Species richness is a strong driver of forest biomass along broad bioclimatic gradients in the Himalayas
Nita Dyola,
Shalik Ram Sigdel,
Eryuan Liang,
Flurin Babst,
J. Julio Camarero,
Sugam Aryal,
Nakul Chettri,
Shan Gao,
Xiaoming Lu,
Jian Sun,
Tao Wang,
Gengxin Zhang,
Haifeng Zhu,
Shilong Piao,
Josep Peñuelas
Affiliations
Nita Dyola
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Shalik Ram Sigdel
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Eryuan Liang
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Flurin Babst
School of Natural Resources and the Environment University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA
J. Julio Camarero
Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE‐CSIC) Zaragoza Spain
Sugam Aryal
Friedrich‐Alexander‐Universität Erlangen‐Nürnberg Institut für Geographie Erlangen Germany
Nakul Chettri
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) Kathmandu Nepal
Shan Gao
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Xiaoming Lu
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Jian Sun
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Tao Wang
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Gengxin Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Haifeng Zhu
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Shilong Piao
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
Abstract Forest biomass is an important component of terrestrial carbon pools. However, how climate, biodiversity, and structural attributes co‐determine spatiotemporal variation in forest biomass remains not well known. We aimed to shed light on these drivers of forest biomass by measuring diversity and structural attributes of tree species in 400‐m2 plots located every 100 m along a 4200‐m elevational gradient in the eastern Himalayas. We applied structural equation models to test how climate, species richness, structural attributes, and their interactions influence forest biomass. Importantly, species richness was a stronger driver of biomass than environmental and structural attributes such as annual air temperature or stem density. Integrating the availability of energy and the demand for water, potential evapotranspiration was more strongly correlated with biomass than water availability, likely due to the strong influence of the Indian summer monsoon. Thus, interactions between climate and tree community composition ultimately control how much carbon is stored in woody biomass across bioclimatic gradients. This fundamental understanding will support predictive efforts of the forest carbon sink in this hydroclimatically important region and help preserving regional forests as a potent natural solution for climate change mitigation.
