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Abstract:
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 ecosystem functions measured in 209 forest plots across
six European countries, and performed simulations to investigate
how local plot-scale richness of tree species (α-diversity) and their
turnover between plots (β-diversity) are related to landscape-scale
multifunctionality. After accounting for variation in environmental
conditions, we found that relationships between α-diversity and
landscape-scale multifunctionality varied from positive to negative
depending on the multifunctionality metric used. In contrast, when
significant, relationships between β-diversity and landscape-scale
multifunctionality were always positive, because a high spatial turnover
in species composition was closely related to a high spatial
turnover in functions that were supported at high levels. Our findings
have major implications for forest management and indicate
that biotic homogenization can have previously unrecognized and
negative consequences for large-scale ecosystem multifunctionality
