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Khanal S, Nolan RH, Medlyn BE, Boer MM. Environmental correlates of the forest carbon distribution in the Central Himalayas. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11517. [PMID: 38895582 PMCID: PMC11183909 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding the biophysical limitations on forest carbon across diverse ecological regions is crucial for accurately assessing and managing forest carbon stocks. This study investigates the role of climate and disturbance on the spatial variation of two key forest carbon pools: aboveground carbon (AGC) and soil organic carbon (SOC). Using plot-level carbon pool estimates from Nepal's national forest inventory and structural equation modelling, we explore the relationship of forest carbon stocks to broad-scale climatic water and energy availability and fine-scale terrain and disturbance. The forest AGC and SOC models explained 25% and 59% of the observed spatial variation in forest AGC and SOC, respectively. Among the evaluated variables, disturbance exhibited the strongest negative correlation with AGC, while the availability of climatic energy demonstrated the strongest negative correlation with SOC. Disturbances such as selective logging and firewood collection result in immediate forest carbon loss, while soil carbon changes take longer to respond. The lower decomposition rates in the high-elevation region, due to lower temperatures, preserve organic matter and contribute to the high SOC stocks observed there. These results highlight the critical role of climate and disturbance regimes in shaping landscape patterns of forest carbon stocks. Understanding the underlying drivers of these patterns is crucial for forest carbon management and conservation across diverse ecological zones including the Central Himalayas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiva Khanal
- Forest Research and Training CenterKathmanduNepal
- Hawkesbury Institute for the EnvironmentWestern Sydney UniversityRichmondNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Rachael H. Nolan
- Hawkesbury Institute for the EnvironmentWestern Sydney UniversityRichmondNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Belinda E. Medlyn
- Hawkesbury Institute for the EnvironmentWestern Sydney UniversityRichmondNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Matthias M. Boer
- Hawkesbury Institute for the EnvironmentWestern Sydney UniversityRichmondNew South WalesAustralia
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2
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Elsy AD, Pfeifer M, Jones IL, DeWalt SJ, Lopez OR, Dent DH. Incomplete recovery of tree community composition and rare species after 120 years of tropical forest succession in Panama. Biotropica 2024; 56:36-49. [PMID: 38515454 PMCID: PMC10952663 DOI: 10.1111/btp.13275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Determining how fully tropical forests regenerating on abandoned land recover characteristics of old-growth forests is increasingly important for understanding their role in conserving rare species and maintaining ecosystem services. Despite this, our understanding of forest structure and community composition recovery throughout succession is incomplete, as many tropical chronosequences do not extend beyond the first 50 years of succession. Here, we examined trajectories of forest recovery across eight 1-hectare plots in middle and later stages of forest succession (40-120 years) and five 1-hectare old-growth plots, in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument (BCNM), Panama. We first verified that forest age had a greater effect than edaphic or topographic variation on forest structure, diversity and composition and then corroborated results from smaller plots censused 20 years previously. Tree species diversity (but not species richness) and forest structure had fully recovered to old-growth levels by 40 and 90 years, respectively. However, rare species were missing, and old-growth specialists were in low abundance, in the mid- and late secondary forest plots, leading to incomplete recovery of species composition even by 120 years into succession. We also found evidence that dominance early in succession by a long-lived pioneer led to altered forest structure and delayed recovery of species diversity and composition well past a century after land abandonment. Our results illustrate the critical importance of old-growth and old secondary forests for biodiversity conservation, given that recovery of community composition may take several centuries, particularly when a long-lived pioneer dominates in early succession. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander D. Elsy
- Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversity of StirlingStirlingUK
| | - Marion Pfeifer
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Modelling, Evidence and Policy GroupNewcastle UniversityNewcastle upon TyneUK
| | - Isabel L. Jones
- Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversity of StirlingStirlingUK
| | - Saara J. DeWalt
- Department of Biological SciencesClemson UniversityClemsonSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Omar R. Lopez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteBalboaPanama
- Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT)ClaytonPanama
| | - Daisy H. Dent
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteBalboaPanama
- Max Planck Institute for Animal BehaviorKonstanzGermany
- Department of Environmental Systems ScienceETH ZürichZurichSwitzerland
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3
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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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4
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Bogachev MI, Gafurov AM, Iskandirov PY, Kaplun DI, Kayumov AR, Lyanova AI, Pyko NS, Pyko SA, Safonova AN, Sinitca AM, Usmanov BM, Tishin DV. Reversal in the drought stress response of the Scots pine forest ecosystem: Local soil water regime as a key to improving climate change resilience. Heliyon 2023; 9:e21574. [PMID: 37954317 PMCID: PMC10638002 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
In a changing climate, forest ecosystems have become increasingly vulnerable to continuously exacerbating heat and associated drought conditions. Climate stress resilience is governed by a complex interplay of global, regional, and local factors, with hydrological conditions being among the key players. We studied a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest ecosystem located near the southern edge of the boreal ecotone, which is particularly subjected to frequent and prolonged droughts. By comparing the dendrochronological series of pines growing in apparently contrasting hydrological conditions ranging from the waterlogged peat bog area to the dry soil at the surrounding elevations, we investigated how the soil water regime affects the climate response and drought stress resilience of the forest ecosystem. We found that in the dry land area, a significant fraction of the trees were replaced after two major climate extremes: prolonged drought and extremely low winter temperatures. The latter has also been followed by a three- to ten-fold growth reduction of the trees that survived in the next year, whereas no similar effect has been observed in the peat bog area. Multi-scale detrended partial cross-correlation analysis (DPCCA) indicated that tree-ring width (TRW) was negatively correlated with spring and summer temperatures and positively correlated with the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) for the same year. For the elevated dry land area, the above effect extends to interannual scales, indicating that prolonged heatwaves and associated droughts are among the factors that limit tree growth. In marked contrast, in the waterlogged peat bog area, a reversed tendency was observed, with prolonged dry periods as well as warmer springs and summers over several consecutive years, leading to increasing tree growth with a one- to three-year time lag. Altogether, our results indicate that the pessimal conditions of a warming climate could become favorable through the preservation of the soil water regime.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikhail I. Bogachev
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Artur M. Gafurov
- Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya street, Kazan, Tatarstan, 420008, Russia
| | - Pavel Y. Iskandirov
- Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya street, Kazan, Tatarstan, 420008, Russia
| | - Dmitrii I. Kaplun
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Airat R. Kayumov
- Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya street, Kazan, Tatarstan, 420008, Russia
| | - Asya I. Lyanova
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Nikita S. Pyko
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Svetlana A. Pyko
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Anastasiia N. Safonova
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Aleksandr M. Sinitca
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
| | - Bulat M. Usmanov
- Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya street, Kazan, Tatarstan, 420008, Russia
| | - Denis V. Tishin
- St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, 5-F Professor Popov street, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia
- Kazan Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya street, Kazan, Tatarstan, 420008, Russia
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5
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McLellan RC, Watson DM. The living dead: Demography of Australian sandalwood in Australia's western rangelands. AUSTRAL ECOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.13243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Richard C. McLellan
- Gulbali Institute, School of Animal, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences Charles Sturt University Albury New South Wales Australia
| | - David M. Watson
- Gulbali Institute, School of Animal, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences Charles Sturt University Albury New South Wales Australia
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6
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Anujan K, Ratnam J, Sankaran M. Chronic browsing by an introduced mammalian herbivore in a tropical island alters species composition and functional traits of forest understory plant communities. Biotropica 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.13149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Krishna Anujan
- Department of Biology Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune India
- Ecology & Evolution Group, National Centre for Biological Sciences Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, GKVK Bangalore India
- Department of Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University in the City of New York New York New York USA
| | - Jayashree Ratnam
- Wildlife Biology and Conservation Group, National Centre for Biological Sciences Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, GKVK Bangalore India
| | - Mahesh Sankaran
- Ecology & Evolution Group, National Centre for Biological Sciences Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, GKVK Bangalore India
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7
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Brienen R, Helle G, Pons T, Boom A, Gloor M, Groenendijk P, Clerici S, Leng M, Jones C. Paired analysis of tree ring width and carbon isotopes indicates when controls on tropical tree growth change from light to water limitations. TREE PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 42:1131-1148. [PMID: 34718816 PMCID: PMC9190751 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpab142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Light and water availability are likely to vary over the lifespan of closed-canopy forest trees, with understory trees experiencing greater limitations to growth by light and canopy trees greater limitation due to drought. As drought and shade have opposing effects on isotope discrimination (Δ13C), paired measurement of ring width and Δ13C can potentially be used to differentiate between water and light limitations on tree growth. We tested this approach for Cedrela trees from three tropical forests in Bolivia and Mexico that differ in rainfall and canopy structure. Using lifetime ring width and Δ13C data for trees of up to and over 200 years old, we assessed how controls on tree growth changed from understory to the canopy. Growth and Δ13C are mostly anti-correlated in the understory, but this anti-correlation disappeared or weakened when trees reached the canopy, especially at the wettest site. This indicates that understory growth variation is controlled by photosynthetic carbon assimilation due to variation in light levels. Once trees reached the canopy, inter-annual variation in growth and Δ13C at one of the dry sites showed positive correlations, indicating that inter-annual variation in growth is driven by variation in water stress affecting stomatal conductance. Paired analysis of ring widths and carbon isotopes provides significant insight in what environmental factors control growth over a tree's life; strong light limitations for understory trees in closed-canopy moist forests switched to drought stress for (sub)canopy trees in dry forests. We show that combined isotope and ring width measurements can significantly improve our insights in tree functioning and be used to disentangle limitations due to shade from those due to drought.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gerhard Helle
- GFZ—German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section 4.3 Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Thijs Pons
- Plant Ecophysiology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, 3512 Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Arnoud Boom
- School of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Manuel Gloor
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Peter Groenendijk
- Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, PO Box: 6109, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas 13083-970, Brazil
- Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | | | - Melanie Leng
- National Environmental Isotope Facility, British Geological Survey, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
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8
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Liversage K. Experiments determining if habitat mosaics include the refugia from succession theorized to promote species coexistence. Oecologia 2020; 194:193-204. [PMID: 32954461 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04751-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Refugia within successional mosaics where localized conditions inhibit successional replacement may support large abundances of early colonizing species and their coexistence with strongly competitive late colonizers. Numerous habitats have been hypothesized as refugia from succession with important landscape-scale consequences from export of propagules, but their commonness among ecological systems is unknown because tests to demonstrate their existence have not been formulated and applied. In this study on an intertidal model system, an early successional tubeworm was highly abundant in a hypothesized refuge habitat-type where late successional algae could not establish. In adjacent non-refuge habitat, a change in species dominance involving tubeworms shifting to algae occurred from early to late succession following experimentally induced disturbance. No such change occurred in refuges where early successional tubeworm populations steadily increased throughout succession. Tubeworm recruitment was reduced in the presence of late successional algae, likely from competition in the non-refuge. The presence of habitats providing refugia from succession may have important consequences, e.g. promoting low but consistent levels of local-scale coexistence of early and late successional taxa observed here even without disturbance. Experimental tests such as these to identify refugia from succession will be useful to apply to larger-scale land/seascapes if, as in this study, the scale of experimentation is optimized for the species and processes of interest. If the inferences from these results are extrapolated to larger-scale systems, they may inform our understanding of spread of early successional species such as weeds with large impacts that are potentially influenced by this landscape feature.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Liversage
- Centre for Research On Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia. .,Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, Mäealuse 14, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia.
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9
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Assessing Restoration Potential of Fragmented and Degraded Fagaceae Forests in Meghalaya, North-East India. FORESTS 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/f11091008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The montane subtropical broad-leaved humid forests of Meghalaya (Northeast India) are highly diverse and situated at the transition zone between the Eastern Himalayas and Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspots. In this study, we have used inventory data from seedlings to canopy level to assess the impact of both biotic and abiotic disturbances on structure, composition, and regeneration potential of the Fagaceae trees of these forests. Fagaceae trees are considered as the keystone species in these forests due to their regional dominance and their importance as a fuel wood source, and also because they form an important component of climax community in these forests. Unfortunately, these forests are highly degraded and fragmented due to anthropogenic disturbances. We have assessed, for the first time, the restoration potential (i.e., capacity to naturally regenerate and sustain desired forest structure) of Fagaceae species in the genera Lithocarpus Blume, Castanopsis (D. Don) Spach, and Quercus Linn. We also evaluated how biotic and abiotic factors, as well as anthropogenic disturbances, influence the restoration potential of these species in six fragmented forest patches located along an elevational gradient on south-facing slopes in the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya. Fagaceae was the most dominant family at all sites except one site (Laitkynsew), where it was co-dominant with Lauraceae. Fagaceae forests have shown high diversity and community assemblages. Fagaceae species had high levels of natural regeneration (i.e., seedlings and saplings) but low recruitment to large trees (diameter at breast height or DBH ≥ 10 cm) at all sites. The ability to sprout was higher in Fagaceae tree species than non-Fagaceae tree species. We have shown that human disturbance and structural diversity were positively related to regeneration of Fagaceae tree species due to high sprouting. However, with increasing human disturbance, recruitment of saplings and pole-sized trees to mature trees hampered the resulting proportion of mature Fagaceae tree species. This study provides a means for assessing regeneration and a basis for forest management strategies in degraded and fragmented forests of Meghalaya.
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10
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Zuidema PA, Heinrich I, Rahman M, Vlam M, Zwartsenberg SA, van der Sleen P. Recent CO 2 rise has modified the sensitivity of tropical tree growth to rainfall and temperature. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:4028-4041. [PMID: 32441438 PMCID: PMC7317543 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2019] [Revised: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Atmospheric CO2 (ca ) rise changes the physiology and possibly growth of tropical trees, but these effects are likely modified by climate. Such ca × climate interactions importantly drive CO2 fertilization effects of tropical forests predicted by global vegetation models, but have not been tested empirically. Here we use tree-ring analyses to quantify how ca rise has shifted the sensitivity of tree stem growth to annual fluctuations in rainfall and temperature. We hypothesized that ca rise reduces drought sensitivity and increases temperature sensitivity of growth, by reducing transpiration and increasing leaf temperature. These responses were expected for cooler sites. At warmer sites, ca rise may cause leaf temperatures to frequently exceed the optimum for photosynthesis, and thus induce increased drought sensitivity and stronger negative effects of temperature. We tested these hypotheses using measurements of 5,318 annual rings from 129 trees of the widely distributed (sub-)tropical tree species, Toona ciliata. We studied growth responses during 1950-2014, a period during which ca rose by 28%. Tree-ring data were obtained from two cooler (mean annual temperature: 20.5-20.7°C) and two warmer (23.5-24.8°C) sites. We tested ca × climate interactions, using mixed-effect models of ring-width measurements. Our statistical models revealed several significant and robust ca × climate interactions. At cooler sites (and seasons), ca × climate interactions showed good agreement with hypothesized growth responses of reduced drought sensitivity and increased temperature sensitivity. At warmer sites, drought sensitivity increased with increasing ca , as predicted, and hot years caused stronger growth reduction at high ca . Overall, ca rise has significantly modified sensitivity of Toona stem growth to climatic variation, but these changes depended on mean climate. Our study suggests that effects of ca rise on tropical tree growth may be more complex and less stimulatory than commonly assumed and require a better representation in global vegetation models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pieter A. Zuidema
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management GroupWageningen UniversityWageningenThe Netherlands
| | - Ingo Heinrich
- Section Climate Dynamics and Landscape EvolutionGFZ German Research Centre for GeosciencesTelegrafenbergGermany
- Geography DepartmentHumboldt UniversityBerlinGermany
| | - Mizanur Rahman
- Institute of GeographyFriedrich‐Alexander University Erlangen‐NurembergErlangenGermany
- Department of Forestry and Environmental ScienceShahjalal University of Science and TechnologySylhetBangladesh
| | - Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management GroupWageningen UniversityWageningenThe Netherlands
- Delta Areas and ResourcesVan Hall Larenstein University of Applied SciencesLeeuwardenThe Netherlands
| | | | - Peter van der Sleen
- Forest Ecology & Forest Management GroupWageningen UniversityWageningenThe Netherlands
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation GroupWageningen UniversityWageningenThe Netherlands
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11
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Caetano-Andrade VL, Clement CR, Weigel D, Trumbore S, Boivin N, Schöngart J, Roberts P. Tropical Trees as Time Capsules of Anthropogenic Activity. TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 25:369-380. [PMID: 32037081 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2019.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
After the ice caps, tropical forests are globally the most threatened terrestrial environments. Modern trees are not just witnesses to growing contemporary threats but also legacies of past human activity. Here, we review the use of dendrochronology, radiocarbon analysis, stable isotope analysis, and DNA analysis to examine ancient tree management. These methods exploit the fact that living trees record information on environmental and anthropogenic selective forces during their own and past generations of growth, making trees living archaeological 'sites'. The applicability of these methods across prehistoric, historic, and industrial periods means they have the potential to detect evolving anthropogenic threats and can be used to set conservation priorities in rapidly vanishing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Detlef Weigel
- Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Susan Trumbore
- Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany; Department of Archaeology, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD, 4072, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Jochen Schöngart
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany; Department of Archaeology, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD, 4072, Brisbane, Australia
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12
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Dendroecology of Pinus elliottii Engelm. reveals waves of invasion in a neotropical savanna. Biol Invasions 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-019-02099-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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13
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Caetano Andrade VL, Flores BM, Levis C, Clement CR, Roberts P, Schöngart J. Growth rings of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) as a living record of historical human disturbance in Central Amazonia. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0214128. [PMID: 30943230 PMCID: PMC6447161 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) is an iconic and economically valuable species that dominates vast swathes of the Amazon Basin. This species seems to have been an important part of human subsistence strategies in the region from at least the Early Holocene, and its current distribution may be a legacy of past human settlement. Because B. excelsa is a long-lived pioneer tree it requires natural or human disturbances to increase light availability in the understory for a successful establishment. However, it remains unclear how the long-term population dynamics of this species have been shaped by pre-colonial and post-colonial human practices. Here, we use tree-ring analyses to look at changes in growing conditions over the past 400 years in a Brazil nut tree population in Central Amazonia. We identify changes in tree recruitment and growth rates associated not only with regional climatic variability, but also major political and socio-economic activities recorded by historical documents in the vicinity of Manaus. We demonstrate that the expansion of a post-colonial political center (Manaus) from the middle of the 18th century onwards coincided with a reduction in recruitment of B. excelsa. We argue that this hiatus suggests the interruption of indigenous management practices, probably due to the collapse of pre-Columbian societies. A second recruitment pulse, and unprecedented cycles of growth release and suppression, aligns with a shift to modern exploitation of the forest into the 20th century. Our findings shed light on how past histories of human-forest interactions can be revealed by the growth rings of trees in Amazonia. Future interdisciplinary analysis of these trees should enable more detailed investigation of how human forest management has changed in this part of the world, through pre-colonial, colonial, and industrial periods of human activity, with potential implications for conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor L. Caetano Andrade
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Thüringen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Bernardo M. Flores
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Carolina Levis
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Thüringen, Germany
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14
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Rossetti DF, Gribel R, Toledo PM, Tatumi SH, Yee M, Tudela DRG, Munita CS, de Souza Coelho L. Unfolding long-term Late Pleistocene-Holocene disturbances of forest communities in the southwestern Amazonian lowlands. Ecosphere 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Dilce F. Rossetti
- Brazilian Institute for Space Research-INPE; Rua dos Astronautas 1758 São José dos Campos SP 12245-970 Brazil
| | - Rogério Gribel
- Coordination of Biodiversity; Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research-INPA; Av. André Araújo 2936 Manaus AM 69067-375 Brazil
| | - Peter M. Toledo
- Brazilian Institute for Space Research-INPE; Rua dos Astronautas 1758 São José dos Campos SP 12245-970 Brazil
| | | | - Márcio Yee
- Federal University of São Paulo; Santos SP 11070-100 Brazil
| | | | | | - Luiz de Souza Coelho
- Coordination of Biodiversity; Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research-INPA; Av. André Araújo 2936 Manaus AM 69067-375 Brazil
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15
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Abstract
Here, we present stationarity criteria for forest stands and establish ecological embodiments using an empirical stand development model. We introduced human interference in terms of diameter-limit cutting. Financial sustainability was investigated as a function of the cutting limit diameter. It was found that nonoperative capitalization along with its appreciation rate dictates the sustainability of management practices. In the absence of nonoperative capitalization, stationary forestry produces high capital return rates at a rather small volume of growing trees. In the case of large but constant nonoperative capitalization, a large operative capitalization resulting in a large harvesting yield provides the best capital returns. A high nonoperative appreciation rate requires a small volume of growing trees.
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16
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Dynamic Patterns of Trees Species in Miombo Forest and Management Perspectives for Sustainable Production—Case Study in Huambo Province, Angola. FORESTS 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/f9060321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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17
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Baker JCA, Santos GM, Gloor M, Brienen RJW. Does Cedrela always form annual rings? Testing ring periodicity across South America using radiocarbon dating. TREES (BERLIN, GERMANY : WEST) 2017; 31:1999-2009. [PMID: 32009742 PMCID: PMC6959415 DOI: 10.1007/s00468-017-1604-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Accepted: 08/09/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
KEY MESSAGE Radiocarbon dating shows that Cedrela trees from Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela form one ring per year but Cedrela trees from Suriname form two rings per year. ABSTRACT Tropical tree rings have the potential to yield valuable ecological and climate information, on the condition that rings are annual and accurately dated. It is important to understand the factors controlling ring formation, since regional variation in these factors could cause trees in different regions to form tree rings at different times. Here, we use 'bomb-peak' radiocarbon (14C) dating to test the periodicity of ring formation in Cedrela trees from four sites across tropical South America. We show that trees from Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela have reliably annual tree rings, while trees from Suriname regularly form two rings per year. This proves that while tree rings of a particular species may be demonstrably annual at one site, this does not imply that rings are formed annually in other locations. We explore possible drivers of variation in ring periodicity and find that Cedrela growth rhythms are most likely caused by precipitation seasonality, with a possible degree of genetic control. Therefore, tree-ring studies undertaken at new locations in the tropics require independent validation of the annual nature of tree rings, irrespective of how the studied species behaves in other locations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Manuel Gloor
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
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