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Hülsmann L, Chisholm RA, Comita L, Visser MD, de Souza Leite M, Aguilar S, Anderson-Teixeira KJ, Bourg NA, Brockelman WY, Bunyavejchewin S, Castaño N, Chang-Yang CH, Chuyong GB, Clay K, Davies SJ, Duque A, Ediriweera S, Ewango C, Gilbert GS, Holík J, Howe RW, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Johnson DJ, Kenfack D, Král K, Larson AJ, Lutz JA, Makana JR, Malhi Y, McMahon SM, McShea WJ, Mohamad M, Nasardin M, Nathalang A, Norden N, Oliveira AA, Parmigiani R, Perez R, Phillips RP, Pongpattananurak N, Sun IF, Swanson ME, Tan S, Thomas D, Thompson J, Uriarte M, Wolf AT, Yao TL, Zimmerman JK, Zuleta D, Hartig F. Latitudinal patterns in stabilizing density dependence of forest communities. Nature 2024; 627:564-571. [PMID: 38418889 PMCID: PMC10954553 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07118-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown reduced performance in plants that are surrounded by neighbours of the same species1,2, a phenomenon known as conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD)3. A long-held ecological hypothesis posits that CNDD is more pronounced in tropical than in temperate forests4,5, which increases community stabilization, species coexistence and the diversity of local tree species6,7. Previous analyses supporting such a latitudinal gradient in CNDD8,9 have suffered from methodological limitations related to the use of static data10-12. Here we present a comprehensive assessment of latitudinal CNDD patterns using dynamic mortality data to estimate species-site-specific CNDD across 23 sites. Averaged across species, we found that stabilizing CNDD was present at all except one site, but that average stabilizing CNDD was not stronger toward the tropics. However, in tropical tree communities, rare and intermediate abundant species experienced stronger stabilizing CNDD than did common species. This pattern was absent in temperate forests, which suggests that CNDD influences species abundances more strongly in tropical forests than it does in temperate ones13. We also found that interspecific variation in CNDD, which might attenuate its stabilizing effect on species diversity14,15, was high but not significantly different across latitudes. Although the consequences of these patterns for latitudinal diversity gradients are difficult to evaluate, we speculate that a more effective regulation of population abundances could translate into greater stabilization of tropical tree communities and thus contribute to the high local diversity of tropical forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Hülsmann
- Ecosystem Analysis and Simulation (EASI) Lab, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
- Theoretical Ecology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
- Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
| | - Ryan A Chisholm
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Liza Comita
- School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Marco D Visser
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Salomon Aguilar
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Kristina J Anderson-Teixeira
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | - Norman A Bourg
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | - Warren Y Brockelman
- National Biobank of Thailand (NBT), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Bangkok, Thailand
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Thai Long Term Forest Ecological Research Project, Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Nicolas Castaño
- Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Chia-Hao Chang-Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | | | - Keith Clay
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Stuart J Davies
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Alvaro Duque
- Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Sisira Ediriweera
- Department of Science and Technology, Uva Wellassa University, Badulla, Sri Lanka
| | | | - Gregory S Gilbert
- Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Jan Holík
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Robert W Howe
- Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI, USA
| | - Stephen P Hubbell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Akira Itoh
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Daniel J Johnson
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - David Kenfack
- Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Kamil Král
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Andrew J Larson
- Department of Forest Management, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
- Wilderness Institute, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - James A Lutz
- Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | | | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Sean M McMahon
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA
| | - William J McShea
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | | | | | - Anuttara Nathalang
- National Biobank of Thailand (NBT), National Science and Technology Development Agency, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Natalia Norden
- Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá, Colombia
| | | | - Renan Parmigiani
- Department of Ecology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rolando Perez
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | | | | | - I-Fang Sun
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Donghwa University, Hualien, Taiwan
| | - Mark E Swanson
- School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | | | - Duncan Thomas
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | - Jill Thompson
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, UK
| | - Maria Uriarte
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Amy T Wolf
- Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI, USA
| | - Tze Leong Yao
- Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Malaysia
| | - Jess K Zimmerman
- Department of Environmental Science, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, USA
| | - Daniel Zuleta
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Florian Hartig
- Theoretical Ecology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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2
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Medina-Vega JA, Zuleta D, Aguilar S, Alonso A, Bissiengou P, Brockelman WY, Bunyavejchewin S, Burslem DFRP, Castaño N, Chave J, Dalling JW, de Oliveira AA, Duque Á, Ediriweera S, Ewango CEN, Filip J, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Kiratiprayoon S, Lum SKY, Makana JR, Memiaghe H, Mitre D, Mohamad MB, Nathalang A, Nilus R, Nkongolo NV, Novotny V, O'Brien MJ, Pérez R, Pongpattananurak N, Reynolds G, Russo SE, Tan S, Thompson J, Uriarte M, Valencia R, Vicentini A, Yao TL, Zimmerman JK, Davies SJ. Tropical tree ectomycorrhiza are distributed independently of soil nutrients. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:400-410. [PMID: 38200369 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02298-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Mycorrhizae, a form of plant-fungal symbioses, mediate vegetation impacts on ecosystem functioning. Climatic effects on decomposition and soil quality are suggested to drive mycorrhizal distributions, with arbuscular mycorrhizal plants prevailing in low-latitude/high-soil-quality areas and ectomycorrhizal (EcM) plants in high-latitude/low-soil-quality areas. However, these generalizations, based on coarse-resolution data, obscure finer-scale variations and result in high uncertainties in the predicted distributions of mycorrhizal types and their drivers. Using data from 31 lowland tropical forests, both at a coarse scale (mean-plot-level data) and fine scale (20 × 20 metres from a subset of 16 sites), we demonstrate that the distribution and abundance of EcM-associated trees are independent of soil quality. Resource exchange differences among mycorrhizal partners, stemming from diverse evolutionary origins of mycorrhizal fungi, may decouple soil fertility from the advantage provided by mycorrhizal associations. Additionally, distinct historical biogeographies and diversification patterns have led to differences in forest composition and nutrient-acquisition strategies across three major tropical regions. Notably, Africa and Asia's lowland tropical forests have abundant EcM trees, whereas they are relatively scarce in lowland neotropical forests. A greater understanding of the functional biology of mycorrhizal symbiosis is required, especially in the lowland tropics, to overcome biases from assuming similarity to temperate and boreal regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- José A Medina-Vega
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
| | - Daniel Zuleta
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Alfonso Alonso
- Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Pulchérie Bissiengou
- Herbier National du Gabon, Institut de Pharmacopée et de Médecine Traditionelle, Libreville, Gabon
| | - Warren Y Brockelman
- National Biobank of Thailand, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Khlong Luang, Thailand
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Thai Long-Term Forest Ecological Research Project, Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | | | - Nicolás Castaño
- Herbario Amazónico Colombiano, Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Jérôme Chave
- Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, CNRS, UPS, IRD, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - James W Dalling
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Alexandre A de Oliveira
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Álvaro Duque
- Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Sisira Ediriweera
- Department of Science and Technology, Uva Wellassa University, Badulla, Sri Lanka
| | - Corneille E N Ewango
- Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Jonah Filip
- Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Stephen P Hubbell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Akira Itoh
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Somboon Kiratiprayoon
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University (Rangsit), Pathum Thani, Thailand
| | - Shawn K Y Lum
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jean-Remy Makana
- Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Hervé Memiaghe
- Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Libreville, Gabon
| | - David Mitre
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | | | - Anuttara Nathalang
- National Biobank of Thailand, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Khlong Luang, Thailand
| | - Reuben Nilus
- Sabah Forestry Department, Forest Research Centre, Sandakan, Malaysia
| | - Nsalambi V Nkongolo
- School of Science, Navajo Technical University, Crownpoint, NM, USA
- Institut Facultaire des Sciences Agronomiques (IFA) de Yangambi, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Vojtech Novotny
- Biology Centre, Institute of Entomology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michael J O'Brien
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Almería, Spain
| | - Rolando Pérez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Nantachai Pongpattananurak
- Thai Long-Term Forest Ecological Research Project, Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Glen Reynolds
- Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP), Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
| | - Sabrina E Russo
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
- Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | | | | | - María Uriarte
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Renato Valencia
- Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Alberto Vicentini
- Coordenação de Dinâmica Ambiental (CODAM), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
| | - Tze Leong Yao
- Forestry and Environment Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Malaysia
| | - Jess K Zimmerman
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Stuart J Davies
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
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3
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Zuleta D, Arellano G, McMahon SM, Aguilar S, Bunyavejchewin S, Castaño N, Chang-Yang CH, Duque A, Mitre D, Nasardin M, Pérez R, Sun IF, Yao TL, Valencia R, Krishna Moorthy SM, Verbeeck H, Davies SJ. Damage to living trees contributes to almost half of the biomass losses in tropical forests. Glob Chang Biol 2023; 29:3409-3420. [PMID: 36938951 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Accurate estimates of forest biomass stocks and fluxes are needed to quantify global carbon budgets and assess the response of forests to climate change. However, most forest inventories consider tree mortality as the only aboveground biomass (AGB) loss without accounting for losses via damage to living trees: branchfall, trunk breakage, and wood decay. Here, we use ~151,000 annual records of tree survival and structural completeness to compare AGB loss via damage to living trees to total AGB loss (mortality + damage) in seven tropical forests widely distributed across environmental conditions. We find that 42% (3.62 Mg ha-1 year-1 ; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.36-5.25) of total AGB loss (8.72 Mg ha-1 year-1 ; CI 5.57-12.86) is due to damage to living trees. Total AGB loss was highly variable among forests, but these differences were mainly caused by site variability in damage-related AGB losses rather than by mortality-related AGB losses. We show that conventional forest inventories overestimate stand-level AGB stocks by 4% (1%-17% range across forests) because assume structurally complete trees, underestimate total AGB loss by 29% (6%-57% range across forests) due to overlooked damage-related AGB losses, and overestimate AGB loss via mortality by 22% (7%-80% range across forests) because of the assumption that trees are undamaged before dying. Our results indicate that forest carbon fluxes are higher than previously thought. Damage on living trees is an underappreciated component of the forest carbon cycle that is likely to become even more important as the frequency and severity of forest disturbances increase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Zuleta
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Gabriel Arellano
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Oikobit LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Sean M McMahon
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, 21037, USA
| | - Salomón Aguilar
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, República de Panamá
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Department of National Parks, Forest Research Office, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
| | - Nicolas Castaño
- Herbario Amazónico Colombiano, Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Chia-Hao Chang-Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan
| | - Alvaro Duque
- Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
| | - David Mitre
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, República de Panamá
| | - Musalmah Nasardin
- Forestry and Environment Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109, Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Rolando Pérez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, República de Panamá
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Ecology and Sustainability, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, 94701, Taiwan
| | - Tze Leong Yao
- Forestry and Environment Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109, Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Renato Valencia
- Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Sruthi M Krishna Moorthy
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
- Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Hans Verbeeck
- Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Stuart J Davies
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
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4
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Kaewsong K, Chang-Yang CH, Bunyavejchewin S, Kraichak E, Yang J, Sun Z, Zhang C, Li W, Lin L, Sun IF. Effects of fire disturbance on species and functional compositions vary with tree sizes in a tropical dry forest. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13270. [PMID: 35573170 PMCID: PMC9104091 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Disturbances are crucial in determining forest biodiversity, dynamics, and ecosystem functions. Surface fire is a significant disturbance in tropical forests, but research on the effect of surface fire on structuring species and functional composition in a community through time remains scarce. Using a 20-year dataset of tree demography in a seasonal evergreen tropical forest in Thailand, we specifically addressed two essential questions: (1) What is the pattern of temporal turnover in species and functional composition in a community with frequent fire disturbance? (2) How did the temporal turnover vary with tree size? Methods We analyzed species compositional and functional temporal turnovers in four different tree size classes among five tree censuses. We quantified species turnover by calculating Bray-Curtis dissimilarity, and investigated its underlying mechanisms by comparing pairwise dissimilarity of functional traits with simulations from null models. If fire disturbances contribute more to a stochastic process, the functional composition would display a random pattern. However, if they contribute more towards a deterministic process, the functional composition should reveal a non-random pattern. Results Over 20 years (1994-2014), we observed changes in species composition, whereas functional composition remained relatively stable. The temporal turnover patterns of species and functional compositions varied with tree sizes. In particular, temporal functional turnover shifted very little for large trees, suggesting that changes in species composition of larger trees are contributed by species with similar functional traits through time. The temporal functional composition turnovers of smaller trees (DBH ≤ 5 cm) were mostly at random. We detected a higher functional turnover than expected by null models in some quadrats throughout the 50-ha study plot, and their observed turnover varied with diameter classes. Conclusions Species compositional changes were caused by changes in the abundance of species with similar functional traits through time. Temporal functional turnover in small trees was random in most quadrats, suggesting that the recruits came from the equal proportions of surviving trees and new individuals of fast-growing species, which increased rapidly after fires. On the other hand, functional composition in big trees was more likely determined by surviving trees which maintained higher functional similarities than small trees through time. Fire disturbance is important for ecosystem functions, as changing forest fire frequency may alter forest turnover, particularly in functional composition in the new recruits of this forest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanokporn Kaewsong
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, College of Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Hao Chang-Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | | | - Ekaphan Kraichak
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Jie Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China
| | - Zhenhua Sun
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China
| | - Caicai Zhang
- Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, China
| | - Wenfei Li
- School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Luxiang Lin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, College of Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan
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5
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Needham JF, Johnson DJ, Anderson-Teixeira KJ, Bourg N, Bunyavejchewin S, Butt N, Cao M, Cárdenas D, Chang-Yang CH, Chen YY, Chuyong G, Dattaraja HS, Davies SJ, Duque A, Ewango CEN, Fernando ES, Fisher R, Fletcher CD, Foster R, Hao Z, Hart T, Hsieh CF, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Kenfack D, Koven CD, Larson AJ, Lutz JA, McShea W, Makana JR, Malhi Y, Marthews T, Bt Mohamad M, Morecroft MD, Norden N, Parker G, Shringi A, Sukumar R, Suresh HS, Sun IF, Tan S, Thomas DW, Thompson J, Uriarte M, Valencia R, Yao TL, Yap SL, Yuan Z, Yuehua H, Zimmerman JK, Zuleta D, McMahon SM. Demographic composition, not demographic diversity, predicts biomass and turnover across temperate and tropical forests. Glob Chang Biol 2022; 28:2895-2909. [PMID: 35080088 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The growth and survival of individual trees determine the physical structure of a forest with important consequences for forest function. However, given the diversity of tree species and forest biomes, quantifying the multitude of demographic strategies within and across forests and the way that they translate into forest structure and function remains a significant challenge. Here, we quantify the demographic rates of 1961 tree species from temperate and tropical forests and evaluate how demographic diversity (DD) and demographic composition (DC) differ across forests, and how these differences in demography relate to species richness, aboveground biomass (AGB), and carbon residence time. We find wide variation in DD and DC across forest plots, patterns that are not explained by species richness or climate variables alone. There is no evidence that DD has an effect on either AGB or carbon residence time. Rather, the DC of forests, specifically the relative abundance of large statured species, predicted both biomass and carbon residence time. Our results demonstrate the distinct DCs of globally distributed forests, reflecting biogeography, recent history, and current plot conditions. Linking the DC of forests to resilience or vulnerability to climate change, will improve the precision and accuracy of predictions of future forest composition, structure, and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica F Needham
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Daniel J Johnson
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Kristina J Anderson-Teixeira
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, Virginia, USA
| | - Norman Bourg
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, Virginia, USA
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Forest Research Office, Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Nathalie Butt
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Min Cao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Dairon Cárdenas
- Herbario Amazónico Colombiana, Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Chia-Hao Chang-Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Yun Chen
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan
| | - George Chuyong
- Department of Plant Science, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon
| | | | - Stuart J Davies
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington DC, USA
| | - Alvaro Duque
- Departmento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Corneille E N Ewango
- Faculty of the Management of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | - Edwino S Fernando
- Department of Forest Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Philippines
- Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Rosie Fisher
- CICERO Center for International Climate Research, Oslo, Norwary
| | | | - Robin Foster
- Department of Botany, Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Zhanqing Hao
- School of Ecology and Environment, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Terese Hart
- Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba Project (TL2), Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | - Chang-Fu Hsieh
- Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Stephen P Hubbell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Akira Itoh
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan
| | - David Kenfack
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington DC, USA
| | - Charles D Koven
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Andrew J Larson
- Department of Forest Management and Wilderness Institute, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - James A Lutz
- Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
| | - William McShea
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, Virginia, USA
| | - Jean-Remy Makana
- Faculty of Sciences, Department of Plant Ecology & Natural Resources Management, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | | | | | - Natalia Norden
- Programa de Ciencias Básicas de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Geoffrey Parker
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA
| | - Ankur Shringi
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Raman Sukumar
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
- Divecha Center for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Hebbalalu S Suresh
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
- Divecha Center for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan
| | - Sylvester Tan
- Sarawak Forestry Department, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
| | - Duncan W Thomas
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, USA
| | - Jill Thompson
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, UK
| | - Maria Uriarte
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Renato Valencia
- Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Tze Leong Yao
- Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia
| | | | - Zuoqiang Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
| | - Hu Yuehua
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Jess K Zimmerman
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
| | - Daniel Zuleta
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington DC, USA
| | - Sean M McMahon
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, USA
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6
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Anderson‐Teixeira KJ, Herrmann V, Rollinson CR, Gonzalez B, Gonzalez‐Akre EB, Pederson N, Alexander MR, Allen CD, Alfaro‐Sánchez R, Awada T, Baltzer JL, Baker PJ, Birch JD, Bunyavejchewin S, Cherubini P, Davies SJ, Dow C, Helcoski R, Kašpar J, Lutz JA, Margolis EQ, Maxwell JT, McMahon SM, Piponiot C, Russo SE, Šamonil P, Sniderhan AE, Tepley AJ, Vašíčková I, Vlam M, Zuidema PA. Joint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived from tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests. Glob Chang Biol 2022; 28:245-266. [PMID: 34653296 PMCID: PMC9298236 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Revised: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Tree rings provide an invaluable long-term record for understanding how climate and other drivers shape tree growth and forest productivity. However, conventional tree-ring analysis methods were not designed to simultaneously test effects of climate, tree size, and other drivers on individual growth. This has limited the potential to test ecologically relevant hypotheses on tree growth sensitivity to environmental drivers and their interactions with tree size. Here, we develop and apply a new method to simultaneously model nonlinear effects of primary climate drivers, reconstructed tree diameter at breast height (DBH), and calendar year in generalized least squares models that account for the temporal autocorrelation inherent to each individual tree's growth. We analyze data from 3811 trees representing 40 species at 10 globally distributed sites, showing that precipitation, temperature, DBH, and calendar year have additively, and often interactively, influenced annual growth over the past 120 years. Growth responses were predominantly positive to precipitation (usually over ≥3-month seasonal windows) and negative to temperature (usually maximum temperature, over ≤3-month seasonal windows), with concave-down responses in 63% of relationships. Climate sensitivity commonly varied with DBH (45% of cases tested), with larger trees usually more sensitive. Trends in ring width at small DBH were linked to the light environment under which trees established, but basal area or biomass increments consistently reached maxima at intermediate DBH. Accounting for climate and DBH, growth rate declined over time for 92% of species in secondary or disturbed stands, whereas growth trends were mixed in older forests. These trends were largely attributable to stand dynamics as cohorts and stands age, which remain challenging to disentangle from global change drivers. By providing a parsimonious approach for characterizing multiple interacting drivers of tree growth, our method reveals a more complete picture of the factors influencing growth than has previously been possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina J. Anderson‐Teixeira
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
- Forest Global Earth ObservatorySmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
| | - Valentine Herrmann
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | | | - Bianca Gonzalez
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | - Erika B. Gonzalez‐Akre
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | | | - M. Ross Alexander
- Midwest Dendro LLCNapervilleIllinoisUSA
- Present address:
Decision and Infrastructure SciencesArgonne National LaboratoryLamontIllinoisUSA
| | - Craig D. Allen
- Department of Geography & Environmental StudiesUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerqueNew MexicoUSA
| | | | - Tala Awada
- School of Natural ResourcesUniversity of Nebraska‐LincolnLincolnNebraskaUSA
| | | | - Patrick J. Baker
- School of Ecosystem and Forest SciencesUniversity of MelbourneRichmondVIC.Australia
| | | | | | - Paolo Cherubini
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape ResearchBirmensdorfSwitzerland
- Faculty of ForestryUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Stuart J. Davies
- Forest Global Earth ObservatorySmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
| | - Cameron Dow
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
- Department of Forestry and Natural ResourcesPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndianaUSA
| | - Ryan Helcoski
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
| | - Jakub Kašpar
- Department of Forest EcologyThe Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental GardeningBrnoCzech Republic
| | - James A. Lutz
- S. J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources and the Ecology CenterUtah State UniversityLoganUtahUSA
| | - Ellis Q. Margolis
- Fort Collins Science CenterU.S. Geological SurveyNew Mexico Landscapes Field StationLos AlamosNew MexicoUSA
| | | | - Sean M. McMahon
- Forest Global Earth ObservatorySmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
- Smithsonian Environmental Research CenterEdgewaterMarylandUSA
| | - Camille Piponiot
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
- Forest Global Earth ObservatorySmithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamaRepublic of Panama
- CIRADMontpellierFrance
| | - Sabrina E. Russo
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of NebraskaLincolnUSA
- Center for Plant Science InnovationUniversity of NebraskaLincolnUSA
| | - Pavel Šamonil
- Department of Forest EcologyThe Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental GardeningBrnoCzech Republic
| | | | - Alan J. Tepley
- Conservation Ecology CenterSmithsonian Conservation Biology InstituteFront RoyalVirginiaUSA
- Canadian Forest ServiceNorthern Forestry CentreEdmontonAlbertaCanada
| | - Ivana Vašíčková
- Department of Forest EcologyThe Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental GardeningBrnoCzech Republic
| | - Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management GroupWageningenThe Netherlands
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7
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Zuleta D, Arellano G, Muller-Landau HC, McMahon SM, Aguilar S, Bunyavejchewin S, Cárdenas D, Chang-Yang CH, Duque A, Mitre D, Nasardin M, Pérez R, Sun IF, Yao TL, Davies SJ. Individual tree damage dominates mortality risk factors across six tropical forests. New Phytol 2022; 233:705-721. [PMID: 34716605 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The relative importance of tree mortality risk factors remains unknown, especially in diverse tropical forests where species may vary widely in their responses to particular conditions. We present a new framework for quantifying the importance of mortality risk factors and apply it to compare 19 risks on 31 203 trees (1977 species) in 14 one-year periods in six tropical forests. We defined a condition as a risk factor for a species if it was associated with at least a doubling of mortality rate in univariate analyses. For each risk, we estimated prevalence (frequency), lethality (difference in mortality between trees with and without the risk) and impact ('excess mortality' associated with the risk, relative to stand-level mortality). The most impactful risk factors were light limitation and crown/trunk loss; the most prevalent were light limitation and small size; the most lethal were leaf damage and wounds. Modes of death (standing, broken and uprooted) had limited links with previous conditions and mortality risk factors. We provide the first ranking of importance of tree-level mortality risk factors in tropical forests. Future research should focus on the links between these risks, their climatic drivers and the physiological processes to enable mechanistic predictions of future tree mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Zuleta
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
| | - Gabriel Arellano
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Oikobit LLC, Albuquerque, NM, 87120, USA
| | - Helene C Muller-Landau
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, República de Panamá
| | - Sean M McMahon
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA
| | - Salomón Aguilar
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, República de Panamá
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Forest Research Office, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
| | - Dairon Cárdenas
- Herbario Amazónico Colombiano, Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi, Bogotá, 110311, Colombia
| | - Chia-Hao Chang-Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan
| | - Alvaro Duque
- Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, Medellín, 050034, Colombia
| | - David Mitre
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, República de Panamá
| | - Musalmah Nasardin
- Forestry and Environment Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Selangor, 52109, Malaysia
| | - Rolando Pérez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, República de Panamá
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Ecology and Sustainability, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, 94701, Taiwan
| | - Tze Leong Yao
- Forestry and Environment Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Selangor, 52109, Malaysia
| | - Stuart J Davies
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
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8
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Cushman KC, Bunyavejchewin S, Cárdenas D, Condit R, Davies SJ, Duque Á, Hubbell SP, Kiratiprayoon S, Lum SKY, Muller‐Landau HC. Variation in trunk taper of buttressed trees within and among five lowland tropical forests. Biotropica 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- K. C. Cushman
- Center for Tropical Forest Science‐Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panama
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Forest Research Office Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Bangkok Thailand
| | - Dairon Cárdenas
- Herbario Amazónico Instituto Amazónico de investigaciones Científicas Sinchi Bogotá D.C. Colombia
| | - Richard Condit
- Morton Arboretum Lisle IL USA
- Field Museum of Natural History Chicago IL USA
| | - Stuart J. Davies
- Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Washington DC USA
| | - Álvaro Duque
- Departamento de Ciencias Forestales Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín Medellín Colombia
| | - Stephen P. Hubbell
- Center for Tropical Forest Science‐Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panama
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USA
| | - Somboon Kiratiprayoon
- Faculty of Science and Technology Thammasat University (Rangsit) Klongluang Thailand
| | - Shawn K. Y. Lum
- Asian School of the Environment Nanyang Technological University Singapore Singapore
| | - Helene C. Muller‐Landau
- Center for Tropical Forest Science‐Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panama
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9
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Basset Y, Jorge LR, Butterill PT, Lamarre GPA, Dahl C, Ctvrtecka R, Gripenberg S, Lewis OT, Barrios H, Brown JW, Bunyavejchewin S, Butcher BA, Cognato AI, Davies SJ, Kaman O, Klimes P, Knížek M, Miller SE, Morse GE, Novotny V, Pongpattananurak N, Pramual P, Quicke DLJ, Sakchoowong W, Umari R, Vesterinen EJ, Weiblen G, Wright SJ, Segar ST. Host specificity and interaction networks of insects feeding on seeds and fruits in tropical rainforests. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yves Basset
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Apartado Balboa Ancon Panamá
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Maestria de Entomologia, Univ. de Panamá Panama City Republic of Panama
| | - Leonardo R. Jorge
- Faculty of Science, Univ. of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Philip T. Butterill
- Faculty of Science, Univ. of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Greg P. A. Lamarre
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Apartado Balboa Ancon Panamá
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Chris Dahl
- Faculty of Science, Univ. of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Richard Ctvrtecka
- Faculty of Science, Univ. of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Sofia Gripenberg
- School of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Reading Reading Berkshire UK
| | | | - Héctor Barrios
- Maestria de Entomologia, Univ. de Panamá Panama City Republic of Panama
| | - John W. Brown
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Inst. Washington DC USA
| | | | - Buntika A. Butcher
- Dept of Biology, Faculty of Science, Integrative Ecology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Univ. Phayathai Road Pathumwan Bangkok Thailand
- Center of Excellence in Entomology: Bee Biology, Diversity of Insects and Mites, Chulalongkorn Univ. Pathumwan Bangkok Thailand
| | - Anthony I. Cognato
- Dept of Entomology, Michigan State Univ., Natural Science Bldg. East Lansing MI USA
| | - Stuart J. Davies
- Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. and National Museum of Natural History Washington USA
| | - Ondrej Kaman
- Faculty of Science, Univ. of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Petr Klimes
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Miloš Knížek
- Forestry and Game Management Research Inst. Strnady Jíloviště Czech Republic
| | - Scott E. Miller
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Inst. Washington DC USA
| | | | - Vojtech Novotny
- Faculty of Science, Univ. of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | | | - Pairot Pramual
- Dept of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham Univ., Kantharawichai District Maha Sarakham Thailand
| | - Donald L. J. Quicke
- Dept of Biology, Faculty of Science, Integrative Ecology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Univ. Phayathai Road Pathumwan Bangkok Thailand
| | - Watana Sakchoowong
- Dept of National Parks, Forest Entomology Group, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Praholyothin Road Chatujak Bangkok Thailand
| | - Ruma Umari
- New Guinea Binatang Center Madang Papua New Guinea
| | - Eero J. Vesterinen
- Dept of Biology and Biodiversity Unit, Univ. of Turku Turku Finland
- Dept of Ecology, Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
| | - George Weiblen
- Bell Museum and Dept of Plant and Microbial Biology, Univ. of Minnesota, Gortner Avenue St. Paul MN USA
| | - S. Joseph Wright
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. Balboa Ancon Panamá
| | - Simon T. Segar
- Agriculture and Environment Dept, Harper Adams Univ. Newport Shropshire UK
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10
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Russo SE, McMahon SM, Detto M, Ledder G, Wright SJ, Condit RS, Davies SJ, Ashton PS, Bunyavejchewin S, Chang-Yang CH, Ediriweera S, Ewango CEN, Fletcher C, Foster RB, Gunatilleke CVS, Gunatilleke IAUN, Hart T, Hsieh CF, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Kassim AR, Leong YT, Lin YC, Makana JR, Mohamad MB, Ong P, Sugiyama A, Sun IF, Tan S, Thompson J, Yamakura T, Yap SL, Zimmerman JK. The interspecific growth-mortality trade-off is not a general framework for tropical forest community structure. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 5:174-183. [PMID: 33199870 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01340-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Resource allocation within trees is a zero-sum game. Unavoidable trade-offs dictate that allocation to growth-promoting functions curtails other functions, generating a gradient of investment in growth versus survival along which tree species align, known as the interspecific growth-mortality trade-off. This paradigm is widely accepted but not well established. Using demographic data for 1,111 tree species across ten tropical forests, we tested the generality of the growth-mortality trade-off and evaluated its underlying drivers using two species-specific parameters describing resource allocation strategies: tolerance of resource limitation and responsiveness of allocation to resource access. Globally, a canonical growth-mortality trade-off emerged, but the trade-off was strongly observed only in less disturbance-prone forests, which contained diverse resource allocation strategies. Only half of disturbance-prone forests, which lacked tolerant species, exhibited the trade-off. Supported by a theoretical model, our findings raise questions about whether the growth-mortality trade-off is a universally applicable organizing framework for understanding tropical forest community structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina E Russo
- School of Biological Science and Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA.
| | - Sean M McMahon
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA.,Forest Ecology Group, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA
| | - Matteo Detto
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Glenn Ledder
- Department of Mathematics, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA
| | - S Joseph Wright
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
| | | | - Stuart J Davies
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
| | - Peter S Ashton
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Research Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Chia-Hao Chang-Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
| | - Sisira Ediriweera
- Department of Science and Technology, Uva Wellassa University, Badulla, Sri Lanka
| | - Corneille E N Ewango
- Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources Management & Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | | | | | - C V Savi Gunatilleke
- Faculty of Science, Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
| | | | - Terese Hart
- Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba Project, Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Chang-Fu Hsieh
- Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Stephen P Hubbell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Akira Itoh
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan
| | | | - Yao Tze Leong
- Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Yi Ching Lin
- Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Jean-Remy Makana
- Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | - Mohizah Bt Mohamad
- Forest Department Sarawak, Bangunan Wisma Sumber Alam, Kuching, Malaysia
| | - Perry Ong
- Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Anna Sugiyama
- School of Life Sciences, Lyon Arboretum, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualian, Taiwan
| | - Sylvester Tan
- Smithsonian ForestGEO, Lambir Hills National Park, Miri, Malaysia
| | - Jill Thompson
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, UK.,Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, PR, USA
| | - Takuo Yamakura
- Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan
| | | | - Jess K Zimmerman
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, PR, USA
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11
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Fung T, Chisholm RA, Anderson-Teixeira K, Bourg N, Brockelman WY, Bunyavejchewin S, Chang-Yang CH, Chitra-Tarak R, Chuyong G, Condit R, Dattaraja HS, Davies SJ, Ewango CEN, Fewless G, Fletcher C, Gunatilleke CVS, Gunatilleke IAUN, Hao Z, Hogan JA, Howe R, Hsieh CF, Kenfack D, Lin Y, Ma K, Makana JR, McMahon S, McShea WJ, Mi X, Nathalang A, Ong PS, Parker G, Rau EP, Shue J, Su SH, Sukumar R, Sun IF, Suresh HS, Tan S, Thomas D, Thompson J, Valencia R, Vallejo MI, Wang X, Wang Y, Wijekoon P, Wolf A, Yap S, Zimmerman J. Temporal population variability in local forest communities has mixed effects on tree species richness across a latitudinal gradient. Ecol Lett 2019; 23:160-171. [PMID: 31698546 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 09/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Among the local processes that determine species diversity in ecological communities, fluctuation-dependent mechanisms that are mediated by temporal variability in the abundances of species populations have received significant attention. Higher temporal variability in the abundances of species populations can increase the strength of temporal niche partitioning but can also increase the risk of species extinctions, such that the net effect on species coexistence is not clear. We quantified this temporal population variability for tree species in 21 large forest plots and found much greater variability for higher latitude plots with fewer tree species. A fitted mechanistic model showed that among the forest plots, the net effect of temporal population variability on tree species coexistence was usually negative, but sometimes positive or negligible. Therefore, our results suggest that temporal variability in the abundances of species populations has no clear negative or positive contribution to the latitudinal gradient in tree species richness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tak Fung
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
| | - Ryan A Chisholm
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
| | - Kristina Anderson-Teixeira
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panamá.,Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, Virginia, 22630, USA
| | - Norm Bourg
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, Virginia, 22630, USA
| | - Warren Y Brockelman
- National Biobank of Thailand, BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Science Park, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani, Thailand.,Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Research Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
| | - Chia-Hao Chang-Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung
| | - Rutuja Chitra-Tarak
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, P.O. Box 1663, New Mexico, 87545, USA
| | - George Chuyong
- Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Buea, PO Box 63, Buea, SWP, Cameroon
| | - Richard Condit
- Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA
| | | | - Stuart J Davies
- Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory, Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, 20013, USA
| | | | - Gary Fewless
- Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, Lab Sciences 413, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 54311, USA
| | - Christine Fletcher
- Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109, Kepong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
| | - C V Savitri Gunatilleke
- Faculty of Science, Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, 20400, Sri Lanka
| | - I A U Nimal Gunatilleke
- Faculty of Science, Department of Botany, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, 20400, Sri Lanka
| | - Zhanqing Hao
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning
| | - J Aaron Hogan
- International Center for Tropical Botany, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA
| | - Robert Howe
- Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, Lab Sciences 413, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 54311, USA
| | - Chang-Fu Hsieh
- Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei
| | - David Kenfack
- Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory, Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, 20013, USA
| | - YiChing Lin
- Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung
| | - Keping Ma
- Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing
| | | | - Sean McMahon
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, P.O. Box 28, Edgewater, Maryland, 21037, USA
| | - William J McShea
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, Virginia, 22630, USA
| | - Xiangcheng Mi
- Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing
| | - Anuttara Nathalang
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Thailand Science Park, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand
| | - Perry S Ong
- Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Geoffrey Parker
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, P.O. Box 28, Edgewater, Maryland, 21037, USA
| | - E-Ping Rau
- Master 1 Mention Écologie, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Jessica Shue
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, P.O. Box 28, Edgewater, Maryland, 21037, USA
| | - Sheng-Hsin Su
- Forest Management Division, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei
| | - Raman Sukumar
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India.,Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien
| | - Hebbalalu S Suresh
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India.,Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India
| | - Sylvester Tan
- Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory, Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, 20013, USA
| | - Duncan Thomas
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
| | - Jill Thompson
- Department of Environmental Science, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR, 00936-8377, USA.,Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK
| | - Renato Valencia
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Apartado 17-01-2184, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Martha I Vallejo
- Calle 37, Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Number 8-40 Mezzanine, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Xugao Wang
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning
| | - Yunquan Wang
- Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing
| | - Pushpa Wijekoon
- Faculty of Science, Department of Statistics & Computer Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, 20400, Sri Lanka
| | - Amy Wolf
- Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, Lab Sciences 413, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 54311, USA
| | - Sandra Yap
- Institute of Arts and Sciences, Far Eastern University Manila, Manila, Philippines
| | - Jess Zimmerman
- Department of Environmental Science, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 70377, San Juan, PR, 00936-8377, USA
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12
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Dahl C, Ctvrtecka R, Gripenberg S, Lewis OT, Segar ST, Klimes P, Sam K, Rinan D, Filip J, Lilip R, Kongnoo P, Panmeng M, Putnaul S, Reungaew M, Rivera M, Barrios H, Davies SJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Wright JS, Weiblen GD, Novotny V, Basset Y. The insect-focused classification of fruit syndromes in tropical rain forests: An inter-continental comparison. Biotropica 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Chris Dahl
- Faculty of Science; University of South Bohemia; Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology; Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Branišovská Czech Republic
| | - Richard Ctvrtecka
- Institute of Entomology; Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Branišovská Czech Republic
| | - Sofia Gripenberg
- School of Biological Sciences; University of Reading; Reading UK
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford UK
| | - Owen T. Lewis
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford UK
| | - Simon T. Segar
- Faculty of Science; University of South Bohemia; Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology; Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Branišovská Czech Republic
- Department of Crop and Environment Sciences; Harper Adams University; Newport UK
| | - Petr Klimes
- Institute of Entomology; Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Branišovská Czech Republic
| | - Katerina Sam
- Faculty of Science; University of South Bohemia; Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology; Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Branišovská Czech Republic
| | - Dominic Rinan
- New Guinea Binatang Research Center; Madang Papua New Guinea
| | - Jonah Filip
- New Guinea Binatang Research Center; Madang Papua New Guinea
| | - Roll Lilip
- New Guinea Binatang Research Center; Madang Papua New Guinea
| | - Pitoon Kongnoo
- ForestGEO Arthropod Laboratory; Khao Chong Botanical Garden; Nayoung Thailand
| | - Montarika Panmeng
- ForestGEO Arthropod Laboratory; Khao Chong Botanical Garden; Nayoung Thailand
| | - Sutipun Putnaul
- ForestGEO Arthropod Laboratory; Khao Chong Botanical Garden; Nayoung Thailand
| | - Manat Reungaew
- ForestGEO Arthropod Laboratory; Khao Chong Botanical Garden; Nayoung Thailand
| | - Marleny Rivera
- Maestria de Entomologia; Universidad de Panama; Panama City Panama
| | - Hector Barrios
- Maestria de Entomologia; Universidad de Panama; Panama City Panama
| | - Stuart J. Davies
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Washington District of Columbia
| | | | - Joseph S. Wright
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Panama City Republic of Panama
| | - George D. Weiblen
- Bell Museum and Department of Plant Biology; University of Minnesota; Saint Paul Minnesota
| | - Vojtech Novotny
- Faculty of Science; University of South Bohemia; Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology; Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Branišovská Czech Republic
| | - Yves Basset
- Institute of Entomology; Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Branišovská Czech Republic
- Maestria de Entomologia; Universidad de Panama; Panama City Panama
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Panama City Republic of Panama
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13
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LaManna JA, Mangan SA, Alonso A, Bourg NA, Brockelman WY, Bunyavejchewin S, Chang LW, Chiang JM, Chuyong GB, Clay K, Cordell S, Davies SJ, Furniss TJ, Giardina CP, Gunatilleke IAUN, Gunatilleke CVS, He F, Howe RW, Hubbell SP, Hsieh CF, Inman-Narahari FM, Janík D, Johnson DJ, Kenfack D, Korte L, Král K, Larson AJ, Lutz JA, McMahon SM, McShea WJ, Memiaghe HR, Nathalang A, Novotny V, Ong PS, Orwig DA, Ostertag R, Parker GG, Phillips RP, Sack L, Sun IF, Tello JS, Thomas DW, Turner BL, Vela Díaz DM, Vrška T, Weiblen GD, Wolf A, Yap S, Myers JA. Response to Comment on "Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale". Science 2018; 360:360/6391/eaar3824. [PMID: 29798853 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar3824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Hülsmann and Hartig suggest that ecological mechanisms other than specialized natural enemies or intraspecific competition contribute to our estimates of conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). To address their concern, we show that our results are not the result of a methodological artifact and present a null-model analysis that demonstrates that our original findings-(i) stronger CNDD at tropical relative to temperate latitudes and (ii) a latitudinal shift in the relationship between CNDD and species abundance-persist even after controlling for other processes that might influence spatial relationships between adults and recruits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A LaManna
- Tyson Research Center, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA. .,Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Scott A Mangan
- Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Alfonso Alonso
- Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Norman A Bourg
- Hydrological-Ecological Interactions Branch, Earth System Processes Division, Water Mission Area, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA
| | - Warren Y Brockelman
- Ecology Laboratory, BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Science Park, Pathum Thani, Thailand.,Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon, Pathom, Thailand
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Research Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Li-Wan Chang
- Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei 10066, Taiwan
| | - Jyh-Min Chiang
- Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - George B Chuyong
- Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon
| | - Keith Clay
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Susan Cordell
- Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Hilo, HI, USA
| | - Stuart J Davies
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama.,Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Tucker J Furniss
- Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Christian P Giardina
- Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Hilo, HI, USA
| | | | | | - Fangliang He
- Joint Lab for Biodiversity Conservation, Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU)-University of Alberta, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, SYSU, Guangzhou 510275, China.,Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Robert W Howe
- Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI, USA
| | - Stephen P Hubbell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chang-Fu Hsieh
- Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Faith M Inman-Narahari
- Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Hilo, HI, USA
| | - David Janík
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | | | - David Kenfack
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama.,Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Lisa Korte
- Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Kamil Král
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Andrew J Larson
- Department of Forest Management, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - James A Lutz
- Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Sean M McMahon
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA.,Forest Ecology Group, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA
| | - William J McShea
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | - Hervé R Memiaghe
- Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Libreville, Gabon
| | - Anuttara Nathalang
- Ecology Laboratory, BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Science Park, Pathum Thani, Thailand
| | - Vojtech Novotny
- New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, P.O. Box 604, Madang, Papua New Guinea.,Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, Ceske Budejovice 370 05, Czech Republic
| | - Perry S Ong
- Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - David A Orwig
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, USA
| | | | - Geoffrey G Parker
- Forest Ecology Group, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA
| | | | - Lawren Sack
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualian, Taiwan
| | - J Sebastián Tello
- Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Duncan W Thomas
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA
| | - Benjamin L Turner
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | | | - Tomáš Vrška
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - George D Weiblen
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Amy Wolf
- Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI, USA
| | - Sandra Yap
- Institute of Arts and Sciences, Far Eastern University Manila, Manila, Philippines
| | - Jonathan A Myers
- Tyson Research Center, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.,Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
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14
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LaManna JA, Mangan SA, Alonso A, Bourg NA, Brockelman WY, Bunyavejchewin S, Chang LW, Chiang JM, Chuyong GB, Clay K, Cordell S, Davies SJ, Furniss TJ, Giardina CP, Gunatilleke IAUN, Gunatilleke CVS, He F, Howe RW, Hubbell SP, Hsieh CF, Inman-Narahari FM, Janík D, Johnson DJ, Kenfack D, Korte L, Král K, Larson AJ, Lutz JA, McMahon SM, McShea WJ, Memiaghe HR, Nathalang A, Novotny V, Ong PS, Orwig DA, Ostertag R, Parker GG, Phillips RP, Sack L, Sun IF, Tello JS, Thomas DW, Turner BL, Vela Díaz DM, Vrška T, Weiblen GD, Wolf A, Yap S, Myers JA. Response to Comment on “Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale”. Science 2018; 360:360/6391/eaar5245. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aar5245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2017] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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15
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LaManna JA, Mangan SA, Alonso A, Bourg NA, Brockelman WY, Bunyavejchewin S, Chang LW, Chiang JM, Chuyong GB, Clay K, Condit R, Cordell S, Davies SJ, Furniss TJ, Giardina CP, Gunatilleke IAUN, Gunatilleke CVS, He F, Howe RW, Hubbell SP, Hsieh CF, Inman-Narahari FM, Janík D, Johnson DJ, Kenfack D, Korte L, Král K, Larson AJ, Lutz JA, McMahon SM, McShea WJ, Memiaghe HR, Nathalang A, Novotny V, Ong PS, Orwig DA, Ostertag R, Parker GG, Phillips RP, Sack L, Sun IF, Tello JS, Thomas DW, Turner BL, Vela Díaz DM, Vrška T, Weiblen GD, Wolf A, Yap S, Myers JA. Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale. Science 2018; 356:1389-1392. [PMID: 28663501 DOI: 10.1126/science.aam5678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2016] [Revised: 03/14/2017] [Accepted: 05/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Theory predicts that higher biodiversity in the tropics is maintained by specialized interactions among plants and their natural enemies that result in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). By using more than 3000 species and nearly 2.4 million trees across 24 forest plots worldwide, we show that global patterns in tree species diversity reflect not only stronger CNDD at tropical versus temperate latitudes but also a latitudinal shift in the relationship between CNDD and species abundance. CNDD was stronger for rare species at tropical versus temperate latitudes, potentially causing the persistence of greater numbers of rare species in the tropics. Our study reveals fundamental differences in the nature of local-scale biotic interactions that contribute to the maintenance of species diversity across temperate and tropical communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A LaManna
- Tyson Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA. .,Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Scott A Mangan
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Alfonso Alonso
- Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Norman A Bourg
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA, USA.,National Research Program - Eastern Branch, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA
| | - Warren Y Brockelman
- Ecology Laboratory, BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Science Park, Pathum Thani, Thailand.,Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
| | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Research Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Li-Wan Chang
- Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei 10066, Taiwan
| | - Jyh-Min Chiang
- Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - George B Chuyong
- Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon
| | - Keith Clay
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Richard Condit
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Susan Cordell
- Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Hilo, HI, USA
| | - Stuart J Davies
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama.,Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Tucker J Furniss
- Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Christian P Giardina
- Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Hilo, HI, USA
| | | | | | - Fangliang He
- Joint Lab for Biodiversity Conservation, Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU)-University of Alberta, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, SYSU, Guangzhou 510275, China.,Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Robert W Howe
- Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI, USA
| | - Stephen P Hubbell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chang-Fu Hsieh
- Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Faith M Inman-Narahari
- Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Hilo, HI, USA
| | - David Janík
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | | | - David Kenfack
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Republic of Panama.,Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Lisa Korte
- Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Kamil Král
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Andrew J Larson
- Department of Forest Management, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - James A Lutz
- Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Sean M McMahon
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA.,Forest Ecology Group, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA
| | - William J McShea
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | - Hervé R Memiaghe
- Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Libreville, Gabon
| | - Anuttara Nathalang
- Ecology Laboratory, BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Science Park, Pathum Thani, Thailand
| | - Vojtech Novotny
- New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, P.O. Box 604, Madang, Papua New Guinea.,Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, Ceske Budejovice 370 05, Czech Republic
| | - Perry S Ong
- Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - David A Orwig
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, USA
| | | | - Geoffrey G Parker
- Forest Ecology Group, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, USA
| | | | - Lawren Sack
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - I-Fang Sun
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualian, Taiwan
| | - J Sebastián Tello
- Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Duncan W Thomas
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA
| | - Benjamin L Turner
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Dilys M Vela Díaz
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Tomáš Vrška
- Department of Forest Ecology, Silva Tarouca Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - George D Weiblen
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Amy Wolf
- Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI, USA
| | - Sandra Yap
- Institute of Arts and Sciences, Far Eastern University Manila, Manila, Philippines
| | - Jonathan A Myers
- Tyson Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.,Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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16
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Groenendijk P, van der Sleen P, Vlam M, Bunyavejchewin S, Bongers F, Zuidema PA. No evidence for consistent long-term growth stimulation of 13 tropical tree species: results from tree-ring analysis. Glob Chang Biol 2015; 21:3762-76. [PMID: 25917997 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2015] [Accepted: 02/22/2015] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The important role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle makes it imperative to assess changes in their carbon dynamics for accurate projections of future climate-vegetation feedbacks. Forest monitoring studies conducted over the past decades have found evidence for both increasing and decreasing growth rates of tropical forest trees. The limited duration of these studies restrained analyses to decadal scales, and it is still unclear whether growth changes occurred over longer time scales, as would be expected if CO2 -fertilization stimulated tree growth. Furthermore, studies have so far dealt with changes in biomass gain at forest-stand level, but insights into species-specific growth changes - that ultimately determine community-level responses - are lacking. Here, we analyse species-specific growth changes on a centennial scale, using growth data from tree-ring analysis for 13 tree species (~1300 trees), from three sites distributed across the tropics. We used an established (regional curve standardization) and a new (size-class isolation) growth-trend detection method and explicitly assessed the influence of biases on the trend detection. In addition, we assessed whether aggregated trends were present within and across study sites. We found evidence for decreasing growth rates over time for 8-10 species, whereas increases were noted for two species and one showed no trend. Additionally, we found evidence for weak aggregated growth decreases at the site in Thailand and when analysing all sites simultaneously. The observed growth reductions suggest deteriorating growth conditions, perhaps due to warming. However, other causes cannot be excluded, such as recovery from large-scale disturbances or changing forest dynamics. Our findings contrast growth patterns that would be expected if elevated CO2 would stimulate tree growth. These results suggest that commonly assumed growth increases of tropical forests may not occur, which could lead to erroneous predictions of carbon dynamics of tropical forest under climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Groenendijk
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Peter van der Sleen
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal, Km 9 carretera al norte, Casilla 6204, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
| | - Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Frans Bongers
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Pieter A Zuidema
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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17
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van der Sleen P, Vlam M, Groenendijk P, Anten NPR, Bongers F, Bunyavejchewin S, Hietz P, Pons TL, Zuidema PA. (15)N in tree rings as a bio-indicator of changing nitrogen cycling in tropical forests: an evaluation at three sites using two sampling methods. Front Plant Sci 2015; 6:229. [PMID: 25914707 PMCID: PMC4390989 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2015.00229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2015] [Accepted: 03/23/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition is currently causing a more than twofold increase of reactive nitrogen input over large areas in the tropics. Elevated (15)N abundance (δ(15)N) in the growth rings of some tropical trees has been hypothesized to reflect an increased leaching of (15)N-depleted nitrate from the soil, following anthropogenic nitrogen deposition over the last decades. To find further evidence for altered nitrogen cycling in tropical forests, we measured long-term δ(15)N values in trees from Bolivia, Cameroon, and Thailand. We used two different sampling methods. In the first, wood samples were taken in a conventional way: from the pith to the bark across the stem of 28 large trees (the "radial" method). In the second, δ(15)N values were compared across a fixed diameter (the "fixed-diameter" method). We sampled 400 trees that differed widely in size, but measured δ(15)N in the stem around the same diameter (20 cm dbh) in all trees. As a result, the growth rings formed around this diameter differed in age and allowed a comparison of δ(15)N values over time with an explicit control for potential size-effects on δ(15)N values. We found a significant increase of tree-ring δ(15)N across the stem radius of large trees from Bolivia and Cameroon, but no change in tree-ring δ(15)N values over time was found in any of the study sites when controlling for tree size. This suggests that radial trends of δ(15)N values within trees reflect tree ontogeny (size development). However, for the trees from Cameroon and Thailand, a low statistical power in the fixed-diameter method prevents to conclude this with high certainty. For the trees from Bolivia, statistical power in the fixed-diameter method was high, showing that the temporal trend in tree-ring δ(15)N values in the radial method is primarily caused by tree ontogeny and unlikely by a change in nitrogen cycling. We therefore stress to account for tree size before tree-ring δ(15)N values can be properly interpreted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter van der Sleen
- Forest Ecology and Management Group, University of WageningenWageningen, Netherlands
- Instituto Boliviano de Investigación ForestalSanta Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
| | - Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology and Management Group, University of WageningenWageningen, Netherlands
| | - Peter Groenendijk
- Forest Ecology and Management Group, University of WageningenWageningen, Netherlands
| | - Niels P. R. Anten
- Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, University of WageningenWageningen, Netherlands
| | - Frans Bongers
- Forest Ecology and Management Group, University of WageningenWageningen, Netherlands
| | | | - Peter Hietz
- Institut für Botanik, University of Natural Resources and Life SciencesVienna, Austria
| | - Thijs L. Pons
- Plant Ecophysiology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht UniversityUtrecht, Netherlands
| | - Pieter A. Zuidema
- Forest Ecology and Management Group, University of WageningenWageningen, Netherlands
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18
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Anderson-Teixeira KJ, Davies SJ, Bennett AC, Gonzalez-Akre EB, Muller-Landau HC, Wright SJ, Abu Salim K, Almeyda Zambrano AM, Alonso A, Baltzer JL, Basset Y, Bourg NA, Broadbent EN, Brockelman WY, Bunyavejchewin S, Burslem DFRP, Butt N, Cao M, Cardenas D, Chuyong GB, Clay K, Cordell S, Dattaraja HS, Deng X, Detto M, Du X, Duque A, Erikson DL, Ewango CEN, Fischer GA, Fletcher C, Foster RB, Giardina CP, Gilbert GS, Gunatilleke N, Gunatilleke S, Hao Z, Hargrove WW, Hart TB, Hau BCH, He F, Hoffman FM, Howe RW, Hubbell SP, Inman-Narahari FM, Jansen PA, Jiang M, Johnson DJ, Kanzaki M, Kassim AR, Kenfack D, Kibet S, Kinnaird MF, Korte L, Kral K, Kumar J, Larson AJ, Li Y, Li X, Liu S, Lum SKY, Lutz JA, Ma K, Maddalena DM, Makana JR, Malhi Y, Marthews T, Mat Serudin R, McMahon SM, McShea WJ, Memiaghe HR, Mi X, Mizuno T, Morecroft M, Myers JA, Novotny V, de Oliveira AA, Ong PS, Orwig DA, Ostertag R, den Ouden J, Parker GG, Phillips RP, Sack L, Sainge MN, Sang W, Sri-Ngernyuang K, Sukumar R, Sun IF, Sungpalee W, Suresh HS, Tan S, Thomas SC, Thomas DW, Thompson J, Turner BL, Uriarte M, Valencia R, Vallejo MI, Vicentini A, Vrška T, Wang X, Wang X, Weiblen G, Wolf A, Xu H, Yap S, Zimmerman J. CTFS-ForestGEO: a worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change. Glob Chang Biol 2015; 21:528-49. [PMID: 25258024 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 267] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2014] [Accepted: 07/06/2014] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamics research sites (CTFS-ForestGEO) useful for characterizing forest responses to global change. Within very large plots (median size 25 ha), all stems ≥ 1 cm diameter are identified to species, mapped, and regularly recensused according to standardized protocols. CTFS-ForestGEO spans 25 °S-61 °N latitude, is generally representative of the range of bioclimatic, edaphic, and topographic conditions experienced by forests worldwide, and is the only forest monitoring network that applies a standardized protocol to each of the world's major forest biomes. Supplementary standardized measurements at subsets of the sites provide additional information on plants, animals, and ecosystem and environmental variables. CTFS-ForestGEO sites are experiencing multifaceted anthropogenic global change pressures including warming (average 0.61 °C), changes in precipitation (up to ± 30% change), atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur compounds (up to 3.8 g N m(-2) yr(-1) and 3.1 g S m(-2) yr(-1)), and forest fragmentation in the surrounding landscape (up to 88% reduced tree cover within 5 km). The broad suite of measurements made at CTFS-ForestGEO sites makes it possible to investigate the complex ways in which global change is impacting forest dynamics. Ongoing research across the CTFS-ForestGEO network is yielding insights into how and why the forests are changing, and continued monitoring will provide vital contributions to understanding worldwide forest diversity and dynamics in an era of global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina J Anderson-Teixeira
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, Republic of Panama; Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA, USA
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19
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Caughlin TT, Ferguson JM, Lichstein JW, Zuidema PA, Bunyavejchewin S, Levey DJ. Loss of animal seed dispersal increases extinction risk in a tropical tree species due to pervasive negative density dependence across life stages. Proc Biol Sci 2015; 282:20142095. [PMID: 25392471 PMCID: PMC4262173 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2014] [Accepted: 10/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Overhunting in tropical forests reduces populations of vertebrate seed dispersers. If reduced seed dispersal has a negative impact on tree population viability, overhunting could lead to altered forest structure and dynamics, including decreased biodiversity. However, empirical data showing decreased animal-dispersed tree abundance in overhunted forests contradict demographic models which predict minimal sensitivity of tree population growth rate to early life stages. One resolution to this discrepancy is that seed dispersal determines spatial aggregation, which could have demographic consequences for all life stages. We tested the impact of dispersal loss on population viability of a tropical tree species, Miliusa horsfieldii, currently dispersed by an intact community of large mammals in a Thai forest. We evaluated the effect of spatial aggregation for all tree life stages, from seeds to adult trees, and constructed simulation models to compare population viability with and without animal-mediated seed dispersal. In simulated populations, disperser loss increased spatial aggregation by fourfold, leading to increased negative density dependence across the life cycle and a 10-fold increase in the probability of extinction. Given that the majority of tree species in tropical forests are animal-dispersed, overhunting will potentially result in forests that are fundamentally different from those existing now.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Trevor Caughlin
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA Conservation Ecology Program, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 49 Soi Tientalay 25, Bangkhuntien-Chaitalay Road, Thakham, Bangkhuntien, Bangkok 10150, Thailand
| | - Jake M Ferguson
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Jeremy W Lichstein
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Pieter A Zuidema
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Douglas J Levey
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA Division of Environmental Biology, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230, USA
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20
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Morris WK, Vesk PA, McCarthy MA, Bunyavejchewin S, Baker PJ. The neglected tool in the Bayesian ecologist's shed: a case study testing informative priors' effect on model accuracy. Ecol Evol 2014; 5:102-8. [PMID: 25628867 PMCID: PMC4298437 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2014] [Revised: 10/29/2014] [Accepted: 10/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite benefits for precision, ecologists rarely use informative priors. One reason that ecologists may prefer vague priors is the perception that informative priors reduce accuracy. To date, no ecological study has empirically evaluated data-derived informative priors' effects on precision and accuracy. To determine the impacts of priors, we evaluated mortality models for tree species using data from a forest dynamics plot in Thailand. Half the models used vague priors, and the remaining half had informative priors. We found precision was greater when using informative priors, but effects on accuracy were more variable. In some cases, prior information improved accuracy, while in others, it was reduced. On average, models with informative priors were no more or less accurate than models without. Our analyses provide a detailed case study on the simultaneous effect of prior information on precision and accuracy and demonstrate that when priors are specified appropriately, they lead to greater precision without systematically reducing model accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- William K Morris
- Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group, The School of Botany, The University of Melbourne Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Peter A Vesk
- Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group, The School of Botany, The University of Melbourne Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Michael A McCarthy
- Quantitative and Applied Ecology Group, The School of Botany, The University of Melbourne Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Patrick J Baker
- Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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21
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Chisholm RA, Condit R, Rahman KA, Baker PJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Chen YY, Chuyong G, Dattaraja HS, Davies S, Ewango CEN, Gunatilleke CVS, Nimal Gunatilleke IAU, Hubbell S, Kenfack D, Kiratiprayoon S, Lin Y, Makana JR, Pongpattananurak N, Pulla S, Punchi-Manage R, Sukumar R, Su SH, Sun IF, Suresh HS, Tan S, Thomas D, Yap S. Temporal variability of forest communities: empirical estimates of population change in 4000 tree species. Ecol Lett 2014; 17:855-65. [PMID: 24805976 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2013] [Revised: 12/10/2013] [Accepted: 04/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Long-term surveys of entire communities of species are needed to measure fluctuations in natural populations and elucidate the mechanisms driving population dynamics and community assembly. We analysed changes in abundance of over 4000 tree species in 12 forests across the world over periods of 6-28 years. Abundance fluctuations in all forests are large and consistent with population dynamics models in which temporal environmental variance plays a central role. At some sites we identify clear environmental drivers, such as fire and drought, that could underlie these patterns, but at other sites there is a need for further research to identify drivers. In addition, cross-site comparisons showed that abundance fluctuations were smaller at species-rich sites, consistent with the idea that stable environmental conditions promote higher diversity. Much community ecology theory emphasises demographic variance and niche stabilisation; we encourage the development of theory in which temporal environmental variance plays a central role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan A Chisholm
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, P.O. Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panamá; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore
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22
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Caughlin TT, Ferguson JM, Lichstein JW, Bunyavejchewin S, Levey DJ. The importance of long-distance seed dispersal for the demography and distribution of a canopy tree species. Ecology 2014; 95:952-62. [DOI: 10.1890/13-0580.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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23
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Vlam M, Baker PJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Zuidema PA. Temperature and rainfall strongly drive temporal growth variation in Asian tropical forest trees. Oecologia 2013; 174:1449-61. [PMID: 24352845 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2846-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2013] [Accepted: 11/16/2013] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Climate change effects on growth rates of tropical trees may lead to alterations in carbon cycling of carbon-rich tropical forests. However, climate sensitivity of broad-leaved lowland tropical trees is poorly understood. Dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis) provides a powerful tool to study the relationship between tropical tree growth and annual climate variability. We aimed to establish climate-growth relationships for five annual-ring forming tree species, using ring-width data from 459 canopy and understory trees from a seasonal tropical forest in western Thailand. Based on 183/459 trees, chronologies with total lengths between 29 and 62 years were produced for four out of five species. Bootstrapped correlation analysis revealed that climate-growth responses were similar among these four species. Growth was significantly negatively correlated with current-year maximum and minimum temperatures, and positively correlated with dry-season precipitation levels. Negative correlations between growth and temperature may be attributed to a positive relationship between temperature and autotrophic respiration rates. The positive relationship between growth and dry-season precipitation levels likely reflects the strong water demand during leaf flush. Mixed-effect models yielded results that were consistent across species: a negative effect of current wet-season maximum temperatures on growth, but also additive positive effects of, for example, prior dry-season maximum temperatures. Our analyses showed that annual growth variability in tropical trees is determined by a combination of both temperature and precipitation variability. With rising temperature, the predominantly negative relationship between temperature and growth may imply decreasing growth rates of tropical trees as a result of global warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands,
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24
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Baldeck CA, Harms KE, Yavitt JB, John R, Turner BL, Valencia R, Navarrete H, Bunyavejchewin S, Kiratiprayoon S, Yaacob A, Supardi MNN, Davies SJ, Hubbell SP, Chuyong GB, Kenfack D, Thomas DW, Dalling JW. Habitat filtering across tree life stages in tropical forest communities. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20130548. [PMID: 23843384 PMCID: PMC3730581 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2013] [Accepted: 06/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Tropical tree communities are shaped by local-scale habitat heterogeneity in the form of topographic and edaphic variation, but the life-history stage at which habitat associations develop remains poorly understood. This is due, in part, to the fact that previous studies have not accounted for the widely disparate sample sizes (number of stems) that result when trees are divided into size classes. We demonstrate that the observed habitat structuring of a community is directly related to the number of individuals in the community. We then compare the relative importance of habitat heterogeneity to tree community structure for saplings, juveniles and adult trees within seven large (24-50 ha) tropical forest dynamics plots while controlling for sample size. Changes in habitat structuring through tree life stages were small and inconsistent among life stages and study sites. Where found, these differences were an order of magnitude smaller than the findings of previous studies that did not control for sample size. Moreover, community structure and composition were very similar among tree sub-communities of different life stages. We conclude that the structure of these tropical tree communities is established by the time trees are large enough to be included in the census (1 cm diameter at breast height), which indicates that habitat filtering occurs during earlier life stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- C A Baldeck
- Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
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25
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Baldeck CA, Kembel SW, Harms KE, Yavitt JB, John R, Turner BL, Chuyong GB, Kenfack D, Thomas DW, Madawala S, Gunatilleke N, Gunatilleke S, Bunyavejchewin S, Kiratiprayoon S, Yaacob A, Nur Supardi MN, Valencia R, Navarrete H, Davies SJ, Hubbell SP, Dalling JW. A taxonomic comparison of local habitat niches of tropical trees. Oecologia 2013; 173:1491-8. [PMID: 23851985 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2709-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2012] [Accepted: 06/06/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The integration of ecology and evolutionary biology requires an understanding of the evolutionary lability in species' ecological niches. For tropical trees, specialization for particular soil resource and topographic conditions is an important part of the habitat niche, influencing the distributions of individual species and overall tree community structure at the local scale. However, little is known about how these habitat niches are related to the evolutionary history of species. We assessed the relationship between taxonomic rank and tree species' soil resource and topographic niches in eight large (24-50 ha) tropical forest dynamics plots. Niche overlap values, indicating the similarity of two species' distributions along soil or topographic axes, were calculated for all pairwise combinations of co-occurring tree species at each study site. Congeneric species pairs often showed greater niche overlap (i.e., more similar niches) than non-congeneric pairs along both soil and topographic axes, though significant effects were found for only five sites based on Mantel tests. No evidence for taxonomic effects was found at the family level. Our results indicate that local habitat niches of trees exhibit varying degrees of phylogenetic signal at different sites, which may have important ramifications for the phylogenetic structure of these communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire A Baldeck
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA,
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26
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Middendorp RS, Vlam M, Rebel KT, Baker PJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Zuidema PA. Disturbance History of a Seasonal Tropical Forest in Western Thailand: A Spatial Dendroecological Analysis. Biotropica 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Romaike S. Middendorp
- Georges Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research; Earth and Life Institute; University of Louvain; B-1348; Louvain-la-Neuve; Belgium
| | - Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management group; Centre for Ecosystem Studies; Wageningen University; PO Box 47; 6700 AA; Wageningen; The Netherlands
| | - Karin T. Rebel
- Department Environmental Sciences; Faculty of Geosciences; Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development; Utrecht University; PO Box 80115; 3508 TC; Utrecht; The Netherlands
| | | | - Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin
- Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department; Research Office; National Parks; Chatuchak; Bangkok; 10900; Thailand
| | - Pieter A. Zuidema
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management group; Centre for Ecosystem Studies; Wageningen University; PO Box 47; 6700 AA; Wageningen; The Netherlands
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27
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Baldeck CA, Harms KE, Yavitt JB, John R, Turner BL, Valencia R, Navarrete H, Davies SJ, Chuyong GB, Kenfack D, Thomas DW, Madawala S, Gunatilleke N, Gunatilleke S, Bunyavejchewin S, Kiratiprayoon S, Yaacob A, Supardi MNN, Dalling JW. Soil resources and topography shape local tree community structure in tropical forests. Proc Biol Sci 2012; 280:20122532. [PMID: 23256196 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 161] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Both habitat filtering and dispersal limitation influence the compositional structure of forest communities, but previous studies examining the relative contributions of these processes with variation partitioning have primarily used topography to represent the influence of the environment. Here, we bring together data on both topography and soil resource variation within eight large (24-50 ha) tropical forest plots, and use variation partitioning to decompose community compositional variation into fractions explained by spatial, soil resource and topographic variables. Both soil resources and topography account for significant and approximately equal variation in tree community composition (9-34% and 5-29%, respectively), and all environmental variables together explain 13-39% of compositional variation within a plot. A large fraction of variation (19-37%) was spatially structured, yet unexplained by the environment, suggesting an important role for dispersal processes and unmeasured environmental variables. For the majority of sites, adding soil resource variables to topography nearly doubled the inferred role of habitat filtering, accounting for variation in compositional structure that would previously have been attributable to dispersal. Our results, illustrated using a new graphical depiction of community structure within these plots, demonstrate the importance of small-scale environmental variation in shaping local community structure in diverse tropical forests around the globe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire A Baldeck
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois, 505 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
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28
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Dong SX, Davies SJ, Ashton PS, Bunyavejchewin S, Supardi MNN, Kassim AR, Tan S, Moorcroft PR. Variability in solar radiation and temperature explains observed patterns and trends in tree growth rates across four tropical forests. Proc Biol Sci 2012; 279:3923-31. [PMID: 22833269 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.1124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The response of tropical forests to global climate variability and change remains poorly understood. Results from long-term studies of permanent forest plots have reported different, and in some cases opposing trends in tropical forest dynamics. In this study, we examined changes in tree growth rates at four long-term permanent tropical forest research plots in relation to variation in solar radiation, temperature and precipitation. Temporal variation in the stand-level growth rates measured at five-year intervals was found to be positively correlated with variation in incoming solar radiation and negatively related to temporal variation in night-time temperatures. Taken alone, neither solar radiation variability nor the effects of night-time temperatures can account for the observed temporal variation in tree growth rates across sites, but when considered together, these two climate variables account for most of the observed temporal variability in tree growth rates. Further analysis indicates that the stand-level response is primarily driven by the responses of smaller-sized trees (less than 20 cm in diameter). The combined temperature and radiation responses identified in this study provide a potential explanation for the conflicting patterns in tree growth rates found in previous studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shirley Xiaobi Dong
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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29
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Baltzer JL, Grégoire DM, Bunyavejchewin S, Noor NSM, Davies SJ. Coordination of foliar and wood anatomical traits contributes to tropical tree distributions and productivity along the Malay-Thai Peninsula. Am J Bot 2009; 96:2214-23. [PMID: 21622337 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.0800414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Drought is a critical factor in plant species distributions. Much research points to its relevance even in moist tropical regions. Recent studies have begun to elucidate mechanisms underlying the distributions of tropical tree species with respect to drought; however, how such desiccation tolerance mechanisms correspond with the coordination of hydraulic and photosynthetic traits in determining species distributions with respect to rainfall seasonality deserves attention. In the present study, we used a common garden approach to quantify inherent differences in wood anatomical and foliar physiological traits in 21 tropical tree species with either widespread (occupying both seasonal and aseasonal climates) or southern (restricted to aseasonal forests) distributions with respect to rainfall seasonality. Use of congeneric species pairs and phylogenetically independent contrast analyses allowed examination of this question in a phylogenetic framework. Widespread species opted for wood traits that provide biomechanical support and prevent xylem cavitation and showed associated reductions in canopy productivity and consequently growth rates compared with southern species. These data support the hypothesis that species having broader distributions with respect to climatic variability will be characterized by traits conducive to abiotic stress tolerance. This study highlights the importance of the well-established performance vs. stress tolerance trade-off as a contributor to species distributions at larger scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Baltzer
- Biology Department, 63B York Street, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, E4L 1G7 Canada
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Nock CA, Geihofer D, Grabner M, Baker PJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Hietz P. Wood density and its radial variation in six canopy tree species differing in shade-tolerance in western Thailand. Ann Bot 2009; 104:297-306. [PMID: 19454592 PMCID: PMC2710901 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcp118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Wood density is a key variable for understanding life history strategies in tropical trees. Differences in wood density and its radial variation were related to the shade-tolerance of six canopy tree species in seasonally dry tropical forest in Thailand. In addition, using tree ring measurements, the influence of tree size, age and annual increment on radial density gradients was analysed. METHODS Wood density was determined from tree cores using X-ray densitometry. X-ray films were digitized and images were measured, resulting in a continuous density profile for each sample. Mixed models were then developed to analyse differences in average wood density and in radial gradients in density among the six tree species, as well as the effects of tree age, size and annual increment on radial increases in Melia azedarach. KEY RESULTS Average wood density generally reflected differences in shade-tolerance, varying by nearly a factor of two. Radial gradients occurred in all species, ranging from an increase of (approx. 70%) in the shade-intolerant Melia azedarach to a decrease of approx. 13% in the shade-tolerant Neolitsea obtusifolia, but the slopes of radial gradients were generally unrelated to shade-tolerance. For Melia azedarach, radial increases were most-parsimoniously explained by log-transformed tree age and annual increment rather than by tree size. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that average wood density generally reflects differences in shade-tolerance in seasonally dry tropical forests; however, inferences based on wood density alone are potentially misleading for species with complex life histories. In addition, the findings suggest that a 'whole-tree' view of life history and biomechanics is important for understanding patterns of radial variation in wood density. Finally, accounting for wood density gradients is likely to improve the accuracy of estimates of stem biomass and carbon in tropical trees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles A Nock
- Institute of Botany, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, 33 Gregor Mendel Strasse, Vienna, Austria.
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Chave J, Condit R, Muller-Landau HC, Thomas SC, Ashton PS, Bunyavejchewin S, Co LL, Dattaraja HS, Davies SJ, Esufali S, Ewango CEN, Feeley KJ, Foster RB, Gunatilleke N, Gunatilleke S, Hall P, Hart TB, Hernández C, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Kiratiprayoon S, Lafrankie JV, Loo de Lao S, Makana JR, Noor MNS, Kassim AR, Samper C, Sukumar R, Suresh HS, Tan S, Thompson J, Tongco MDC, Valencia R, Vallejo M, Villa G, Yamakura T, Zimmerman JK, Losos EC. Assessing evidence for a pervasive alteration in tropical tree communities. PLoS Biol 2008; 6:e45. [PMID: 18318600 PMCID: PMC2270308 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2007] [Accepted: 01/14/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In Amazonian tropical forests, recent studies have reported increases in aboveground biomass and in primary productivity, as well as shifts in plant species composition favouring fast-growing species over slow-growing ones. This pervasive alteration of mature tropical forests was attributed to global environmental change, such as an increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration, nutrient deposition, temperature, drought frequency, and/or irradiance. We used standardized, repeated measurements of over 2 million trees in ten large (16-52 ha each) forest plots on three continents to evaluate the generality of these findings across tropical forests. Aboveground biomass increased at seven of our ten plots, significantly so at four plots, and showed a large decrease at a single plot. Carbon accumulation pooled across sites was significant (+0.24 MgC ha(-1) y(-1), 95% confidence intervals [0.07, 0.39] MgC ha(-1) y(-1)), but lower than reported previously for Amazonia. At three sites for which we had data for multiple census intervals, we found no concerted increase in biomass gain, in conflict with the increased productivity hypothesis. Over all ten plots, the fastest-growing quartile of species gained biomass (+0.33 [0.09, 0.55] % y(-1)) compared with the tree community as a whole (+0.15 % y(-1)); however, this significant trend was due to a single plot. Biomass of slow-growing species increased significantly when calculated over all plots (+0.21 [0.02, 0.37] % y(-1)), and in half of our plots when calculated individually. Our results do not support the hypothesis that fast-growing species are consistently increasing in dominance in tropical tree communities. Instead, they suggest that our plots may be simultaneously recovering from past disturbances and affected by changes in resource availability. More long-term studies are necessary to clarify the contribution of global change to the functioning of tropical forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Chave
- Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique CNRS/Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
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Baltzer JL, Davies SJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Noor NSM. The role of desiccation tolerance in determining tree species distributions along the Malay–Thai Peninsula. Funct Ecol 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01374.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Williams LJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Baker PJ. Deciduousness in a seasonal tropical forest in western Thailand: interannual and intraspecific variation in timing, duration and environmental cues. Oecologia 2008; 155:571-82. [PMID: 18188604 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-007-0938-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2007] [Accepted: 12/03/2007] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Seasonal tropical forests exhibit a great diversity of leaf exchange patterns. Within these forests variation in the timing and intensity of leaf exchange may occur within and among individual trees and species, as well as from year to year. Understanding what generates this diversity of phenological behaviour requires a mechanistic model that incorporates rate-limiting physiological conditions, environmental cues, and their interactions. In this study we examined long-term patterns of leaf flushing for a large proportion of the hundreds of tree species that co-occur in a seasonal tropical forest community in western Thailand. We used the data to examine community-wide variation in deciduousness and tested competing hypotheses regarding the timing and triggers of leaf flushing in seasonal tropical forests. We developed metrics to quantify the nature of deciduousness (its magnitude, timing and duration) and its variability among survey years and across a range of taxonomic levels. Tree species varied widely in the magnitude, duration, and variability of leaf loss within species and across years. The magnitude of deciduousness ranged from complete crown loss to no crown loss. Among species that lost most of their crown, the duration of deciduousness ranged from 2 to 21 weeks. The duration of deciduousness in the majority of species was considerably shorter than in neotropical forests with similar rainfall periodicity. While the timing of leaf flushing varied among species, most ( approximately 70%) flushed during the dry season. Leaf flushing was associated with changes in photoperiod in some species and the timing of rainfall in other species. However, more than a third of species showed no clear association with either photoperiod or rainfall, despite the considerable length and depth of the dataset. Further progress in resolving the underlying internal and external mechanisms controlling leaf exchange will require targeting these species for detailed physiological and microclimatic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura J Williams
- Australian Centre for Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
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Feeley KJ, Davies SJ, Ashton PS, Bunyavejchewin S, Nur Supardi MN, Kassim AR, Tan S, Chave J. The role of gap phase processes in the biomass dynamics of tropical forests. Proc Biol Sci 2008; 274:2857-64. [PMID: 17785266 PMCID: PMC3227128 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The responses of tropical forests to global anthropogenic disturbances remain poorly understood. Above-ground woody biomass in some tropical forest plots has increased over the past several decades, potentially reflecting a widespread response to increased resource availability, for example, due to elevated atmospheric CO2 and/or nutrient deposition. However, previous studies of biomass dynamics have not accounted for natural patterns of disturbance and gap phase regeneration, making it difficult to quantify the importance of environmental changes. Using spatially explicit census data from large (50 ha) inventory plots, we investigated the influence of gap phase processes on the biomass dynamics of four 'old-growth' tropical forests (Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama; Pasoh and Lambir, Malaysia; and Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK), Thailand). We show that biomass increases were gradual and concentrated in earlier-phase forest patches, while biomass losses were generally of greater magnitude but concentrated in rarer later-phase patches. We then estimate the rate of biomass change at each site independent of gap phase dynamics using reduced major axis regressions and ANCOVA tests. Above-ground woody biomass increased significantly at Pasoh (+0.72% yr(-1)) and decreased at HKK (-0.56% yr(-1)) independent of changes in gap phase but remained stable at both BCI and Lambir. We conclude that gap phase processes play an important role in the biomass dynamics of tropical forests, and that quantifying the role of gap phase processes will help improve our understanding of the factors driving changes in forest biomass as well as their place in the global carbon budget.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth J Feeley
- Center for Tropical Forest Science, Arnold Arboretum Asia Program, Harvard University, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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Condit R, Ashton P, Bunyavejchewin S, Dattaraja HS, Davies S, Esufali S, Ewango C, Foster R, Gunatilleke IAUN, Gunatilleke CVS, Hall P, Harms KE, Hart T, Hernandez C, Hubbell S, Itoh A, Kiratiprayoon S, Lafrankie J, de Lao SL, Makana JR, Noor MNS, Kassim AR, Russo S, Sukumar R, Samper C, Suresh HS, Tan S, Thomas S, Valencia R, Vallejo M, Villa G, Zillio T. The Importance of Demographic Niches to Tree Diversity. Science 2006; 313:98-101. [PMID: 16763113 DOI: 10.1126/science.1124712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 194] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Most ecological hypotheses about species coexistence hinge on species differences, but quantifying trait differences across species in diverse communities is often unfeasible. We examined the variation of demographic traits using a global tropical forest data set covering 4500 species in 10 large-scale tree inventories. With a hierarchical Bayesian approach, we quantified the distribution of mortality and growth rates of all tree species at each site. This allowed us to test the prediction that demographic differences facilitate species richness, as suggested by the theory that a tradeoff between high growth and high survival allows species to coexist. Contrary to the prediction, the most diverse forests had the least demographic variation. Although demographic differences may foster coexistence, they do not explain any of the 16-fold variation in tree species richness observed across the tropics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Condit
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA.
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36
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Muller-Landau HC, Condit RS, Harms KE, Marks CO, Thomas SC, Bunyavejchewin S, Chuyong G, Co L, Davies S, Foster R, Gunatilleke S, Gunatilleke N, Hart T, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Kassim AR, Kenfack D, LaFrankie JV, Lagunzad D, Lee HS, Losos E, Makana JR, Ohkubo T, Samper C, Sukumar R, Sun IF, Nur Supardi MN, Tan S, Thomas D, Thompson J, Valencia R, Vallejo MI, Muñoz GV, Yamakura T, Zimmerman JK, Dattaraja HS, Esufali S, Hall P, He F, Hernandez C, Kiratiprayoon S, Suresh HS, Wills C, Ashton P. Comparing tropical forest tree size distributions with the predictions of metabolic ecology and equilibrium models. Ecol Lett 2006; 9:589-602. [PMID: 16643304 DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00915.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Tropical forests vary substantially in the densities of trees of different sizes and thus in above-ground biomass and carbon stores. However, these tree size distributions show fundamental similarities suggestive of underlying general principles. The theory of metabolic ecology predicts that tree abundances will scale as the -2 power of diameter. Demographic equilibrium theory explains tree abundances in terms of the scaling of growth and mortality. We use demographic equilibrium theory to derive analytic predictions for tree size distributions corresponding to different growth and mortality functions. We test both sets of predictions using data from 14 large-scale tropical forest plots encompassing censuses of 473 ha and > 2 million trees. The data are uniformly inconsistent with the predictions of metabolic ecology. In most forests, size distributions are much closer to the predictions of demographic equilibrium, and thus, intersite variation in size distributions is explained partly by intersite variation in growth and mortality.
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Muller-Landau HC, Condit RS, Chave J, Thomas SC, Bohlman SA, Bunyavejchewin S, Davies S, Foster R, Gunatilleke S, Gunatilleke N, Harms KE, Hart T, Hubbell SP, Itoh A, Kassim AR, LaFrankie JV, Lee HS, Losos E, Makana JR, Ohkubo T, Sukumar R, Sun IF, Nur Supardi MN, Tan S, Thompson J, Valencia R, Muñoz GV, Wills C, Yamakura T, Chuyong G, Dattaraja HS, Esufali S, Hall P, Hernandez C, Kenfack D, Kiratiprayoon S, Suresh HS, Thomas D, Vallejo MI, Ashton P. Testing metabolic ecology theory for allometric scaling of tree size, growth and mortality in tropical forests. Ecol Lett 2006; 9:575-88. [PMID: 16643303 DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00904.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 237] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The theory of metabolic ecology predicts specific relationships among tree stem diameter, biomass, height, growth and mortality. As demographic rates are important to estimates of carbon fluxes in forests, this theory might offer important insights into the global carbon budget, and deserves careful assessment. We assembled data from 10 old-growth tropical forests encompassing censuses of 367 ha and > 1.7 million trees to test the theory's predictions. We also developed a set of alternative predictions that retained some assumptions of metabolic ecology while also considering how availability of a key limiting resource, light, changes with tree size. Our results show that there are no universal scaling relationships of growth or mortality with size among trees in tropical forests. Observed patterns were consistent with our alternative model in the one site where we had the data necessary to evaluate it, and were inconsistent with the predictions of metabolic ecology in all forests.
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38
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Wills C, Harms KE, Condit R, King D, Thompson J, He F, Muller-Landau HC, Ashton P, Losos E, Comita L, Hubbell S, Lafrankie J, Bunyavejchewin S, Dattaraja HS, Davies S, Esufali S, Foster R, Gunatilleke N, Gunatilleke S, Hall P, Itoh A, John R, Kiratiprayoon S, de Lao SL, Massa M, Nath C, Noor MNS, Kassim AR, Sukumar R, Suresh HS, Sun IF, Tan S, Yamakura T, Zimmerman J. Nonrandom Processes Maintain Diversity in Tropical Forests. Science 2006; 311:527-31. [PMID: 16439661 DOI: 10.1126/science.1117715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
An ecological community's species diversity tends to erode through time as a result of stochastic extinction, competitive exclusion, and unstable host-enemy dynamics. This erosion of diversity can be prevented over the short term if recruits are highly diverse as a result of preferential recruitment of rare species or, alternatively, if rare species survive preferentially, which increases diversity as the ages of the individuals increase. Here, we present census data from seven New and Old World tropical forest dynamics plots that all show the latter pattern. Within local areas, the trees that survived were as a group more diverse than those that were recruited or those that died. The larger (and therefore on average older) survivors were more diverse within local areas than the smaller survivors. When species were rare in a local area, they had a higher survival rate than when they were common, resulting in enrichment for rare species and increasing diversity with age and size class in these complex ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Wills
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0116, USA.
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Baker PJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Oliver CD, Ashton PS. DISTURBANCE HISTORY AND HISTORICAL STAND DYNAMICS OF A SEASONAL TROPICAL FOREST IN WESTERN THAILAND. ECOL MONOGR 2005. [DOI: 10.1890/04-0488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 175] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Plotkin JB, Potts MD, Yu DW, Bunyavejchewin S, Condit R, Foster R, Hubbell S, LaFrankie J, Manokaran N, Seng LH, Sukumar R, Nowak MA, Ashton PS. Predicting species diversity in tropical forests. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2000; 97:10850-4. [PMID: 11005859 PMCID: PMC27112 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.97.20.10850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 162] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2000] [Accepted: 07/26/2000] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A fundamental question in ecology is how many species occur within a given area. Despite the complexity and diversity of different ecosystems, there exists a surprisingly simple, approximate answer: the number of species is proportional to the size of the area raised to some exponent. The exponent often turns out to be roughly 1/4. This power law can be derived from assumptions about the relative abundances of species or from notions of self-similarity. Here we analyze the largest existing data set of location-mapped species: over one million, individually identified trees from five tropical forests on three continents. Although the power law is a reasonable, zeroth-order approximation of our data, we find consistent deviations from it on all spatial scales. Furthermore, tropical forests are not self-similar at areas =50 hectares. We develop an extended model of the species-area relationship, which enables us to predict large-scale species diversity from small-scale data samples more accurately than any other available method.
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Affiliation(s)
- J B Plotkin
- Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
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Condit R, Ashton PS, Baker P, Bunyavejchewin S, Gunatilleke S, Gunatilleke N, Hubbell SP, Foster RB, Itoh A, LaFrankie JV, Lee HS, Losos E, Manokaran N, Sukumar R, Yamakura T. Spatial patterns in the distribution of tropical tree species. Science 2000; 288:1414-8. [PMID: 10827950 DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5470.1414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 387] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Fully mapped tree census plots of large area, 25 to 52 hectares, have now been completed at six different sites in tropical forests, including dry deciduous to wet evergreen forest on two continents. One of the main goals of these plots has been to evaluate spatial patterns in tropical tree populations. Here the degree of aggregation in the distribution of 1768 tree species is examined based on the average density of conspecific trees in circular neighborhoods around each tree. When all individuals larger than 1 centimeter in stem diameter were included, nearly every species was more aggregated than a random distribution. Considering only larger trees (>/= 10 centimeters in diameter), the pattern persisted, with most species being more aggregated than random. Rare species were more aggregated than common species. All six forests were very similar in all the particulars of these results.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Condit
- Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 0948, APO AA 34002-0948, USA.
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