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Cusack DF, Christoffersen B, Smith-Martin CM, Andersen KM, Cordeiro AL, Fleischer K, Wright SJ, Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Lugli LF, McCulloch LA, Sanchez-Julia M, Batterman SA, Dallstream C, Fortunel C, Toro L, Fuchslueger L, Wong MY, Yaffar D, Fisher JB, Arnaud M, Dietterich LH, Addo-Danso SD, Valverde-Barrantes OJ, Weemstra M, Ng JC, Norby RJ. Toward a coordinated understanding of hydro-biogeochemical root functions in tropical forests for application in vegetation models. New Phytol 2024; 242:351-371. [PMID: 38416367 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19561] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Tropical forest root characteristics and resource acquisition strategies are underrepresented in vegetation and global models, hampering the prediction of forest-climate feedbacks for these carbon-rich ecosystems. Lowland tropical forests often have globally unique combinations of high taxonomic and functional biodiversity, rainfall seasonality, and strongly weathered infertile soils, giving rise to distinct patterns in root traits and functions compared with higher latitude ecosystems. We provide a roadmap for integrating recent advances in our understanding of tropical forest belowground function into vegetation models, focusing on water and nutrient acquisition. We offer comparisons of recent advances in empirical and model understanding of root characteristics that represent important functional processes in tropical forests. We focus on: (1) fine-root strategies for soil resource exploration, (2) coupling and trade-offs in fine-root water vs nutrient acquisition, and (3) aboveground-belowground linkages in plant resource acquisition and use. We suggest avenues for representing these extremely diverse plant communities in computationally manageable and ecologically meaningful groups in models for linked aboveground-belowground hydro-nutrient functions. Tropical forests are undergoing warming, shifting rainfall regimes, and exacerbation of soil nutrient scarcity caused by elevated atmospheric CO2. The accurate model representation of tropical forest functions is crucial for understanding the interactions of this biome with the climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela F Cusack
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, 1231 Libbie Coy Way, A104, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1476, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, Panama
| | - Bradley Christoffersen
- School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, 78539, USA
| | - Chris M Smith-Martin
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | | | - Amanda L Cordeiro
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, 1231 Libbie Coy Way, A104, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1476, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, Panama
| | - Katrin Fleischer
- Department Biogeochemical Signals, Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, Hans-Knöll-Straße 10, Jena, 07745, Germany
| | - S Joseph Wright
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, Panama
| | - Nathaly R Guerrero-Ramírez
- Silviculture and Forest Ecology of Temperate Zones, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Göttingen, Gottingen, 37077, Germany
- Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use (CBL), University of Göttingen, Gottingen, 37077, Germany
| | - Laynara F Lugli
- School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, 85354, Germany
| | - Lindsay A McCulloch
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency, 1850 Table Mesa Dr., Boulder, CO, 80305, USA
| | - Mareli Sanchez-Julia
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA
| | - Sarah A Batterman
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado, Balboa, 0843-03092, Panama
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Caroline Dallstream
- Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Av. du Docteur-Penfield, Montreal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - Claire Fortunel
- AMAP (Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations), Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, 34398, France
| | - Laura Toro
- Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program, The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Lucia Fuchslueger
- Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1030, Austria
| | - Michelle Y Wong
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Daniela Yaffar
- Functional Forest Ecology, Universität Hamburg, Barsbüttel, 22885, Germany
| | - Joshua B Fisher
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, 1 University Drive, Orange, CA, 92866, USA
| | - Marie Arnaud
- Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES), UMR 7618, CNRS-Sorbonne University-INRAE-UPEC-IRD, Paris, 75005, France
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences & BIFOR, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Lee H Dietterich
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, 1231 Libbie Coy Way, A104, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1476, USA
- U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Environmental Laboratory, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, USA
- Department of Biology, Haverford College, Haverford, PA, 19003, USA
| | - Shalom D Addo-Danso
- Forests and Climate Change Division, CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, P.O Box UP 63 KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Oscar J Valverde-Barrantes
- Department of Biological Sciences, International Center for Tropical Biodiversity, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Monique Weemstra
- Department of Biological Sciences, International Center for Tropical Biodiversity, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Jing Cheng Ng
- Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639798, Singapore
| | - Richard J Norby
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
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