Contrasting ecological mechanisms mediate the impact of land conversion on ecosystem multifunctionality

Land use/cover (LULC) changes have unequivocally affected biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, with enormous repercussions for human well-being. However, the mechanistic ecological mechanisms underlying the impact of land conversion on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) remain insufficiently examined from the perspective of multiple biodiversity attributes in dryland regions with increasing deforestation rates. We investigated how the conversion of natural forests and savannas to agroforestry parklands alters the relationships between multiple biodiversity attributes (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, and structural) and EMF, while accounting for the effects of environmental factors in the dryland landscapes in Benin. We used forest inventory data from 145 plots spanning forests, savannas, and agroforestry parklands and assessed the implications of three land conversion scenarios. We quantified EMF using eight functions that are central to primary productivity and nutrient cycling..., Data were collected across three dominant land use (LU) types in the Sudanian and Sudano–Guinean zones in Benin, West Africa. The LU types included forests, savannas and agroforestry parklands. Vegetation and soil data were collected from 145 circular plots of 0.1 ha each. Within each plot, the floristic inventory consisted of counting and measuring the diameter at breast height (DBH, cm) and height (H, m) of all living trees with DBH > 5 cm. Leaf samples were collected from 5–16 individual trees of abundant species across the sampling plots to determine their dry matter content (mg g-1) andnitrogen content (%). Soil samples were collected at a 0–20 cm depth from the center of four subplots of 0.01 ha each that were installed within the main plot. The soil samples were analyzed for organic carbon (%), total nitrogen (%), total phosphorus (%), and available phosphorus (%) content. Litter samples were collected from four smaller plots of 1 m radius that were established within the four..., , # Contrasting ecological mechanisms mediate the impact of land conversion on ecosystem multifunctionality

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw3n](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw3n)

## Description of the data and file structure

The zipped file in Dryad contains the data necessary to reproduce the statistical analyses published in the manuscript \"Contrasting ecological mechanisms mediate the impact of land conversion on ecosystem multifunctionality\" in Functional Ecology by Noulèkoun et al.

The file includes 3 files, whose content is described below.

1- Main database \"data_FE_Noulekoun_et_al\"
This is .csv document that contains all the variables used in the statistical analysis are displayed along with their values per plot. The names of the variables are abbreviated in this document and their description is provided in the second file entitled \"Description_abbreviations_FE_Noulekoun\" (see also Table below). The dataset does not contain any missing values.

2\. \"Description_a...