Assessing above-ground biomass-functional diversity relationships in temperate forests in northern Mexico
Por:
Vargas-Larreta, Benedicto, Lopez-Martinez, Jorge Omar, Gonzalez, Edgar J., Corral-Rivas, Jose Javier, Hernandez, Francisco Javier
Publicada:
31 dic 2021
Resumen:
Background: Studies on the relationship between biodiversity and
ecosystem productivity have suggested that species richness and
functional diversity are the main drivers of ecosystem processes.
Several patterns on this relationship have been found, including
positive, unimodal, negative, and neutral trends, keeping the issue
controversial. In this study, taxonomic diversity and functional
diversity as drivers of above-ground biomass (AGB) were compared, and
the mechanisms that influence biomass production were investigated by
testing the complementarity and the mass-ratio hypotheses.
Methods: Using data from 414 permanent sample plots, covering 23% of
temperate forest in the Sierra Madre Oriental (Mexico), we estimated the
above-gound biomass (AGB), taxonomic and functional diversity indices,
as well as community weighted mean values (CWM) for three functional
traits (maximum height, leaf size and wood density) for trees >= 7.5 cm
DBH, in managed and unmanaged stands. To compare taxonomic diversity
differences between managed and unmanaged stands we carried out a
rarefaction analysis. Furthermore, we evaluated the relationship between
AGB and taxonomic and functional diversity metrics, as well as CWM
traits throught spatial autoregressive models.
Results: We found a hump-shaped relationship between AGB and species
richness in managed and unmanaged forests. CMW of maximum height was the
most important predictor of AGB in both stands, which suggested that the
mechanism underlaying the AGB-diversity relationship is the dominance of
some highly productive species, supporting the mass-ratio hypothesis.
Above-ground biomass was significantly correlated with three of the five
functional diversity metrics, CWM maximum height and species richness.
Our results show the importance of taking into account spatial
autocorrelation in the construction of predictive models to avoid
spurious patterns in the AGB-diversity relationship.
Conclusion: Species richness, maximum height, functional richness,
functional dispersion and RaoQ indices relate with above-ground biomass
production in temperate mixed-species and uneven-aged forests of
northern Mexico. These forests show a hump-shaped AGB-species richness
relationship. Functional diversity explains better AGB production than
classical taxonomic diversity. Community weighted mean traits provide
key information to explain stand biomass in these forests, where maximum
tree height seems to be a more suitable trait for understanding the
biomass accumulation process in these ecosystems. Although the impact of
forest management on biodiversity is still debated, it has not changed
the AGB-diversity relationships in the forests of the Sierra Madre
Occidental, Mexico.
Filiaciones:
Inst Tecnol El Salto, Tecnol Nacl Mexico, Durango 34942, Mexico
CONACYT, Catedras, 1582 Av Insurgentes Sur, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
Colegio Frontera Sur, Chetmal 77014, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Fac Ciencias, Dept Ecol & Recursos Nat, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
Univ Juarez Estado Durango, Fac Ciencias Forestales, Rio Papaloapan & Blvd Durango S-N, Durango 34120, Mexico
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