accepted

Horizontal, but not vertical canopy structure is related to stand functional diversity in a subtropical slope forest (DOI: 10.1007/s11284-011-0887-3

2011-01-12

2015-04-25

Lang, A. C., Härdtle, W., Bruelheide, H., Kröber, W., Schröter, M., von Wehrden, H., & von Oheimb, G. (2012). Horizontal, but not vertical canopy structure is related to stand functional diversity in a subtropical slope forest. Ecological research, 27(1), 181-189.

2011-12-14

In biodiversity research, niche complementarity is seen as one mechanism with which species coexistence is maintained. Niche complementarity also results in a more efficient use of the total resource pool, and thus, species-rich communities should perform better if species occupy distinct niches. In forests, complementarity in light exploitation is reflected in the horizontal and vertical structure of the canopy. The aim of this study is to analyse the influence of diversity on horizontal and vertical canopy space use in a highly diverse subtropical broad-leaved forest. As a measure of crown complementarity we assessed canopy cover and crown overlap as well as the variation in height of bifurcation point and crown length of neighbouring trees. We hypothesised that these measures are influenced by functional diversity and successional stage of the tree assemblages. The effect of plot-related environmental variables (diversity, successional stage, inclination and aspect of slope, crown loss, altitude) was tested by mixed effects models. [13] Lang, A.C., Härdtle, W., Bruelheide, H., Kröber, W., Yu, M.J., Schröter, M., von Wehrden H., von Oheimb, G. (2011): Horizontal, but not vertical canopy structure is related to stand functional diversity in a subtropical slope forest. - Ecological Research 27: 181–189 (DOI: 10.1007/s11284-011-0887-3). (prop. 28)

Anne Lang, Helge Bruelheide, Prof., Werner Härdtle, Prof., Wenzel Kröber, Bernhard Schmid, Prof., Mingjian Yu, Goddert von Oheimb, Martin Böhnke, David Eichenberg, Dr., Karin Nadrowski