Impacts of logging and rehabilitation on invertebrate communities in tropical rainforests of northern Borneo

The inclusion of carbon stock enhancements under the REDD+ framework is likely to drive a rapid increase in biosequestration projects that seek to remove carbon from the atmosphere through rehabilitation of degraded rainforests. Concern has recently been expressed, however, that management interventions to increase carbon stocks may conflict with biodiversity conservation. Focusing on a large-scale rainforest rehabilitation project in northern Borneo, we examine the broad impacts of selective logging and subsequent carbon enhancement across a wide range of invertebrate fauna by comparing the abundance of 28 higher-level taxa within two separate rainforest strata (leaf-litter and understorey) across unlogged, naturally-regenerating and rehabilitated forest. We additionally assess changes in functional composition by examining responses of different feeding guilds. Responses of individual taxa to forest management were idiosyncratic but logging resulted in more than a 20% increase in total invertebrate abundance, with fewer than 20% of taxa in either stratum having significantly lower abundance in logged forest. Rehabilitation resulted in a marked reduction in abundance, particularly among leaf-litter detritivores, but overall, there were much smaller differences between unlogged and rehabilitated forest than between unlogged and naturally regenerating forest in both total invertebrate abundance and the abundances of different feeding guilds. This applied to both strata with the exception of understorey herbivores, which were more abundant in rehabilitated forest than elsewhere. These results support previous data for birds suggesting that carbon stock enhancement in these forests has only limited adverse effects on biodiversity, but with some impacts on abundance within particular guilds.     

Carbon stocks and fluxes in tropical lowland dipterocarp rainforests in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Deforestation in the tropics is an important source of carbon C release to the atmosphere. To provide a sound scientific base for efforts taken to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) good estimates of C stocks and fluxes are important. We present components of the C balance for selectively logged lowland tropical dipterocarp rainforest in the Malua Forest Reserve of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Total organic C in this area was 167.9 Mg C ha⁻¹±3.8 (SD), including: Total aboveground (TAGC: 55%; 91.9 Mg C ha⁻¹±2.9 SEM) and belowground carbon in trees (TBGC: 10%; 16.5 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.5 SEM), deadwood (8%; 13.2 Mg C ha⁻¹±3.5 SEM) and soil organic matter (SOM: 24%; 39.6 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.9 SEM), understory vegetation (3%; 5.1 Mg C ha⁻¹±1.7 SEM), standing litter (<1%; 0.7 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.1 SEM) and fine root biomass (<1%; 0.9 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.1 SEM). Fluxes included litterfall, a proxy for leaf net primary productivity (4.9 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹±0.1 SEM), and soil respiration, a measure for heterotrophic ecosystem respiration (28.6 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹±1.2 SEM). The missing estimates necessary to close the C balance are wood net primary productivity and autotrophic respiration.Twenty-two years after logging TAGC stocks were 28% lower compared to unlogged forest (128 Mg C ha⁻¹±13.4 SEM); a combined weighted average mean reduction due to selective logging of −57.8 Mg C ha⁻¹ (with 95% CI −75.5 to −40.2). Based on the findings we conclude that selective logging decreased the dipterocarp stock by 55–66%. Silvicultural treatments may have the potential to accelerate the recovery of dipterocarp C stocks to pre-logging levels.     

The archaeology of Australia's tropical rainforests

Archaeological research in the Australia's northeast Queensland rainforest and margins has revealed a human antiquity of at least 8000 cal year BP within the rainforest and at least 30,000 years on the western edge. Rainforest occupation before 2000 cal year BP was at generally very low levels, after which time settlement of this environment became intensive and probably permanent. Exploitation of toxic varieties of nuts began about 2500 cal year BP, peaking after 1500 cal year BP. This economic development appears crucial to successful human adaptation to rainforests in the area and was pivotal in facilitating the long-term permanent human settlement of the wet tropics. The role of fire, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity and shifting vegetation regimes were important catalysts in providing opportunities for permanent Australian rainforest Aboriginal occupation. The results have implications for global understandings of rainforest occupation by modern people. It demonstrates the wide temporal and spatial variability of human rainforest colonization processes worldwide.     

Butterfly diversity and silvicultural practice in lowland rainforests of Cameroon

Butterfly diversity and abundance were sampled across eight 1-ha silvicultural treatment plots in southern Cameroon. The plotsincluded a cleared and unplanted farm fallow, cleared and replanted forestplots, and uncleared forest plots. The replanted plots were line-planted withTerminalia ivorensis, but differed in the degree and methodof clearance. A total of 205 species of butterflies were collected over twodifferent seasons. Several sampling methods were used, including hand collecting andbaited canopy traps. Sites with the greatest degree of disturbance andlowest level of tree cover had the lowest number of individuals and species ofbutterflies. The farm fallow had substantially fewer individuals and species ofbutterflies than the other plots. The replanted plots were intermediate betweenthe farm fallow and uncleared forest in terms of abundance, richness andcomposition. With all three forms of multivariate analysis (Morisita similarityindex clustering, detrended correspondence analysis and two-way indicatorspecies analysis) largest differences were found between the farm fallow anduncleared forest plots. The butterfly fauna of the uncleared forest more closelyapproximated that of the manually cleared plot than that of the mechanicallycleared plot. We found that although, in general, young replanted forest plotsare a poor substitute for native forest, they do provide habitat for some forestspecies and that this may increase over time as the plots mature.     

Implications of global warming for the climate of African rainforests

African rainforests are likely to be vulnerable to changes in temperature and precipitation, yet there has been relatively little research to suggest how the regional climate might respond to global warming. This study presents projections of temperature and precipitation indices of relevance to African rainforests, using global climate model experiments to identify local change as a function of global temperature increase. A multi-model ensemble and two perturbed physics ensembles are used, one with over 100 members. In the east of the Congo Basin, most models (92%) show a wet signal, whereas in west equatorial Africa, the majority (73%) project an increase in dry season water deficits. This drying is amplified as global temperature increases, and in over half of coupled models by greater than 3% per °C of global warming. Analysis of atmospheric dynamics in a subset of models suggests that this could be partly because of a rearrangement of zonal circulation, with enhanced convection in the Indian Ocean and anomalous subsidence over west equatorial Africa, the Atlantic Ocean and, in some seasons, the Amazon Basin. Further research to assess the plausibility of this and other mechanisms is important, given the potential implications of drying in these rainforest regions.     

Functional diversity of epiphytes in two tropical lowland rainforests, French Guiana: using bryophyte life-forms to detect areas of high biodiversity

Recent studies have described a new tropical lowland forest type in the Guianas, the tropical lowland cloud forest. It is characterized by an enriched epiphytic species diversity particularly for bryophytes compared to common lowland rainforest, and is facilitated by frequent early morning fog events in valley locations. While the increase in epiphytic species diversity in lowland cloud forests has been documented, uncertainties remain as to (1) how this small scale variation in water supply is shaping the functional diversity of epiphytic components in lowland forests, and (2) whether information on functional group composition of epiphytes might aid in discerning these cloud forests from the common lowland rainforest. We compare the distribution of functional groups of epiphytes across height zones in lowland cloud forest and lowland rain forest of French Guiana in terms of biomass, cover as well as the composition of bryophyte life-forms. Both forests differed in functional composition of epiphytes in the canopy, in particular in the mid and outer canopy, with the cloud forest having a higher biomass and cover of bryophytes and vascular epiphytes as well as a richer bryophyte life-form composition. Bryophyte life-forms characteristic for cloud forests such as tail, weft and pendants were almost lacking in the canopies of common rain forest whereas they were frequent in lowland cloud forests. We suggest that ground-based evaluation of bryophyte life-form composition is a straightforward approach for identifying lowland cloud forest areas for conservation, which represent biodiversity hotspots in tropical lowland forests.     

Resin-core and buried-bag estimates of nitrogen transformations in Costa Rican lowland rainforests

We compared the resin-core and buried-bag incubation methods for estimating nitrogen (N) transformation rates using the ¹⁵N pool dilution technique in alluvial soils of an early successional forest (ESF) and an old-growth forest (OGF) at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. Soil cores (38×100-mm) from both forests were incubated in situ for 7 days. The two methods gave generally similar estimates of net N mineralization rates for the two forests. Estimates of ammonium production by the resin-core method were higher than those by the buried-bag method in ESF, but did not differ significantly in OGF (p<0.05). Estimates of nitrate production by the two methods did not differ significantly. Nitrate averaged 74% and 81% of the total inorganic N production in ESF and OGF, respectively. Net N mineralization in ESF (6.6 mmol m^-2d^-1) did not differ significantly from that in OGF (5.0 mmol m^-2d^-1). Fluxes of ammonium and nitrate were high for both forests, but the OGF tended to have higher gross mineralization and nitrification rates than ESF. Approximately 60% of the gross nitrate production and less than 30% of the ammonium were immobilized by microorganisms.     

Investigation of actinomycete diversity in the tropical rainforests of Singapore

Five thousand actinomycetes were isolated from soil samples collected from rainforests in Singapore and the generic identities of these isolates were determined by using a procedure that combined morphological, chemotaxonomic and 16S rDNA sequence-based phylogenetic analyses. Actinomycetes belonging to a total of 36 genera were identified. The most abundant isolates are members of Streptomyces, Micromonospora, Actinoplanes, Actinomadura, Nonomuria, Nocardia and Streptosporangium. By phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences of our isolates together with those of known actinomycete species, we also evaluated the species diversity of several genera including Streptomyces, Micromonospora, Nonomuria, and Actinomadura. We found that: first, the tropical isolates are present in most clades represented by known species; and second, many tropical isolates form new clades distant from the known species, indicating the presence of unidentified taxa at both species and genus levels. Based on these results, we conclude that actinomycete diversity in the tropical rainforest is very great and should represent an excellent source for discovery of novel bioactive compounds. Received 17 March 1999/ Accepted in revised form 24 June 1999     

Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities

Many lowland floodplain habitats have been disconnected from their rivers by flood defence banks. Removing or lowering these banks can reinstate regular flooding and thus restore these important wetland plant communities. In this study we analyse changes in wetland hydrology and plant community composition following the lowering of flood defence banks at a floodplain of the River Don in the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of the restoration project was to improve the quality of “floodplain grazing marsh” habitat, which is a group of wetland communities that are of conservation interest in the UK. We analyse changes in species richness and community composition over a period of 6 years, and compare the presence of indicator species from the target floodplain grazing marsh plant communities. The lowering of the flood banks increased the frequency of flood events, from an estimated average of 1.7 floods per year to 571 floods per year. The increased flooding significantly increased the proportion of time that the wetland was submerged, and the heterogeneity in hydrological conditions within the floodplain. There were significant differences in composition between the pre-restoration and restored plant communities. Plants with traits for moisture tolerance became more abundant, although the communities did not contain significantly more ‘target’ floodplain grazing marsh species at the end of the study period than prior to restoration. Colonisation by floodplain grazing marsh species may have been limited because environmental conditions were not yet suitable, or because of a shortage of colonising propagules. While the desired target plant community has not been achieved after 5 years, it is encouraging that the community has changed dynamically as a result of hydrological changes, and that moisture-tolerant species have increased in occurrence. Over the next few decades, the restored flood regime may cause further environmental change or colonisation events, thus helping increase the occurrence of desired floodplain grazing marsh indicator species.

     

Menispermaceae and the diversification of tropical rainforests near the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary

? Modern tropical rainforests have the highest biodiversity of terrestrial biomes and are restricted to three low-latitude areas. However, the actual timeframe during which tropical rainforests began to appear on a global scale has been intensely disputed. Here, we used the moonseed family (Menispermaceae), an important physiognomic and structural component of tropical rainforests on a worldwide basis, to obtain new insights into the diversification of this biome. ? We integrated phylogenetic, biogeographic and molecular dating methods to analyse temporal and spatial patterns of global diversification in Menispermaceae. ? Importantly, a burst of moonseed diversification occurred in a narrow window of time, which coincides with the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. Our data also suggest multiple independent migrations from a putative ancestral area of Indo-Malay into other tropical regions. ? Our data for Menispermaceae suggest that modern tropical rainforests may have appeared almost synchronously throughout the three major tropical land areas close to, or immediately following, the K-Pg mass extinction.     

Similar non-random processes maintain diversity in two tropical rainforests.

Quadrat-based analysis of two rainforest plots of area 50 ha, one in Panama (Barro Colorado Island, BCI) and the other in Malaysia (Pasoh), shows that in both plots recruitment is in general negatively correlated with both numbers and biomass of adult trees of the same species in the same quadrat. At BCI, this effect is not significantly influenced by treefall gaps. In both plots, recruitment of individual species is negatively correlated with the numbers of trees of all species in the quadrats, but not with overall biomass. These observations suggest, but do not prove, widespread frequency-dependent effects produced by pathogens and seed-predators that act most effectively in quadrats crowded with trees. Within-species correlations of mortality with numbers or biomass are not found in either plot, indicating that most frequency-dependent mortality takes place before the trees reach 1 cm in diameter. Stochastic effects caused by BCI's more rapid tree turnover may contribute to a larger variance in diversity from quadrat to quadrat at BCI, although they are not sufficient to explain why BCI has fewer than half as many tree species as Pasoh. Finally, in both plots quadrats with low diversity show a significant increase in diversity over time, and this increase is stronger at BCI. This process, like the frequency-dependence, will tend to maintain diversity over time. In general, these non-random forces that should lead to the maintenance of diversity are slightly stronger at BCI, even though the BCI plot is less diverse than the Pasoh plot.     

Consequences of exclusion of precipitation on microorganisms and microbial consumers in montane tropical rainforests

The structure and functioning of decomposer systems heavily relies on soil moisture. However, this has been primarily studied in temperate ecosystems; little is known about how soil moisture affects the microfaunal food web in tropical regions. This lack of knowledge is surprising, since the microfaunal food web controls major ecosystem processes. To evaluate the role of precipitation in the structure of soil food web components (i.e., microorganisms and testate amoebae), we excluded water input by rain in montane rainforests at different altitudes in Ecuador. Rain exclusion strongly reduced microbial biomass and respiration by about 50?%, and fungal biomass by 23?%. In testate amoebae, rain exclusion decreased the density of live cells by 91?% and caused a shift in species composition at each of the altitudes studied, with ergosterol concentrations, microbial biomass, and water content explaining 25?% of the variation in species data. The results document that reduced precipitation negatively affects soil microorganisms, but that the response of testate amoebae markedly exceeds that of bacteria and fungi. This suggests that, in addition to food, low precipitation directly affects the community structure of testate amoebae, with the effect being more pronounced at lower altitudes. Overall, the results show that microorganisms and testate amoebae rapidly respond to a reduction in precipitation, with testate amoebae—representatives of higher trophic levels—being more sensitive. The results imply that precipitation and soil moisture in tropical rainforests are the main factors regulating decomposition and nutrient turnover.     

Climate change in Australian tropical rainforests: an impending environmental catastrophe

It is now widely accepted that global climate change is affecting many ecosystems around the globe and that its impact is increasing rapidly. Many studies predict that impacts will consist largely of shifts in latitudinal and altitudinal distributions. However, we demonstrate that the impacts of global climate change in the tropical rainforests of northeastern Australia have the potential to result in many extinctions. We develop bioclimatic models of spatial distribution for the regionally endemic rainforest vertebrates and use these models to predict the effects of climate warming on species distributions. Increasing temperature is predicted to result in significant reduction or complete loss of the core environment of all regionally endemic vertebrates. Extinction rates caused by the complete loss of core environments are likely to be severe, nonlinear, with losses increasing rapidly beyond an increase of 2 degrees C, and compounded by other climate-related impacts. Mountain ecosystems around the world, such as the Australian Wet Tropics bioregion, are very diverse, often with high levels of restricted endemism, and are therefore important areas of biodiversity. The results presented here suggest that these systems are severely threatened by climate change.     

Causes and consequences of monodominance in tropical lowland forests

Tropical canopy dominance in lowland, well-drained forests by one plant species is a long-standing conundrum in tropical biology. Research now shows that dominance is not the result of one trait or mechanism. We suggest that the striking dominance of Gilbertiodendron dewevrei in the Ituri Forest of northeastern Congo is the result of a number of traits in adult trees that significantly modify the understory environment, making it difficult for other species to regenerate there. Adults cast deep shade that reduces light levels in the understory of the Gilbertiodendron forest to levels significantly lower than in the mixed-species forest. Moreover, the monodominant forest has deep leaf litter that could inhibit the establishment of small-seeded species, and the leaf litter is slow to decompose, potentially causing the low availability of nitrogen. We expect that juveniles of Gilbertiodendron may have an advantage in this environment over other species. In general, it appears that all tropical monodominant species share a similar suite of traits.     

Determinants of mortality across a tropical lowland rainforest community

Tree mortality is an important process determining forest dynamics. However, in species‐rich tropical forests it is largely unknown, how species differ in their response of mortality to resource availability and individual condition. We use a hierarchical Bayesian approach to quantify the impact of light availability, tree size and past growth on mortality of 284 woody species in a 50‐ha long‐term forest census plot in Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Light reaching each individual tree was estimated from yearly vertical censuses of vegetation density. Across the community, 78% of the species showed increasing mortality with increasing light. Considering species individually, just 29 species showed a significant response to light, all with increasing mortality at high light. Past growth had a significant impact on all but three species, with higher growth leading to lower mortality. For the majority of species, mortality decreased sharply with diameter in saplings, then levelled off or increased slightly towards the maximum diameter of the species. Diameter had the biggest impact on mortality, followed by past growth and finally light availability. Our results challenge many previous reports of higher mortality in shade, and we suggest that it is crucial to control for size effects when assessing the impact of environmental conditions on mortality.     

Pooling local expert opinions for estimating mammal densities in tropical rainforests

Methods currently used for assessing wildlife density in rainforests are time and money consuming. The precision of the most commonly used methods is disputed, but accepted because more exact methods are not available. In this study a new method of wildlife density estimation is explained. The new method is less time and money consuming, but yields comparable results with classical methods. The method was tested in the field in Cameroon and compared with transect surveys in the area and with relevant literature. The Pooled Local Expert Opinion (PLEO) method is based on the knowledge of local experts. A number of hunters were asked to estimate wildlife abundance in a specified area, after which the density/km² was calculated for 33 wildlife species. These estimates were pooled and extrapolated for the whole study area. Elephant (Loxodonta africana) density outside the National Park was estimated to be 0.06 animals/km², and 0.3 inside. Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) density for the study area was estimated at 0.2 animals/km² and gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) density at 1.05 per km². Transect surveys carried out at the same time for considerably more money, taking far more time, produced too few data to calculate densities. The evaluation of the PLEO method was favourable and the method offers a substitute for conventional methods of estimating wildlife density in rainforests. The methodology is simple and it can be incorporated in many tropical biodiversity and conservation projects. It can also be used for long-term monitoring of wildlife status in a given area. In contrast with classical methods, the PLEO method is low in cost and assures local ownership of the results.     

Frequency of cyanogenesis in tropical rainforests of far north Queensland, Australia

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Plant cyanogenesis is the release of toxic cyanide from endogenous cyanide-containing compounds, typically cyanogenic glycosides. Despite a large body of phytochemical, taxonomic and ecological work on cyanogenic species, little is known of their frequency in natural plant communities. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of cyanogenesis in Australian tropical rainforests. Secondary aims were to quantify the cyanogenic glycoside content of tissues, to investigate intra-plant and intra-population variation in cyanogenic glycoside concentration and to appraise the potential chemotaxonomic significance of any findings in relation to the distribution of cyanogenesis in related taxa. METHODS: All species in six 200 m(2) plots at each of five sites across lowland, upland and highland tropical rainforest were screened for cyanogenesis using Feigl-Anger indicator papers. The concentrations of cyanogenic glycosides were accurately determined for all cyanogenic individuals. KEY RESULTS: Over 400 species from 87 plant families were screened. Overall, 18 species (4.5 %) were cyanogenic, accounting for 7.3 % of total stem basal area. Cyanogenesis has not previously been reported for 17 of the 18 species, 13 of which are endemic to Australia. Several species belong to plant families or orders in which cyanogenesis has been little reported, if at all (e.g. Elaeocarpaceae, Myrsinaceae, Araliaceae and Lamiaceae). A number of species contained concentrations of cyanogenic glycosides among the highest ever reported for mature leaves-up to 5.2 mg CN g(-1) d. wt, for example, in leaves of Elaeocarpus sericopetalus. There was significant variation in cyanogenic glycoside concentration within individuals; young leaves and reproductive tissues typically had higher cyanogen content. In addition, there was substantial variation in cyanogenic glycoside content within populations of single species. CONCLUSIONS: This study expands the limited knowledge of the frequency of cyanogenesis in natural plant communities, includes novel reports of cyanogenesis among a range of taxa and characterizes patterns in intra-plant and intra-population variation of cyanogensis.