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Aguirre-Gutiérrez J, Malhi Y, Lewis SL, Fauset S, Adu-Bredu S, Affum-Baffoe K, Baker TR, Gvozdevaite A, Hubau W, Moore S, Peprah T, Ziemińska K, Phillips OL, Oliveras I. Long-term droughts may drive drier tropical forests towards increased functional, taxonomic and phylogenetic homogeneity. Nat Commun 2020; 11:3346. [PMID: 32620761 PMCID: PMC7335099 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16973-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Tropical ecosystems adapted to high water availability may be highly impacted by climatic changes that increase soil and atmospheric moisture deficits. Many tropical regions are experiencing significant changes in climatic conditions, which may induce strong shifts in taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of forest communities. However, it remains unclear if and to what extent tropical forests are shifting in these facets of diversity along climatic gradients in response to climate change. Here, we show that changes in climate affected all three facets of diversity in West Africa in recent decades. Taxonomic and functional diversity increased in wetter forests but tended to decrease in forests with drier climate. Phylogenetic diversity showed a large decrease along a wet-dry climatic gradient. Notably, we find that all three facets of diversity tended to be higher in wetter forests. Drier forests showed functional, taxonomic and phylogenetic homogenization. Understanding how different facets of diversity respond to a changing environment across climatic gradients is essential for effective long-term conservation of tropical forest ecosystems. Different aspects of biodiversity may not necessarily converge in their response to climate change. Here, the authors investigate 25-year shifts in taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of tropical forests along a spatial climate gradient in West Africa, showing that drier forests are less stable than wetter forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. .,Biodiversity Dynamics, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Simon L Lewis
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.,Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sophie Fauset
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Stephen Adu-Bredu
- CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University Post Office, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
| | | | - Timothy R Baker
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
| | - Agne Gvozdevaite
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Wannes Hubau
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.,Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
| | - Sam Moore
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Theresa Peprah
- CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University Post Office, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Kasia Ziemińska
- Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Oliver L Phillips
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
| | - Imma Oliveras
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Aguirre-Gutiérrez J, Oliveras I, Rifai S, Fauset S, Adu-Bredu S, Affum-Baffoe K, Baker TR, Feldpausch TR, Gvozdevaite A, Hubau W, Kraft NJB, Lewis SL, Moore S, Niinemets Ü, Peprah T, Phillips OL, Ziemińska K, Enquist B, Malhi Y. Drier tropical forests are susceptible to functional changes in response to a long-term drought. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:855-865. [PMID: 30828955 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Revised: 10/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Climatic changes have profound effects on the distribution of biodiversity, but untangling the links between climatic change and ecosystem functioning is challenging, particularly in high diversity systems such as tropical forests. Tropical forests may also show different responses to a changing climate, with baseline climatic conditions potentially inducing differences in the strength and timing of responses to droughts. Trait-based approaches provide an opportunity to link functional composition, ecosystem function and environmental changes. We demonstrate the power of such approaches by presenting a novel analysis of long-term responses of different tropical forest to climatic changes along a rainfall gradient. We explore how key ecosystem's biogeochemical properties have shifted over time as a consequence of multi-decadal drying. Notably, we find that drier tropical forests have increased their deciduous species abundance and generally changed more functionally than forests growing in wetter conditions, suggesting an enhanced ability to adapt ecologically to a drying environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Biodiversity Dynamics, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Imma Oliveras
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Sami Rifai
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Sophie Fauset
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Stephen Adu-Bredu
- CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University Post Office, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
| | | | - Timothy R Baker
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
| | - Ted R Feldpausch
- Deparment of Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Agne Gvozdevaite
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Wannes Hubau
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
| | - Nathan J B Kraft
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Simon L Lewis
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.,Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sam Moore
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Ülo Niinemets
- Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Theresa Peprah
- CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University Post Office, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Oliver L Phillips
- Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
| | | | | | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Gvozdevaite A, Oliveras I, Domingues TF, Peprah T, Boakye M, Afriyie L, da Silva Peixoto K, de Farias J, Almeida de Oliveira E, Almeida Farias CC, Dos Santos Prestes NCC, Neyret M, Moore S, Schwantes Marimon B, Marimon Junior BH, Adu-Bredu S, Malhi Y. Leaf-level photosynthetic capacity dynamics in relation to soil and foliar nutrients along forest-savanna boundaries in Ghana and Brazil. Tree Physiol 2018; 38:1912-1925. [PMID: 30388271 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpy117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 10/04/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Forest-savanna boundaries extend across large parts of the tropics but the variability of photosynthetic capacity in relation to soil and foliar nutrients across these transition zones is poorly understood. For this reason, we compared photosynthetic capacity (maximum rate of carboxylation of Rubisco at 25 C° (Vcmax25), leaf mass, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) per unit leaf area (LMA, Narea, Parea and Karea, respectively), in relation to respective soil nutrients from 89 species at seven sites along forest-savanna ecotones in Ghana and Brazil. Contrary to our expectations, edaphic conditions were not reflected in foliar nutrient concentrations but LMA was slightly higher in lower fertility soils. Overall, each vegetation type within the ecotones demonstrated idiosyncratic and generally weak relationships between Vcmax25 and Narea, Parea and Karea. Species varied significantly in their Vcmax25 ↔ Narea relationship due to reduced investment of total Narea in photosynthetic machinery with increasing LMA. We suggest that studied species in the forest-savanna ecotones do not maximize Vcmax25 per given total Narea due to adaptation to intermittent water availability. Our findings have implications for global modeling of Vcmax25 and forest-savanna ecotone productivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agne Gvozdevaite
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Imma Oliveras
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tomas Ferreira Domingues
- Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Theresa Peprah
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Mickey Boakye
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Lydia Afriyie
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Karine da Silva Peixoto
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Josenilton de Farias
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Edmar Almeida de Oliveira
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | | | | | - Margot Neyret
- Centre IRD France Nord - iEES Paris, 32, av. Henri Varagnat BONDY cedex, France
| | - Sam Moore
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Ben Hur Marimon Junior
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Stephen Adu-Bredu
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Gvozdevaite A, Oliveras I, Domingues TF, Peprah T, Boakye M, Afriyie L, da Silva Peixoto K, de Farias J, Almeida de Oliveira E, Almeida Farias CC, Dos Santos Prestes NCC, Neyret M, Moore S, Schwantes Marimon B, Marimon Junior BH, Adu-Bredu S, Malhi Y. Leaf-level photosynthetic capacity dynamics in relation to soil and foliar nutrients along forest-savanna boundaries in Ghana and Brazil. Tree Physiol 2018; 38:1926. [PMID: 30551152 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpy136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Agne Gvozdevaite
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Imma Oliveras
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tomas Ferreira Domingues
- Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Theresa Peprah
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Mickey Boakye
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Lydia Afriyie
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Karine da Silva Peixoto
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Josenilton de Farias
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Edmar Almeida de Oliveira
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | | | | | - Margot Neyret
- Centre IRD France Nord - iEES Paris, 32, av. Henri Varagnat BONDY cedex, France
| | - Sam Moore
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Ben Hur Marimon Junior
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas Nova Xavantina, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil
| | - Stephen Adu-Bredu
- Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, KNUST, Ghana
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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