What is it about?
This research explores how diverse forests make complementary use of canopy space and produce more biomass. By integrating 4-year, UAV-borne LiDAR assessments of tree crowns and ground-based growth measurements of 38,088 trees growing in 482 plots containing 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 24 tree species within a large forest biodiversity experiment in southeast China (BEF-China), we found that tree diversity consistently promotes productivity through fostering greater canopy structural complexity. Species complementarity is the main driver, with its positive effects strengthening over time.
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Why is it important?
Our study suggests that forest managers should consider increasing canopy structural complexity by selective harvesting and replanting diverse species to sustain high productivity over longer time spans. And these findings are the first to demonstrate such complementary use of aboveground space in a tree biodiversity experiment. Our study demonstrates the need to consider canopy structural complexity and its role in mediating biodiversity complementarity effects to promote biomass production, carbon storage, and thus contribute to climate change mitigation in long-term afforestation projects.
Perspectives
This study shows that diverse forests sustain higher productivity by building more complex, layered canopies and by fostering species complementarity. Watching mixed-species forests gradually build multi-layered canopies 15 years after planting—captured by UAV-borne LiDAR and confirmed on the ground—was both scientifically convincing and personally rewarding. For me, the key insight is that complementarity is not an abstract idea: different trees literally share the canopy in time and space, and productivity rises as that structure matures. I hope this encourages managers to design forests for structure as well as species lists—using selective harvesting and mixed-species replanting to keep canopies complex through time.
Xianglu Deng
Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Forest biodiversity increases productivity via complementarity from greater canopy structural complexity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, October 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2506750122.
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