The links between ecosystem multifunctionality and above- and belowground biodiversity are mediated by climate.
Plant biodiversity is often correlated with ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems. However, we know little about the relative and combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity on multiple ecosystem functions (for example, ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF) or how climate might mediate those relationships. Here we tease apart the effects of biotic and abiotic factors, both above- and belowground, on EMF on the Tibetan Plateau, China. We found that a suite of biotic and abiotic variables account for up to 86% of the variation in EMF, with the combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity accounting for 45% of the variation in EMF. Our results have two important implications: first, including belowground biodiversity in models can improve the ability to explain and predict EMF. Second, regional-scale variation in climate, and perhaps climate change, can determine, or at least modify, the effects of biodiversity on EMF in natural ecosystems.
Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Xin
X
Jing
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark.
Nathan J
NJ
Sanders
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
Yu
Y
Shi
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
Haiyan
H
Chu
Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Aimée T
AT
Classen
Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Ke
K
Zhao
Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China.
Litong
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9797-296X
L
Chen
Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
Yue
Y
Shi
Institute of Forest Ecology, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China.
Youxu
Y
Jiang
Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China.
Jin-Sheng
JS
He
D001419:Bacteria; D044822:Biodiversity; D058448:Biota; D002980:Climate; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi; D065948:Grassland; D010944:Plants; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D018609:Tibet