Management of mixedwoods is advocated as an effective adaptation strategy to increase ecosystem resiliency in the context of climate change. Although mixedwoods have been shown to have greater resource use efficiency relative to pure stands, considerable uncertainty remains with respect to the underlying ecological processes. We explored species interactions in Scots pine/European beech mixedwoods with the process\uffe2\uff80\uff90based model FORECAST Climate. The model was calibrated for two contrasting forests in the southwestern Pyrenees (northern Spain): a wet Mediterranean site at 625\uffc2\uffa0m.a.s.l. and a subalpine site at 1335\uffc2\uffa0m.a.s.l. Predicted mixedwood yield was higher than that for beech stands but lower than pine stands. When simulating climate change, mixedwood yield was reduced at the Mediterranean site (\uffe2\uff88\uff9233%) but increased at the subalpine site (+11%). Interaction effects were enhanced as stands developed. Complementarity dominated the Mediterranean stand but neutral or net competition dominated the subalpine stand, which had higher stand density and water availability. Reduced water demand and consumption, increased canopy interception, and improved water\uffe2\uff80\uff90use efficiency in mixtures compared to beech stands, suggest a release of beech intraspecific competition. Beech also facilitated pine growth through better litter quality, nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixation, and above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and belowground stratification, leading to higher foliar nitrogen content and deeper canopies in pines. In conclusion, mixtures may improve water availability and use efficiency for beech and light interception for pine, the main limiting factors for each species, respectively. Encouraging pine\uffe2\uff80\uff93beech mixtures could be an effective adaptation to climate change in drought\uffe2\uff80\uff90prone sites in the Mediterranean region.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Interspecific competition", "13. Climate action", "Fagus sylvatica", "Mixedwoods", "Pinus sylvestris", "15. Life on land", "Species complementarity", "Intraspecific competition", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "Ecological modelling"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/eco.1810"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1810"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecohydrology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/eco.1810", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/eco.1810", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/eco.1810"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-01-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2023.110507", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-25T16:15:47Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-10-10", "title": "Interactive effects of microbial functional diversity and carbon availability on decomposition \u2013 A theoretical exploration", "description": "Microbial functional diversity in litter and soil has been hypothesized to affect the rate of decomposition of organic matter and other soil ecosystem functions. However, there are no clear theoretical expectations on how these effects might change with substrate availability, heterogeneity in the substrate chemistry, and different aspects of functional diversity itself (number of microbial groups vs. distribution of functional traits). To explore how these factors shape the decomposition-diversity relation, we carry out numerical experiments using a flexible reaction network comprising microbial processes and interactions with bioavailable carbon (extracellular degradation, uptake, respiration, growth, and mortality), and ecological processes (competition among the different groups). We also considered diverse carbon substrates, in terms of varying nominal oxidation state of carbon (NOSC). The reaction network was used to test the effects of (i) number of microbial groups, (ii) number of carbon pools, (iii) microbial functional diversity, and (iv) amount of bioavailable carbon. We found that the decomposition rate constant increases with increasing substrate concentration and heterogeneity, as well as with increasing microbial functional diversity or variance of microbial traits, albeit these biological factors are less important. The multivariate dependence of the decomposition rate constant (and other decomposition and microbial growth metrics) on substrate and microbial factors can be described using power laws with exponents lower than one, indicating that diversity effects on decomposition and microbial growth are reduced at high substrate concentration and heterogeneity, or at high microbial diversity.
Microbial functional diversity in litter and soil has been hypothesized to affect the rate of decomposition of organic matter and other soil ecosystem functions. However, there are no clear theoretical expectations on how these effects might change with substrate availability, heterogeneity in the substrate chemistry, and different aspects of functional diversity itself (number of microbial groups vs. distribution of functional traits). To explore how these factors shape the decomposition-diversity relation, we carry out numerical experiments using a flexible reaction network comprising microbial processes and interactions with bioavailable carbon (extracellular degradation, uptake, respiration, growth, and mortality), and ecological processes (competition among the different groups). We also considered diverse carbon substrates, in terms of varying nominal oxidation state of carbon (NOSC). The reaction network was used to test the effects of (i) number of microbial groups, (ii) number of carbon pools, (iii) microbial functional diversity, and (iv) amount of bioavailable carbon. We found that the decomposition rate constant increases with increasing substrate concentration and heterogeneity, as well as with increasing microbial functional diversity or variance of microbial traits, albeit these biological factors are less important. The multivariate dependence of the decomposition rate constant (and other decomposition and microbial growth metrics) on substrate and microbial factors can be described using power laws with exponents lower than one, indicating that diversity effects on decomposition and microbial growth are reduced at high substrate concentration and heterogeneity, or at high microbial diversity.