About BETA-FOR

Natural forests form a diverse mosaic of different successional stages, with the variability in environmental conditions and species composition determining the overall functions of the ecosystem. The recent continuous loss of β-diversity in all ecosystems suggests increasingly homogeneous communities in landscape sections, primarily due to escalating land use intensity. Biodiversity is interconnected with numerous ecosystem functions and stability. Therefore, decreasing β-diversity is expected to reduce multifunctionality. Over centuries, the focus on wood production has significantly homogenized the structure and composition of forests in temperate regions. On the other hand, forest management constantly causes disturbances at various levels, which can lead to heterogeneity. Interestingly, these contrasting effects have not been thoroughly studied in detail, and the impacts of forest management practices on β-diversity and β-multifunctionality are not yet empirically substantiated.

To assess the impacts of homogenization and develop guidelines for reversing its potentially adverse effects, we are combining expertise from forestry, ecology, remote sensing, chemical ecology, and statistics in a collaborative and experimental β-diversity approach. Specifically, we will investigate whether enhancing structural beta-complexity (ESBC) in forests through silviculture or natural disturbances increases biodiversity and multifunctionality in formerly homogeneously structured production forests.

At eleven forest sites across Germany, we have selected two compartments as two types of small "forest landscapes." In one of these compartments, we have implemented ESBC treatments (nine differently treated 50x50 m plots with a focus on canopy and deadwood). In the second, the control compartment, we will establish nine plots without ESBC. Through comprehensive sampling, we will monitor 18 taxonomic groups and measure 21 ecosystem functions, including key functions in temperate zone forests, on all plots. The statistical framework will allow a comprehensive assessment of biodiversity by quantifying various aspects of multitrophic biodiversity (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity) at different levels of biodiversity (α-, β-, γ-diversity). To combine overall diversity, we will apply the concept of multidiversity to the 18 taxa. We will employ new approaches to quantify and partition multifunctionality at α- and β-scales.

Overall, our study will pave a new path in research by experimentally describing the relationship between β-diversity and multifunctionality. Furthermore, we will contribute to the development of guidelines for improved silvicultural concepts and concepts for managing natural disturbances in temperate zone forests to reverse the homogenization effects of the past.