Tree Diversity Increases Forest Temperature Buffering via Enhancing Canopy Density and Structural Diversity
Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of climate extremes. Forests may buffer climate extremes by creating their own attenuated microclimate below their canopy, which maintains forest functioning and biodiversity. However, the effect of tree diversity on temperature buffering in forests is largely unexplored. Here, we show that tree species richness increases forest temperature buffering across temporal scales over six years in a large-scale tree diversity experiment covering a species richness gradient of 1 to 24 tree species. We found that species richness strengthened the cooling of hot and the insulation against cold daily and monthly air temperatures and temperature extremes. This buffering effect of tree species richness was mediated by enhanced canopy density and structural diversity in species-rich stands. Safeguarding and planting diverse forests may thus mitigate negative effects of global warming and climate extremes on below-canopy ecosystem functions and communities.
Authors
- Bo Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1108-4006)
- Simone Cesarz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2334-5119)
- Werner Härdtle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5599-5792)
- Rémy Beugnon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2457-5688)
- Matthias Kunz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0541-3424)
- Bernhard Schmid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8430-3214)
- Nico Eisenhauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0371-6720)
- Christian Wirth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2604-8056)
- Pascal A. Niklaus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2360-1357)
- Andreas Fichtner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0499-4893)
- Goddert von Oheimb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7408-425X)
- Ronny Richter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8728-7918)
- Manfred Wendisch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4652-5561)
- G. Hahn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3733-1498)
- Helge Bruelheide (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3135-0356)
- Florian Schnabel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8452-4001)
- Maria D. Perles‐Garcia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2475-4918)
- Nadia C. Castro Izaguirre
- Xiaojuan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9292-4432)
- Keping Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9112-5340)
- Yuanyuan Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6990-8864)
- Stefan Trogisch
Institutions
- Leuphana University of Lüneburg (DE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH)
- Beijing Botanical Garden (CN)
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE)
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (FR)
- Jingdezhen University (CN)
- GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE)
- Institute of Botany (CN)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE)
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
- Leipzig University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Ecology Letters
- Published
- 2025-03-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70096
- Citations
- 31
- Primary Topic
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 71.71
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst
- Universität Zürich
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig