BEF-China


The Biodiversity Ecosystem Functioning experiment in China has been established in 2009. It involves a huge pool of subtropic tree and shrub species. The main goal is determining the role of tree and shrub species diversity for production, element cycling and species conservation in Chinese subtropical forest ecosystems. Novel ecosystem functioning variables highly relevant for environmental issues in China are also investigated, e.g., prevention of soil erosion, carbon sequestration, and resistance to invasion.

One of the BEF-China sites after weeding in 2009 (Photo: Xuefei Yang). Some plots in site A in 2019 (Photo: Xiaojuan Liu).


Design
The experiment consists of two sites (site A, site B), 5 km apart, with two separate species pools that overlap by only 8 species out of the overall tree species pool of 40. All species are equally represented at each diversity level. At one of the two sites, trees of known maternal seed families were planted for 13 tree species.
The plots were planted with a decreasing number of species. The most species-rich plots contain 24 species; plots with 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 and even without trees species were established according to different extinction schemes. In addition, plots with economically important species, plots for free succession and plots with shrub monocultures were planted. Within every plot, 400 trees were planted in a regular fashion (0.6 trees m-2), but mixture of different species was random. In the outer part of the plots, subplots are manipulated to study, e.g., vascular plants in the herb layer, mycorrhiza, decomposers, and herbivores.

Arrangement of the plots at the two sites. The yellow plots are monocultures but also plots planted with commercially important tree species: Cunninghamia lanceolata and Pinus massoniana.


Site characteristics

location Xingangshan
former land use
altitude
soil type
area 38.4 ha
no of plots 566
plot size 25.82 m x 25.82 m
no of trees planted 307 200
planting date 2009, 2010
diversity variables species richness
shrub species richness
genetic diversity
diversity gradient 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 tree sp.
2, 4, 8 shrub sp.
size species pool 40 broadleaved tree species + 18 shrub species + 2 commercial coniferous species
species pool tree species: Acer davidii, Ailanthus altissima, Alniphyllum fortune, Betula luminifera, Castanea henryi, Castanopsis carlesii, C. eyrie, C. fargesii, C. sclerophylla, Celtis biondii, Choerospondias axillaris, Cinnamomum camphora, Cyclobalanopsis glauca, C. myrsinifolia, Daphniphyllum oldhamii, Diospyros japonica, Elaeocarpus chinensis, E. glabripetalus, E. japonicas, Idesia polycarpa, Koelreuteria bipinnata, Liquidambar formosana, Lithocarpus glaber, Machilus grijsii, M. leptophylla, M. thunbergii, Manglietia fordiana, Meliosma flexuosa, Nyssa sinensis, Phoebe bournei, Quercus acutissima, Q. fabri, Q. phillyreoides, Q. serrate, Rhus chinensis, Sapindus saponaria, Schima superba, Triadica cochinchinensis, T. sebifera

shrub species: Ardisia crenata, Camellia chekiangoleosa, Distylium buxifolium, D. myricoides, Euonymus myrianthus, Eurya muricata, Ficus erecta, Gardenia jasminoides, Hydrangea chinensis, Itea omeiensis, Loropetalum chinense, Photinia hirsute, Phyllanthus glaucus, Rhaphiolepis indica, Rhododendron ovatum, R. simsii, Syzygium buxifolium, Viburnum setigerum

commercial species: Cunninghamia lanceolata, Pinus massoniana
contact person Xiaojuan Liu



Research

We study the effects of species richness and composition on a range of ecosystem functions, including primary productivity, carbon and nutrient cycling, soil processes, the abundance and biodiversity of other trophic groups, and soil erosion. We also investigate whether genetic diversity affects tree performance, multitrophic interactions, and the response to different species diversity levels or environmental variables such as light availability, which may itself be affected by species diversity.



Extra information

Send an e-mail to the contact person, visit the experiment's own website, or explore the publications: theses

  • Goebes P (2015) Mechanisms of soil erosion in subtropical forests of China - effects of biodiversity, species identity, tree architecture and spatial variability on erosivity. PhD thesis, University of Tübingen
  • Kröber (2015) Stomatal control, xylem hydraulics and leaf morphology in the 40 BEF-China tree species: trait interrelationships, functional diversity and tree growth prediction. PhD thesis, Martin Luther University
papers
  • Albert G, Gauzens B, Loreau M, Wang S, Brose U (2022) The hidden role of multi-trophic interactions in driving diversity-productivity relationships. Ecology Letters 25(2): 405-415 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13935
  • Beugnon R, Ladouceur E, Sünnemann M, Cesarz S, Eisenhauer N (2022) Diverse forests are cool: Promoting diverse forests to mitigate carbon emissions and climate change. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment 1: 5-8 - https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.12005
  • Cesarz S, Craven D, Auge H, Bruelheide H, Castagneyrol B, Gutknecht J, Hector A, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Messier C, Muys B, Brien MJO, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich PB, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Smith AR, Verheyen K, Eisenhauer N (2022) Tree diversity effects on soil microbial biomass and respiration are context dependent across forest diversity experiments. Global Ecology and Biogeography 31:872-885 - https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13461
  • Gan H, Li X, Wang Y, Lü P, Ji N, Yao H, Li S, Guo L (2022) Plants Play Stronger Effects on Soil Fungal than Bacterial Communities and Co-Occurrence Network Structures in a Subtropical Tree Diversity Experiment. Microbiology Spectrum - https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00134-22
  • Huang YY, Schuldt A, Hoenig L, Yang B, Liu XJ, Bruelheide H, Ma KP, Schmid B, Niklaus PA (2022) Effects of enemy exclusion on biodiversity-productivity relationships in a subtropical forest experiment. Journal of ecology – https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13940
  • Perles-Garcia MD, Kunz M, Fichtner A, Meyer N, Hardtle W, von Oheimb G (2022) Neighbourhood Species Richness Reduces Crown Asymmetry of Subtropical Trees in Sloping Terrain. Remote Sensing 14: 6 – https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14061441
  • Liu X, Huang Y, Chen L, Li S, Bongers FJ, Castro‐Izaguirre N, Liang Y, Yang B, Chen Y, Schnabel F, Tang T, Xue Y, Trogisch S, Staab M, Bruelheide H, Schmid B, Ma K (2022) Species richness, functional traits and climate interactively affect tree survival in a large forest biodiversity experiment. Journal of Ecology - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13970
  • Liu M, Xu X, Yang B, Zhang N, Ma Z, van Dam NM, Bruelheide H (2022) Niche partitioning in nitrogen uptake among subtropical tree species enhances biomass production. Science of the Total Environment 823: 153716 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153716
  • Wang Q-C, Yang L-M, Song G, Jin S-S, Hu H-W, Wu F, Zheng Y, He J-Z (2022) The accumulation of microbial residues and plant lignin phenols are more influenced by fertilization in young than mature subtropical forests. Forest Ecology and Management 509: 120074 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120074
  • Beugnon R, Du J, Cesarz S, Jurburg SD, Pang Z, Singavarapu B, Wubet T, Xue K, Wang Y, Eisenhauer N (2021) Tree diversity and soil chemical properties drive the linkages between soil microbial community and ecosystem functioning. ISME Communications 1(41) - https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-021-00040-0
  • Bongers FJ, Schmid B, Bruelheide H, Bongers F, Li S, von Oheimb G, Li Y, Cheng A, Ma K, Liu X (2021) Functional diversity effects on productivity increase with age in a forest biodiversity experiment. Nature Ecology & Evolution 5: 1594-1603 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01564-3
  • Davrinch A, Haider (2021) Intra-specific leaf trait responses to species richness at two different local scales. Basic and Applied Ecology 55: 20-32 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.04.011
  • Germany MS, Bruelheide H, Erfmeier A, Wagg C (2021) Drivers of understorey biomass: tree species identity is more important than richness in a young forest. Journal of Plant Ecology 14(3): 465-477 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtab004
  • Gheyret G, Zhang H, Guo Y, Liu T, Bai Y, Li S, Schmid B, Bruelheide H, Ma K, Tang Z (2021) Radial growth response of trees to seasonal soil humidity in a subtropical forest. Basic and Applied Ecology - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.02.015
  • Guo P, Wang M, Orr M, Li Y, Chen J, Zhou Q, Staab M, Fornoff F, Chen G, Zhang N, Klein A-M, Zhu C (2021) Tree diversity promotes predatory wasps and parasitoids but not pollinator bees in a subtropical experimental forest. Basic and Applied Ecology 53:134-142 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.03.007
  • Hildebrand M, Perles-Garcia MD, Kunz M, Härdtle W, von Oheimb G, Fichtner A (2021) Tree-tree interactions and crown complementarity: The role of functional diversity and branch traits for canopy packing. Basic and Applied Ecology 50: 217-227 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2020.12.003
  • Jansen K, von Oheimb G, Bruelheide H, Härdtle W, Fichtner A (2021) Tree species richness modulates water supply in the local tree neighbourhood: evidence from wood δ13C signatures in a large-scale forest experiment. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 288: 20203100 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.3100
  • Jia Y, Zhai G, Zhu S, Liu X, Schmid B, Wang Z, Ma K, Feng X (2021) Plant and microbial pathways driving plant diversity effects on soil carbon accumulation in subtropical forest. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 161: 108375 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108375
  • Kwon T, Shibata H, Kepfer-Rojas S, Schmidt IK, Larsen KS, Beier C, Berg B, Verheyen K, Lamarque J-F, Hagedorn F, Eisenhauer N, Djukic I, TeaCompositionNetwork (2021) Effects of climate and atmospheric nitrogen deposition on early to mid-term stage litter decomposition across biomes. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 4: 678480 - https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.678480
  • Li Y, Chesters D, Wang M, Wubet T, Schuldt A, Anttonen P, Guo P, Chen J, Zhou Q, Zhang N, Ma K, Bruelheide H, Wu C, Zhu C (2021) Tree diversity and functional leaf traits drive herbivore-associated microbiomes in subtropical China. Ecology and Evolution 11(11): 6153-6166 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7434
  • Li X, Qian X, Gao C, Seitz S, Scholten T, Wang Y, Yao H, Gan H, Guo L (2021) Plant identity strongly structures the root-associated fungal community in a diverse subtropical forest. Basic and Applied Ecology - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.01.002
  • Löffler F, Schuldt A, König-Ries B, Bruelheide H, Klan F (2021) A test collection for dataset retrieval in biodiversity research. Research Ideas and Outcomes 7: e67887 - https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.7.e67887
  • Ma L, Bongers FJ, Li S, Tang T, Yang B, Ma K, Liu X (2021) Species identity and composition effects on community productivity in a subtropical forest. Basic and Applied Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.01.005
  • Maitra P, Zheng Y, Wang Y-L, Mandal D, Lü P-P, Gao C, Babalola BJ, Ji N-N, Li X-C, Guo L-D (2021) Phosphorus fertilization rather than nitrogen fertilization, growing season and plant successional stage structures arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community in a subtropical forest. Biology and Fertility of Soils. 57(5): 685-697 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-021-01554-4
  • Messier C, Bauhus J, Sousa-Silva R, Auge H, Baeten L, Barsoum N, Bruelheide H, Caldwell B, Cavender-Bares J, Dhiedt E, Eisenhauer N, Ganade G, Gravel D, Guillemot J, Hall JS, Hector A, Hérault B, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Kreft H, Mereu S, Muys B, Nock CA, Paquette A, Parker JD, Perring MP, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich PB, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schnabel F, Verheyen K, Weih M, Wollni M, Zemp DC (2021) For the sake of resilience and multifunctionality, let's diversify planted forests! Conservation Letters e12829 - https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12829
  • Perles‐Garcia MD, Kunz M, Fichtner A, Härdtle W, von Oheimb G (2021) Tree species richness promotes an early increase of stand structural complexity in young subtropical plantations. Journal of Applied Ecology - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13973
  • Rutten G, Hönig L, Schwaß R, Braun U, Saadani M, Schuldt A, Michalski SG, Bruelheide H, Mommer L (2021) More diverse tree communities promote foliar fungal pathogen diversity, but decrease infestation rates per tree species, in a subtropical biodiversity experiment. Journal of Ecology 109(5): 2068-2080 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13620
  • Saadani M, Hönig L, Bien S, Koehler M, Rutten G, Wubet T, Braun U, Bruelheide H (2021) Local tree diversity suppresses foliar fungal infestation and decreases morphological but not molecular richness in a young subtropical forest. Journal of Fungi 7: 173 - https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7030173
  • Schnabel F, Liu X, Kunz M, Barry KE, Bongers FJ, Bruelheide H, Fichtner A, Härdtle W, Li S, Pfaff C-T, Schmid B, Schwarz JA, Tang Z, Yang B, Bauhus J, von Oheimb G, Ma K, Wirth C (2021) Species richness stabilizes productivity via asynchrony and drought-tolerance diversity in a large-scale tree biodiversity experiment. Science Advances 7 - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abk1643
  • Singavarapu B, Beugnon R, Bruelheide H, Cesarz S, Du J, Eisenhauer N, Guo L, Nawaz A, Wang Y, Xue K, Wubet T (2021) Tree mycorrhizal type and tree diversity shape the forest soil microbiota. Environmental Microbiology - https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15690
  • Staab M, Liu X, Assmann T, Bruelheide H, Buscot F, Durka W, Erfmeier A, Klein A-M, Ma K, Michalski S, Wubet T, Schmid B, Schuldt A, Koricheva J (2021) Tree phylogenetic diversity structures multitrophic communities. Functional Ecology 35(2): 521-534 – https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13722
  • Trogisch S, Liu X, Rutten G, Bruelheide H (2021) Tree diversity effects on ecosystem functioning–Introduction. Basic and Applied Ecology 55: 1-5 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.06.004
  • Trogisch S, Liu X, Rutten G, Xue K, Bauhus J, Brose U, Bu W, Cesarz S, Chesters D, Connolly J, Cui X, Eisenhauer N, Guo L, Haider S, Härdtle W, Kunz M, Liu L, Ma Z, Neumann S, Sang W, Schuldt A, Tang Z, van Dam NM, von Oheimb G, Wang M-Q, Wang S, Weinhold A, Wirth C, Wubet T, Xu X, Yang B, Zhang N, Zhu C-D, Ma K, Wang Y, Bruelheide H (2021) The significance of tree-tree interactions for forest ecosystem functioning. Basic and Applied Ecology - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2021.02.003
  • Wang M-Q, Yan C, Luo A, Li Y, Chesters D, Qiao H-J, Chen J-T, Zhou Q-S, Ma K, Bruelheide H, Schuldt A, Zhang Z, Zhu C-D (2021) Phylogenetic relatedness, functional traits, and spatial scale determine herbivore co-occurrence in a subtropical forest. Ecological Monographs 92(1): e01492 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1492
  • Weinhold A, Döll S, Liu M, Schedl A, Pöschl Y, Xu X, Neumann S, van Dam NM (2021) Tree species richness differentially affects the chemical composition of leaves, roots and root exudates in four subtropical tree species. Journal of Ecology 110(1): 97-116 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13777
  • Wu D, Staab M, Yu M (2021) Canopy closure retards fine wood decomposition in subtropical regenerating forests. Ecosystems https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00622-y
  • Wu D, Pietsch KA, Staab M, Yu M, (2021) Wood species identity alters dominant factors driving fine wood decomposition along a tree diversity gradient in subtropical plantation forests. Biotropica 53(2): 643-657 - https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12906
  • Yang B, Liang Y, Schmid B, Baruffol M, Li Y, He L, Salmon Y, Tian Q, Niklaus PA, Ma K (2021) Soil Fungi Promote Biodiversity–Productivity Relationships in Experimental Communities of Young Trees. Ecosystems - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00689-7
  • Zumstein P, Bruelheide H, Fichtner A, Schuldt A, Staab M, Hardtle W, Zhou H, Assmann T (2021) What shapes ground beetle assemblages in a tree species-rich subtropical forest? Zookeys 1044: 907-927 - https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1044.63803
  • Bongers FJ (2020) Functional-structural plant models to boost understanding of complementarity in light capture and use in mixed-species forests. Basic and Applied Ecology 48: 92-101 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2020.09.007
  • Bongers FJ, Schmid B, Durka W, Li S, Bruelheide H, Hahn CZ, Yan H, Ma K, Liu X (2020) Genetic richness affects trait variation but not community productivity in a tree diversity experiment. New Phytologist 227:744-756 - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16567
  • Bongers FJ, Schmid B, Sun Z, Li Y, Härdtle W, von Oheimb G, Li Y, Li S, Staab M, Ma K, Liu X(2020) Growth-trait relationships in subtropical forest are stronger at higher diversity. Journal of Ecology 108:256-266 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13242
  • Chen Y, Huang Y, Niklaus PA, Castro-Izaguirre N, Clark AT, Bruelheide H, Ma K, Schmid B (2020) Directed species loss reduces community productivity in a subtropical forest biodiversity experiment. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4:550–559 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1127-4
  • Fichtner A, Schnabel F, Bruelheide H, Kunz M, Mausolf K, Schuldt A, Härdtle W, von Oheimb G (2020) Neighbourhood diversity mitigates drought impacts on tree growth. Journal of Ecology 108:865-875 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13353
  • Skarbek CJ, Noack M, Bruelheide H, Härdtle W, von Oheimb G, Scholten T, Seitz S, Staab M (2020) A tale of scale: Plot but not neighbourhood tree diversity increases leaf litter ant diversity. Journal of Animal Ecology 89: 299–308 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13115
  • Trogisch S, Albert G, Du J, Wang Y, Xue K, Bruelheide H (2020) Promoting resilience of large international collaborative research programs in times of global crisis. Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution 10: 12549-12554 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6835
  • Wang M-Q, Li Y, Chesters D, Bruelheide H, Ma K, Guo P-F, Zhou Q-S, Staab M, Zhu C-D, Schuldt A (2020) Host functional and phylogenetic composition rather than host diversity structure plant‐herbivore networks. Molecular Ecology 29: 2747–2762 - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mec.15518
  • Zhang N, Bruelheide H, Li Y, Liang Y, Wubet T, Trogisch S, Ma K (2020) Community and neighbourhood tree species richness effects on fungal species in leaf litter. Fungal Ecology 47 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2020.100961
  • Bruelheide H, Chen Y, Huang Y, Ma K, Niklaus PA, Schmid B (2019) Response to Comment on "Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment". Science 363:eaav9863 - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aav9863
  • Cesarz S, Schulz AE, Beugnon R, Eisenhauer N (2019) Testing soil nematode extraction efficiency using different variations of the Baermann-funnel method. Soil Organisms 91(2): 61–72 - https://doi.org/10.25674/so91201
  • Du Y, Yang B, Chen S, Ma K (2019) Diverging shifts in spring phenology in response to biodiversity loss in a subtropical forest. Journal of Vegetation Science 30:1175-1183 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12806
  • Fornoff F, Klein A-M, Bluthgen N, Staab M (2019) Tree diversity increases robustness of multi-trophic interactions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. 286:20182399 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2399
  • Forrester DI, Rodenfels P, Haase J, Härdtle W, Leppert KN, Niklaus PA, von Oheimb G, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Bauhus J (2019) Tree-species interactions increase light absorption and growth in Chinese subtropical mixed-species plantations. Oecologia - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04495-w
  • Germany MS, Bruelheide H, Erfmeier A (2019) Janzen-Connell effects in a forest BEF experiment: Strong distance-dependent seedling establishment of multiple species. Ecology 100:e02736 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2736
  • Goebes P, Schmidt K, Seitz S, Both S, Bruelheide H, Erfmeier A, Scholten T, Kühn P (2019) The strength of soil-plant interactions under forest is related to a critical soil depth. Scientific Reports 9: 8635 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45156-5
  • Kunz M, Fichtner A, Härdtle W, Raumonen P, Bruelheide H, von Oheimb G (2019) Neighbour species richness and local structural variability modulate aboveground allocation patterns and crown morphology of individual trees. Ecology Letters 22: 2130-2140 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13400
  • Li Y, Bruelheide H, Scholten T, Schmid B, Sun Z, Zhang N, Bu W, Liu X, Ma K (2019) Early positive effects of tree species richness on soil organic carbon accumulation in a large-scale forest biodiversity experiment. Journal of Plant Ecology 12:882-893 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtz026
  • Pietsch KA, Eichenberg D, Nadrowski K, Bauhus J, Buscot F, Purahong W, Wipfler B, Wubet T, Yu M, Wirth C (2019) Wood decomposition is more strongly controlled by temperature than by tree species and decomposer diversity in highly species rich subtropical forests. Oikos 128(5): 701-715 - https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04879
  • Rentschler T, Gries P, Behrens T, Bruelheide H, Kühn P, Seitz S, Shi X, Trogisch S, Scholten T, Schmidt K (2019) Comparison of catchment scale 3D and 2.5D modelling of soil organic carbon stocks in Jiangxi Province, PR China. PloS one 14:e0220881 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220881
  • Ristok C, Leppert KN, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Niklaus PA, Bruelheide H (2019) Soil macrofauna and leaf functional traits drive the decomposition of secondary metabolites in leaf litter. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 135:429-437 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.06.007
  • Schuldt A, Ebeling A, Kunz M, Staab M, Guimaraes-Steinicke C, Bachmann D, Buchmann N, Durka W, Fichtner A, Fornoff F, Härdtle W, Hertzog LR, Klein A-M, Roscher C, Schaller J, von Oheimb G, Weigelt A, Weisser W, Wirth C, Zhang J, Bruelheide H, Eisenhauer N (2019) Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems. Nature Communications 10:1460 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09448-8
  • Song Z, Seitz S, Li J, Goebes P, Schmidt K, Kühn P, Shi X, Scholten T (2019) Tree diversity reduced soil erosion by affecting tree canopy and biological soil crust development in a subtropical forest experiment. Forest Ecology and Management 444:69-77 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.04.015
  • Wang M, Li Y, Chesters D, Anttonen P, Bruelheide H, Chen J, Durka W, Guo P, Härdtle W, Ma K, Michalski SG, Schmid B, von Oheimb G, Wu C, Zhang N, Zhou Q, Schuldt A, Zhu C (2019) Multiple components of plant diversity loss determine herbivore phylogenetic diversity in a subtropical forest experiment. Journal of Ecology 107:2697-2712 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13273
  • Weißbecker C, Heintz-Buschart A, Bruelheide H, Buscot F, Wubet T (2019) Linking Soil Fungal Generality to Tree Richness in Young Subtropical Chinese Forests. Microorganisms 7:547 - https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7110547
  • Cao HX, Klein AM, Zhu CD, Staab M, Durka W, Fischer M, Fornoff F (2018) Intra- and interspecific tree diversity promotes multitrophic plant-Hemiptera-ant interactions in a forest diversity experiment. Basic and Applied Ecology 29: 89-97– https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2018.03.005
  • Djukic I, Kepfer-Rojas S, Kappel Schmidt I, Steenberg Larsen K, Beier C, Berg B, Verheyen K, TeaComposition (2018) Early stage litter decomposition across biomes. Science of the Total Environment
  • Fichtner A, Härdtle W, Bruelheide H, Kunz M, Li Y, von Oheimb G (2018) Neighbourhood interactions drive overyielding in mixed-species tree communities. Nature communications 9: 1144 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03529-w
  • Grossman JJ, Vanhellemont M, Barsoum N, Bauhus J, Bruelheide H, Castagneyrol B, Cavender-Bares J, Eisenhauer N, Ferlian O, Gravel D, Hector A, Jactel H, Kreft H, Mereu S, Messier C, Muys B, Nock C, Paquette A, Parker J, Perring MP, Ponette Q, Reich PB, Schuldt A, Staab M, Weih M, Zemp DC, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Verheyen K (2018) Synthesis and future research directions linking tree diversity to growth, survival, and damage in a global network of tree diversity experiments. Environmental and Experimental Botany - doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2017.12.015
  • Huang Y, Chen Y, Castro-Izaguírre, Baruffol M, Brezzi M, Lang A, Li Y, Härdtle W, von Oheimb G, Yang X, Liu X, Pei K, Both S, Yang B, Eichenberg D, Assmann T, Bauhus J, Behrens T, Buscot F, Chen X-Y, Chesters D, Ding B-Y, Durka W, Erfmeiere A, Fang J, Fischer M, Guo L-D, Guo D, Gutknecht JLM, He J-S, He C-L, Hector A, Hönig L, Hu R-Y, Klein A-M, Kühn P, Liang Y, Li S, Michalski S, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schmidt K, Scholten T, Schuldt A, Shi X, Tan M-Z, Tang Z, Trogisch S, Wang Z, Welk E, Wirth C, Wubet T, Xiang W, Yu M, Yu X-D, Zhang J, Zhang S, Zhang N, Zhou H-Z, Zhu C-D, Zhu L, Bruelheide H, Ma K, Niklaus PA, Schmid B (2018) Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment. Science 362: 80-83 - doi: 10.1126/science.aat6405
  • Huang Y, Ma K, Niklaus PA, Schmid B (2018) Leaf-litter overyielding in a forest biodiversity experiment in subtropical China. Forest Ecosystems 5(38) - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-018-0157-8
  • Koricheva J, Hayes D (2018) The relative importance of plant intraspecific diversity in structuring arthropod communities: A meta-analysis. Functional Ecology 32: 1704-1717 - doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13062
  • Liu X, Trogisch S, He J, Niklaus PA, Bruelheide H, Tang A, Erfmeier A, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Pietsch KA, Yang B, Kuhn P, Scholten T, Huang Y, Wang C, Staab M, Leppert KN, Wirth C, Schmid B, Ma K (2018) Tree species richness increases ecosystem carbon storage in subtropical forests. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 285(1885): 20181240 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1240
  • Salmon Y, Li Y, Yang B, Ma K, Siegwolf RTW, Schmid B (2018) Surrounding species diversity improves subtropical seedlings' carbon dynamics. Ecology and Evolution 8(14): 7055-7067 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4225
  • Schuldt A, Assmann T, Brezzi M, Buscot F, Eichenberg D, Gutknecht J, Hardtle W, He J, Klein A-M, Kuhn P, Liu X, Ma K, Niklaus PA, Pietsch KA, Purahong W, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schmid B, Scholten T, Staab M, Tang Z, Trogisch S, von Oheimb G, Wirth C, Wubet T, Zhu C, Bruelheide H (2018) Biodiversity across trophic levels drives multifunctionality in highly diverse forests. Nature Communications 9: 2989 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05421-z
  • Song ZS, Seitz S, Zhu PP, Goebes P, Shi XZ, Xu SX, Wang MY, Schmidt K, Scholten T (2018) Spatial distribution of LAI and its relationship with throughfall kinetic energy of common tree species in a Chinese subtropical forest plantation. Forest Ecology and Management 425: 189-195 – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.05.046
  • Staab M, Garcia FH, Liu C, Xu Z, Economo EP (2018) Systematics of the ant genus Proceratium Roger (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Proceratiinae) in China - with descriptions of three new species based on micro-CT enhanced next-generation-morphology. Zookeys 770: 137-192 - https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.770.24908
  • Weißbecker C, Wubet T, Lentendu G, Kühn P, Scholten T, Bruelheide H, Buscot F (2018) Experimental evidence of functional group-dependent effect of tree diversity on soil fungi in subtropical forests. Frontiers in Microbiology 9: 2312 - doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02312
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Site A - plot M27 in 2014 Site B in 2019