .

[8]  S. Petit,et al.  Effects of area and isolation of woodland patches on herbaceous plant species richness across Great Britain , 2004, Landscape Ecology.

[9]  K. Elliott,et al.  Changes in tree species diversity after successive clearcuts in the Southern Appalachians , 1994, Vegetatio.

[10]  Species richness and canopy productivity of Australian plant communities , 1993, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[11]  A. Novoplansky,et al.  Reconsidering diversity–productivity relationships: directness of productivity estimates matters , 2003 .

[12]  M. Vilà,et al.  Does tree diversity increase wood production in pine forests? , 2003, Oecologia.

[13]  J. P. Grime.  Declining plant diversity: empty niches or functional shifts? , 2002 .

[14]  M. Jennions,et al.  How much variance can be explained by ecologists and evolutionary biologists? , 2002, Oecologia.

[15]  Amy J. Symstad,et al.  Species diversity, functional diversity, and ecosystem functioning , 2002 .

[16]  S. Pacala,et al.  Successional diversity and forest ecosystem function , 2001, Ecological Research.

[17]  P. Reich,et al.  Diversity and Productivity in a Long-Term Grassland Experiment , 2001, Science.

[18]  J. P. Grime,et al.  Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Current Knowledge and Future Challenges , 2001, Science.

[19]  Katherine L. Gross,et al.  WHAT IS THE OBSERVED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPECIES RICHNESS AND PRODUCTIVITY , 2001 .

[20]  Miquel Ninyerola,et al.  A methodological approach of climatological modelling of air temperature and precipitation through GIS techniques , 2000 .

[21]  R. McMurtrie,et al.  The decline of forest productivity as stands age : a model-based method for analysing causes for the decline , 2000 .

[22]  A. Troumbis,et al.  Observational evidence that diversity may increase productivity in Mediterranean shrublands , 2000, Oecologia.

[23]  David A. Wardle,et al.  Stability of ecosystem properties in response to above‐ground functional group richness and composition , 2000 .

[24]  Pereira,et al.  Plant diversity and productivity experiments in european grasslands , 1999, Science.

[25]  M. Willig,et al.  The Relationship Between Productivity and Species Richness , 1999 .

[26]  Michael A. Huston,et al.  Hidden treatments in ecological experiments: re-evaluating the ecosystem function of biodiversity , 1997, Oecologia.

[27]  Michael G. Ryan,et al.  Age-Related Decline in Forest Productivity: Pattern and Process , 1997 .

[28]  Mark V. Lomolino,et al.  Species Diversity in Space and Time. , 1996 .

[29]  D. Pettenella,et al.  The economic role of non-wood forest products and services in rural development , 1995 .

[30]  A. Magurran,et al.  Biological diversity : the coexistence of species on changing landscapes , 1994 .

[31]  J. Tenhunen,et al.  Site-specific water relations and stomatal response of Quercus ilex in a Mediterranean watershed. , 1994, Tree physiology.

[32]  D. C. Malcolm,et al.  The ecology of mixed-species stands of trees. , 1992 .

[33]  B. C. Larson,et al.  The Ecology and Silviculture of Mixed-Species Forests , 1992, Forestry Sciences.

[34]  David J. Currie,et al.  Large-scale biogeographical patterns of species richness of trees , 1987, Nature.

[35]  Peter J. Richerson,et al.  Patterns of Plant Species Diversity in California: Relation to Weather and Topography , 1980, The American Naturalist.

[36]  C. W. Thornthwaite.  An Approach Toward a Rational Classification of Climate , 1948 .

[37]  C. W. Thornthwaite.  An approach toward a rational classification of climate. , 1948 .