Abstract
Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research has extended its scope from communities that are short‐lived or reshape their structure annually to structurally complex forest ecosystems. The establishment of tree diversity experiments poses specific methodological challenges for assessing the multiple functions provided by forest ecosystems. In particular, methodological inconsistencies and nonstandardized protocols impede the analysis of multifunctionality within, and comparability across the increasing number of tree diversity experiments. By providing an overview on key methods currently applied in one of the largest forest biodiversity experiments, we show how methods differing in scale and simplicity can be combined to retrieve consistent data allowing novel insights into forest ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, we discuss and develop recommendations for the integration and transferability of diverse methodical approaches to present and future forest biodiversity experiments. We identified four principles that should guide basic decisions concerning method selection for tree diversity experiments and forest BEF research: (1) method selection should be directed toward maximizing data density to increase the number of measured variables in each plot. (2) Methods should cover all relevant scales of the experiment to consider scale dependencies of biodiversity effects. (3) The same variable should be evaluated with the same method across space and time for adequate larger‐scale and longer‐time data analysis and to reduce errors due to changing measurement protocols. (4) Standardized, practical and rapid methods for assessing biodiversity and ecosystem functions should be promoted to increase comparability among forest BEF experiments. We demonstrate that currently available methods provide us with a sophisticated toolbox to improve a synergistic understanding of forest multifunctionality. However, these methods require further adjustment to the specific requirements of structurally complex and long‐lived forest ecosystems. By applying methods connecting relevant scales, trophic levels, and above‐ and belowground ecosystem compartments, knowledge gain from large tree diversity experiments can be optimized.
Highlights
Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research requires comprehensive methodical approaches to study overall ecosystem functioning based on the simultaneous assessment of multiple functions and services
Based on an illustrative example of a forest BEF experiment (BEF- China), we provide an overview on state-of-the-art methods currently applied in one of the largest forest biodiversity experiments worldwide
Rather than presenting an exhaustive compilation of currently obtained measurements, we provide a concise overview on key aspects of forest ecosystem functioning to illustrate the broad range of methods applied (Figure 2, Table 1)
Summary
Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research requires comprehensive methodical approaches to study overall ecosystem functioning based on the simultaneous assessment of multiple functions and services. Standardized methods for key ecosystem functions (Meyer, Koch, & Weisser, 2015) and rapid biodiversity assessments (Obrist & Duelli, 2010) need to be developed or adapted for forest ecosystems to promote synthesis studies across tree diversity experiments Because these experiments are commonly used by many research teams from different disciplines and backgrounds, careful consideration of the applied methods is required to measure and analyze data jointly and effectively. The adequate assessment of tree biomass production in large BEF experiments is critical to investigate the influence of different facets of tree diversity (species richness, presence of particular species, species composition, functional diversity, and genetic diversity) on tree growth at the individual, neighborhood, and plot (= community) scale. Fine roots (diameter ≤ 2 mm) are the most active part of the root system (Asaye & Zewdie, 2013), interacting with soil microflora and
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