Biodiversity and climate determine the functioning of Neotropical forests |
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| Authors: | Lourens Poorter Masha T van der Sande Eric J M M Arets Nataly Ascarrunz Brian J Enquist Bryan Finegan Juan Carlos Licona Miguel Martínez‐Ramos Lucas Mazzei Jorge A Meave Rodrigo Muñoz Christopher J Nytch Alexandre A de Oliveira Eduardo A Pérez‐García Jamir Prado‐Junior Jorge Rodríguez‐Velázques Ademir Roberto Ruschel Beatriz Salgado‐Negret Ivan Schiavini Nathan G Swenson Elkin A Tenorio Jill Thompson Marisol Toledo Maria Uriarte Peter van der Hout Jess K Zimmerman Marielos Peña‐Claros |
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| Institution: | 1. Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The NetherlandsCorrespondence Lourens Poorter, Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. Email:;2. Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands;3. Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra), Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands;4. Instituto Boliviano de Investigacion Forestal (IBIF), El Vallecito, FCA‐UAGRM, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia;5. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona and the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico;6. Forests Biodiversity and Climate Change Programme, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica;7. Laboratorio de Ecología y Manejo de Bosqques Tropicales, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, México;8. Forest Management and Conservation Group, Embrapa Amaz?nia Oriental, Belém‐PA Brazil;9. Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, Mexico;10. Department of Environmental Science, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico;11. Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo, Brazil;12. Biology Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, Brazil;13. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá, Colombia;14. Departamento de Química y Biología, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia;15. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland;16. Calima: Fundación para la Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Conservación en el Trópico, Cali, Colombia;17. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian Scotland, United Kingdom;18. Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas, UAGRM, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia;19. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York;20. Van der Hout Forestry Consulting, Rotterdam, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Aim Tropical forests account for a quarter of the global carbon storage and a third of the terrestrial productivity. Few studies have teased apart the relative importance of environmental factors and forest attributes for ecosystem functioning, especially for the tropics. This study aims to relate aboveground biomass (AGB) and biomass dynamics (i.e., net biomass productivity and its underlying demographic drivers: biomass recruitment, growth and mortality) to forest attributes (tree diversity, community‐mean traits and stand basal area) and environmental conditions (water availability, soil fertility and disturbance). Location Neotropics. Methods We used data from 26 sites, 201 1‐ha plots and >92,000 trees distributed across the Neotropics. We quantified for each site water availability and soil total exchangeable bases and for each plot three key community‐weighted mean functional traits that are important for biomass stocks and productivity. We used structural equation models to test the hypothesis that all drivers have independent, positive effects on biomass stocks and dynamics. Results Of the relationships analysed, vegetation attributes were more frequently associated significantly with biomass stocks and dynamics than environmental conditions (in 67 vs. 33% of the relationships). High climatic water availability increased biomass growth and stocks, light disturbance increased biomass growth, and soil bases had no effect. Rarefied tree species richness had consistent positive relationships with biomass stocks and dynamics, probably because of niche complementarity, but was not related to net biomass productivity. Community‐mean traits were good predictors of biomass stocks and dynamics. Main conclusions Water availability has a strong positive effect on biomass stocks and growth, and a future predicted increase in (atmospheric) drought might, therefore, potentially reduce carbon storage. Forest attributes, including species diversity and community‐weighted mean traits, have independent and important relationships with AGB stocks, dynamics and ecosystem functioning, not only in relatively simple temperate systems, but also in structurally complex hyper‐diverse tropical forests. |
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| Keywords: | biodiversity biomass carbon ecosystem functioning forest dynamics productivity soil fertility tropical forest water |
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