Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, P7B 5E1, Canada.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2018 Feb;93(1):439-456. doi: 10.1111/brv.12351. Epub 2017 Jul 10.
Forest ecosystems are critical to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. However, climate change has affected forest ecosystem functioning in both negative and positive ways, and has led to shifts in species/functional diversity and losses in plant species diversity which may impair the positive effects of diversity on ecosystem functioning. Biodiversity may mitigate climate change impacts on (I) biodiversity itself, as more-diverse systems could be more resilient to climate change impacts, and (II) ecosystem functioning through the positive relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning. By surveying the literature, we examined how climate change has affected forest ecosystem functioning and plant diversity. Based on the biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning (B→EF), we specifically address the potential for biodiversity to mitigate climate change impacts on forest ecosystem functioning. For this purpose, we formulate a concept whereby biodiversity may reduce the negative impacts or enhance the positive impacts of climate change on ecosystem functioning. Further B→EF studies on climate change in natural forests are encouraged to elucidate how biodiversity might influence ecosystem functioning. This may be achieved through the detailed scrutiny of large spatial/long temporal scale data sets, such as long-term forest inventories. Forest management strategies based on B→EF have strong potential for augmenting the effectiveness of the roles of forests in the mitigation of climate change impacts on ecosystem functioning.
森林生态系统对于通过碳固存来缓解温室气体排放至关重要。然而，气候变化以负面和正面的方式影响了森林生态系统的功能，导致物种/功能多样性发生转变，植物物种多样性丧失，这可能会削弱多样性对生态系统功能的积极影响。生物多样性可能会减轻气候变化对（I）生物多样性本身的影响，因为更多样化的系统可能更能抵御气候变化的影响，以及（II）通过多样性与生态系统功能之间的正相关关系来减轻对生态系统功能的影响。通过文献调查，我们研究了气候变化如何影响森林生态系统功能和植物多样性。基于生物多样性对生态系统功能的影响（B→EF），我们特别探讨了生物多样性缓解森林生态系统功能受气候变化影响的潜力。为此，我们提出了一个概念，即生物多样性可以减少气候变化对生态系统功能的负面影响或增强其正面影响。我们鼓励在自然森林中开展更多关于气候变化的 B→EF 研究，以阐明生物多样性可能如何影响生态系统功能。这可以通过详细审查长期森林清查等大空间/长时间尺度数据集来实现。基于 B→EF 的森林管理策略具有增强森林在缓解气候变化对生态系统功能影响方面的作用的巨大潜力。
