Understory plant biodiversity is inversely related to carbon storage in a high carbon ecosystem

Given that terrestrial ecosystems globally are facing the loss of biodiversity from land use conversion, invasive species, and climate change, effective management requires a better understanding of the drivers and correlates of biodiversity. Increasingly, biodiversity is co-managed with aboveground carbon storage because high biodiversity in animal species is observed to correlate with high aboveground carbon storage. Most previous investigations into the relationship of biodiversity and carbon co-management do not focus on the biodiversity of the species rich plant kingdom, which may have tradeoffs with carbon storage. To examine the relationships of plant species richness with aboveground tree biomass carbon storage, we used a series of generalized linear models with understory plant species richness and diversity data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis dataset and high-resolution modeled carbon maps for the Tongass National Forest. Functional trait data from the TRY database was used to understand the potential mechanisms that drive the response of understory plants. Understory species richness and community weighted mean leaf dry matter content decreased along an increasing gradient of tree biomass carbon storage, but understory diversity, community weighted mean specific leaf area, and plant height at maturity did not. Leaf dry matter content had little variance at the community level. The decline of understory plant species richness but not diversity to increases in aboveground biomass carbon storage suggests that rare species are excluded in aboveground biomass carbon dense areas. These decreases in understory species richness reflect a tradeoff between the understory plant community and aboveground carbon storage. The mechanisms that are associated with observed plant communities along a gradient of biomass carbon storage in this forest suggest that slower-growing plant strategies are less effective in the presence of high biomass carbon dense trees in the overstory.