Abstract
Forests simultaneously provide multiple ecosystem services (ESs), but the trade-off and synergy among them were uncertain. Biotic and abiotic variables regulate forest ecosystem service multifunctionality (EMF); however, quantifying the relative contribution of them to EMF in natural forests at large scale was still limited. We examined the trade-off in ecosystem services and the drivers of EMF of natural temperate forests in northeast China. Six facets of ESs were derived based on 2227 national forest inventory sample plots, that is, water conservation, soil conservation, stand productivity, tree species diversity, carbon storage and soil fertility maintenance. Structural equation model was applied to quantify the driving forces of EMF including mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), total nitrogen (TN), soil pH (pH), stand age (Age), additive stand density index (aSDI), stand structural diversity (SSD) and tree species richness (SR). Our results indicated that the RMSD (root mean square deviation) values of the 15 ES pairs ranged from 0.13 to 0.25, and the trade-offs between biodiversity and other five ESs were high, with RMSD values greater than 0.2. We provided clear evidence that stand density was the most important driver of EMF, which affected the EMF indirectly through tree size diversity and species richness. Understanding the contribution of these factors to EMF can help to design sustainable forest management practices in northeast China aiming to foster and preserve multifunctionality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alamgir M, Turton SM, Macgregor CJ, Pert PL (2016) Ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types: understanding the interactions and suggesting pathways for sustaining multiple ecosystem services. Sci Total Environ 566–567:584–595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.107
Angelini ME, Heuvelink GBM (2018) Including spatial correlation in structural equation modelling of soil properties. Spat Stat 25:35–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spasta.2018.04.003
Augustynczik A, Yousefpour R (2021) Assessing the synergistic value of ecosystem services in European beech forests. Ecosyst Serv. 49:101264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101264
Bardgett RD, Wardle DA (2011) Aboveground-belowground linkages: biotic interactions, ecosystem processes, and global change. Oxford University Press. http://scans.hebis.de/22/46/86/22468617_toc.pdf.
Bennett EM, Peterson GD, Gordon LJ (2009) Understanding relationships among multiple ecosystem services. Ecol Lett 12:1394–1404. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01387.x
Biber P, Felton A, Nieuwenhuis M, Lindbladh M, Black K et al (2020) Forest biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and wood production: modeling synergies and trade-offs for ten forest landscapes across Europe. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 8:547696. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.547696
Bowker MA, Maestre FT, Mau RL (2013) Diversity and patch-size distributions of biological soil crusts regulate dryland ecosystem multifunctionality. Ecosystems 16:923–933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-013-9644-5
Boyden S, Binkley D, Senock R (2005) Competition and facilitation between Eucalyptus and nitrogen-fixing Falcataria in relation to soil fertility. Ecology 86(4):992–1001. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2007.52.5.2233
Bradford JB, D’Amato AW (2012) Recognizing trade-offs in multi-objective land management. Front Ecol Environ 10(4):210–216. https://doi.org/10.1890/110031
Byrnes JEK, Gamfeldt L, Isbell F, Lefcheck JS, Griffin JN et al (2014) Investigating the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality: challenges and solutions. Methods Ecol Evol 5:111–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12143
Cai CF, Ding SW, Shi ZH, Huang L, Zhang GY (2000) Study of applying USLE and geographical information system IDRISI to predict soil erosion in small watershed. J Soil Water Conserv 14(2): 19–24. https://doi.org/10.13870/j.cnki.stbcxb.2000.02.005
Chadwick KD, Asner GP (2016) Tropical soil nutrient distributions determined by biotic and hillslope processes. Biogeochemistry 127:273–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0179-z
Cimon-Morin J, Darveau M, Poulin M (2013) Fostering synergies between ecosystem services and biodiversity in conservation planning: a review. Biol Cons 166:144–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.06.023
Conradi T, Van Meerbeek K, Ordonez A, Svenning JC (2020) Biogeographic historical legacies in the net primary productivity of Northern Hemisphere forests. Ecol Lett 23:800–810. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13481
Cord AF, Bartkowski B, Beckmann M, Dittrich A, Hermans-Neumann K et al (2017) Towards systematic analyses of ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies: main concepts, methods and the road ahead. Ecosyst Serv 28:264–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.07.012
De LF, Rohr JR, Ashauer R, Baird DJ, Berger U et al (2016) Reintroducing environmental change drivers in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research. Trends Ecol Evol 31(12):905–915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.09.007
Dooley Á, Isbell F, Kirwan L, Connolly J, Finn JA et al (2015) Testing the effects of diversity on ecosystem multifunctionality using a multivariate model. Ecol Lett 18:1242–1251. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12504
Ducey MJ, Knapp RA (2010) A stand density index for complex mixed species forests in the northeastern United States. For Ecol Manage 260:1613–1622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.08.014
Duffy JE, Richardson JP, Canuel EA (2003) Grazer diversity effects on ecosystem functioning in seagrass beds. Ecol Lett 6:637–645. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00474.x
Duncan C, Thompson JR, Pettorelli N (2015) The quest for a mechanistic understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem services relationships. Proc Biol Sci 282:20151348. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1348
Felipe-Lucia MR, Comín FA, Bennett EM (2014) Interactions among ecosystem services across land uses in a floodplain agroecosystem. Ecol Soc 19(1):20. https://doi.org/10.5751/es-06249-190120
Felipe-Lucia MR, Soliveres S, Penone C, Manning P, van der Plas F et al (2018) Multiple forest attributes underpin the supply of multiple ecosystem services. Nat Commun 9:4839. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07082-4
Feng Q, Zhao W, Fu B, Ding J, Wang S (2017) Ecosystem service trade-offs and their influencing factors: a case study in the Loess Plateau of China. Sci Total Environ 607–608:1250–1263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.079
Forrester DI, Kohnle U, Albrecht AT, Bauhus J (2013) Complementarity in mixed-species stands of Abies alba and Picea abies varies with climate, site quality and stand density. For Ecol Manage 304:233–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.04.038
Fotis AT, Murphy SJ, Ricart RD, Krishnadas M, Whitacre J et al (2018) Above-ground biomass is driven by mass-ratio effects and stand structural attributes in a temperate deciduous forest. J Ecol 106:561–570. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12847
Gamfeldt L, Roger F (2017) Revisiting the biodiversity-ecosystem multifunctionality relationship. Nat Ecol Evol 1:168. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0168
Gamfeldt L, Snall T, Bagchi R, Jonsson M, Gustafsson L et al (2013) Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species. Nat Commun 4:1340. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2328
Gao WQ, Lei XD, Liang MW, Larjavaara M, Li YT et al (2021) Biodiversity increased both productivity and its spatial stability in temperate forests in northeastern China. Sci Total Environ. 780:146674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021a.146674
Gao WQ, Lei XD, Gao DL, Li YT (2021b) Mass-ratio and complementarity effects simultaneously drive aboveground biomass in temperate Quercus forests through stand structure. Ecol Evol 11(23):16806–16816. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8312
Godlee JL, Ryan CM, Bauman D, Bowers SJ, Carreiras JMB et al (2021) Structural diversity and tree density drives variation in the biodiversity-ecosystem function relationship of woodlands and savannas. New Phytol 232:579–594. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17639
Harrison PA, Vandewalle M, Sykes MT, Berry PM, Bugter R et al (2010) Identifying and prioritising services in European terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Biodivers Conserv 19:2791–2821. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9789-x
Hector A, Bagchi R (2007) Biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. Nature 448:188–190. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05947
Hein L, van Koppen K, de Groot RS, van Ierland EC (2006) Spatial scales, stakeholders and the valuation of ecosystem services. Ecol Econ 57:209–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.04.005
Hengl T, Mendes de Jesus J, Heuvelink GB, Ruiperez Gonzalez M, Kilibarda M et al (2017) SoilGrids250m: global gridded soil information based on machine learning. PLoS One. 12(2):e0169748. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169748
Hooper DU, Vitousek PM (1998) Effects of plant composition and diversity on nutrient cycling. Ecol Monogr 68(1):121–149. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657146
Huang X, Su J, Li S, Liu W, Lang X (2019) Functional diversity drives ecosystem multifunctionality in a Pinus yunnanensis natural secondary forest. Sci Rep 9:6979. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43475-1
Huang X, Li S, Su J (2020) Selective logging enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via increase of functional diversity in a Pinus yunnanensis forest in Southwest China. For Ecosyst 7(4):733–745. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-020-00267-8
Hurtado P, Prieto M, Aragón G, Escudero A, Martínez I et al (2019) Critical predictors of functional, phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity are geographically structured in lichen epiphytic communities. J Ecol 107:2303–2316. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13189
Isbell F, Calcagno V, Hector A, Connolly J, Harpole WS et al (2011) High plant diversity is needed to maintain ecosystem services. Nature 477:199–202. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10282
Ishii HT, Tanabe S-i, Hiura T (2004) Exploring the relationships among canopy structure, stand productivity, and biodiversity of temperate forest ecosystems. For Sci 50(3):342–355. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestscience/50.3.342
Jing X, Sanders NJ, Shi Y, Chu H, Classen AT et al (2015) The links between ecosystem multifunctionality and above- and belowground biodiversity are mediated by climate. Nat Commun 6:8159. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9159
Jonsson M, Bengtsson J, Moen J, Gamfeldt L, Snäll T (2020) Stand age and climate influence forest ecosystem service delivery and multifunctionality. Environ Res Lett. 15:0940a8. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abaf1c
Jucker T, Bongalov B, Burslem D, Nilus R, Dalponte M et al (2018) Topography shapes the structure, composition and function of tropical forest landscapes. Ecol Lett 21:989–1000. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12964
Kay S, Crous-Duran J, Ferreiro-Domínguez N, García de Jalón S, Graves A et al (2017) Spatial similarities between European agroforestry systems and ecosystem services at the landscape scale. Agrofor Syst 92:1075–1089. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0132-3
Kubota Y, Murata H, Kikuzawa K (2001) Effects of topographic heterogeneity on tree species richness and stand dynamics in a subtropical forest in Okinawa Island, southern Japan. J Ecol 92(2):230–240. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-0477.2004.00875.x
Lange M, Eisenhauer N, Sierra CA, Bessler H, Engels C et al (2015) Plant diversity increases soil microbial activity and soil carbon storage. Nat Commun 6:6707. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7707
Lavelle BP (1996) Diversity of soil fauna and ecosystem function. Biol Int 33:3–16
Lei X, Wang W, Peng C (2009) Relationships between stand growth and structural diversity in spruce-dominated forests in New Brunswick Canada. Can J For Res 39(10):1835–1847. https://doi.org/10.1139/x09-089
Li H, Lei Y (2010) Estimation and evaluation of forest biomass carbon storage in China. China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing
Li S, Huang X, Lang X, Shen J, Xu F et al (2020) Cumulative effects of multiple biodiversity attributes and abiotic factors on ecosystem multifunctionality in the Jinsha River valley of southwestern China. For Ecol Manag 472:118281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118281
Li S, Liu W, Lang X, Huang X, Su J (2021) Species richness, not abundance, drives ecosystem multifunctionality in a subtropical coniferous forest. Ecol Indicat. 120:106911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106911
Lu N, Fu B, Jin T, Chang R (2014) Trade-off analyses of multiple ecosystem services by plantations along a precipitation gradient across Loess Plateau landscapes. Landscape Ecol 29:1697–1708. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0101-4
Lu Z, Yi X, Hua Z, Weihua X, Fei L et al (2018) A spatial dataset of ecosystem services in China. China Sci Data 3(4):11–23
Lucas-Borja ME, Delgado-Baquerizo M (2019) Plant diversity and soil stoichiometry regulates the changes in multifunctionality during pine temperate forest secondary succession. Sci Total Environ. 697:134204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134204
Luo W, Liang J, Cazzolla Gatti R, Zhao X, Zhang C et al (2019) Parameterization of biodiversity–productivity relationship and its scale dependency using georeferenced tree-level data. J Ecol 107:1106–1119. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13129
Maestre FT, Quero JL, Gotelli NJ, Escudero A, Ochoa V et al (2012) Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands. Science 335:214–218. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215442
Marı́n J M, Montes Diez R, Rı́os Insua D, 2003. Bayesian methods in plant conservation biology. Biological Conservation. 113: 367-377. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3207(03)00124-1
Mensah S, Salako KV, Assogbadjo A, Glèlè Kakaï R, Sinsin B, et al. (2020) Functional trait diversity is a stronger predictor of multifunctionality than dominance: evidence from an Afromontane forest in South Africa. Ecol Indic. 115: 106415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106415.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being: Synthesis. Island Press; Washington, DC. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/19310.
Morin X (2015) Species richness promotes canopy packing: a promising step towards a better understanding of the mechanisms driving the diversity effects on forest functioning. Funct Ecol 29:993–994. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12473
Ouyang Z, Hua Z, Yang X, Polasky S et al (2016) Improvements in ecosystem services from investments in natural capital. Science 352:1455–1459. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf2295
Ouyang S, Xiang W, Wang X, Xiao W, Chen L et al (2019) Effects of stand age, richness and density on productivity in subtropical forests in China. J Ecol 107:2266–2277. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13194
Paul C, Brandl S, Friedrich S, Falk W, Härtl F et al (2019) Climate change and mixed forests: how do altered survival probabilities impact economically desirable species proportions of Norway spruce and European beech? Ann for Sci 76:14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-018-0793-8
Perkins DM, Bailey RA, Dossena M, Gamfeldt L, Reiss J et al (2015) Higher biodiversity is required to sustain multiple ecosystem processes across temperature regimes. Glob Chang Biol 21(1):396–406. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12688
Pretzsch H, Hilmers T, Biber P, Avdagić A, Binder F et al (2020) Evidence of elevation-specific growth changes of spruce, fir, and beech in European mixed mountain forests during the last three centuries. Can J for Res 50:689–703. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0368
Renard KG, Foster GR, Weesies GA, McCool DK, Yoder DC (1997) Predicting soil erosion by water: a guide to conservation planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). http://pdf.xuebalib.com:1262/eybnoxYMbtF.pdf.
Richards AE, Forrester DI, Bauhus J, Scherer-Lorenzen M (2010) The influence of mixed tree plantations on the nutrition of individual species: a review. Tree Physiol 30:1192–1208. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpq035
Rodríguez JP, T. Douglas Beard J, Bennett E M, Cumming G S, Cork S J, et al (2006) Trade-offs across space, time, and ecosystem services. Ecol Soc 11(1):28. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01667-110128
Rolo V, Roces-Diaz JV, Torralba M, Kay S, Fagerholm N et al (2021) Mixtures of forest and agroforestry alleviate trade-offs between ecosystem services in European rural landscapes. Ecosyst Serv 50:101318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101318
Sanaei A, Ali A, Yuan Z, Liu S, Lin F et al (2021) Context-dependency of tree species diversity, trait composition and stand structural attributes regulate temperate forest multifunctionality. Sci Total Environ. 757:143724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143724
State Forestry Administration (2013) Forest resource data collection technical specification Part 1: national forest inventory in China. https://wenku.baidu.com/view/fec4651f74eeaeaad1f34693daef5ef7bb0d1254.html.
Su C, Fu B (2013) Evolution of ecosystem services in the Chinese Loess Plateau under climatic and land use changes. Global Planet Change 101:119–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2012.12.014
Tiessen H, Chacon P, Cuevas E (1994) Phosphorus and nitrogen status in soils and vegetation along a toposequence of dystrophic rainforests on the upper Rio Negro. Oecologia 99(1):145–150. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317095
Turkelboom F, Leone M, Jacobs S, Kelemen E, García-Llorente M et al (2018) When we cannot have it all: ecosystem services trade-offs in the context of spatial planning. Ecosyst Serv 29:566–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.10.011
Van der Plas F, Manning P, Soliveres S, Allan E, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Verheyen K, Fischer M (2016) Biotic homogenization can decrease landscape-scale forest multifunctionality. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113(13):3557–3562. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605668113
van der Plas F, Ratcliffe S, Ruiz-Benito P, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Verheyen K et al (2018) Continental mapping of forest ecosystem functions reveals a high but unrealised potential for forest multifunctionality. Ecol Lett 21:31–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12868
Wang Y, Dai E (2020) Spatial-temporal changes in ecosystem services and the trade-off relationship in mountain regions: a case study of Hengduan Mountain region in Southwest China. J Clean Prod. 264(12):121573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121573
Wang T, Hamann A, Spittlehouse DL, Murdock TQ (2012) ClimateWNA—high-resolution spatial climate data for Western North America. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 51:16–29. https://doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-11-043.1
Wardle DA, Bardgett RD, Klironomos JN, Setälä H, Putten WHVD et al (2004) Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota. Science 304(5677):1629–1633. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094875
Willemen L, Hein L, van Mensvoort MEF, Verburg PH (2010) Space for people, plants, and livestock? Quantifying interactions among multiple landscape functions in a Dutch rural region. Ecol Ind 10:62–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2009.02.015
Williams JR, Arnold JG (1997) A system of erosion-sediment yield models. Soil Technol 11:43–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0933-3630(96)00114-6
Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1978) Predicting rainfall erosion losses-a guide to conservation. Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Handbook; United States. https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/e445710b-9690-39d5-987f-a9bc82a0a216/.
Wischmeier WH, Smith DD (1958) Rainfall energy and its relationship to soil loss. Trans Am Geophys Union 39(2):285–291. https://doi.org/10.1029/TR039i002p00285
Wolters V, Silver WL, Bignell DE, Coleman DC, Lavelle P et al (2000) Effects of global changes on above- and belowground biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems: implications for ecosystem functioning. Bioscience 50(12):1089–1098. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[1089:Eogcoa]2.0.Co;2
Xia S-W, Chen J, Schaefer D, Goodale UM (2016) Effect of topography and litterfall input on fine-scale patch consistency of soil chemical properties in a tropical rainforest. Plant Soil 404:385–398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2854-9
Yuan Z, Ali A, Ruiz-Benito P, Jucker T, Mori AS et al (2020) Above- and below-ground biodiversity jointly regulate temperate forest multifunctionality along a local-scale environmental gradient. J Ecol 108:2012–2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13378
Zavaleta E, Pasari J, Hulvey K, Tilman G (2010) Sustaining multiple ecosystem functions in grassland communities requires higher biodiversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci 107(4):1443–1446. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0906829107
Zeng Y, Gou M, Ouyang S, Chen L, Fang X et al (2019) The impact of secondary forest restoration on multiple ecosystem services and their trade-offs. Ecol Ind 104:248–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.05.008
Funding
This research was funded by the Key R&D Project of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2022YFD2200501) and the Forestry Public Welfare Scientific Research Project (Grant No. 201504303).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Jie Lan processed data, prepared figures and tables and wrote the main manuscript text. Xiangdong Lei provided method, reviewed and edited the manuscript. Xiao He, Wenqiang Gao and Hong Guo respectively prepared basic data, including biodiversity, stand and other related data. And all authors reviewed the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Communicated by Tianjian Cao.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Lan, J., Lei, X., He, X. et al. Stand density, climate and biodiversity jointly regulate the multifunctionality of natural forest ecosystems in northeast China. Eur J Forest Res 142, 493–507 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-023-01537-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-023-01537-0