RT Journal Article
T1 Diversity modulates above-ground productivity in response to disturbances: The case of Iberian forests
A1 Rebollo Orozco, Pedro
A1 Cruz Alonso, Verónica
A1 Ruiz-Benito, Paloma
A1 Triviño, María
A1 Astigarraga, Julen
A1 González-Díaz, Patricia
A1 Zavala, Miguel Ángel
A1 Andivia Muñoz, Enrique
AB Disturbances play a key role in forest dynamics globally, with various effects on productivity. Tree diversity is expected to attenuate the negative impact of disturbance on forest productivity, but its overall effect has been little explored and might depend on the functional composition. Here, we analysed whether forest productivity responses to disturbances were modulated by structural and functional diversity, as well as by functional dominance, and whether these responses vary among functional groups.For this, we used 12,075 permanent plots from the Spanish Forest National Inventory spanning the 1986–2019 period and modelled forest above-ground productivity as a function of disturbance occurrence (i.e. harvesting, fire or biotic damage observed in trees) and its pairwise interaction with (i) structural and functional diversity and (ii) functional dominance. We considered the following main functional groups: (i) needle-leaved (50.2% of the data), broad-leaved deciduous (25.8%) and broad-leaved evergreen (24.0%).Harvesting and fire occurrence significantly reduced above-ground productivity of all functional groups, 94.5% and 143.9% on average, respectively. Structural diversity mitigated forest productivity declines associated with harvesting and fire, whereas functional diversity only modulated responses related to harvesting. In general, structural diversity had a more positive effect on forest productivity in disturbed plots than in undisturbed plots. The only exception concerned the impact of fire occurrence on broad-leaved species, which remained similar. In harvested plots, functional diversity increased forest productivity, except for broad-leaved species. Finally, forest productivity decreased in harvested plots dominated by broad-leaved deciduous tree species but increased in fire-affected plots.Synthesis. Forest diversity can mitigate the negative effects of disturbances on productivity. Higher structural diversity enhanced productivity in both harvested and fire-affected stands, while greater functional diversity maintained productivity in harvested forests. These results highlight the importance of promoting structural and functional diversity as a key strategy to sustain forest productivity and reinforce the role of forests as carbon sinks under increasing disturbance regimes.
PB Wiley
SN 0022-0477
YR 2025
FD 2025-03-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/128413
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/128413
LA eng
NO Rebollo, P., Cruz-Alonso, V., Ruiz-Benito, P., Triviño, M., Astigarraga, J., González-Díaz, P., Zavala, M. A., & Andivia, E. (2025). Diversity modulates above-ground productivity in response to disturbances: The case of Iberian forests. Journal of Ecology, 113, 3605–3621. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.70183
NO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis study was supported by the grants ADAPTAMIX (PID2019-110470RA-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and FUNFOREST (3060/2023, funded by Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales and Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico). Pedro Rebollo is funded by an assistant professor grant from the Complutense University of Madrid. Verónica Cruz-Alonso was supported by the Ministry of Universities, Spain, and Next Generation-EU, with a 'Maria Zambrano' fellowship. Paloma Ruiz-Benito was supported by the Community of Madrid Region under the framework of the multi-year Agreement with the University of Alcalá (Stimulus to Excellence for Permanent University Professors, EPU-INV/2020/010). María Triviño was supported by the Kone Foundation (application 202206136). Julen Astigarraga, Verónica Cruz-Alonso, Pedro Rebollo, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, María Triviño and Miguel Ángel Zavala have been funded by the Science and Innovation Ministry, AEI (Agencia Estatal de Investigación) (subproject LARGE, No. PID2021-123675OB-C41). Miguel Ángel Zavala and Paloma Ruiz-Benito were also supported by grant VERDAT; MITECO (Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales, Ref. 2794/2021). The Spanish National Forest Inventory is available thanks to the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (https://www.miteco.gob.es). We are also grateful to Niko Kulha, Georges Kunstler and Julien Barrere for their valuable discussions.
NO Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales (España)
NO Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (España)
NO Ministerio de Universidades (España)
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Universidad de Alcalá
NO Kone Foundation (Finlandia)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 17 dic 2025