About
60
Publications
43,224
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
3,040
Citations
Citations since 2017
Publications
Publications (60)
Background:
In contrast with the negligible contribution of the forest understorey to the total aboveground phytobiomass of a forest, its share in annual litter production and nutrient cycling may be more important. Whether and how this functional role of the understorey differs across forest types and depends upon overstorey characteristics remai...
Abstract Background Understorey vegetation is a key biodiversity component of forest ecosystems. Previous studies examined its relations with the overstorey mainly in terms of taxonomic diversity, composition or productivity. So far, none focused on the phylogenetic aspect, which represents the deepest component of diversity in a community. Here, w...
The understorey in temperate forests can play an important functional role, depending on its biomass and functional characteristics. While it is known that local soil and stand characteristics largely determine the biomass of the understorey, less is known about the role of global change. Global change can directly affect understorey biomass, but a...
Plant diversity is an important driver of diversity at other trophic levels, suggesting that cascading extinctions could reduce overall biodiversity. Most evidence for positive effects of plant diversity comes from grasslands. Despite the fact that forests are hotspots of biodiversity, the importance of tree diversity, in particular its relative im...
Temperate forests cover 16% of the global forest area. Within these forests, the understorey is an important biodiversity reservoir that can influence ecosystem processes and functions in multiple ways. However, we still lack a thorough understanding of the relative importance of the understorey for temperate forest functioning. As a result, unders...
Bats and birds are key providers of ecosystem services in forests. How climate and habitat jointly shape their communities is well studied, but whether biotic predictors from other trophic levels may improve bird and bat diversity models is less known, especially across large bioclimatic gradients. Here, we achieved multi-taxa surveys in 209 mature...
1.Forest ecosystem functioning generally benefits from higher tree species richness, but variation within richness levels is typically large. This is mostly due to the contrasting performances of communities with different compositions. Evidence‐based understanding of composition effects on forest productivity, as well as on multiple other function...
The importance of semi-natural vegetation elements in the agricultural landscape is increasingly recognized because they have the potential to enhance multiple ecosystem service delivery and biodiversity. However, there is great variability in the observed effects within and between studies. Also, little is known about the simultaneous delivery of...
Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litt...
Woody networks of hedgerows, tree lines and forest patches can harbour a high biodiversity and may serve as an important species refuge in agricultural landscapes. In order to protect the biodiversity and associated potential ecosystem services of woody networks, we need to understand their drivers. We surveyed the plant diversity and calculated th...
An increasing number of studies have investigated the consequences of biodiversity loss for the occurrence of vector-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, the most common tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. As host species differ in their ability to transmit the Lyme borreliosis bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. to ticks, increased h...
QuestionsHow does plant community diversity influence variation in plant biomass? There are two competing hypotheses: the biomass ratio' hypothesis, where biomass is influenced by the abundance and traits of the most dominant species, and the diversity' hypothesis, where the diversity of organisms influences biomass through mechanisms such as niche...
Through litter decomposition enormous amount of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale
decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand
the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly
based on site-specific litte...
Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to under-stand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litt...
Humans require multiple services from ecosystems, but it is largely unknown whether trade-offs between ecosystem functions prevent the realisation of high ecosystem multifunctionality across spatial scales. Here, we combined a comprehensive dataset (28 ecosystem functions measured on 209 forest plots) with a forest inventory dataset (105,316 plots)...
The importance of biodiversity in supporting ecosystem functioning is generally well accepted. However, most evidence comes from small-scale studies, and scaling-up patterns of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (B-EF) remains challenging, in part because the importance of environmental factors in shaping B-EF relations is poorly understood. Using...
Forest biogeochemistry is strongly determined by the interaction between the tree community and the topsoil. Functional strategies of tree species are coupled to specific chemical leaf traits, and thus also to litter composition, which affects mineral soil characteristics. The limited understanding on this interaction is mainly based on shorter-ter...
Production of wood charcoal in the Mediterranean countries started over two millennia ago and vanished almost completely only in the last century. The legacy of this activity are thousands of abandoned charcoal kiln platforms, in which soil and vegetation characteristics are deeply affected. Understanding the consequences of such effects at the for...
1.There is increasing evidence that species diversity enhances the temporal stability of community productivity in different ecosystems, although its effect at population and tree levels seems to be negative or neutral. Asynchrony in species responses to environmental conditions was found to be one of the main drivers of this stabilizing process. H...
Mixing different tree species in forest plantations might increase stand productivity and resilience compared to monocultures, but mixing effects in the early stage of mixed forest plantations are still poorly understood. In general, sapling growth is affected by environmental factors, sapling species identity, direct and indirect interactions with...
Species assemblages are shaped by local and
continental-scale processes that are seldom investigated
together, due to the lack of surveys along independent gradients
of latitude and habitat types. Our study investigated
changes in the effects of forest composition and structure
on bat and bird diversity across Europe. We compared the
taxonomic and...
Earthworms have a significant influence on the structure, composition and functioning of forest ecosystems, but in spite of their role as ecosystem engineers, little is known on the factors controlling their distribution across European forests. Optimised sampling techniques, as well as more advanced statistical tools and geographical information s...
1. Worldwide, forest fragmentation induces edge effects, thereby
strongly altering the forest microclimate and abiotic characteristics in the forest
edge compared to the forest interior. The impact of edge-to-interior gradients
on abiotic parameters has been extensively studied, but we lack insights on how
biodiversity, and soil communities in part...
Lyme disease is caused by bacteria of the
Borrelia burgdorferi
genospecies complex and transmitted by Ixodid ticks. In North America only one pathogenic genospecies occurs, in Europe there are several. According to the dilution effect hypothesis (DEH), formulated in North America, nymphal infection prevalence (NIP) decreases with increasing host di...
There is considerable evidence that biodiversity promotes multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality), thus ensuring the delivery of ecosystem services important for human well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood, especially in natural ecosystems. We develop a novel approach to partition biodivers...
There is considerable evidence that biodiversity promotes multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality), thus ensuring the delivery of ecosystem services important for human well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood, especially in natural ecosystems. We develop a novel approach to partition biodivers...
Significance
Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of biodiversity in maintaining multiple ecosystem functions and services (multifunctionality) at local spatial scales, but it is unknown whether similar relationships are found at larger spatial scales in real-world landscapes. Here, we show, for the first time to our knowledge, that bi...
Many experiments have shown that local biodiversity loss impairs the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple ecosystem functions at high levels (multifunctionality). In contrast, the role of biodiversity in driving ecosystem multifunctionality at landscape scales remains unresolved. We used a comprehensive pan-European dataset, including 16 ecos...
Production of wood charcoal is an ancient form of anthropogenic forest use that existed for millennia in Mediterranean countries and only vanished in the last century. As a result, thousands of abandoned charcoal kiln platforms still occur in present-day woodlands. Because of peculiar light and soil properties, the understorey vegetation at these p...
Mixed forest with multiple tree species is expected to create heterogeneous habitat and diverse niches for the canopy arthropod community. We assessed arthropod abundance, order richness, and community composition in the crowns of saplings of nine temperate tree species in two plantations of a recently established tree diversity experiment in Belgi...
Production of wood charcoal is a traditional form of forest use that lasted for millennia in the Mediterranean countries. Following their almost complete abandonment in the last century, thousands of old charcoal platforms remain in present-day forest landscapes. These sites are characterized by peculiar ecological conditions, whose effects on the...
Forest biogeochemistry is strongly linked to the functional strategies of the tree community and the topsoil. Research has long documented that tree species affect soil properties in forests. Our current understanding on this interaction is mainly based on common garden experiments in temperate forest and needs to be extended to other ecosystems if...
Planting forests is an important practice for climate change mitigation, especially in the tropics where the carbon (C) sequestration potential is high. Successful implementation of this mitigation practice requires knowledge of the role of species identity and diversity on carbon accrual of plantations. Despite this need, solid data on the long-te...
One of the prominent compositional features of thermophilous deciduous forests of southern
Europe is their richness in secondary woody species (AWS). To date, no studies have focused
on the diversity and contribution to the ecosystem functions and socio-economic benefits
provided by these species. Here, we first characterized species richness and d...
The forest herb layer provides a multitude of ecosystem services as a result of its species-rich character. Herb layer diversity and biomass are both influenced by tree layer composition and species richness through species-specific influences on environmental conditions. The results of observational studies on richness–biomass relationships betwee...
The understorey fulfils many important ecosystem services, such as mediation of carbon dynamics, provision of habitats, and it contains most of the plant diversity in forest ecosystems. Changes in the overstorey diversity may affect understorey diversity as trees have a species-specific impact on resource availability and soil conditions that influ...
One of the current advances in functional biodiversity research is the move away from short-lived test systems towards the exploration of diversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in structurally more complex ecosystems. In forests, assumptions about the functional significance of tree species diversity have only recently produced a new generat...
During the last two decades, functional biodiversity research has provided strong support for the hypothesis that more biodiverse ecosystems have the potential to deliver more and better services. However, most empirical support for this hypothesis comes from simple structured communities that are relatively easy to manipulate. The impact of forest...
Context
Nowadays, harvest operations are predominantly performed fully mechanized using heavy tractors or forestry machines. The resulting soil compaction may negatively affect the soil ecosystem.
Aims
We wanted to draw general conclusions concerning the impact of mechanized harvesting on forest soil bulk density and the influencing factors.
Method...
It is ecologically undesirable to solve forest soil compaction due to mechanized harvesting at large spatial scales using agricultural mechanical soil loosening techniques. We therefore examined whether a stimulation of biological activity through litter manipulation, liming and/or inoculation of the anecic earthworm species Lumbricus terrestris co...
Soil compaction due to mechanized harvesting operations in forests can have profound effects on forest soils and, hence, can have a detrimental effect on subsequent forest regeneration. We performed a meta-analysis to quantify the effect of soil compaction on height growth, diameter growth, and survival of tree saplings. These effects were predomin...
Aim Elevated inputs of biologically reactive nitrogen (N) are considered to be one of the most substantial threats to biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. Several attempts have been made to scrutinize the factors driving species loss following excess N input, but generalizations across sites or vegetation types cannot yet be made. Here we focus...
During the last decades, manual felling and logging of forest trees by animals or small tractors evolved towards mechanized harvesting, using heavy tractors or specialized forestry machines with increasing masses. This development may cause soil degradation in forest ecosystems as the resulting soil compaction modifies soil characteristics that are...
An extensive field trial was set up in eight forest stands to examine the influence of soil texture (two stands on sand, four on loam to silt loam, two on clay), machine mass (light, heavy) and traffic intensity (1 and 5 skidding cycles) (i.e. pass back and forth on the skid trail) on soil compaction after mechanized harvesting. Dry bulk density (B...
impact of skidding traffic on bulk density and penetration resistance of two sandy forest soils was examined in Putte (the Netherlands). Different levels of compaction were applied by varying the number of skidding cycles: one pass harvester (H), one pass harvester and forwarder (H + F), and multiple passes of both machines (Max). Bulk density and...
Projects
Projects (3)
Many people perceive Biodiversity, the variety of life in all its forms, as enrichment and would agree that it has a value by itself. Does biodiversity have, on top of that, an effect on the functions and services of an ecosystem, as productivity and stability or nutrient, carbon and water cycling? This question is addressed by scientists within a European research project FunDivEUROPE on the functional significance of biodiversity in European forests (http://www.fundiveurope.eu).
FunDivEUROPE aims to quantify the role of forest biodiversity for ecosystem functioning and the delivery of goods and services in major European forest types. For more information: see http://project.fundiveurope.eu/
Understanding the effect of species diversity on ecosystem functioning in European forests.