Fine root decay rates vary widely among lowland tropical tree species

Prolific fine root growth coupled with small accumulations of dead fine roots indicate rapid rates of fine root production, mortality and decay in young tree plantations in lowland Costa Rica. However, published studies indicate that fine roots decay relatively slowly in tropical forests. To resolve this discrepancy, we used the intact-core technique to quantify first-year decay rates of fine roots in four single-species plantations of native tree species. We tested three hypotheses: first, that fine roots from different tree species would decay at different rates; second, that species having rapid fine root growth rates would also have rapid rates of fine root decay; and third, that differences in fine root decay among species could be explained by fine root chemistry variables previously identified as influencing decay rates. Fine roots in Virola koschnyi plantations decayed very slowly (k = 0.29 ± 0.15 year⁻¹); those of Vochysia guatemalensis decayed seven times faster (k = 2.00 ± 0.13 year⁻¹). Decay rates of the remaining two species, Hieronyma alchorneoides and Pentaclethra macroloba, were 1.36 and 1.28 year⁻¹, respectively. We found a positive, marginally significant correlation between fine root decay rates and the relative growth rates of live fine roots (R = 0.93, n = 4, P = 0.072). There was a highly significant negative correlation between fine root decay and fine root lignin:N (R = 0.99, P = 0.01), which supports the use of lignin:N as a decay-controlling factor within terrestrial ecosystem models. The decay rates that we observed in this single study location encompassed the entire range of fine root decay rates previously observed in moist tropical forests, and thus suggest great potential for individual tree species to alter belowground organic matter and nutrient dynamics within a biotically rich rainforest environment. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Age and Long-term Growth of Trees in an Old-growth Tropical Rain Forest, Based on Analyses of Tree Rings and 14C1

In an old‐growth tropical wet forest at La Selva, Costa Rica, we combined radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating and tree‐ring analysis to estimate the ages of large trees of canopy and emergent species spanning a broad range of wood densities and growth rates. We collected samples from the trunks of 29 fallen, dead individuals. We found that all eight sampled species formed visible growth rings, which varied considerably in distinctiveness. For five of the six species for which we combined wood anatomical studies with ¹⁴C‐dates (ring ages), the analyses demonstrated that growth rings were of annual formation. The oldest tree we found by direct ring counting was a Hymenolobium mesoamericanum Lima (Papilionaceae) specimen, with an age of ca. 530 years at the time of death. All other sampled individuals, including very large trees of slow‐growing species, had died at ages between 200 and 300 years. These results show that, even in an everwet tropical rain forest, tree growth of many species can be rhythmic, with an annual periodicity. This study thus raises the possibility of extending tree‐ring analyses throughout the tropical forest types lacking a strong dry season or annual flooding. Our findings and similar measurements from other tropical forests indicate that the maximum ages of tropical emergent trees are unlikely to be much greater than 600 years, and that these trees often die earlier from various natural causes.     

High foliicolous lichen alpha-diversity on individual leaves in Costa Rica and Amazonian Ecuador

Two individual, dicotyledoneous leaves (125 and 98 cm² in size) and one composed palm leaf (c. 6800 cm² in size), gathered at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, and Jatun Satcha Biological Station, Amazonian Ecuador, were screened for small-scale foliicolous lichen diversity. On the dicotyledoneous leaf from Costa Rica, 49 lichens and one lichenicolous fungus were found, while a comparable leaf from Ecuador revealed 46 lichens and two lichenicolous fungi. The palm leaf yielded 81 lichens and one lichenicolous fungus. This is the highest alpha-diversity so far reported for foliicolous lichens on individual leaves and invites for comparison with tree diversity in tropical rain forests. Due to the high proportion of species represented by a single thallus, the taxonomic diversity of lichens on individual leaves (or trees in selected plots) cannot be self-supporting, but reflects a high degree of dispersion or entropy within the community of which the individual leaf (or selected plot) is part. Diversity is therefore fractal, showing similar patterns at different scales, each part of a given community reflecting the entire community. Thus, mechanisms that result in high small-scale diversity must be looked for at the community level.     

Annual wood production in a tropical rain forest in NE Costa Rica linked to climatic variation but not to increasing CO2

Increased atmospheric [CO₂] could theoretically lead to increased forest productivity (‘CO₂ fertilization’). This mechanism was hypothesized as a possible explanation for biomass increases reported from tropical forests in the last 30+ years. We used unique long‐term records of annually measured stands (eighteen 0.5 ha plots, 10 years) and focal tree species (six species, 24 years) to assess the effects of rainfall, temperature, and atmospheric [CO₂] on annual wood production in a neotropical rain forest. Our study area was a meso‐scale section (600 ha) of old‐growth Tropical Wet Forest in NE Costa Rica. Using the repeated remeasurements we directly assessed the relative effects of interannual climatic variation and increasing atmospheric [CO₂] on wood production. A remarkably simple two‐factor model explained 91% of the interannual variance in stand‐level tree growth; the statistically independent factors were total dry season rainfall (positive effect, r²=0.85) and night‐time temperature (negative effect, r²=0.42). Stand‐level tree mortality increased significantly with night‐time temperature. After accounting for dry season rainfall and night‐time temperature, there was no effect of annual [CO₂] on tree growth in either the stand or focal species data. Tree growth in this Tropical Wet Forest was surprisingly sensitive to the current range of dry season conditions and to variations in mean annual night‐time temperature of 1–2°. Our results suggest that wood production in the lowland rainforests of NE Costa Rica (and by extension in other tropical regions) may be severely reduced in future climates that are only slightly drier and/or warmer.