Tropical forest strata shifts in plant structural diversity-aboveground carbon relationships along altitudinal gradients

Aboveground carbon storage in forests can be influenced by both structural and compositional diversity of plant communities. However, the relative and interactive effects of structural and compositional diversity on multilevel aboveground carbon storage across forest strata and how these relationships vary with altitude and soil nutrients remain unclear. Using data obtained from 34 tropical forest plots (total area 8.5 ha) in Hainan Island, China, we analyzed the relationships between aboveground carbon at four levels (litter, understory, overstory, and whole-community) with structural diversity (diameter and height diversity) and compositional diversity (species diversity and evenness) in the understory and overstory. The direct and indirect effects of altitude, soil nutrients (total N and total P and N/P ratio), structural diversity, and compositional diversity on aboveground carbon were explored via Bayesian structural equation modeling. The results showed that structural diversity, rather than compositional diversity, in overstory stratum determined aboveground carbon. Specifically, overstory structural diversity was negatively associated with understory carbon, while positively associated with overstory and whole-community carbon. Furthermore, diversity‑carbon relationships were slightly affected by soil nutrients but strongly by altitude. Specifically, the relationship between overstory and whole-community carbon content with overstory tree height diversity weakened with altitude, while their relationship with overstory diameter diversity strengthened. Altitude directly and indirectly affected overstory tree height and diameter diversity through overstory species diversity, thereby reducing understory and increasing overstory and whole-community carbon. Altitude directly promoted litter carbon. We provide evidence that the effects of plant diversity on aboveground carbon storage are forest strata- and altitude-dependent. As overstory structural diversity plays a crucial role in storing aboveground carbon at all altitudes, we proposed that focusing on overstory structural diversity would be promising for predicting trends in how plant diversity affects aboveground carbon in response to climate change.