Theses and Dissertations
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1173-4360
Issuing Body
Mississippi State University
Advisor
Himes, Austin
Committee Member
Polinko, Adam
Committee Member
Granger, Joshua J.
Committee Member
Zhou, Qian
Date of Degree
5-13-2022
Document Type
Graduate Thesis - Open Access
Major
Forestry
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.)
College
College of Forest Resources
Department
Department of Forestry
Abstract
Numerous studies have evaluated the relationship between biodiversity and productivity, with general trends suggesting a positive relationship. While most studies only use species richness, this study also analyzed how productivity changes with functional diversity and Shannon’s diversity index. Functional diversity gives important context to the examination of biodiversity-productivity relationships due to the direct link between organisms’ functional traits and their role in a given ecosystem. This study used data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database collected in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to estimate plot-level productivity and diversity. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the strength of the relationship between measures of diversity and forest productivity. This study found that species richness had the greatest influence on forest productivity, but it was largely an indirect effect mediated by stand density. This study could be expanded spatially to include more forest types for comparison of trends.
Recommended Citation
Baach, Elizabeth, "Diversity-productivity relationships in forests of the southeastern United States: Leveraging national inventory data and tree functional traits" (2022). Theses and Dissertations. 5418.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/5418
Included in
Biodiversity Commons, Forest Biology Commons, Forest Management Commons, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences Commons