Development stage-dependent effects of biodiversity on aboveground biomass of temperate forests

Increasing evidence shows that biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships (BEFs) become stronger as forests develop, but much of the evidence is drawn from experiments (less than 30 years). How the diversity effects vary with the stand development stages remain largely unexplored. Using a large temperate forest datasets with 2,392 permanent plots in northeastern China, we examined the relationships between biodiversity (i.e., tree species richness, functional diversity, and functional composition) and aboveground biomass (AGB) across the different development stages of temperate forests (covering all stages from young to overmature forests). Specifically, the complementarity and mass-ratio effects across the different forest development stages were evaluated to elucidate emerging patterns that explain ecosystem functioning. We observed positive BEFs using both species richness and functional diversity, but these positive effects decreased with forest development. However, the effe..., , , # Data from: Development stage-dependent effects of biodiversity on aboveground biomass of temperate forests

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cfxpnvxh2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cfxpnvxh2)

## Description of the data and file structure

Forest data on the stands were derived from permanent sampling plots of the 9th National Forest Inventory (NFI) in 2014. Systematic sampling was performed using a 4 × 8 km grid across Jilin Province. Each plot was rectangular with an area of 600 m2 (24.5m × 24.5m) and 2,392 plots with natural secondary forest and without major human disturbances since 1994 were selected for the study. According to the protocols of the NFI issued by the State Forestry Administration of China, tree species name, all individual trees with ≥5 cm stem diameter at breast height (DBH, 1.3 m aboveground) and stand age (i.e., the average age of dominant tree species in the main forest layer) were recorded.