Data from: Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment

Biodiversity experiments have shown that species loss reduces ecosystem
functioning in grassland. To test whether this result can be extrapolated
to forests, the main contributors to terrestrial primary productivity,
requires large-scale experiments. We manipulated tree species richness by
planting more than 150,000 trees in plots with 1 to 16 species. Simulating
multiple extinction scenarios, we found that richness strongly increased
stand-level productivity. After 8 years, 16-species mixtures had
accumulated over twice the amount of carbon found in average monocultures
and similar amounts as those of two commercial monocultures. Species
richness effects were strongly associated with functional and phylogenetic
diversity. A shrub addition treatment reduced tree productivity, but this
reduction was smaller at high shrub species richness. Our results
encourage multispecies afforestation strategies to restore biodiversity
and mitigate climate change.

aat6405_dataPlot-level aboveground productivity indicators underlying published analyses.aat6405R script with statistical models presented in article.