Relative importance of tree species and genotypic diversity for above- and belowground processes in boreal forest

The majority of forests in Europe are managed and underwent considerable changes in tree species richness, species composition and genetic diversity over the last few centuries. However, sound scientific evidence of the impact of these changes in tree species and genetic diversity on how the ecosystems work and the services they provide, including human well-being, is still lacking. We need this knowledge in order to effectively conserve and utilise our forests in the face of environmental change. Boreal forests are particularly species-poor, and therefore addition or loss of a single tree species may be expected to have larger effects on the ecosystem. In addition, the variation within tree species has also been recently shown to be an important determinant of ecosystem functioning, but the relative importance of variation between tree species and within a single species has not yet been addressed in a single study. In this project we take advantage of two unique long-term experiments previously established by our team in boreal forests of SW Finland. These experiments manipulate both tree species diversity and tree within-species genetic diversity. We will examine how this tree-based biodiversity affects the range of animals, microbes and fungi associated with the forest, how the ecosystems work, from above-ground insects to the tree's growth and the unseen but crucial biodiversity in the soil. A key connection between the trees and their associated biodiversity is their content of different chemical defences which protect them from their enemies and can have consequences for other organisms and ecosystem processes. Understanding the relative role of genetic and species diversity is important because we need to know whether conservation and management efforts have to be focused on species richness or intraspecific diversity. Therefore, the results of this project will be important for prioritizing conservation efforts and predicting consequences of biodiversity declines.

The main types of non-academic beneficiaries of the proposed research are:

(1) Policy and decision makers in conservation science (e.g. Defra, Natural England, JNCC, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)):
This group of stakeholders will set the agenda for future conservation by establishing the parameters and providing levers especially via support schemes, to activate it. Following our failure to meet the 2010 targets to halt biodiversity loss, the utility of species and site-based conservation strategies is under scrutiny. Our research will provide evidence as to the effectiveness of conservation of biodiversity (of both genotypes and species) in relation to ecosystem function and will inform the decision-makers of the relative benefits of tree species and genetic diversity in woodlands.

(2) Woodland managers (e.g. Forestry Commission, the Woodland Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage) and forest owners:
The UK forestry standard guidelines published in 2011 declare the conservation of biodiversity an essential part of sustainable forest management in the UK. Results of our project will inform forest managers and forest owners on the effectiveness of use of tree species and genotype mixtures in forestry as a means of improving tree growth, reducing pest damage, and promoting the diversity and activities of beneficial soil fungi and bacteria. The tree species that will be used in the project (silver birch, Norway spruce, Scots pine etc) are economically important timber species in many European countries, and therefore the results of the project will be of practical relevance for forestry in the UK, Finland and elsewhere in Europe. We have already secured engagement of three stakeholders involved in woodland management: Forestry Commission, Scottish Natural Heritage and Coille Alba (a not-profit-sharing organisation based in Scotland which supports the sustainable management of native woodlands).

(3) International NGOs involved in conservation and forestry (World Wildlife Fund, IUCN, DIVERSITAS, International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO): our results will be of interest to the above organisations because our project focuses on boreal forests which is one of the world's largest terrestrial biomes stretching through North America, Europe and Asia. Only 9% of this biome is protected globally, and hence the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in boreal forests is of particular interest. The international composition of our project team (PI in England, fieldwork in Finland, project partners from Germany and Estonia, subcontractors from Scotland and Finland) and PI Koricheva's involvement in two current EU projects (BACCARA and FunDivEurope) will facilitate engagement and dissemination of project results to the above international NGO organisations.

(4) Wider public: The general public are frequent recreational users of British woodlands and deeply care about their state of health. Recent public outcry which resulted in abandonment of government's plans to privatise England's forests demonstrates the impact general public has on policy and decision making on issues related to forest management. Our project will raise public's awareness about the relevance of woodland biodiversity in relation to forest ecosystem services.

The above stakeholders will be engaged in and informed about our project via: (1) participation in the two workshops that we are planning as part of the Pathways to Impact, (2) the planned involvement of PI Koricheva in UK IPBES Stakeholder Group, (3) the project summary booklet that we are planning to produce and disseminate among all relevant stakeholders; and (4) participation of project team in the Royal Holloway science festival and contribution to RHUL science blog. Details of our projects' dissemination plan are described in the Pathways of Impact.