Species sorting and mass effect along forest succession: Evidence from taxonomic,functional, and phylogenetic diversity of amphibian communities

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The role of recruitment and dispersal limitation in tree community assembly in Amazonian forests

Background: Species composition of plant communities is shaped by the interplay between dispersal limitation, environmental filters and stochastic events.

Aims: The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of dispersal limitation and environmental filtering on tree recruitment. To accomplish this, we employed the unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography to examine migration within the metacommunity, defined as a set of interacting local communities linked by the dispersal of multiple potentially interacting species.

Methods: We sampled 12,975 individuals with dbh ≥ 1 cm in 26 1-ha permanent plots, including habitats of terra firme, transitional forests, várzea and campinarana, on the upper Madeira River, Brazilian Amazon.

Results: Campinarana drew individuals from outside the metacommunity species pool at a mean probability of recruitment of 0.06, a much lower probability than terra firme (0.31), transitional (0.21) and várzea forests (0.22). Environmental variables, such as water table depth, soil texture and fertility, were related to differences in community assembly.

Conclusions: Species abundance distribution and diversity patterns of plant assemblages in a large river landscape in the Amazon highlight the importance of environmental heterogeneity that conditions beta-diversity. The high variation in recruitment probabilities from the metacommunity species pool to local communities suggests high habitat variability in the process of maintaining patterns of local diversity.     

Identifying models of trait‐mediated community assembly using random forests and approximate Bayesian computation

Ecologists often use dispersion metrics and statistical hypothesis testing to infer processes of community formation such as environmental filtering, competitive exclusion, and neutral species assembly. These metrics have limited power in inferring assembly models because they rely on often‐violated assumptions. Here, we adapt a model of phenotypic similarity and repulsion to simulate the process of community assembly via environmental filtering and competitive exclusion, all while parameterizing the strength of the respective ecological processes. We then use random forests and approximate Bayesian computation to distinguish between these models given the simulated data. We find that our approach is more accurate than using dispersion metrics and accounts for uncertainty in model selection. We also demonstrate that the parameter determining the strength of the assembly processes can be accurately estimated. This approach is available in the R package CAMI; Community Assembly Model Inference. We demonstrate the effectiveness of CAMI using an example of plant communities living on lava flow islands.     

Phylogenetic structure of Brazilian savannas under different fire regimes

Questions: Fire is a strong filter in fire‐prone communities and is expected to assemble closely related species when functional traits are conserved in plant lineages. Do frequent fires assemble savannas with closely related species (phylogenetic clustering)? If so, what are the clades pruned by fire in the phylogenetic trees? Are species of semi‐deciduous seasonal forests, where fires are not frequent, less related than expected by chance (phylogenetic over‐dispersion)? Are life forms conserved in the phylogeny of the species? Location: Central and SE Brazilian savannas (Emas National Park, 18°18′S, 52°54′W; Brasília, 15°56′–15°57′S, 47°53′–47°56′W and Corumbataí‐Itirapina, 22°13′–22°15′S, 47°37′–47°39′W); and close semi‐deciduous seasonal forests (in Pirenópolis, 15°45′S, 49°04′W; Brasília, 15°33′S, 47°51′W; and São Carlos, 21°55′S, 47°48′W). Methods: We recorded woody species in savannas under different fire regimes and in semi‐deciduous seasonal forests. We obtained data from the literature and from field sampling. We compared mean phylogenetic distance of species of savanna and of nearby semi‐deciduous seasonal forest sites. We obtained significance by randomizing the species among the tips of phylogenetic trees. We also assessed whether life forms were evolutionary conserved across phylogeny of the studied plants (phylogenetic signal) with tests based on the variance of phylogenetic independent contrasts. Results: Some sites of savanna under high fire frequency were characterized by phylogenetic over‐dispersion of woody species whereas, in contrast, some sites of semi‐deciduous seasonal forest were characterized by phylogenetic clustering. We found phylogenetic signals in the traits across the phylogeny of the 801 species investigated. Conclusion: Fire may have different roles in assembling plant species in Brazilian savannas than in other fire‐prone communities. We postulate that the absence of phylogenetic clustering in the cerrado is mainly due to the persistence of long‐lived resprouting species from different plant lineages.     

Soil attributes structure plant assemblages across an Atlantic forest mosaic

Aims Community assembly persists as a key topic in ecology due to the complex variation in the relative importance of assembly forces and mechanisms across spatio-temporal scales and ecosystems. Here we address a forest–savanna vegetation mosaic in the Brazilian Atlantic forest to examine the role played by soil attributes as determinants of community assembly and organization at a landscape spatial scale.Methods We examined soil and plant assemblage attributes across 23 plots of forest and savanna in a 1600 km 2 landscape exposed to the same climatic conditions in the Atlantic forest region of northeast Brazil. Assemblage attributes included species richness, taxonomic and functional composition (community weighted mean, CWM) and functional diversity (quadratic diversity; Rao's quadratic entropy index) relative to plant leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, thickness and succulence.Important findings Our results suggest that forest and savanna patches exposed to the same climatic conditions clearly differ in terms of soil attributes, plant assemblage structure, taxonomic and functional composition. By selecting particular plant strategies relative to resource economy, soil potentially affects community structure, with forest assemblages bearing more acquisitive resource-use strategies, while conservative plant strategies are more frequent in savannas. Accordingly, savanna–forest mosaics in the Atlantic forest region represent spatially organized plant assemblages in terms of taxonomic and functional features, with a signal of trait convergence in both vegetation types. Soil-mediated filtering thus emerges as a potential deterministic assembly force affecting the spatial organization of savanna–forest boundaries and mosaics.     

Cross-scale drivers of plant trait distributions in a fragmented forest landscape

During community assembly, plant functional traits are under selective pressure from processes operating at multiple spatial scales. However, in fragmented landscapes, there is little understanding of the relative importance of local-, patch- and landscape-scale processes in shaping trait distributions. Here, we investigate cross-scale influences of landscape change on traits that dictate plant life history strategies in re-assembling plant communities in a fragmented landscape in eastern China. Using forest dynamics plots (FDPs) on 29 land-bridge islands in which all woody plants have been georeferenced and identified to species, we characterized and derived two composite measures of trait variation, representing variation across the leaf economics spectrum and plant size. We then tested for trait shifts in response to local-, patch- and landscape-scale factors, and their potential cross-scale interactions. We found substantial community-wide trait changes along local-scale gradients (i.e. forest edge to interior): more acquisitive leaf economic traits and larger sized species occurred at edges, with a significant increase in trait means and trait range. Moreover, there were significant cross-scale interaction effects of patch and landscape variables on local-scale edge effects. Altered spatial arrangement of habitat in the surrounding landscape (i.e. declining habitat amount and increasing patch density), as well as decreasing area at the patch level, exacerbated edge effects on traits distributions. We suggest that synergistic interactions of landscape- and patch-scale processes, such as dispersal limitation, on local-scale environmental filtering at edges, together shape the spatial distributions of plant life history strategies in fragmented plant communities.     

中国森林生物多样性监测网络: 二十年群落构建机制探索的回顾与展望

中国森林生物多样性监测网络(CForBio)目前已经沿纬度梯度从寒温带到热带布设23个大型森林动态样地, 监测1,893种木本植物, 代表我国木本植物种类的近1/6。CForBio的主要目标之一是研究森林群落的构建机制。本文综述了近20年来CForBio在群落构建机制探索方面取得的进展, 包括生物多样性时空格局、生境过滤、生物相互作用、局域扩散和区域因素以及利用新技术取得的新认知等。CForBio研究发现: (1)生境过滤和扩散限制共同决定种-面积关系及β多样性等多样性格局, 但二者的相对作用在不同样地及不同尺度存在差异; (2)生境过滤对局域群落构建的作用广泛存在, 但很难量化其对群落构建的重要性; (3)同种负密度制约在不同气候带样地普遍存在, 负密度制约的强度主要由植物菌根类型介导, 并随植物生活史类型、功能性状及环境变化而变化; (4)扩散限制在局域群落构建中发挥关键作用, 而区域因素如区域地质历史、区域物种库大小等塑造不同生物地理区群落之间的生物多样性差异; (5)宏观和微观两个方面的新技术促进群落构建机制的研究。在宏观方面, 遥感技术以低成本使大范围、多尺度的连续群落生物多样性监测和时空比较研究成为可能; 另一方面, 叶绿体基因技术和代谢组学等微观技术能促进推导群落构建的分子机制。同时, 本文还总结了以往研究的不足, 并展望了基于森林动态样地开展群落构建机制研究的未来发展, 特别强调了: (1)关注群落构建研究中的尺度问题; (2)深入开展多维度(物种、功能和系统发育)、多营养级生物互作相关的研究; (3)拓展全球变化对群落构建影响的研究; (4)融合观测-实验-模型多种手段开展群落构建机制的研究; (5)连结“群落构建理论研究”和“森林管理实践”。总之, 中国森林生物多样性监测网络的长期监测和联网研究是森林群落构建机制研究的重要基础, 也是推动群落构建理论、解决森林管理难题的重要平台。     

Elevational patterns and ecological determinants of mean family age of angiosperm assemblages in temperate forests within Mount Taibai,China

Aims Species assembly is shaped by the interactions among ecological and evolutionary processes. By integrating the niche conservatism and evolutionary history, the tropical niche conservatism hypothesis (TCH) has clarified species latitudinal diversity gradient at large scales. One of the TCH’s central predictions, though lacking empirical evidence, implies that positive relationship between clade age and temperature along the altitudinal gradient should also be observed. Thus, we aim to test this prediction using a data set derived from forest communities of Mt. Taibai, central China.     

Resilient forest faunal communities in South Africa: a legacy of palaeoclimatic change and extinction filtering?

Aim To examine the influence of climatic extinction filtering during the last glacial maximum (LGM; c. 18,000 yr bp ) and of the subsequent recolonization of forest faunas on contemporary assemblage composition in southern African forests. Location South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe. Methods Data comprised presence/absence by quarter‐degree grid cell for forest‐dependent and forest‐associated birds, non‐volant mammals and frogs. Twenty‐one forest subregions were assigned to one of three previously identified forest types: Afrotemperate, scarp, and Indian Ocean coastal belt. Differences among forest types were examined through patterns and gradients of species richness and endemism, assemblage similarity, species turnover, and coefficients of species dispersal direction. The influence of contemporary environment on assemblage composition was investigated using partial canonical correspondence analysis. Several alternative biogeographical hypotheses for the recolonization of forest faunas were tested. Results Afrotemperate faunas are relatively species‐poor, have low species turnover, and are unsaturated and infiltrated by generalist species. In northern and central regions, communities are supplemented by recolonization from scarp forest refugia, and among frogs by autochthanous speciation in localized refugia. Scarp faunas are relatively species‐rich, contain many forest‐dependent species, have high species turnover, and overlap with coastal and Afrotemperate faunas. Coastal forests are relatively species‐rich with high species turnover. Main conclusions Afrotemperate communities were affected most by climatic extinction filtering events. Scarp forests were Afrotemperate refugia during the LGM and are a contemporary overlap zone between Afrotemperate and coastal forest. Coastal faunas derive from post‐LGM colonization along the eastern seaboard from tropical East African refugia. The greatest diversity is achieved in scarp and coastal forest faunas in northern KwaZulu–Natal province. This historical centre of diversity has influenced the faunal diversity of nearly all other forests in South Africa. The response of vertebrate taxa to large‐scale, historical processes is dependent on their relative mobility: forest birds best illustrate patterns resulting from post‐glacial faunal dispersal, while among mammals and frogs the legacy of climatic extinction filtering remains stronger.     

森林可燃物及其管理的研究进展与展望

森林可燃物是森林生态系统的基本组成部分, 是影响林火发生及火烧强度的重要因素之一, 因此, 受到国内外学者的广泛关注。该文从以下4个方面综述了国内外可燃物研究的最新进展: 森林可燃物特性, 森林可燃物类型与火行为, 森林可燃物类型、载量的调查与制图, 森林可燃物管理。同时提出了我国森林可燃物今后的研究方向: 开展多尺度可燃物研究; 可燃物类型与火行为的研究; 把以试验观测为基础的静态研究与以空间技术和生态模型为基础的动态预测相结合, 研究可燃物处理效果; 全球气候变化背景下可燃物处理与碳收支。     

森林退化/衰退的研究与实践

森林退化可以理解为森林面积减少、结构丧失、质量降低、功能下降;森林衰退则是森林退化的一种形式,指森林（树木）在生长发育过程中出现的生理机能下降、生长发育滞缓、生产力降低甚至死亡,以及地力衰退等状态.国内外研究表明,森林采伐/毁林是造成森林面积减少的最主要原因,有关森林采伐/毁林引起的森林退化研究主要集中在森林退化的后果、国家/国际政策的影响、加强全球性合作以及寻求解决途径等方面.森林衰退原因可归纳为：工、农业污染,自然胁迫/致衰因子,林分动态发生变化,森林衰退病或生态病,人工纯林以及纯林连栽导致的地力、生产力衰退等.中国的森林退化/衰退现状与世界各地森林退化基本一致,但由于历史原因,中国森林退化又有其自身特点：近一个世纪的强烈人为干扰,使大部分原始天然林退化为次生林;中国拥有世界上最多的人工林,且多数人工林均具有质量差、功能低等衰退特征.本文在综述森林退化/衰退研究与实践基础上,提出中国现代森林退化/衰退的的主要原因,给出中国森林退化/衰退的基本对策.     

Forest Structure and Biomass of a Tropical Seasonal Rain Forest in Xishuangbanna,Southwest China1

Xishuangbanna is a region located at the northern edge of tropical Asia. Biomass estimates of its tropical rain forest have not been published in English literature. We estimated forest biomass and its allocation patterns in five 0.185–1.0 ha plots in tropical seasonal rain forests of Xishuangbanna. Forest biomass ranged from 362.1 to 692.6 Mg/ha. Biomass of trees with diameter at 1.3 m breast height (DBH) ≥ 5 cm accounted for 98.2 percent of the rain forest biomass, followed by shrubs (0.9%), woody lianas (0.8%), and herbs (0.2%). Biomass allocation to different tree components was 68.4–70.0 percent to stems, 19.8–21.8 percent to roots, 7.4–10.6 percent to branches, and 0.7–1.3 percent to leaves. Biomass allocation to the tree sublayers was 55.3–62.2 percent to the A layer (upper layer), 30.6–37.1 percent to the B layer (middle), and 2.7–7.6 percent to the C layer (lower). Biomass of Pometia tomentosa, a dominant species, accounted for 19.7–21.1 percent of the total tree biomass. The average density of large trees (DBH ≥100 cm) was 9.4 stems/ha on two small plots and 3.5 stems/ha on two large plots, illustrating the potential to overestimate biomass on a landscape scale if only small plots are sampled. Biomass estimations are similar to typical tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia and the Neotropics.     

Phylogenetic diversity,trait diversity and niches: species assembly of ferns along a tropical elevational gradient

Aim To analyse the structure of pteridophyte assemblages, based on phylogenetic relatedness and trait properties, along an elevational gradient. Ecological theory predicts that co‐occurring species may be: randomly selected from a regional pool; ecologically sorted so that they are functionally different hence resulting in reduced competition (overdispersion); or functionally similar as an adaptation to specific ecological conditions (clustering). Location Braulio Carrillo National Park and Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica, Central America. Methods We used an empirical dataset of the quantitative pattern of species occurrences and individual numbers of ferns within 156 plots along a tropical elevational gradient to test whether directed ecological sorting might cause deviations in patterns of trait and phylogenetic diversity. Mean pairwise distances of species based on phylogenetic and trait properties were compared with two different sets of null assemblages, one maintaining species frequency distributions (constrained) and one not (unconstrained). Results Applying different null models resulted in varying degrees of overdispersion and clustering, but overall patterns of deviation from random expectations remained the same. Contrary to theoretical predictions, phylogenetic and trait diversity were relatively independent from one another. Phylogenetic diversity showed no patterns along the elevational gradient, whereas trait diversity showed significant trends for epiphytes. Main conclusions Under stressful environmental conditions (drought at low elevations and frost at high elevations), epiphytic fern assemblages tended to be clustered with respect to trait characteristics, which suggests environmental filtering. Conversely, under less extreme environmental conditions (middle of the transect), the sorting was biased towards high differentiation (overdispersion), presumably because of interspecific competition and trait shifts among closely related species (character displacement).     

不同所有制森林的管理方式及其生态影响研究进展

我国正处在集体林和国有林林权制度改革的关键时期,亟需理论支持和实践经验,但公、私有制森林管理方式及其生态影响研究缺乏. 欧洲和北美多种所有制森林管理具有较长历史,对所有制管理的内容、方式及其对森林木材产量、生物多样性、景观特性等的影响都有较深入的研究,总结这些研究成果,作为我国林权改革的借鉴尤为必要而迫切.本文综述了以欧洲和北美为代表的国家和地区公有制、私有制（产业化私有制和非产业化私有制）森林管理的目的、方式和生态影响,林权流转和分散,以及在各种所有制间采取的联合保护政策,最后提出了研究展望.