Evaluating Relationships Between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions in Forests Using Forest Inventory and Allometry Data

Abstract

Biodiversity loss may cause various changes in ecosystem functions of forests. This chapter presents methods and possibilities of evaluating biodiversity–ecosystem function relationships in forest ecosystems using forest inventory and allometry data. Although these data have been collected in plantations and natural forests all over the world, their use in biodiversity–ecosystem function studies is still limited. Inventory and allometry data provide various information such as productivity and carbon stock of forests, growth and demography of individual trees, tree size and mass distribution, horizontal and vertical structure of forests, and tree species composition of the local community and regional species pool. Such information is indispensable to understand the mechanisms of biodiversity effects on ecosystem functions, to predict the consequence of biodiversity loss by improving functional trait approaches toward more mechanistic and predictive paths, and to develop studies of biodiversity–ecosystem function that are relevant to conservation. Two new databases, a forest inventory database and an allometry database, and data papers will promote biodiversity–ecosystem function studies through enhanced data availability, especially in Asia where such studies are limited.