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European forests host a diversity of tree species that are increasingly threatened by fungal pathogens, which may have cascading consequences for forest ecosystems and their functioning. Previous experimental studies suggest that foliar and root pathogen abundance and disease severity decrease with increasing tree species diversity, but evidences from natural forests are rare. Here, we tested whether foliar fungal disease incidence was negatively affected by tree species diversity in different forest types across Europe. We measured the foliar fungal disease incidence on 16 different tree species in 209 plots in six European countries, representing a forest-type gradient from the Mediterranean to boreal forests. Forest plots of single species (monoculture plots) and those with different combinations of two to five tree species (mixed species plots) were compared. Specifically, we analyzed the influence of tree species richness, functional type (conifer vs. broadleaved) and phylogenetic diversity on overall fungal disease incidence. The effect of tree species richness on disease incidence varied with latitude and functional type. Disease incidence tended to increase with tree diversity, in particular in northern latitudes. Disease incidence decreased with tree species richness in conifers, but not in broadleaved trees. However, for specific damage symptoms, no tree species richness effects were observed. Although the patterns were weak, susceptibility of forests to disease appears to depend on the forest site and tree type. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement No. 26517 ; Peer reviewed

Many experiments have shown that local biodiversity loss impairs the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple ecosystem functions at high levels (multifunctionality). In contrast, the role of biodiversity in driving ecosystem multifunctionality at landscape scales remains unresolved. We used a comprehensive pan-European dataset, including 16 ecosystem functions measured in 209 forest plots across six European countries, and performed simulations to investigate how local plot-scale richness of tree species (α-diversity) and their turnover between plots (β-diversity) are related to landscape-scale multifunctionality. After accounting for variation in environmental conditions, we found that relationships between α-diversity and landscape-scale multifunctionality varied from positive to negative depending on the multifunctionality metric used. In contrast, when significant, relationships between β-diversity and landscape-scale multifunctionality were always positive, because a high spatial turnover in species composition was closely related to a high spatial turnover in functions that were supported at high levels. Our findings have major implications for forest management and indicate that biotic homogenization can have previously unrecognized and negative consequences for large-scale ecosystem multifunctionality. ; The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement 265171. ; Peer Reviewed

Many experiments have shown that local biodiversity loss impairs the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple ecosystem functions at high levels (multifunctionality). In contrast, the role of biodiversity in driving ecosystem multifunctionality at landscape scales remains unresolved. We used a comprehensive pan-European dataset, including 16 ecosystem functions measured in 209 forest plots across six European countries, and performed simulations to investigate how local plot-scale richness of tree species (α-diversity) and their turnover between plots (β-diversity) are related to landscape-scale multifunctionality. After accounting for variation in environmental conditions, we found that relationships between α-diversity and landscape-scale multifunctionality varied from positive to negative depending on the multifunctionality metric used. In contrast, when significant, relationships between β-diversity and landscape-scale multifunctionality were always positive, because a high spatial turnover in species composition was closely related to a high spatial turnover in functions that were supported at high levels. Our findings have major implications for forest management and indicate that biotic homogenization can have previously unrecognized and negative consequences for large-scale ecosystem multifunctionality. ; We thank the Hainich National Park administration as well as Felix Berthold and Carsten Beinhoff for support of this study and Gerald Kaendler and the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut for providing access to the German National Forest Inventory data. The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement 265171. ; This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the National Academy of Sciences via https://doi.org//10.1073/pnas.1517903113

There is considerable evidence that biodiversity promotes multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality), thus ensuring the delivery of ecosystem services important for human well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood, especially in natural ecosystems. We develop a novel approach to partition biodiversity effects on multifunctionality into three mechanisms and apply this to European forest data. We show that throughout Europe, tree diversity is positively related with multifunctionality when moderate levels of functioning are required, but negatively when very high function levels are desired. For two well-known mechanisms, 'complementarity' and 'selection', we detect only minor effects on multifunctionality. Instead a third, so far overlooked mechanism, the 'jack-of-all-trades' effect, caused by the averaging of individual species effects on function, drives observed patterns. Simulations demonstrate that jack-of-all-trades effects occur whenever species effects on different functions are not perfectly correlated, meaning they may contribute to diversity-multifunctionality relationships in many of the world's ecosystems. ; The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 265171. ; This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11109

Local biodiversity trends over time are likely to be decoupled from global trends, as local processes may compensate or counteract global change. We analyze 161 long-term biological time series (15-91 years) collected across Europe, using a comprehensive dataset comprising similar to 6,200 marine, freshwater and terrestrial taxa. We test whether (i) local long-term biodiversity trends are consistent among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, and (ii) changes in biodiversity correlate with regional climate and local conditions. Our results reveal that local trends of abundance, richness and diversity differ among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, demonstrating that biodiversity changes at local scale are often complex and cannot be easily generalized. However, we find increases in richness and abundance with increasing temperature and naturalness as well as a clear spatial pattern in changes in community composition (i.e. temporal taxonomic turnover) in most biogeoregions of Northern and Eastern Europe. The global biodiversity decline might conceal complex local and group-specific trends. Here the authors report a quantitative synthesis of longterm biodiversity trends across Europe, showing how, despite overall increase in biodiversity metric and stability in abundance, trends differ between regions, ecosystem types, and taxa. ; Y We are grateful to the ILTER network and the eLTER PLUS project (Grand Agreement No. 871128) for financial support. We acknowledge the E-OBS dataset from the EUFP6 project ENSEMBLES (http://ensembles-eu.metoffice.com) and the data providers in the ECA&D project (http://www.ecad.eu).The evaluation of forest plant diversity was based on data collected by partners of the official UNECE ICP Forests Network (http://icp-forests.net/contributors); part of the data were co-financed by the European Commission, project LIFE 07 ENV/D/000218 "Further Development and Implementation of an EU-level Forest monitoring Systeme (FutMon)". Data on wintering water birds in Bulgaria were provided by the national Executive Environment Agency with the Ministry of Environment and Waters. Data from the Finnish moth monitoring scheme were supported by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment. Data from the Swedish ICP Integrated Monitoring sites were financed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Data collection at Esthwaite Water and a subset of UK ECN sites was supported by Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCaPE programme delivering National Capability. Sponsorship of other UK ECN sites contributing data was provided by Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Natural Resources Wales, Defense Science Technology Laboratory, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Forest Research, the James Hutton Institute (The Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government), Natural England, Rothamsted Research, Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Welsh Government. Data from the Mondego estuary (Portugal) were supported by the Centre for Functional Ecology Strategic Project (UID/BIA/04004/2019) within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and COMPETE 2020, and by FEDER through the project ReNATURE (Centro 2020, Centro-01-765-0145-FEDER-000007). We would like to thank Limburgse Koepel voor Natuurstudie (LiKoNa) for the data related to the National Park Hoge Kempen (BE). We would like to acknowledge the support for the long-term monitoring program MONEOS in the Scheldt estuary (BE) by `De Vlaamse Waterweg' and `Maritieme Toegang' (Flemish government). We are grateful to the board of the National Park "De Hoge Veluwe" for the permission to conduct our research on their property. We thank Ian J. Winfield and Terje Bongard for contributing data for the sites: Bassenthwaite Lake, Derwent Water (UK) and Atna River (Norway, freshwater invertebrate time series). Open access funding provided by Umea University. ; Pilotto, F; Haase, P (corresponding author), Senckenberg Res Inst, Gelnhausen, Germany; Nat Hist Museum, Gelnhausen, Germany; Univ Duisburg Essen, Essen, Germany. francesca.pilotto@umu.se; francesca.pilotto@umu.se

Este artículo contiene 11 páginas, 2 tablas, 4 figuras. ; Local biodiversity trends over time are likely to be decoupled from global trends, as local processes may compensate or counteract global change. We analyze 161 long-term biological time series (15–91 years) collected across Europe, using a comprehensive dataset comprising ~6,200 marine, freshwater and terrestrial taxa. We test whether (i) local long-term biodiversity trends are consistent among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, and (ii) changes in biodiversity correlate with regional climate and local conditions. Our results reveal that local trends of abundance, richness and diversity differ among biogeoregions, realms and taxonomic groups, demonstrating that biodiversity changes at local scale are often complex and cannot be easily generalized. However, we find increases in richness and abundance with increasing temperature and naturalness as well as a clear spatial pattern in changes in community composition (i.e. temporal taxonomic turnover) in most biogeoregions of Northern and Eastern Europe. ; We are grateful to the ILTER network and the eLTER PLUS project (Grand Agreement No. 871128) for financial support. We acknowledge the E-OBS dataset from the EUFP6 project ENSEMBLES (http://ensembles-eu.metoffice.com) and the data providers in the ECA&D project (http://www.ecad.eu). The evaluation of forest plant diversity was based on data collected by partners of the official UNECE ICP Forests Network (http://icp-forests.net/contributors); part of the data were co-financed by the European Commission, project LIFE 07 ENV/D/000218 "Further Development and Implementation of an EU-level Forest monitoring Systeme (FutMon)". Data on wintering water birds in Bulgaria were provided by the national Executive Environment Agency with the Ministry of Environment and Waters. Data from the Finnish moth monitoring scheme were supported by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment. Data from the Swedish ICP Integrated Monitoring sites were financed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Data collection at Esthwaite Water and a subset of UK ECN sites was supported by Natural Environment Research Council award number NE/ R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCaPE programme delivering National Capability. Sponsorship of other UK ECN sites contributing data was provided by Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Natural Resources Wales, Defense Science Technology Laboratory, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Forest Research, the James Hutton Institute (The Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government), Natural England, Rothamsted Research, Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Welsh Government. Data from the Mondego estuary (Portugal) were supported by the Centre for Functional Ecology Strategic Project (UID/BIA/04004/2019) within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and COMPETE 2020, and by FEDER through the project ReNATURE (Centro 2020, Centro-01-765-0145-FEDER-000007). We would like to thank Limburgse Koepel voor Natuurstudie (LiKoNa) for the data related to the National Park Hoge Kempen (BE). We would like to acknowledge the support for the long-term monitoring program MONEOS in the Scheldt estuary (BE) by 'De Vlaamse Waterweg' and 'Maritieme Toegang' (Flemish government). We are grateful to the board of the National Park "De Hoge Veluwe" for the permission to conduct our research on their property. We thank Ian J. Winfield and Terje Bongard for contributing data for the sites: Bassenthwaite Lake, Derwent Water (UK) and Atna River (Norway, freshwater invertebrate time series). Open access funding provided by Umeå University. ; Peer reviewed

The biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is foundational to our understanding of the global extinction crisis and its impacts on ecosystem functioning. Understanding BPR is critical for the accurate valuation and effective conservation of biodiversity. Using ground-sourced data from 777,126 permanent plots, spanning 44 countries and most terrestrial biomes, we reveal a globally consistent positive concave-down BPR, showing that continued biodiversity loss would result in an accelerating decline in forest productivity worldwide.The value of biodiversity in maintaining commercial forest productivity alone—US$166 billion to 490 billion per year according to our estimation—is more than twice what it would cost to implement effective global conservation.This highlights the need for a worldwide reassessment of biodiversity values, forest management strategies, and conservation priorities. ; This work was supported in part by West Virginia University under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) McIntire-Stennis Funds WVA00104 and WVA00105; U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research Program at Cedar Creek (DEB-1234162); the University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources and Institute on the Environment; the Architecture and Environment Department of Italcementi Group, Bergamo (Italy); a Marie Skłodowska Curie fellowship; Polish National Science Center grant 2011/02/A/NZ9/00108; the French L'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) (Centre d'Étude de la Biodiversité Amazonienne: ANR-10-LABX-0025); the General Directory of State Forest National Holding DB; General Directorate of State Forests, Warsaw, Poland (Research Projects 1/07 and OR/2717/3/11); the 12th Five-Year Science and Technology Support Project (grant 2012BAD22B02) of China; the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Program funded by NSF and the U.S. Forest Service (any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government); National Research Foundation of Korea (grant NRF-2015R1C1A1A02037721), Korea Forest Service (grants S111215L020110, S211315L020120 and S111415L080120) and Promising-Pioneering Researcher Program through Seoul National University (SNU) in 2015; Core funding for Crown Research Institutes from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Science and Innovation Group; the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Priority Program 1374 Biodiversity Exploratories; Chilean research grants Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) 1151495 and 11110270; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (grant RGPIN-2014-04181); Brazilian Research grants CNPq 312075/2013 and FAPESC 2013/TR441 supporting Santa Catarina State Forest Inventory (IFFSC); the General Directorate of State Forests, Warsaw, Poland; the Bavarian State Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture, and Forestry project W07; the Bavarian State Forest Enterprise (Bayerische Staatsforsten AöR); German Science Foundation for project PR 292/12-1; the European Union for funding the COST Action FP1206 EuMIXFOR; FEDER/ COMPETE/POCI under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and FCT–Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013; Swiss National Science Foundation grant 310030B_147092; the EU H2020 PEGASUS project (no 633814), EU H2020 Simwood project (no 613762); and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program within the framework of the MultiFUNGtionality Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (IF-EF) under grant agreement 655815. The expeditions in Cameroon to collect the data were partly funded by a grant from the Royal Society and the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) to Simon L. Lewis.

The biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is foundational to our understanding of the global extinction crisis and its impacts on ecosystem functioning. Understanding BPR is critical for the accurate valuation and effective conservation of biodiversity. Using ground-sourced data from 777,126 permanent plots, spanning 44 countries and most terrestrial biomes, we reveal a globally consistent positive concave-down BPR, showing that continued biodiversity loss would result in an accelerating decline in forest productivity worldwide. The value of biodiversity in maintaining commercial forest productivity alone—US$166 billion to 490 billion per year according to our estimation—is more than twice what it would cost to implement effective global conservation. This highlights the need for a worldwide reassessment of biodiversity values, forest management strategies, and conservation priorities.