Data from: Neighbour species richness and local structural variability modulate aboveground allocation patterns and crown morphology of individual trees

Local neighbourhood interactions are considered a main driver for
biodiversity–productivity relationships in forests. Yet, the structural
responses of individual trees in species mixtures and their relation to
crown complementarity remain poorly understood. Using a large‐scale forest
experiment, we studied the impact of local tree species richness and
structural variability on above‐ground wood volume allocation patterns and
crown morphology. We applied terrestrial laser scanning to capture the
three‐dimensional structure of trees and their temporal dynamics. We found
that crown complementarity and crown plasticity increased with species
richness. Trees growing in species‐rich neighbourhoods showed enhanced
aboveground wood volume both in trunks and branches. Over time,
neighbourhood diversity induced shifts in wood volume allocation in favour
of branches, in particular for morphologically flexible species. Our
results demonstrate that diversity‐mediated shifts in allocation pattern
and crown morphology are a fundamental mechanism for crown complementarity
and may be an important driver of overyielding.  

Data from: Neighbour species richness and local structural
variability modulate aboveground allocation patterns and crown morphology
of individual trees +++ The dataset
CCI_Data_2015_Site_A.csv contains the local crown complementarity index
data for target trees in monocultures and mixtures in the year 2015 (Site
A, BEF-China experiment) Column description for
CCI_Data_2015_Site_A.csv:
 PLOT_NO ... Plot tag in main
experiment
 CCI ... Local crown complementarity index

 NSR ... Neighbourhood species richness
 TREE_R ... Plot species
richness
 nb_Crown.FDis ... Neighbourhood variation in crown
shape
 nb_CrVol_RaoQ ... Neighbourhood variation in crown
size +++ Further inventory data as
well as metadata for the BEF-China experiment can be requested and
downloaded from the BEF-China data portal
(http://china.befdata.biow.uni-leipzig.de/). For
further information or requests please contact:
[email protected], Institute of General Ecology and
Environmental Protection, TU Dresden, Germany.