The effect of altitude,patch size and disturbance on species richness and density of lianas in montane forest patches |
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| Institution: | 1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun Town, Yunnan 666 303, PR China;2. Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, 4878, Australia;3. Centre for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun Town, Yunnan 666 303, PR China;4. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Daxuedonglu 100, Nanning, 530004, PR China;5. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Kalapet, Puducherry 605 014, India;6. Root and Soil Biology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, India;1. Department of Life Sciences, University of Alcala, 28871 Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain;2. Colegio de Postgraduados, Campus San Luis Potosí, 78600 Iturbide No. 73, Centro Salinas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico;3. School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd., Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada;4. Ecosystem Management Unit, Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, 3-4476 Markham St., Victoria, BC, V8Z 7X8, Canada;5. Biodiversity and Conservation Unit, Department of Biology and Geology, Rey Juan Carlos University, Móstoles, 28933, Madrid, Spain;1. Department of Plant Protection, Gaziosmanpa?a University, Tokat, Turkey;2. Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Gaziosmanpa?a University, Tokat, Turkey;3. Department of Plant Protection, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey;1. Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Viale G. Marconi, 446, 00146 Roma, Italy;2. Department of Applied and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria;3. IDECC Institute for Development, Ecology, Conservation and Cooperation, via G. Tomasi di Lampedusa 33, I-00144 Rome, Italy |
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| Abstract: | The species richness and density of lianas (woody vines) in tropical forests is determined by various abiotic and biotic factors. Factors such as altitude, forest patch size and the degree of forest disturbance are known to exert strong influences on liana species richness and density. We investigated how liana species richness and density were concurrently influenced by altitude (1700–2360 m), forest patch size, forest patch location (edge or interior) and disturbance intensity in the tropical montane evergreen forests, of the Nilgiri and Palni hills, Western Ghats, southern India. All woody lianas (≥1 cm dbh) were enumerated in plots of 30 × 30 m in small, medium and large forest patches, which were located along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 1700 to 2360 m. A total of 1980 individual lianas were recorded, belonging to 45 species, 32 genera and 21 families, from a total sampling area of 13.86 ha (across 154 plots). Liana species richness and density decreased significantly with increasing altitude and increased with increasing forest patch size. Within forest patches, the proportion of forest edge or interior habitat influenced liana distribution and succession especially when compared across the patch size categories. Liana species richness and density also varied along the altitudinal gradient when examined using eco-physiological guilds (i.e. shade tolerance, dispersal mode and climbing mechanism). The species richness and density of lianas within these ecological guilds responded negatively to increasing altitude and positively to increasing patch size and additionally displayed differing sensitivities to forest disturbance. Importantly, the degree of forest disturbance significantly altered the relationship between liana species richness and density to increasing altitude and patches size, and as such is likely the primary influence on liana response to montane forest succession. Our findings suggest that managing forest disturbance in the examined montane forests would assist in conserving local liana diversity across the examined altitudinal range. |
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| Keywords: | Climbing guilds Dispersal mode Liana abundance Natural patches Shade tolerance Species-area relationships |
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