The multiple ecosystem services provided by forests are highly dependent on species diversity, a fact that has been frequently demonstrated. While the relationships between diversity and functioning, resulting mainly from the complementarity between tree species at the individual level, are fairly well documented, it is a different story for the processes that emerge at the community level.
Using national forest inventories from six European countries and virtual modelling experiments, a team of French researchers has attempted to show that species diversity promotes productivity by having a positive effect on maximum stand density.
This density effect appears to be fairly general in European forests and could be taken into account in climate change management and mitigation programmes.