Forests are a substantial terrestrial carbon sink, but anthropogenic changes in land use and climate have considerably reduced the scale of this system¹. Remote-sensing estimates to quantify carbon losses from global forests^2–5 are characterized by considerable uncertainty and we lack a comprehensive ground-sourced evaluation to benchmark these estimates. Here we combine several ground-sourced⁶ and satellite-derived approaches^2,7,8 to evaluate the scale of the global forest carbon potential outside agricultural and urban lands. Despite regional variation, the predictions demonstrated remarkable consistency at a global scale, with only a 12% difference between the ground-sourced and satellite-derived estimates. At present, global forest carbon storage is markedly under the natural potential, with a total deficit of 226 Gt (model range = 151–363 Gt) in areas with low human footprint. Most (61%, 139 Gt C) of this potential is in areas with existing forests, in which ecosystem protection can allow forests to recover to maturity. The remaining 39% (87 Gt C) of potential lies in regions in which forests have been removed or fragmented. Although forests cannot be a substitute for emissions reductions, our results support the idea^2,3,9 that the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of diverse forests offer valuable contributions to meeting global climate and biodiversity targets.

Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species^1,2. Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though they have the potential to transform ecosystems and economies^3,4. Here, leveraging global tree databases^5–7, we explore how the phylogenetic and functional diversity of native tree communities, human pressure and the environment influence the establishment of non-native tree species and the subsequent invasion severity. We find that anthropogenic factors are key to predicting whether a location is invaded, but that invasion severity is underpinned by native diversity, with higher diversity predicting lower invasion severity. Temperature and precipitation emerge as strong predictors of invasion strategy, with non-native species invading successfully when they are similar to the native community in cold or dry extremes. Yet, despite the influence of these ecological forces in determining invasion strategy, we find evidence that these patterns can be obscured by human activity, with lower ecological signal in areas with higher proximity to shipping ports. Our global perspective of non-native tree invasion highlights that human drivers influence non-native tree presence, and that native phylogenetic and functional diversity have a critical role in the establishment and spread of subsequent invasions.

The density of wood is a key indicator of the carbon investment strategies of trees, impacting productivity and carbon storage. Despite its importance, the global variation in wood density and its environmental controls remain poorly understood, preventing accurate predictions of global forest carbon stocks. Here we analyse information from 1.1 million forest inventory plots alongside wood density data from 10,703 tree species to create a spatially explicit understanding of the global wood density distribution and its drivers. Our findings reveal a pronounced latitudinal gradient, with wood in tropical forests being up to 30% denser than that in boreal forests. In both angiosperms and gymnosperms, hydrothermal conditions represented by annual mean temperature and soil moisture emerged as the primary factors influencing the variation in wood density globally. This indicates similar environmental filters and evolutionary adaptations among distinct plant groups, underscoring the essential role of abiotic factors in determining wood density in forest ecosystems. Additionally, our study highlights the prominent role of disturbance, such as human modification and fire risk, in influencing wood density at more local scales. Factoring in the spatial variation of wood density notably changes the estimates of forest carbon stocks, leading to differences of up to 21% within biomes. Therefore, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of terrestrial biomass distribution and how environmental changes and disturbances impact forest ecosystems.

Understanding the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity has become a central issue in ecology and conservation biology studies, particularly when these relationships are connected with global climate change and species extinction. However, which facets of biodiversity (i.e. taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity) account most for variations in productivity are still not understood very well. This is especially true with regard to temperate forest ecosystems. In this study, we used a dataset from a stem‐mapped permanent forest plot in northeastern China exploring the relationships between biodiversity and productivity at different spatial scales (20 × 20 m; 40 × 40 m; and 60 × 60 m). The influence of specific environmental conditions (topographic conditions) and stand maturity (expressed by initial stand volume and biomass) were taken into account using the multivariate approach known as structural equation models. The variable “Biodiversity” includes taxonomic (Shannon), functional (FDis), and phylogenetic diversity (PD). Biodiversity–productivity relationships varied with the spatial scales. At the scale of 20 × 20 m, PD and FDis significantly affected forest biomass productivity, while Shannon had only indirect effects. At the 40 × 40 m and 60 × 60 m scales, biodiversity and productivity were weakly correlated. The initial stand volume and biomass were the most important drivers of forest productivity. The local environmental conditions significantly influenced the stand volume, biomass, biodiversity, and productivity. The results highlight the scale dependency of the relationships between forest biodiversity and productivity. The positive role of biodiversity in facilitating forest productivity was confirmed at the smaller scales. Our findings emphasize the fundamental role of environmental conditions in determining forest ecosystem performances. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the underlying ecological processes that influence specific forest biodiversity and productivity relationships.