1
|
Kupers SJ, Wirth C, Engelbrecht BMJ, Hernández A, Condit R, Wright SJ, Rüger N. Performance of tropical forest seedlings under shade and drought: an interspecific trade-off in demographic responses. Sci Rep 2019; 9:18784. [PMID: 31827158 PMCID: PMC6906455 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55256-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 11/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Seedlings in moist tropical forests must cope with deep shade and seasonal drought. However, the interspecific relationship between seedling performance in shade and drought remains unsettled. We quantified spatiotemporal variation in shade and drought in the seasonal moist tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama, and estimated responses of naturally regenerating seedlings as the slope of the relationship between performance and shade or drought intensity. Our performance metrics were relative height growth and first-year survival. We investigated the relationship between shade and drought responses for up to 63 species. There was an interspecific trade-off in species responses to shade versus species responses to dry season intensity; species that performed worse in the shade did not suffer during severe dry seasons and vice versa. This trade-off emerged in part from the absence of species that performed particularly well or poorly in both drought and shade. If drought stress in tropical forests increases with climate change and as solar radiation is higher during droughts, the trade-off may reinforce a shift towards species that resist drought but perform poorly in the shade by releasing them from deep shade.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stefan J Kupers
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Christian Wirth
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knöll Str. 10, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Bettina M J Engelbrecht
- Department of Plant Ecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - Andrés Hernández
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - Richard Condit
- Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL, 60605, USA
- Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL, 60532-1293, USA
| | - S Joseph Wright
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| | - Nadja Rüger
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Griffin EA, Wright SJ, Morin PJ, Carson WP. Pervasive interactions between foliar microbes and soil nutrients mediate leaf production and herbivore damage in a tropical forest. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2017; 216:99-112. [PMID: 28782806 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Producing and retaining leaves underlie the performance and survivorship of seedlings in deeply shaded tropical forests. These habitats are characterized by conditions ideal for foliar bacteria, which can be potent plant pathogens. Leaf production, retention and susceptibility to enemies may ultimately depend upon interactions among soil nutrients and foliar microbes, yet this has never been tested. We experimentally evaluated the degree that foliar bacteria and soil resource supply mediate leaf dynamics for five common tree species (five different families) in a Panamanian forest. We reduced foliar bacteria with antibiotics for 29 months and measured leaf production, retention and damage for seedlings nested within a replicated 15-yr factorial nutrient enrichment experiment (nitrogen, N; phosphorus, P; potassium, K). Our results demonstrate that when we applied antibiotics, soil nutrients - particularly N - always regulated seedling leaf production (and to a lesser extent herbivore damage) for all five tree species. In addition, it was common for two macronutrients together to negate or completely reverse the impact of applying either one alone. Our findings of frequent plant-microbe-nutrient interactions are novel and suggest that these interactions may reinforce plant species-environment associations, thereby creating a fairly cryptic and fine-scale dimension of niche differentiation for coexisting tree species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eric A Griffin
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 647 Contees Wharf Rd, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, A234 Langley Hall, 4249 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA
| | - S Joseph Wright
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Panamá
| | - Peter J Morin
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Rd, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
| | - Walter P Carson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, A234 Langley Hall, 4249 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Turner BL, Zalamea PC, Condit R, Winter K, Wright SJ, Dalling JW. No evidence that boron influences tree species distributions in lowland tropical forests of Panama. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2017; 214:108-119. [PMID: 27864964 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Accepted: 10/06/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
It was recently proposed that boron might be the most important nutrient structuring tree species distributions in tropical forests. Here we combine observational and experimental studies to test this hypothesis for lowland tropical forests of Panama. Plant-available boron is uniformly low in tropical forest soils of Panama and is not significantly associated with any of the > 500 species in a regional network of forest dynamics plots. Experimental manipulation of boron supply to seedlings of three tropical tree species revealed no evidence of boron deficiency or toxicity at concentrations likely to occur in tropical forest soils. Foliar boron did not correlate with soil boron along a local scale gradient of boron availability. Fifteen years of boron addition to a tropical forest increased plant-available boron by 70% but did not significantly change tree productivity or boron concentrations in live leaves, wood or leaf litter. The annual input of boron in rainfall accounts for a considerable proportion of the boron in annual litterfall and is similar to the pool of plant-available boron in the soil, and is therefore sufficient to preclude boron deficiency. We conclude that boron does not influence tree species distributions in Panama and presumably elsewhere in the lowland tropics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin L Turner
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
| | - Paul-Camilo Zalamea
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Richard Condit
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
| | - Klaus Winter
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
| | - S Joseph Wright
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
| | - James W Dalling
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panama
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Silvestrini M, Dos Santos FAM. Variation in the population structure between a natural and a human-modified forest for a pioneer tropical tree species not restricted to large gaps. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:2420-32. [PMID: 26120431 PMCID: PMC4475374 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2014] [Revised: 04/15/2015] [Accepted: 04/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The distribution of tree species in tropical forests is generally related to the occurrence of disturbances and shifts in the local environmental conditions such as light, temperature, and biotic factors. Thus, the distribution of pioneer tree species is expected to vary according to the gap characteristics and with human disturbances. We asked whether there was variation in the distribution of a pioneer species under different environmental conditions generated by natural disturbances, and between two forests with contrasting levels of human disturbance. To answer this question, we studied the distribution patterns and population persistence of the pioneer tree species Croton floribundus in the size and age gap range of a primary Brazilian forest. Additionally, we compared the plant density of two size-classes between a primary and an early successional human-disturbed forest. Croton floribundus was found to be widespread and equally distributed along the gap-size gradient in the primary forest. Overall density did not vary with gap size or age (F-ratio = 0.062, P = 0.941), and while juveniles were found to have a higher density in the early successional forest (P = 0.021), tree density was found to be similar between forests (P = 0.058). Our results indicate that the population structure of a pioneer tree species with long life span and a broad gap-size niche preference varied between natural and human-disturbed forests, but not with the level of natural disturbance. We believe this can be explained by the extreme environmental changes that occur after human disturbance. The ecological processes that affect the distribution of pioneer species in natural and human-modified forests may be similar, but our results suggest they act differently under the contrasting environmental conditions generated by natural and human disturbances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Milene Silvestrini
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, IB, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) 970, Monteiro Lobato, P.O. Box 6109, 13083-862, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Affiliation(s)
- Eadaoin M. Quinn
- Faculty of Forestry; University of Toronto; Earth Sciences Building 33 Willcocks Street Toronto Ontario M5S 3B3 Canada
| | - Sean C. Thomas
- Faculty of Forestry; University of Toronto; Earth Sciences Building 33 Willcocks Street Toronto Ontario M5S 3B3 Canada
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Rüger N, Wirth C, Wright SJ, Condit R. Functional traits explain light and size response of growth rates in tropical tree species. Ecology 2013; 93:2626-36. [PMID: 23431593 DOI: 10.1890/12-0622.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Relationships between functional traits and average or potential demographic rates have provided insight into the functional constraints and trade-offs underlying life-history strategies of tropical tree species. We have extended this framework by decomposing growth rates of -130 000 trees of 171 Neotropical tree species into intrinsic growth and the response of growth to light and size. We related these growth characteristics to multiple functional traits (wood density, adult stature, seed mass, leaf traits) in a hierarchical Bayesian model that accounted for measurement error and intraspecific variability of functional traits. Wood density was the most important trait determining all three growth characteristics. Intrinsic growth rates were additionally strongly related to adult stature, while all traits contributed to light response. Our analysis yielded a predictive model that allows estimation of growth characteristics for rare species on the basis of a few easily measurable morphological traits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nadja Rüger
- Universität Leipzig, AG Spezielle Botanik und Funktionelle Biodiversität, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Sugiyama A, Peterson CJ. Edge Effects Act Differentially on Multiple Early Regeneration Stages of a Shade-tolerant TreeTapirira mexicana. Biotropica 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2012.00897.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Sugiyama
- Department of Plant Biology; University of Georgia; Athens GA 30602 U.S.A
| | - Chris J. Peterson
- Department of Plant Biology; University of Georgia; Athens GA 30602 U.S.A
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Pasquini SC, Santiago LS. Nutrients limit photosynthesis in seedlings of a lowland tropical forest tree species. Oecologia 2011; 168:311-9. [PMID: 21837408 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-011-2099-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2011] [Accepted: 07/26/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
|
9
|
Bianchini E, Garcia CC, Pimenta JA, Torezan JMD. Slope variation and population structure of tree species from different ecological groups in South Brazil. AN ACAD BRAS CIENC 2011; 82:643-52. [PMID: 21562693 DOI: 10.1590/s0001-37652010000300012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2008] [Accepted: 05/05/2010] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Size structure and spatial arrangement of 13 abundant tree species were determined in a riparian forest fragment in Paraná State, South Brazil (23°16'S and 51°01'W). The studied species were Aspidosperma polyneuron Müll. Arg., Astronium graveolens Jacq. and Gallesia integrifolia (Spreng) Harms (emergent species); Alseis floribunda Schott, Ruprechtia laxiflora Meisn. and Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. (shade-intolerant canopy species); Machaerium paraguariense Hassl, Myroxylum peruiferum L. and Chrysophyllum gonocarpum (Mart. & Eichler ex Miq.) Engl. (shade-tolerant canopy species); Sorocea bonplandii (Baill.) Bürger, Trichilia casaretti C. Dc, Trichilia catigua A. Juss. and Actinostemon concolor (Spreng.) Müll. Arg. (understory small trees species). Height and diameter structures and basal area of species were analyzed. Spatial patterns and slope correlation were analyzed by Moran's / spatial autocorrelation coefficient and partial Mantel test, respectively. The emergent and small understory species showed the highest and the lowest variations in height, diameter and basal area. Size distribution differed among emergent species and also among canopy shade-intolerant species. The spatial pattern ranged among species in all groups, except in understory small tree species. The slope was correlated with spatial pattern for A. polyneuron, A. graveolens, A. floribunda, R. laxiflora, M. peruiferum and T. casaretti. The results indicated that most species occurred in specific places, suggesting that niche differentiation can be an important factor in structuring the tree community.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Edmilson Bianchini
- Departamento de Biologia Animal e Vegetal, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, PR, Brazil.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Donohue K, Rubio de Casas R, Burghardt L, Kovach K, Willis CG. Germination, Postgermination Adaptation, and Species Ecological Ranges. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2010. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 530] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Germination behavior is one of the earliest phenotypes expressed by plants. This fact has several consequences for the evolution of postgermination traits, ecological niches, and geographic ranges. By determining the conditions that plants experience after they germinate, germination influences phenotypic expression of postgermination traits, natural selection on them, and their genetic basis. The breadth of germination niches may influence the ecological breadth and geographic ranges of species. Because germination is expressed early, it is frequently subjected to natural selection before other traits are expressed. We review evidence for natural selection on and adaptation of germination and discuss how the breadth of the germination niche is associated with the ecological niche and range of plant species. We review evidence for the coevolution of germination and postgermination traits and compare germination to postgermination niches. Finally, we discuss how germination responses to altered environments can influence species distribution and the evolution of postgermination traits after environmental change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen Donohue
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708
| | | | - Liana Burghardt
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708
| | - Katherine Kovach
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708
| | - Charles G. Willis
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
When sex is not enough: ecological correlates of resprouting capacity in congeneric tropical forest shrubs. Oecologia 2009; 161:43-56. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-009-1353-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2007] [Accepted: 04/08/2009] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
12
|
Richards LA, Coley PD. Combined Effects of Host Plant Quality and Predation on a Tropical Lepidopteran: A Comparison between Treefall Gaps and the Understory in Panama. Biotropica 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2008.00438.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
13
|
|
14
|
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that tropical trees partition forest light environments through a life history trade-off between juvenile growth and survival; however, the generality of this trade-off across life stages and functional groups has been questioned. We quantified trade-offs between growth and survival for trees and lianas on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama using first-year seedlings of 22 liana and 31 tree species and saplings (10 mm < dbh < 39 mm) of 30 tree species. Lianas showed trade-offs similar to those of trees, with both groups exhibiting broadly overlapping ranges in survival and relative growth rates as seedlings. Life history strategies at the seedling stage were highly correlated with those at the sapling stage among tree species, with all species showing an increase in survival with size. Only one of 30 tree species demonstrated a statistically significant ontogenetic shift, having a relatively lower survival rate at the sapling stage than expected. Our results indicate that similar life history trade-offs apply across two functional groups (lianas and trees), and that life history strategies are largely conserved across seedling and sapling life-stages for most tropical tree species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Gilbert
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Barker MG, Pinard MA, Nilus R. Allometry and Shade Tolerance in Pole-Sized Trees of Two Contrasting Dipterocarp Species in Sabah, Malaysia1. Biotropica 2006. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00145.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
16
|
Wright SJ, Muller-Landau HC, Condit R, Hubbell SP. GAP-DEPENDENT RECRUITMENT, REALIZED VITAL RATES, AND SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF TROPICAL TREES. Ecology 2003. [DOI: 10.1890/02-0038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 268] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
17
|
Pagès JP, Pache G, Joud D, Magnan N, Michalet R. DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF SHADE ON FOUR FOREST TREE SEEDLINGS IN THE FRENCH ALPS. Ecology 2003. [DOI: 10.1890/02-0138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
18
|
Pearson TRH, Burslem DFRP, Mullins CE, Dalling JW. GERMINATION ECOLOGY OF NEOTROPICAL PIONEERS: INTERACTING EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND SEED SIZE. Ecology 2002. [DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2002)083[2798:geonpi]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|