Maintenance of Forest Biodiversity

• Other Authors: Zang, Runguo (Editor), Ding, Yi (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
• Subjects: Research & information: general; Biology, life sciences; Ecological science, the Biosphere; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; intraspecific competition; interspecific competition; litter decomposition; nutrient release; biodiversity monitoring; soundscape ecology; spectrograms; acoustic indices; birds; urban forests; object-based image analysis; novel approach; altitude; interspecific association; Godron stability; the southern Taihang Mountains; soil nutrients; plant diversity; regression dominant species; tropical monsoonal forest; Hainan island; soil pH; soil available phosphorus; root-soil-microbial interactions; seedling bank; seedling age; microenvironment; biomass allocation; nonstructural carbohydrates; community assembly; beta diversity; replacement; richness; spatial structure parameters; dynamic changes; the Sankey diagram; mortality process; recruitment process; natural mixed forests; net relatedness index; functional trait; niche theory; habitat filtering; competitive exclusion; deciduous broad-leaved forests; precipitation; soil water content; root system characteristics; natural regeneration; biogeography; subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest; functional richness; environmental variables; phylogenetic signal; intra- and interspecific interactions; stand structure; understory vegetation; species diversity; canonical correlation analysis; gap size; soil microbe; soil chemical property; forest management; PLFA analysis; spatial distribution; soil depth layer; β-diversity; soil chemical elements; multi-site generalized dissimilarity modeling; stand structural characteristic; aboveground biomass; temperature; influence
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

Among terrestrial ecosystems, forests play a dominant role in maintaining biodiversity and providing ecosystem functioning, such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem stability. Over the past several decades, however, global forests are facing unprecedented pressure from climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, resulting in a high rate of biodiversity loss due to deforestation, fragmentation, and degradation. Determining how to maintain biodiversity is extremely urgent if we want to achieve the aims of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The complex structure, species interaction, heterogenic environment, and regional species pool all affect the spatial and temporal patterns of forest species, but it is still unclear how these effects maintain long-term forest biodiversity as forests undergo rapid variations in habitat features under global change. This reprint includes sixteen published articles related to the dynamics of forest spatial structure, community assembly, forest recovery patterns after disturbance, spatial distribution of species diversity, effects of abiotic and biotic variables on understory species diversity, and above- and below-ground biotic interactions. These studies cover different forest types across varied spatial and temporal scales, as well as different biological groups (plants, birds and microbes). We acknowledge all authors who contributed to this reprint "Maintenance of Forest Biodiversity" of Forests. We hope this reprint can improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of forest biodiversity maintenance.