Human disturbance facilitates the environmental dependence of biodiversity-ecosystem multifunctionality relationship across spatial scales in temperate forests

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality (BEMF) is environmentally dependent under global climate change, and increasing human disturbance may affect this dependence. However, the specific mechanisms across spatial scales remain unclear, especially in temperate forests. Accordingly, this study aims to explore how human disturbance affects the BEMF relationship and its environmental dependence at different scales of communities in temperate forests. Based on a set of forest inventory data from northeastern China, we used structural equation models and linear mixed-effects models to test the impact factors of BEMF relationship. The results show that different scales of biodiversity, human footprint, environmental optimality and heterogeneity along with their interactions significantly influence the local and regional EMF. Human disturbance has a significantly negative effect on the environmental optimality dependence of the BEMF relationship at the local scale, and a significantly positive effect on the environmental heterogeneity dependence at the regional scale. The findings highlight the important role of human disturbance in mediating the environmental dependence of BEMF relationships, which suggests that forest management could regulate the BEMF relationship by controlling human activities under global climate change.