As biodiversity of species is rapidly declining worldwide under human disturbance, the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) and their underlying mechanisms have become an important scientific issue. In past decades, many experiments were conducted in small-scale controlled ecosystems, predominantly grasslands, and within relatively short periods (1-10 years) and spatial scales (100 m²) and their results may not reflect structurally complex natural communities. Also, species richness is frequently used as the sole measure of diversity while the importance of other metrics of diversity such as functional and phylogenetic diversity is ignored.

YUAN Zuoqiang and co-authors at Institute of Applied Ecology of Chinese Academy of Sciences took the plots of Broad-leaved Korean Pine Forest and Secondary Poplar-Birch Forest as objects and analyzed the above-ground biomass stock and its dynamics. They collected data of leaf P, N content, leaf area, leaf specific area, wood density and specific root length, and compared the dispersion pattern of these traits with null model. They also calculated the species richness, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity.

Researchers found that almost all biodiversity indices showed positive correlations with productivity, and the phylogenetic diversity well predicts productivity. However, their findings did not support the conclusion that species richness had weakest predictive power. They revealed that the model including species richness, phylogenetic diversity and single not combined functional trait explained more variation in productivity than other models. Regardless of diversity indices, researchers found stronger positive BEF relationships in the later stage of forest succession, implying that the diversity effect on ecosystem functioning becomes stronger over time.

The study showed that along with the community succession, influence of temperate natural forest in different diversity index of ecosystem function also changed, which means that the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function is a dynamic process. Considering the multi-causality in complex world and multi-dimensions of biodiversity at the multi-time and space scales will be the breakthrough to correctly understand and grasp the linkages among biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the production of ecosystem services.