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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Development of an Individual-Tree Basal Area Increment Model using a Linear Mixed-Effects Approach

Development of an Individual-Tree Basal Area Increment Model using a Linear Mixed-Effects Approach

Published on: July 3, 2020

Spatial complementarity in tree crowns explains overyielding in species mixtures.

Laura J Williams¹, Alain Paquette², Jeannine Cavender-Bares¹

¹Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA.

Nature Ecology & Evolution

|August 17, 2017

Summary

Biodiversity enhances ecosystem productivity through crown complementarity, a mechanism involving light interception. This study shows how species differences and plasticity in tree crowns drive this effect.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Forestry
Plant Science

Background:

Understanding the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functions is crucial for predicting biodiversity change impacts.
Complementarity and selection effects are accepted drivers of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships, but empirical evidence for underlying biological mechanisms is scarce.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide empirical evidence for the biological mechanisms linking plant biodiversity with ecosystem productivity.
To investigate the role of crown complementarity in mediating the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity in young trees.

Main Methods:

A field experiment was conducted using young trees to assess biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships.
Statistical approaches were used to disentangle the relative importance of complementarity and selection effects.
Crown complementarity was quantified based on canopy space, light interception, and use.

Main Results:

Stem biomass overyielding significantly increased with greater crown complementarity in tree mixtures.
Interspecific differences in crown architecture enhanced crown complementarity in functionally diverse mixtures.
Intraspecific variation, specifically neighborhood-driven crown plasticity, further modified spatial complementarity and strengthened overyielding.

Conclusions:

Crown complementarity, driven by light interception and use, is a key mechanism linking biodiversity to ecosystem productivity.
Both inherent interspecific differences and intraspecific crown plasticity contribute significantly to overyielding.
Crown complementarity is a vital mechanism potentially driving diversity-enhanced productivity in forest ecosystems.