Here, we hypothesize that the biological, structural and functional attributes of tropical forests respond to water-related climatic and soil nutrient-related factors.
Thus, we quantified 27 forest attributes and 20 environmental factors across 189 plots of Sri Lankan tropical forests. Our results suggest that environmental conditions were characterized by both water-related and temperature-related factors, and as such, both coarse-textured and compacted-structured soils determined soil conditions.
Forest conditions were characterized by high species-functional diversity, structural complexity and aboveground biomass-related functions. We found strong positive effects of water-related climatic factors followed by temperature-related climatic factors but negligible positive to negative effects of textured-related and nutrient-related soil factors on most of the biological, structural and functional attributes.
Overall the biodiversity and carbon stocks of Sri Lankan tropical forests are likely to increase with water-energy balance and improved soil conditions, and thus, studied forests could offset a substantial quantity of anthropogenic carbon emissions to achieve carbon neutrality which can have both regional and global significance if protected from anthropogenic disturbances.
Forest plays a vital role in the global biogeochemical cycles through a high rate of carbon sequestration and harboring biodiversity. However, local species diversity is declining while also becoming increasingly homogenized across communities. Although effects of local biotic processes (e.g., species α-diversity and stand structural heterogeneity) and environmental factors on aboveground biomass (AGB) have been widely tested, there is a huge knowledge gap for the effect of regional biotic processes (i.e., taxonomic and functional β-diversity) in forests. Here, we hypothesized that regional and local environmental factors along with biotic processes jointly regulate AGB through species shifts in tropical forests.
Using piecewise structural equation modeling (pSEM), we linked climatic water availability, soil fertility, stand structural heterogeneity (either tree DBH inequality, height inequality, or stand density), species α-diversity, taxonomic or functional β-diversity (and its two components; β-turnover and β-richness), and AGB across 189 inventory plots in tropical forests of Sri Lanka. Soil fertility and climatic water availability shaped local and regional biotic processes. Stand structural heterogeneity promoted species α-diversity but declined β-diversity (but increased β-taxonomic turnover). Species α-diversity and stand structural heterogeneity promoted AGB whereas taxonomic and functional β-diversity declined (but β-taxonomic turnover increased) AGB.
The relationships of AGB with species α-diversity and β-diversity varied from significant to nonsignificant positive depending on the specific combinations of stand structural heterogeneity metrics used. This study shows that local biotic processes could increase AGB due to the local and regional niche complementarity effect whereas the regional biotic processes could restrict AGB due to the regional selection or functional redundancy effect under favorable environmental conditions. We argue that biotic homogenization, as well as drought conditions, may have strong divergent impacts on forest functions and that the impacts of tree diversity loss may greatly reduce carbon sequestration.
This report constitutes the overall documentation of the data available in the visualization tool BioMapp with regards to various industrial processes. The forest industrial processes described in the report are based on a generally accepted inventory methodology to describe the environmental impact of forest-based products and other sustainability indicators in a life cycle perspective. The system analysis tool used in the project is life cycle analysis (LCA) in the way it is applied in environmental product declarations (EPD).These inventory data are representative in the type of processes and environmental impact that are relevant to Swedish conditions. However, it has not been possible within the framework of the project to make complete industry summaries.
Rapporten, som är framtagen inom Mistra Digital Forest, visar hur visualiseringsverktyget BioMapp kan användas för att analysera påverkan på olika aspekter av hållbarhet från tänkbara alternativa användningar av skogsråvara längs hela värdekedjan, från skog till produkt.
BioMapp kan förse beslutsfattare med de underlag de behöver för att fatta faktabaserade beslut, för ökad hållbarhet inom svensk skoglig sektor. Rapporten visar exempel på den typ av resultat som kan genereras med BioMapp.
Detta är en delrapport från programmet Mistra Digital Forest. Rapporten beskriver den inledande utvecklingen av verktyget BioMapp. Vidare beskrivs vilka digitala data som kan användas som indata för att driva simuleringar med verktyget samt hur den fortsatta utvecklingen planeras inom Mistra Digital Forest. BioMapp är tänkt att användas för att bidra till en ökad förståelse av hur den skogliga råvaran fördelas på olika produktgrupper, samt för att beräkna ett antal hållbarhetsindikatorer för varje steg i förädlingsprocessen. Dessutom ska BioMapp kunna visualisera och beräkna effekter av ändrade strategier i råvaruförsörjningen, tex om flödet av skogsråvara styrs till industrikunden baserat på ved- och fiberegenskaper i högre grad än i dag.