IDENT (Canada, USA, Germany, Italy, Ethiopia)

The International Diversity Experiment Network with Trees (IDENT) is a network of Biodiversity - Ecosystem Functioning (BEF) experiments in North America, Europe, and Africa. The main characteristics of IDENT within TreeDivNet are the focus on the early years of tree development, the role of functional diversity, and BEF relationships over stress gradients. The experiment consists of eight sites: six in temperate ecoregions, one in a Mediterranean region, and one in a tropical region. In total, 2241 plots have been planted with native as well as exotic tree species. At four of the sites, the impacts of water availability and nutrient addition are studied as well. Application trials linked to this experiment are: Bessonne, Lac-aux-Brochets, and Lyster (Canada).

Aerial view of the Sault-Ste-Marie site (2019)

Design

Two gradients are established, i.e., a species richness (SR) gradient and a functional diversity (FD) gradient, in order to allow separating the two different diversity effects. The FD gradient consists of species combinations of equal SR but different FD. To enable isolating the effect of FD, as opposed to the impact of the presence/absence of specific species or traits, the FD levels are repeated using different species compositions and are pooled in groups of similar FD value.

Schematic representation of the species richness (SR) and functional diversity (FD) gradients studied in IDENT. Monocultures of all species are always present. Smaller squares behind larger ones indicate replications of the same FD level with different species combinations. The sites may differ in the length of the gradients, and the number of replications within gradients.

On different sites, IDENT also includes additional experimental treatments that are related to the link between climate change, stress gradients and forest resilience, and the interactions between native and exotic species. Water availability is manipulated through irrigation or partial removal of rainfall at two of the sites. Nets are used for the shading treatment at the Ethiopia site. Six congeneric pairs of North American and European tree species are planted at four of the sites. The fertilization treatment (1 site) consists of N addition, P addition, and N+P addition. The extra treatments are implemented by doubling the replication of a given FD gradient over a constant SR level to accommodate both a control and a manipulated treatment.

Irrigation and rain removal equipment at the Sault-Ste-Marie site (2016, 2019)

Equipment for the shading treatment at the Ethiopia site (2020)

As the focus in IDENT is on the early successional stage of stand development, the trees are planted in high density, i.e., 40 to 60 cm apart, to accelerate species interactions. In most cases, square plots contain 7 x 7 or 8 x 8 trees. At each site, the plots are positioned randomly in a block.

Site characteristics

	IDENT (Montreal)	IDENT (Auclair)	IDENT (Cloquet)	IDENT (Sault-Ste-Marie)	IDENT (Freiburg)	IDENT (FAB)	IDENT (Outaouais)	IDENT (Macomer)	IDENT (Ethiopia)
Country	Canada	Canada	USA	Canada	Germany	USA	Canada	Italy	Ethiopia
Biome	temperate	temperate	temperate	temperate	temperate	temperate		Mediterranean	tropical
Latitude	45.42	47.7	46.68	46.5164	48.02007201	45.4		40.24	13.48
Longitude	-73.94	-68.66	-92.52	-84.3376	7.8254278140000002	-93.19		8.72	39.46
Soil type	sandy	loam	sandy loam	sandy loam	sandy	sandy	Sandy loam	silt loam	Vertisol (FAO system)
Former land use	high-input agriculture	low-input abandoned agriculture	forest	low-input abandoned agriculture	grassland pasture	low-input abandoned fields	Old experimental plot with shrubs, grasses and trees	tree nursery, unused for 5 years	cropland
Altitude	39 m	333 m	383 m	210 m	278 m	279 m	175 m	615 m	2200 m
Design	stem-wise randomisation	stem-wise randomisation	stem-wise randomisation	systematic randomisation	stem-wise randomisation	stem-wise randomisation		stem-wise randomisation	stem-wise randomization
Plot shape	square	square	square	square	square	square		square
Plot size (m^2)	16 m²	10.24 m²	10.24 m131	10.24 m132	10.24 m133	20.25 m²	12.25 m² 16 m²	10.24 m²	32.49 m²
Plant distance (m)	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.45	0.4-0.5		0.4
Number of trees planted	13 824	9 408	9 408	9 016	19 992	8 960	15788 (2020) 1536 (2021) 1280 (2022)	19 712	17 280
Planting date	2009	2010	2010	2013	2013	2013	2020-2021-2022	2014	2019
Diversity variables	species richness functional diversity	species richness functional diversity	species richness functional diversity	species richness functional diversity phylogenetic diversity	species richness functional diversity phylogenetic diversity	species richness functional diversity phylogenetic diversity	species richness functional diversity phylogenetic diversity	species richness functional diversity phylogenetic diversity	species richness functional diversity
Size species pool	19	12	12	6	12	12	6	12	9
Species pool	Abies balsamea Acer platanoides Acer rubrum Acer saccharum Betula alleghaniensis Betula papyrifera Larix decidua Larix laricina Picea abies Picea glauca Picea omorika Picea rubens Pinus resinosa Pinus strobus Pinus sylvestris Quercus robur Quercus rubra Tilia cordata Thuja occidentalis	Acer platanoides Acer saccharum Betula papyrifera Betula pendula Larix decidua Larix laricina Picea abies Picea glauca Pinus strobus Pinus sylvestris Quercus robur Quercus rubra	Acer platanoides Acer saccharum Betula papyrifera Betula pendula Larix decidua Larix laricina Picea abies Picea glauca Pinus strobus Pinus sylvestris Quercus robur Quercus rubra	Acer saccharum Betula papyrifera Larix laricina Picea glauca Pinus strobus Quercus rubra	Acer platanoides Acer saccharum Betula papyrifera Betula pendula Larix decidua Larix laricina Picea abies Picea glauca Pinus strobus Pinus sylvestris Quercus robur Quercus rubra	Acer negundo Acer rubrum Betula papyrifera Juniperus virginiana Pinus banksiana Pinus resinosa Pinus strobus Quercus alba Quercus ellipsoidalis Quercus macrocarpa Quercus rubra Tilia americana	Acer saccharum Quercus rubra Betula alleghaniensis Picea glauca Pinus resinosa Larix laricina	Acer monspessulanum Arbutus unedo Fraxinus ornus Olea europea Phillyrea latifolia Pinus halepensis Pinus pinaster Pinus pinea Pistacia lentiscus Quercus ilex Quercus pubescens Quercus suber	Acacia abyssinica Afrocarpus falcatus Cordia africana Dodonaea angustifolia Dovyalis abyssinica Faidherbia albida Juniperus procera Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata Ziziphus spina-christi

The site established in Macomer, Italy, was established and is maintained with the much welcomed help and support of the “Sant’Antonio Forest nursery in Macomer-Ente Foreste della Sardegna”.

Research

The four research foci are relevant measures of diversity, underlying mechanisms and scale dependency, importance of trophic interactions, and BEF effects over environmental gradients. The experiment wants to answer the following questions: (1) How do the different components of diversity, i.e., species richness and functional diversity, contribute to ecosystem functioning? (2) Which species and traits to choose for creating the desired functional diversity gradient? (3) Is complementarity the driving mechanism of overyielding in young tree communities? (4) How does neighbourhood diversity drive the realized FD and trait values? (5) At which spatial and temporal scales do complementarity effects occur? (6) How can we test for trophic-mediated complementarity? (7) How do environmental conditions influence species interactions?

Outreach

IDENT also invests in public education on the importance of trees and biodiversity. Therefore, IDENT-Cité was created. IDENT-Cité serves as a link between the research done in TreeDivNet and people. For more info about IDENT-Cité, see the pdf.

The IDENT-Cité plantation in Montreal. People walk along a gradient of diversity in a double spiral. Maximum diversity is reached at the center, where activities will be held and information panels installed.

The millionth TreeDivNet tree, a *Pinus parviflora*, planted in IDENT-Cité

Extra information

Contact info

IDENT is a network within TreeDivNet, scientifically coordinated by Alain Paquette and Christian Messier. Each site has a local Principal Investigator, who coordinates the local research and maintenance.

Site	Contact persons	Affiliation
IDENT (general)	Alain Paquette Christian Messier	Centre for Forest Research Universitdu QuMontr P.O. Box 8888, Centre-ville Station Montreal, QC H3C 3P8 Canada
Auclair	Dominique Gravel	Département de biologie Université du Québec à Rimouski 300, Allée des Ursulines Rimouski, Qc, G5L 3A1 Canada
Cloquet	Peter Reich	Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
Ethiopia	Bart Muys Emiru Birhane	Forest Nature and Landscape, KU Leuven https://ees.kuleuven.be/fnl/ Land Resources Management and Environmental Protection, Mekelle University http://www.mu.edu.et/
FAB	Jeannine Cavender-Bares Rebecca Montgomery	University of Minnesota Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Department of Forest Resources St. Paul MN 55108, USA
Freiburg	Michael Scherer-Lorenzen Friderike Beyer Jürgen Bauhus Peter Hajek	University of Freiburg Chair of Geobotany Schaenzlestr. 1 79104 Freiburg, Germany
Outaouais	Christian Messier Benoit Gendreau-Berthiaume	Centre for Forest Research Université du Québec à Montréal P.O. Box 8888, Centre-ville Station Montreal, QC H3C 3P8 Canada ISFORT (Institut des Sciences de la forêt tempérée), 58 rue Principale, Ripon, Qc, J0V 1V0, Canada www.isfort.uqo.ca
Macomer	Simone Mereu	National Research Council of Italy (CNR) Traversa la Crucca 3 07100, Sassari, Italy
Montreal	Alain Paquette Christian Messier	Centre for Forest Research Université du Québec à Montréal P.O. Box 8888, Centre-ville Station Montreal, QC H3C 3P8 Canada ISFORT (Institut des Sciences de la forêt tempérée), 58 rue Principale, Ripon, Qc, J0V 1V0, Canada www.isfort.uqo.ca
Sault-Ste-Marie	Bill Parker	Ontario Forest Research Institute 1235 Queen St. E. Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 2E5, Canada

PhD thesis

Kovach, K 2021 Measurements of canopy properties to reveal biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in tree diversity experiments using UAV remote sensing. PhD thesis, University of Freiburg
Kothari S 2020 Blinded by the light: the functional ecology of plant-light interactions. PhD Thesis, University of Minnesota
Grossman J 2018 Consequences of biodiversity in tree diversity experiments. PhD Thesis, University of Minnesota
Van de Peer T 2018 Effects of tree species diversity on early-stage forest dynamics. PhD thesis, KU Leuven
Williams L 2018 Scaling the effects of interactions among plants from individuals to ecosystems in experimental tree communities. PhD Thesis, University of Minnesota
Khlifa R 2016 Effets de la diversité des arbres sur le fonctionnement de l’écosystème dans deux plantations de forêts tempérées. PhD thesis, Université Laval
Garbe CM 2013 Tree functional traits. Understanding their variation - from intraspecific plasticity to the effects of trait diversity on ecosystem functioning. PhD thesis, UQAM

Research papers

Blondeel H, Guillemot J, Martin‐StPaul N, Druel A, Bilodeau‐Gauthier S, Bauhus J, … Baeten L 2024 Tree diversity reduces variability in sapling survival under drought. Journal of Ecology 112(5): 1164-1180 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14294
Vázquez-González C, Castagneyrol B, Muiruri EW, Barbaro L, Abdala-Roberts L, Barsoum N, Fründ J, Glynn C, Jactel H, McShea WJ, Mereu S, Mooney KA, Morillas L, Nock CA, Paquette A, Parker JD, Parker, WC, Roales J, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schuldt A, Verheyen K, Weih M, Yang B, Koricheva J 2024 Tree diversity enhances predation by birds but not by arthropods across climate gradients. Ecology Letters (27): e14427 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14427
Zheng L, Barry KE, Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Craven D, Reich PB, Verheyen K, … Hautier Y 2024 Effects of plant diversity on productivity strengthen over time due to trait-dependent shifts in species overyielding. Nature communications 15(1): 2078 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46355-z
Depauw L, De Lombaerde E, Dhiedt E, Blondeel H, Abdala-Roberts L, Auge H, Barsoum N, Bauhus J, Chu C, Damtew A, Eisenhauer N, V. Fagundes M, Ganade G, Gendreau-Berthiaume B, Godbold D, Gravel D, Guillemot J, Hajek P, Hector A, Hérault B, Jactel H, Koricheva J, Kreft H, Liu X, Mereu S, Messier C, Muys B, Nock CA, Paquette A, Parker JD, Parker WC, Paterno, GB, Perring MP, Ponette Q, Potvin C, Reich PB, Rewald B, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Schnabel F, Sousa-Silva R, Weih M, Clara Zemp D, Verheyen K, Baeten L 2024 Enhancing Tree Performance Through Species Mixing: Review of a Quarter-Century of TreeDivNet Experiments Reveals Research Gaps and Practical Insights. Current Forestry Reports - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-023-00208-y
Berthelot S, Bauhus J, Dormann CF, Gravel D, Messier C, Nock CA, Paquette A, Reich PB, Fründ J 2023 Exotic tree species have consistently lower herbivore load in a cross-Atlantic tree biodiversity experiment. Ecology (e4070) - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4070
Desie E, Zuo J, Verheyen K, Djukic I, Van Meerbeek K, Auge H, Barsoum N, Baum C, Bruelheide H, Eisenhauer N, Feldhaar H, Ferlian O, Gravel D, Jactel H, Kappel Schmidt I, Kepfer-Rojas S, Meredieu C, Mereu S, Messier C, Morillas L, Nock C, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Reich PB, Roales J, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Seitz S, Schmidt A, Stefanski A, Trogisch S, van Halder I, Weih M, Williams LJ, Yang B, Muys B 2023 Disentangling drivers of litter decomposition in a multi-continent network of tree diversity experiments. Science of the Total Environment 857(3): 159717 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159717
Urgoiti J, Messier C, Keeton WS, Belluau M, Paquette A 2023 Functional diversity and identity influence the self-thinning process in young forest communities. Journal of Ecology (Early View) - doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.14158
Warner E, Cook-Patton SC, Lewis, OT, Brown N, Koricheva J, Eisenhauer N, … Hector A 2023 Young mixed planted forests store more carbon than monocultures—a meta-analysis. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (6): 1226514
FAO 2023 Towards more resilient and diverse planted forests. Unasylva (254)74: 2031/1. Rome. https://doi. org/10.4060/cc8584en
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
Hajek P, Link RM, Nock CA, Bauhus J, Gebauer T, Gessler A, Kovach K, Messier C, Paquette A, Saurer M, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Rose L, Schuldt B 2022 Mutually inclusive mechanisms of drought-induced tree mortality. Global Change Biology - https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16146
Martin-Guay M-O, Belluau M, Côté B, Handa IT, Jewell MD, Khlifa R, Munson AD, Rivest M, Whalen JK, Rivest D 2022 Tree identity and diversity directly affect soil moisture and temperature but not soil carbon ten years after planting. Ecology and Evolution 12(1): e8509 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8509
Maxwell TL, Fanin N, Parker WC, Bakker MR, Belleau A, Meredieu C, Augusto L, Munson AD 2022 Tree species identity drives nutrient use efficiency in young mixed-species plantations, at both high and low water availability. Functional Ecology - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14109
Melis R, Morillas L, Roales J, Costa-Saura JM, Cascio ML, Spano D, Mereu S 2022 Functional traits related to competition for light influence tree diameter increments in a biodiversity manipulation experiment. Research Square - https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1841505/v1
Schuster MJ, Williams LJ, Stefanski A, Bermudez R, Belluau M, Messier C, Paquette A, Gravel D, Reich PB 2022 Patterns of belowground overyielding and fine-root biomass in native and exotic angiosperms and gymnosperms. Oikos e08877 - https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.08877
Urgoiti J, Messier C, Keeton WS, Reich PB, Gravel D, Paquette A 2022 No complementarity no gain—Net diversity effects on tree productivity occur once complementarity emerges during early stand development. Ecology Letters 25(4): 851-862 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13959
Belluau M, Paquette A, Gravel D, Reich PB, Stefanski A, Messier C 2021 Exotics are more complementary over time in tree biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiments. Functional Ecology 00:1– 12 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13900
Belluau M, Vitali V, Parker WC, Paquette A, Messier C 2021 Overyielding in young tree communities does not support the stress-gradient hypothesis and is favoured by functional diversity and higher water availability. Journal of Ecology - DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13602
Berthelot S, Frühbrodt T, Hajek P, Nock CA, Dormann CF, Bauhus J, Fründ J 2021 Tree diversity reduces the risk of bark beetle infestation for preferred conifer species, but increases the risk for less preferred hosts. Journal of Ecology 109(7) 2649-2661 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.1367
Kothari S, Montgomery RA, Cavender-Bares J 2021 Physiological responses to light explain competition and facilitation in a tree diversity experiment. Journal of Ecology 109:2000-2018 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13637
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
Strukelj M, Parker W, Corcket E, Augusto L, Khlifa R, Jactel H, Munson AD 2021 Tree species richness and water availability interact to affect soil microbial processes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 108180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108180
Williams LJ, Butler EE, Cavender-Bares J, Stefanski A, Rice KE, Messier C, Paquette A, Reich PB 2021 Enhanced light interception and light use efficiency explain overyielding in young tree communities. Ecology Letters 24(5): 996-1006 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13717
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
Grossman JJ, Cavender-Bares J, Hobbie SE 2020 Functional diversity of leaf litter mixtures slows decomposition of labile but not recalcitrant carbon over two years. Ecological Monographs 90:e01407 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1407
Poeydebat C, Jactel H, Moreira X, Koricheva J, Barsoum N, Bauhus J, Eisenhauer N, Ferlian O, Francisco M, Gottschall F, Gravel D, Mason B, Muiruri E, Muys B, Nock C, Paquette A, Ponette Q, Scherer‐Lorenzen M, Stokes V, Staab M, Verheyen K and Castagneyrol B 2020 Climate affects neighbour‐induced changes in leaf chemical defences and tree diversity‐herbivory relationships. Functional Ecology - doi:10.1111/1365-2435.13700
Williams LJ, Cavender-Bares J, Paquette A, Messier C, Reich PB 2020 Light mediates the relationship between community diversity and trait plasticity in functionally and phylogenetically diverse tree mixtures. Journal of Ecology 108(4): 1617-1634 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13346
Williams LJ, Cavender-Bares J, Townsend PA, Couture JJ, Wang Z, Stefanski A, Messier C, Reich PB 2020 Remote spectral detection of biodiversity effects on forest biomass. Nature Ecology & Evolution - doi:10.1038/s41559-020-01329-4
Archambault C, Paquette A, Messier C, Khlifa R, Munson AD, Handa I T 2019 Evergreenness influences fine root growth more than tree diversity in a common garden experiment. Oecologia 189: 1027-1039 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04373-5
Garau G, Morillas L, Roales J, Castaldi P, Mangia NP, Spano D, Mereu S 2019 Effect of monospecific and mixed Mediterranean tree plantations on soil microbial community and biochemical functioning. Applied Soil Ecology 140: 78-88 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.04.005
Grossman JJ, Butterfield AJ, Cavender-Bares J, Hobbie SE, Reich PB, Gutknecht J, Kennedy PG 2019 Non-symbiotic soil microbes are more strongly influenced by altered tree biodiversity than arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi during initial forest establishment. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 95(10) - https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiz134
Grossman JJ, Cavender-Bares J, Reich PB, Montgomery RA, Hobbie SE 2019 Neighborhood diversity simultaneously increased and decreased susceptibility to contrasting herbivores in an early stage forest diversity experiment. Journal of Ecology 107:1492-1505 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13097
Martin-Guay MO, Paquette A, Reich PB, Messier C 2019 Implications of contrasted above- and below-ground biomass responses in a diversity experiment with trees. Journal of Ecology 108(2): 405-414 - doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.13265
Raymond-Léonard L J, Gravel D, Handa I T 2019  A novel set of traits to describe Collembola mouthparts: taking a bite out of the broad chewing mandible classification. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 138: 107608 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107608
Rissanen K, Martin-Guay M-O, Riopel-Bouvier A-S, Paquette A 2019 Light interception in experimental forests affected by tree diversity and structural complexity of dominant canopy. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 278: 107655 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107655
Rivest M, Whalen JK, Rivest D 2019 Tree diversity is not always a strong driver of soil microbial diversity: a 7-yr-old diversity experiment with trees. Ecosphere 10(4): e02685 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2685
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 628-629: 1369-1394 - doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.012
Raymond-Léonard L J, Gravel D, Reich P B, Handa I T 2018 Springtail community structure is influenced by functional traits but not biogeographic origin of leaf litter in soils of novel forest ecosystems. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1879) - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0647
Ruiz-González C, Archambault E, Laforest-Lapointe I, del Giorgio P A, Kembel S W, Messier C, Beisner B E 2018 Soils associated to different tree communities do not elicit predictable responses in lake bacterial community structure and function. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 94(8) - https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiy115
Van de Peer T, Mereu S, Verheyen K, Costa Saura JM, Morillas L, Roales J, Lo Cascio M, Spano D, Paquette A, Muys B 2018 Tree seedling vitality improves with functional diversity in a Mediterranean common garden experiment. Forest Ecology and Management 409: 614-633, doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2017.12.001
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 152: 68-89 - doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2017.12.015
Grossman JJ, Cavender-Bares J, Hobbie SE, Reich PB, Montgomery R 2017 Species richness and traits predict overyielding in stem growth in an early-successional tree diversity experiment. Ecology 98: 2601-2614 - doi: 10.1002/ecy.1958
Jewell MD, Shipley B, Low-Décarie E, Tobner CM, Paquette A, Messier C, Reich PB 2017 Partitioning the effect of composition and diversity of tree communities on leaf litter decomposition and soil respiration. Oikos 126:959-971 - doi: 10.1111/oik.03868
Khlifa R, Paquette A, Messier C, Reich PB, Munson AD 2017 Do temperate tree species diversity and identity influence soil microbial community function and composition? Ecology and Evolution 7: 7965-7974 - doi: 10.1002/ece3.3313
Laforest-Lapointe I, Paquette A, Messier C, Kembel SW 2017 Leaf bacterial diversity mediates plant diversity and ecosystem function relationships. Nature 546: 145-147 - doi: 10.1038/nature22399
Williams LJ, Paquette A, Cavender-Bares J, Messier C, Reich PB 2017 Spatial complementarity in tree crowns explains overyielding in species mixtures. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1: 0063 - doi: 10.1038/s41559-016-0063
Nguyen NH, Williams L, Vincent JB, Stefanski A, Cavender-Bares J, Messier C, Paquette A, Gravel D, Reich PB, Kennedy PG 2016 Ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungal diversity are linked to different tree community attributes in a field-based tree experiment. Molecular Ecology 25: 4032-4046 - doi: 10.1111/mec.13719
Pourhassan N, Bruno S, Jewell MD, Shipley B, Roy S, Bellenger J-P 2016 Phosphorus and micronutrient dynamics during gymnosperm and angiosperm litters decomposition in temperate cold forest from Eastern Canada. Geoderma 273: 25-31 - doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.03.018
Tobner CM, Paquette A, Gravel D, Reich PB, Williams LJ, Messier C 2016 Functional identity is the main driver of diversity effects in young tree communities. Ecology Letters 19: 638-647 - doi: 10.1111/ele.12600
Wein A, Bauhus J, Bilodeau-Gauthier, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Nock C, Staab M 2016 Tree species richness promotes invertebrate herbivory on congeneric native and exotic tree saplings in a young diversity experiment. PLoS ONE 11: e0168751 - doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168751
Jewell MD, Shipley B, Paquette A, Messier C, Reich PB 2015 A traits-based test of the home-field advantage in mixed-species tree litter decomposition. Annals of Botany 116: 781-788 - doi: 10.1093/aob/mcv105
Rivest D, Paquette A, Shipley B, Reich PB, Messier C 2015 Tree communities rapidly alter soil microbial resistance and resilience to drought. Functional Ecology 29: 570-578 - doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12364
Paine CET, Amissah L, Auge H, Baraloto C, Baruffol M, Bourland N, Bruelheide H, Daïnou K, de Gouvenain RC, Doucet J-L, Doust S, Fine PVA, Fortunel C, Haase J, Holl KD, Jactel H, Li X, Kitajima K, Koricheva J, Martínez-Garza C, Messier C, Paquette A, Philipson C, Piotto D, Poorter L, Posada JM, Potvin C, Rainio K, Russo SE, Ruiz-Jaen M, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Webb CO, Wright SJ, Zahawi RA, Hector A 2015 Globally, functional traits are weak predictors of juvenile tree growth, and we do not know why. Journal of Ecology 103: 978-989 - doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.12401
Tobner CM, Paquette A, Reich PB, Gravel D, Messier C 2014 Advancing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning science using high-density tree-based experiments over functional diversity gradients. Oecologia 174: 609-621 - doi: 10.1007/s00442-013-2815-4
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The Auclair and Macomer sites one and two years after planting (fall 2010, summer 2015)

(left) The Montreal site six years after planting (summer 2015 (EXO-Tactik)). (right) The IDENT Freiburg site and ECOLINK-Salix site (Summer 2021, Peter Hajek).