Journal article icon

Journal article

Positive effects of tree diversity on tropical forest restoration in a field-scale experiment

Abstract:
Experiments under controlled conditions have established that ecosystem functioning is generally positively related to levels of biodiversity, but it is unclear how widespread these effects are in real-world settings and whether they can be harnessed for ecosystem restoration. We used remote-sensing data from the first decade of a long-term, field-scale tropical restoration experiment initiated in 2002 to test how the diversity of planted trees affected recovery of a 500-ha area of selectively logged forest measured using multiple sources of satellite data. Replanting using species-rich mixtures of tree seedlings with higher phylogenetic and functional diversity accelerated restoration of remotely sensed estimates of aboveground biomass, canopy cover, and leaf area index. Our results are consistent with a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the lowland dipterocarp rainforests of SE Asia and demonstrate that using diverse mixtures of species can enhance their initial recovery after logging.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

Actions


Access Document


Files:
Publisher copy:
10.1126/sciadv.adf0938

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Biology
Oxford college:
Linacre College
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-0866-1108


Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Journal:
Science Advances More from this journal
Volume:
9
Issue:
37
Article number:
eadf0938
Publication date:
2023-09-15
Acceptance date:
2023-08-14
DOI:
EISSN:
2375-2548


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1525653
Local pid:
pubs:1525653
Deposit date:
2023-09-12

Terms of use



Views and Downloads






If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record

TO TOP