Drivers of temporal changes in temperate forest plant diversity vary across spatial scales
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Grant support
278065
European Research Council - International
PubMed
26212787
PubMed Central
PMC6136642
DOI
10.1111/gcb.12993
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Shannon diversity, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, evenness, forest management, forestREplot, game browsing, spatiotemporal resurvey data, species richness,
- MeSH
- Biodiversity * MeSH
- Herbivory * MeSH
- Time Factors MeSH
- Forestry * MeSH
- Forests * MeSH
- Climate * MeSH
- Air Pollution adverse effects MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Meta-Analysis MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Europe MeSH
Global biodiversity is affected by numerous environmental drivers. Yet, the extent to which global environmental changes contribute to changes in local diversity is poorly understood. We investigated biodiversity changes in a meta-analysis of 39 resurvey studies in European temperate forests (3988 vegetation records in total, 17-75 years between the two surveys) by assessing the importance of (i) coarse-resolution (i.e., among sites) vs. fine-resolution (i.e., within sites) environmental differences and (ii) changing environmental conditions between surveys. Our results clarify the mechanisms underlying the direction and magnitude of local-scale biodiversity changes. While not detecting any net local diversity loss, we observed considerable among-site variation, partly explained by temporal changes in light availability (a local driver) and density of large herbivores (a regional driver). Furthermore, strong evidence was found that presurvey levels of nitrogen deposition determined subsequent diversity changes. We conclude that models forecasting future biodiversity changes should consider coarse-resolution environmental changes, account for differences in baseline environmental conditions and for local changes in fine-resolution environmental conditions.
Alterra Research Institute Wageningen UR P O Box 47 NL 6700 AA Wageningen The Netherlands
Beechwood House St Briavels Common Lydney Gloucestershire GL15 6SL United Kingdom
Białowieża National Park Park Pałacowy 11 PL 17 230 Białowieża Poland
BIOGECO UMR1202 Université de Bordeaux F 33615 Pessac France
Department of Botany and Zoology Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 CZ 611 37 Brno Czech Republic
Department of Plant Sciences University of Oxford South Parks Road Oxford OX1 3RB UK
Faculty of Forestry Technical University in Zvolen T G Masaryka 24 SK 960 53 Zvolen Slovak Republic
Forest and Nature Lab Ghent University Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267 B 9090 Gontrode Melle Belgium
INRA UMR 1202 BIOGECO F 33610 Cestas France
Institute for Biology University of Leipzig Johannisallee 21 D 04103 Leipzig Germany
Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Maulbeerallee 2 D 14469 Potsdam Germany
Institute of Ecology Friedrich Schiller University Jena Dornburger Str 159 D 07743 Jena Germany
Research Institute for Nature and Forest Kliniekstraat 25 B 1070 Brussels Belgium
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