Integrating functional, phylogenetic and genetic components of diversity for an improved understanding of forest structure, dynamics, and change

The species composition and dynamics of forests worldwide are changing in response to multiple factors including deforestation, invasive species, and climate and atmospheric change. The diversity of trees in a forest controls the functioning of the ecosystem, and therefore plays a critical role in regulating forest responses to global change. This award will support two workshops - one in the US and one in China - to allow scientists to share data and discuss current understanding and future priorities for studying the change in tree biodiversity over time. The workshops will involve approximately 100 participants, 75% of whom will be graduate students, post-doctoral researchers or junior faculty. Formal international partnerships and informal scientific links will be further developed by these workshops, as well as by international scientific exchanges in which US fellows spend 1-3 months in partner institutions within China. Results of the workshops will be disseminated broadly through peer-reviewed publications, a blog, project website, and other social media outlets.By combining the largest inventory of tree diversity and dynamics in the world with expanded datasets on species-level functional traits, phylogenies, seed production, seedling regeneration, soil microbial diversity, and tree genetics these workshops will lead to an improved understanding of the dimensions of tree diversity and their role in forest function, and thereby improve predictions of compositional, structural, and dynamic responses to global change. Two international collaborative workshops will synthesize and integrate: (i) tree functional diversity with species performance to better understand how functional traits control species' performance among environments; (ii) tree functional and phylogenetic diversity to investigate controls on forest ecosystem function; (iii) tree phylogenetic and functional diversity to predict community responses to change from species' performance across environments; (iv) metagenomic surveys of microbial diversity with tree functional and phylogenetic diversity to assess below-ground controls on forest diversity and function; and (v) genetic, functional and phylogenetic diversity to understand the consequences of genetic diversity for species performance. These combined activities will transform current understanding of how forests work, how they are responding to current environmental change, and their resilience in the face of future change.

The species composition and dynamics of forests worldwide are changing in response to multiple factors including deforestation, invasive species, and climate and atmospheric change. The diversity of trees in a forest controls the functioning of the ecosystem, and therefore plays a critical role in regulating forest responses to global change. This award will support two workshops - one in the US and one in China - to allow scientists to share data and discuss current understanding and future priorities for studying the change in tree biodiversity over time. The workshops will involve approximately 100 participants, 75% of whom will be graduate students, post-doctoral researchers or junior faculty. Formal international partnerships and informal scientific links will be further developed by these workshops, as well as by international scientific exchanges in which US fellows spend 1-3 months in partner institutions within China. Results of the workshops will be disseminated broadly through peer-reviewed publications, a blog, project website, and other social media outlets.By combining the largest inventory of tree diversity and dynamics in the world with expanded datasets on species-level functional traits, phylogenies, seed production, seedling regeneration, soil microbial diversity, and tree genetics these workshops will lead to an improved understanding of the dimensions of tree diversity and their role in forest function, and thereby improve predictions of compositional, structural, and dynamic responses to global change. Two international collaborative workshops will synthesize and integrate: (i) tree functional diversity with species performance to better understand how functional traits control species' performance among environments; (ii) tree functional and phylogenetic diversity to investigate controls on forest ecosystem function; (iii) tree phylogenetic and functional diversity to predict community responses to change from species' performance across environments; (iv) metagenomic surveys of microbial diversity with tree functional and phylogenetic diversity to assess below-ground controls on forest diversity and function; and (v) genetic, functional and phylogenetic diversity to understand the consequences of genetic diversity for species performance. These combined activities will transform current understanding of how forests work, how they are responding to current environmental change, and their resilience in the face of future change.