Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
Department Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Ecology. 2019 Apr;100(4):e02653. doi: 10.1002/ecy.2653. Epub 2019 Mar 14.
Forest fragments in highly disturbed landscapes provide important ecosystem services ranging from acting as biodiversity reservoir to providing timber or regulating hydrology. Managing the tree species richness and composition of these fragments to optimize their functioning and the deliverance of multiple ecosystem services is of great practical relevance. However, both the strength and direction of tree species richness and tree species composition effects on forest ecosystem multifunctionality may depend on the landscape context in which these forest remnants are embedded. Taking advantage of an observatory network of 53 temperate forest plots varying in tree species richness, tree species composition, and fragmentation intensity we measured 24 ecosystem functions spanning multiple trophic levels and analyzed how tree species diversity-multifunctionality relationships changed with fragmentation intensity. Our results show that fragmentation generally increases multifunctionality and strengthens its positive relationship with diversity, possibly due to edge effects. In addition, different tree species combinations optimize functioning under different fragmentation levels. We conclude that management and restoration of forest fragments aimed at maximizing ecosystem multifunctionality should be tailored to the specific landscape context. As forest fragmentation will continue, tree diversity will become increasingly important to maintain forest functioning.
森林片段在高度受干扰的景观中提供了重要的生态系统服务，从作为生物多样性储备到提供木材或调节水文学。管理这些片段的树种丰富度和组成，以优化其功能和提供多种生态系统服务，具有重要的实际意义。然而，树种丰富度和树种组成对森林生态系统多功能性的影响的强度和方向可能取决于这些森林残余物所处的景观背景。利用一个由 53 个温带森林样地组成的观测网络，这些样地在树种丰富度、树种组成和破碎化强度上存在差异，我们测量了跨越多个营养级的 24 个生态系统功能，并分析了树种多样性-多功能性关系如何随破碎化强度而变化。我们的结果表明，破碎化通常会增加多功能性，并加强其与多样性的正相关关系，这可能是由于边缘效应。此外，不同的树种组合在不同的破碎化水平下优化了功能。我们得出结论，旨在最大限度地提高生态系统多功能性的森林片段的管理和恢复应该针对特定的景观背景。随着森林破碎化的继续，树木多样性将变得越来越重要，以维持森林功能。
