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Marx V. How's your health, forests? Nat Methods 2024; 21:1145-1148. [PMID: 38898095 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-024-02337-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
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Flores-Moreno H, Yatsko AR, Cheesman AW, Allison SD, Cernusak LA, Cheney R, Clement RA, Cooper W, Eggleton P, Jensen R, Rosenfield M, Zanne AE. Shifts in internal stem damage along a tropical precipitation gradient and implications for forest biomass estimation. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 241:1047-1061. [PMID: 38087814 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Woody biomass is a large carbon store in terrestrial ecosystems. In calculating biomass, tree stems are assumed to be solid structures. However, decomposer agents such as microbes and insects target stem heartwood, causing internal wood decay which is poorly quantified. We investigated internal stem damage across five sites in tropical Australia along a precipitation gradient. We estimated the amount of internal aboveground biomass damaged in living trees and measured four potential stem damage predictors: wood density, stem diameter, annual precipitation, and termite pressure (measured as termite damage in downed deadwood). Stem damage increased with increasing diameter, wood density, and termite pressure and decreased with increasing precipitation. High wood density stems sustained less damage in wet sites and more damage in dry sites, likely a result of shifting decomposer communities and their differing responses to changes in tree species and wood traits across sites. Incorporating stem damage reduced aboveground biomass estimates by > 30% in Australian savannas, compared to only 3% in rainforests. Accurate estimates of carbon storage across woody plant communities are critical for understanding the global carbon budget. Future biomass estimates should consider stem damage in concert with the effects of changes in decomposer communities and abiotic conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Habacuc Flores-Moreno
- Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20007, USA
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, Qld, 4001, Australia
| | - Abbey R Yatsko
- Biology Department, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33146, USA
| | - Alexander W Cheesman
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, 4878, Australia
- Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QE, UK
| | - Steven D Allison
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
- Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| | - Lucas A Cernusak
- College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, 4878, Australia
| | - Rose Cheney
- Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20007, USA
| | - Rebecca A Clement
- Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20007, USA
| | - Wendy Cooper
- Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, 4878, Australia
| | - Paul Eggleton
- Life Sciences Department, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Rigel Jensen
- Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Malanda, Qld, 4885, Australia
| | - Marc Rosenfield
- Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20007, USA
| | - Amy E Zanne
- Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20007, USA
- Biology Department, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33146, USA
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Xu X, van der Sleen P, Groenendijk P, Vlam M, Medvigy D, Moorcroft P, Petticord D, Ma Y, Zuidema PA. Constraining long-term model predictions for woody growth using tropical tree rings. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17075. [PMID: 38273586 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
The strength and persistence of the tropical carbon sink hinges on the long-term responses of woody growth to climatic variations and increasing CO2 . However, the sensitivity of tropical woody growth to these environmental changes is poorly understood, leading to large uncertainties in growth predictions. Here, we used tree ring records from a Southeast Asian tropical forest to constrain ED2.2-hydro, a terrestrial biosphere model with explicit vegetation demography. Specifically, we assessed individual-level woody growth responses to historical climate variability and increases in atmospheric CO2 (Ca ). When forced with historical Ca , ED2.2-hydro reproduced the magnitude of increases in intercellular CO2 concentration (a major determinant of photosynthesis) estimated from tree ring carbon isotope records. In contrast, simulated growth trends were considerably larger than those obtained from tree rings, suggesting that woody biomass production efficiency (WBPE = woody biomass production:gross primary productivity) was overestimated by the model. The estimated WBPE decline under increasing Ca based on model-data discrepancy was comparable to or stronger than (depending on tree species and size) the observed WBPE changes from a multi-year mature-forest CO2 fertilization experiment. In addition, we found that ED2.2-hydro generally overestimated climatic sensitivity of woody growth, especially for late-successional plant functional types. The model-data discrepancy in growth sensitivity to climate was likely caused by underestimating WBPE in hot and dry years due to commonly used model assumptions on carbon use efficiency and allocation. To our knowledge, this is the first study to constrain model predictions of individual tree-level growth sensitivity to Ca and climate against tropical tree-ring data. Our results suggest that improving model processes related to WBPE is crucial to obtain better predictions of tropical forest responses to droughts and increasing Ca . More accurate parameterization of WBPE will likely reduce the stimulation of woody growth by Ca rise predicted by biosphere models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangtao Xu
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Peter van der Sleen
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Groenendijk
- Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - David Medvigy
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
| | - Paul Moorcroft
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Daniel Petticord
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Yixin Ma
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Pieter A Zuidema
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Nunes MH, Vaz MC, Camargo JLC, Laurance WF, de Andrade A, Vicentini A, Laurance S, Raumonen P, Jackson T, Zuquim G, Wu J, Peñuelas J, Chave J, Maeda EE. Edge effects on tree architecture exacerbate biomass loss of fragmented Amazonian forests. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8129. [PMID: 38097604 PMCID: PMC10721830 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44004-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Habitat fragmentation could potentially affect tree architecture and allometry. Here, we use ground surveys of terrestrial LiDAR in Central Amazonia to explore the influence of forest edge effects on tree architecture and allometry, as well as forest biomass, 40 years after fragmentation. We find that young trees colonising the forest fragments have thicker branches and architectural traits that optimise for light capture, which result in 50% more woody volume than their counterparts of similar stem size and height in the forest interior. However, we observe a disproportionately lower height in some large trees, leading to a 30% decline in their woody volume. Despite the substantial wood production of colonising trees, the lower height of some large trees has resulted in a net loss of 6.0 Mg ha-1 of aboveground biomass - representing 2.3% of the aboveground biomass of edge forests. Our findings indicate a strong influence of edge effects on tree architecture and allometry, and uncover an overlooked factor that likely exacerbates carbon losses in fragmented forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matheus Henrique Nunes
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
| | - Marcel Caritá Vaz
- Institute for Environmental Science and Sustainabilty, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
| | - José Luís Campana Camargo
- Ecology Graduate Program, National Institute for Amazonian Research, (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
- Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) at National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
| | - William F Laurance
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ana de Andrade
- Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) at National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
| | - Alberto Vicentini
- Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) at National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
- Coordenação de Pesquisas em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, AM, Brasil
| | - Susan Laurance
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
| | - Pasi Raumonen
- Computing Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Toby Jackson
- Plant Sciences and Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriela Zuquim
- Amazon Research Team, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Jin Wu
- School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Josep Peñuelas
- CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Jérôme Chave
- Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, CNRS, UPS, IRD, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Eduardo Eiji Maeda
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- Finnish Meteorological Institute, FMI, Helsinki, Finland.
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