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Research article2020Peer reviewedOpen access

Replacements of small- by large-ranged species scale up to diversity loss in Europe's temperate forest biome

Staude, Ingmar R.; Waller, Donald M.; Bernhardt-Roemermann, Markus; Bjorkman, Anne D.; Brunet, Jorg; De Frenne, Pieter; Hedl, Radim; Jandt, Ute; Lenoir, Jonathan; Malis, Frantisek; Verheyen, Kris; Wulf, Monika; Pereira, Henrique M.; Vangansbeke, Pieter; Ortmann-Ajkai, Adrienne; Pielech, Remigiusz; Berki, Imre; Chudomelova, Marketa; Decocq, Guillaume; Dirnboeck, Thomas;
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Abstract

The loss of biodiversity at the global scale has been difficult to reconcile with observations of no net loss at local scales. Vegetation surveys across European temperate forests show that this may be explained by the replacement of small-ranged species with large-ranged ones, driven by nitrogen deposition.Biodiversity time series reveal global losses and accelerated redistributions of species, but no net loss in local species richness. To better understand how these patterns are linked, we quantify how individual species trajectories scale up to diversity changes using data from 68 vegetation resurvey studies of seminatural forests in Europe. Herb-layer species with small geographic ranges are being replaced by more widely distributed species, and our results suggest that this is due less to species abundances than to species nitrogen niches. Nitrogen deposition accelerates the extinctions of small-ranged, nitrogen-efficient plants and colonization by broadly distributed, nitrogen-demanding plants (including non-natives). Despite no net change in species richness at the spatial scale of a study site, the losses of small-ranged species reduce biome-scale (gamma) diversity. These results provide one mechanism to explain the directional replacement of small-ranged species within sites and thus explain patterns of biodiversity change across spatial scales.

Published in

Nature ecology & evolution
2020, Volume: 4, pages: 802-808
Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Forest Science
    Ecology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1176-8

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/105367