Jeff Marker, Eva Bergman, Lutz Eckstein, and Denis Lafage of Karlstad University have recently published a paper titled “Forested riparian buffer environmental variables are more important than size for species functional diversity in production forests” in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.

In their paper they explore the effects of forested buffers along small streams on the links between diversity and ecosystem function using spiders and vascular plants. They collected over 150 species of spiders and 85 species of vascular plants in Swedish production forests to test their hypothesis that larger forested buffers around streams would result in high levels of functional diversity. Surprisingly, the forested buffers had no effect on system functional diversity or functional redundancy for spiders or vascular plants. However, taxonomic diversity was found to drive functional diversity and the authors suggest that forest managers work to conserve high levels of taxonomic diversity through proper forested buffer maintenance.

This paper is open access and can be found on https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120599

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On March 8^th at 13.15 (CET), KAU Biology doctoral candidate Jeff Marker will present his seminar on riparian functional diversity. Measuring biodiversity in an ecosystem is more than just counting species, it is essential that we understand exactly what effects those species have on their habitats and how they shape ecosystem processes. By looking at a combination of indices and pinpointing functional traits, Jeff will walk us through the effects of forested riparian buffer and forestry management on the functional diversity of riparian spiders and plants. Join the meeting on zoom via https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology