Biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships depend on identity and number of measured functions

Meyer, Sebastian T.; Ptáčník, Robert; Hillebrand, Helmut; Beßler, Holger; Buchmann, Nina; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Engels, Christof; Fischer, Markus; Halle, Stefan; Klein, Alexandra‐Maria; Oelmann, Yvonne; Roscher, Christiane; Rottstock, Tanja; Scherber, Christoph; Scheu, Stefan; Schmid, Bernhard; Schulze, Ernst Detlef; Temperton, Vicky M.; Tscharntke, Teja; Voigt, Winfried; Weigelt, Alexandra; Wilcke, Wolfgang; Weisser, Wolfgang W.

doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0391-4

Cited by 190 publications

(215 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Our results support the conclusion by Meyer et al () that biodiversity conservation is sometimes unlikely to be achieved indirectly by managing ecosystems for various particular ES (see Allan et al, , for similar conclusions). We have shown trade‐offs between considering a variety of ES and the conservation of mega‐diverse natural forests at the landscape level.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Accounting for multiple ecosystem services in a simulation of land‐use decisions: Does it reduce tropical deforestation?

Knoke

Paul

Rammig

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Conversion of tropical forests is among the primary causes of global environmental change. The loss of their important environmental services has prompted calls to integrate ecosystem services (ES) in addition to socio‐economic objectives in decision‐making. To test the effect of accounting for both ES and socio‐economic objectives in land‐use decisions, we develop a new dynamic approach to model deforestation scenarios for tropical mountain forests. We integrate multi‐objective optimization of land allocation with an innovative approach to consider uncertainty spaces for each objective. These uncertainty spaces account for potential variability among decision‐makers, who may have different expectations about the future. When optimizing only socio‐economic objectives, the model continues the past trend in deforestation (1975–2015) in the projected land‐use allocation (2015–2070). Based on indicators for biomass production, carbon storage, climate and water regulation, and soil quality, we show that considering multiple ES in addition to the socio‐economic objectives has heterogeneous effects on land‐use allocation. It saves some natural forest if the natural forest share is below 38%, and can stop deforestation once the natural forest share drops below 10%. For landscapes with high shares of forest (38%–80% in our study), accounting for multiple ES under high uncertainty of their indicators may, however, accelerate deforestation. For such multifunctional landscapes, two main effects prevail: (a) accelerated expansion of diversified non‐natural areas to elevate the levels of the indicators and (b) increased landscape diversification to maintain multiple ES, reducing the proportion of natural forest. Only when accounting for vascular plant species richness as an explicit objective in the optimization, deforestation was consistently reduced. Aiming for multifunctional landscapes may therefore conflict with the aim of reducing deforestation, which we can quantify here for the first time. Our findings are relevant for identifying types of landscapes where this conflict may arise and to better align respective policies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Accounting for multiple ecosystem services in a simulation of land‐use decisions: Does it reduce tropical deforestation?

Knoke

Paul

Rammig

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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“…Besides depending on the identity (Meyer et al 2017) and on the number of functions or properties considered (Gamfeldt et al 2008(Gamfeldt et al , 2013, evaluations of ecosystem multifunctionality also depend on the approach used (Byrnes et al 2014, Meyer et al 2017. Here, we applied three different approaches, that is, the averaging, the single threshold, and the multiple threshold approaches, to assess the effects of time since restoration on multiple ecosystem properties of restored peatlands.…”

Section: Multifunctional Response Of Restored Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can help re-define restoration targets and management decisions (Matthews et al 2009, Bullock et al 2011, Suding 2011, Meyer et al 2017). Still, in the absence of historic or extant reference sites, this is a promising alternative.…”

Section: Multifunctional Response Of Restored Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated assessment of ecosystem recovery using a multifunctionality approach

2019

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Ecological restoration has great potential for reversing anthropogenic degradation, as it aims at the simultaneous recovery of several ecosystem functions and services. However, it can be challenging to evaluate multiple restoration targets based on a high number of indicators, and this calls for a multifunctionality approach. Multifunctionality is an integrated measure of the relative supply of multiple ecosystem functions or services. As temporal aspects are of key importance for ecosystem recovery, we analyzed multifunctionality against time since restoration. We used rewetted peatlands in a mountainous region in Central Germany as a study case. Restored peatlands are expected to become multifunctional, while their recovery is rather slow.We investigated to what extent rewetted peatlands recover, and how time since restoration controls the simultaneous development of multiple ecosystem properties. We studied restored peatlands with respect to plant diversity, water table, peat decomposition, water holding capacity, and nutrient level using a chronosequence of 0-18 yr after restoration. We analyzed the development of individual properties and of a combined index. We further compared the recovery of restored sites at different ages to an intact reference peatland and to a theoretical optimum value, defined as the mean of the eleven most desirable values observed. Eleven out of 13 peatland properties and the combined index significantly evolved with time since restoration. Nevertheless, we could not observe a consistent trend of multiple properties if aiming at highest levels of functioning, whereas there was progress with time if low or intermediate functioning is targeted. Our results show that not all functions of restored peatlands can recover to the most desirable extent within 18 yr. However, the average functionality and some individual properties achieved levels comparable to the reference site, highlighting that improvement is possible. While the integrated assessment informs about the degree of ecosystem recovery, an additional analysis of individual properties helps understanding ecosystem-specific dynamics, which are needed for making decisions on potential future management.

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“…Based on the most recent scientific research on the functional significance of tree species diversity, such forestry practices should promote multi-species tree communities (Paquette et al 2018). Multiple interconnected functions are at play in natural ecosystems, with biodiversity potentially becoming more important as more functions are considered (Gamfeldt et al 2008, Meyer et al 2018. For instance, productivity increases with tree diversity through crown complementarity (Liang et al 2016), herbivores and herbivory pressure respond to tree diversity (Vehvil€ ainen et al 2007) and litter decomposition depends on decomposer functional diversity and on plant litter type, both linked to tree diversity (Handa et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest fragmentation modulates effects of tree species richness and composition on ecosystem multifunctionality

Hertzog

Boonyarittichaikij

Dekeukeleire

et al. 2019

Ecology

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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.

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Biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships depend on identity and number of measured functions

Cited by 190 publications

References 40 publications

Accounting for multiple ecosystem services in a simulation of land‐use decisions: Does it reduce tropical deforestation?

Accounting for multiple ecosystem services in a simulation of land‐use decisions: Does it reduce tropical deforestation?

Integrated assessment of ecosystem recovery using a multifunctionality approach

Forest fragmentation modulates effects of tree species richness and composition on ecosystem multifunctionality

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