ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Nutrition
Total soil nutrients drive the enhancement of ecosystem multifunctionality as the succession progresses of the poplar-birch secondary forest
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Forestry, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
- 2Saihanba Mechanized Forest Farm of Hebei Province, Weichang, chengde, China
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Ecosystem multifunctionality(EMF) refers to an integrated measure of an ecosystem's capacity to perform multiple co-occurring functionsability to deliver multiple co-occurring functions. However, change the multi-factor driving mechanism of EMFthe driving mechanisms of ecosystem multifunctionality during poplar-birch secondary forest succession are still poorly understood. Using a space-for-time substitution approach Using the method of "space-for-time substitution", this study examined four succession stages (early, middle, middle-late, and late) of poplar-birch secondary forests in the Northern Hebei Mountains. It investigated soil physicochemical properties, plant productivity, quantified functional indices and explored the multi-factor driving mechanisms for changing EMFdriving mechanisms of ecosystem multifunctionality. The results showed that stand and litter (stand volume, litter biomass, litter carbon stock)stand volume (Vol), litter biomass (Lit), litter carbon stock (Lit c), soil nutrients (organic matter, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, available phosphorus) and soil enzymes (cellobiohydrolase, dissolved organic carbon, n-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase and leucine aminopeptidase)organic matter (OM), dissolved organic carbon (DOC),total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP) cellobiohydrolase (CBH), n-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) significantly elevated as the succession progressed (p < 0.05). Compared with the early stage, the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus function indices and the ecosystem multifunctionality index significantly increased by 169%, 287%, 210% and 216% (p < 0.05), respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that increased litter biomass enhanced total soil nutrients, which in turn stimulated soil enzyme activity, ultimately promoting EMF as succession advanced.Structural equation model (SEM) analysis results indicated that increasing litter biomass enhanced total soil nutrients, thereby improving soil enzyme activity and ultimately boosting EMF, as the succession progressed. Notably, total soil nutrients were key factors driving ecosystem multifunctionality enhancement. Overall, plant productivity and soil fertility increased during secondary forest succession, thereby strengthening ecosystem multifunctionality, which provided scientific support for the sustainable development of forest EMF.
Keywords: forest succession, Ecosystem multifunctionality, Function indices, Space-for-time substitution, Driving factors, Secondary forests
Received: 19 Sep 2025; Accepted: 06 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ma, He, Liu, Zhang, Fu, Pang, Tian and Kong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yue Pang, pangyue240910@163.com
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