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Gorel AP, Hardy OJ, Dauby G, Dexter KG, Segovia RA, Steppe K, Fayolle A. Climatic niche lability but growth form conservatism in the African woody flora. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1164-1176. [PMID: 35229970 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Climatic niche evolution during the diversification of tropical plants has received little attention in Africa. To address this, we characterised the climatic niche of >4000 tropical African woody species, distinguishing two broad bioclimatic groups (forest vs. savanna) and six subgroups. We quantified niche conservatism versus lability at the genus level and for higher clades, using a molecular phylogeny of >800 genera. Although niche stasis at speciation is prevalent, numerous clades individually cover vast climatic spaces suggesting a general ease in transcending ecological limits, especially across bioclimatic subgroups. The forest biome was the main source of diversity, providing many lineages to savanna, but reverse shifts also occurred. We identified clades that diversified in savanna after shifts from forest. The forest-savanna transition was not consistently associated with a growth form change, though we found evolutionarily labile clades whose presence in forest or savanna is associated respectively with climbing or shrubby species diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs-Pasiphaé Gorel
- Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Olivier J Hardy
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculté Des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Gilles Dauby
- AMAP, Univ. Montpellier, IRD, CNRS, CIRAD, INRAE, Montpellier University, Montpellier, France
| | - Kyle G Dexter
- Tropical School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.,Tropical Diversity Section, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Ricardo A Segovia
- Instituto de Ecologia y Biodiversidad (IEB), Santiago, Chile.,Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Kat, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Kathy Steppe
- Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Adeline Fayolle
- Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Gembloux, Belgium
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Nie ZF, Liao ZQ, Yao GQ, Tian XQ, Bi MH, Teixeira da Silva JA, Gao TP, Fang XW. Divergent stem hydraulic strategies of Caragana korshinskii resprouts following a disturbance. TREE PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 42:325-336. [PMID: 34387352 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpab108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Resprouting plants are distributed in many vegetation communities worldwide. With increasing resprout age post-severe-disturbance, new stems grow rapidly at their early age, and decrease in their growth with gradually decreasing water status thereafter. However, there is little knowledge about how stem hydraulic strategies and anatomical traits vary post-disturbance. In this study, the stem water potential (Ψstem), maximum stem hydraulic conductivity (Kstem-max), water potential at 50% loss of hydraulic conductivity (Kstem P50) and anatomical traits of Caragana korshinkii resprouts were measured during a 1- to 13-year post-disturbance period. We found that the Kstem-max decreased with resprout age from 1-year-old resprouts (84.2 mol m-1 s-1 MPa-1) to 13-year-old resprouts (54.2 mol m-1 s-1 MPa-1) as a result of decreases in the aperture fraction (Fap) and the sum of aperture area on per unit intervessel wall area (Aap). The Kstem P50 of the resprouts decreased from 1-year-old resprouts (-1.8 MPa) to 13-year-old resprouts (-2.9 MPa) as a result of increases in vessel implosion resistance (t/b)2, wood density (WD), vessel grouping index (GI) and decreases in Fap and Aap. These shifts in hydraulic structure and function resulted in an age-based divergence in hydraulic strategies i.e., a change from an acquisitive strategy to a conservative strategy, with increasing resprout age post-disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng-Fei Nie
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Zhong-Qiang Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Guang-Qian Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Xue-Qian Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Min-Hui Bi
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | | | - Tian-Peng Gao
- School of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University, Xi'an 710065, China
| | - Xiang-Wen Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
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Muller-Landau HC, Cushman KC, Arroyo EE, Martinez Cano I, Anderson-Teixeira KJ, Backiel B. Patterns and mechanisms of spatial variation in tropical forest productivity, woody residence time, and biomass. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 229:3065-3087. [PMID: 33207007 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Tropical forests vary widely in biomass carbon (C) stocks and fluxes even after controlling for forest age. A mechanistic understanding of this variation is critical to accurately predicting responses to global change. We review empirical studies of spatial variation in tropical forest biomass, productivity and woody residence time, focusing on mature forests. Woody productivity and biomass decrease from wet to dry forests and with elevation. Within lowland forests, productivity and biomass increase with temperature in wet forests, but decrease with temperature where water becomes limiting. Woody productivity increases with soil fertility, whereas residence time decreases, and biomass responses are variable, consistent with an overall unimodal relationship. Areas with higher disturbance rates and intensities have lower woody residence time and biomass. These environmental gradients all involve both direct effects of changing environments on forest C fluxes and shifts in functional composition - including changing abundances of lianas - that substantially mitigate or exacerbate direct effects. Biogeographic realms differ significantly and importantly in productivity and biomass, even after controlling for climate and biogeochemistry, further demonstrating the importance of plant species composition. Capturing these patterns in global vegetation models requires better mechanistic representation of water and nutrient limitation, plant compositional shifts and tree mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helene C Muller-Landau
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - K C Cushman
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - Eva E Arroyo
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Isabel Martinez Cano
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Kristina J Anderson-Teixeira
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
- Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and National Zoological Park, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
| | - Bogumila Backiel
- Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
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