Currently, with increasing human disturbance and global changes, the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has been a frontier and hot topic of ecological researchers. Many studies have confirmed that biodiversity (including plant diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and soil microbial diversity) is an important driving factor. Simultaneously, biotic and abiotic factors could also affect the relationship.
Previous studies on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning mainly focused on single ecosystem functions, such as aboveground biomass and soil organic carbon stock, which ignores the other ecosystem functions (including soil fertility, water regulation, and decomposition) and multi-functionality. In addition, human disturbance also could affect the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, such as land use type. However, more and more studies have found that the analysis of single functions has underestimated the effect of biodiversity on the provisioning of multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously, which could be defined as the ecosystem’s multifunctionality. Thus, considering only single ecosystem functions will be difficult to deeply explore the impact mechanisms of biodiversity on ecosystem function and multi-functionality. Therefore, maintenance mechanisms of multiple biodiversity attributes and driving mechanisms of ecosystem functioning would be important study topics in landscape ecosystems.
Our purpose is to collect the newest research on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions in order to better understand the effect of multiple biodiversity attributes, including plant diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, soil microbial diversity, environmental factors (such as soil properties, climatic factors, and topographical factors), biotic factors (stand density and structural complexity), and land use change. Meantime, we further explored the driving mechanism of single ecosystem functions and multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems, such as the selection effect, niche complementary effect, and insurance hypothesis.
We hope to address these fundamental questions in an interdisciplinary manner, encourage serious discussion of existing controversies, and foster new approaches to understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning especially focus on:
• Driving mechanisms in regulating and maintaining ecosystem function and multifunctionality in forests
• Effects of multiple biodiversity attributes, abiotic and biotic factors on ecosystem function and multifunctionality in forests
• Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on ecosystem function and multifunctionality in forests, and management in restoring biodiversity and ecosystem function and multifunctionality in a forest ecosystem.
• Interactions and maintenance mechanisms of above- (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, and soil structural diversity) and below-ground (bacterial, fungal, and nematodes diversity) biodiversity in forests.
Currently, with increasing human disturbance and global changes, the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has been a frontier and hot topic of ecological researchers. Many studies have confirmed that biodiversity (including plant diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and soil microbial diversity) is an important driving factor. Simultaneously, biotic and abiotic factors could also affect the relationship.
Previous studies on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning mainly focused on single ecosystem functions, such as aboveground biomass and soil organic carbon stock, which ignores the other ecosystem functions (including soil fertility, water regulation, and decomposition) and multi-functionality. In addition, human disturbance also could affect the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, such as land use type. However, more and more studies have found that the analysis of single functions has underestimated the effect of biodiversity on the provisioning of multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously, which could be defined as the ecosystem’s multifunctionality. Thus, considering only single ecosystem functions will be difficult to deeply explore the impact mechanisms of biodiversity on ecosystem function and multi-functionality. Therefore, maintenance mechanisms of multiple biodiversity attributes and driving mechanisms of ecosystem functioning would be important study topics in landscape ecosystems.
Our purpose is to collect the newest research on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions in order to better understand the effect of multiple biodiversity attributes, including plant diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, soil microbial diversity, environmental factors (such as soil properties, climatic factors, and topographical factors), biotic factors (stand density and structural complexity), and land use change. Meantime, we further explored the driving mechanism of single ecosystem functions and multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems, such as the selection effect, niche complementary effect, and insurance hypothesis.
We hope to address these fundamental questions in an interdisciplinary manner, encourage serious discussion of existing controversies, and foster new approaches to understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning especially focus on:
• Driving mechanisms in regulating and maintaining ecosystem function and multifunctionality in forests
• Effects of multiple biodiversity attributes, abiotic and biotic factors on ecosystem function and multifunctionality in forests
• Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on ecosystem function and multifunctionality in forests, and management in restoring biodiversity and ecosystem function and multifunctionality in a forest ecosystem.
• Interactions and maintenance mechanisms of above- (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, and soil structural diversity) and below-ground (bacterial, fungal, and nematodes diversity) biodiversity in forests.