Biodiversity contributes to stabilizing ecosystem productivity across spatial scales as much as environmental heterogeneity in a large temperate forest region

Abstract

Although the destabilizing effects of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning at local and larger spatial scales are fairly well understood, the consequences of environmental homogenization have received much less attention. Based on detailed measurements of permanent natural forest plots distributed over a large temperate forest region, we explored the effects of environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity on ecosystem stability at local and larger spatial scales. Our results show that the relationship between environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity, as well as between environmental heterogeneity and stability across scales are mostly nonlinear, and that biodiversity stabilizes ecosystem functioning in these natural forests across scales. The unique contribution of biodiversity to stabilizing ecosystem functioning from local to larger scales is greater than the heterogeneity of climate, soils, topography, vegetation, and land cover. To our knowledge, this study is the first to quantify the effects of environmental heterogeneity on the temporal stability of forest productivity in a large natural forest region. Our results imply that biodiversity contributes to stabilizing forest ecosystems from local to larger spatial scales as much as environmental heterogeneity. Research involving large heterogeneous landscapes is critical to understanding the ecological effects of biodiversity across scales. The results of this study are thus relevant for developing effective conservation and land management strategies.