Patterns of Tree Species Diversity Among Tropical Rain Forests

2000 ◽  
pp. 161-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Ashton ◽  
J. V. LaFrankie
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Tree Species Diversity ◽  
Tropical Rain Forests ◽  
Rain Forests

scholarly journals Effects of selective logging on tree species diversity and composition of Bornean tropical rain forests at different spatial scales

Plant Ecology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 213 (9) ◽  
pp. 1413-1424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuo Imai ◽  
Tatsuyuki Seino ◽  
Shin-ichiro Aiba ◽  
Masaaki Takyu ◽  
Jupiri Titin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Tree Species Diversity ◽  
Tropical Rain Forests ◽  
Rain Forests

scholarly journals Regeneración natural y diversidad de especies arbóreas en selvas húmedas

2017 ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Martínez-Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Tropical Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Tree Species Diversity ◽  
Tropical Rain Forests ◽  
Advanced Regeneration ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Tree Falls

One of the major biological mysteries still to be explained is the maintenance of the enormous local tree species diversity in tropical rain forests .This review explores the relationship between the dynamics of natural regeneration and the evolutionary and ecological processes and mechanisms involved in the origin and maintenance of such extraordinary diversity. First, 1 review ideas on the origin of tree species diversity in the tropics. This review suggests that: i) historical, evolutionary and biogeographical phenomena have a paramount influence on local species richness, and ii) tropical rain forest tree communities are species unsaturated, suggesting that newly originated species may freely migrate across a regional landscape. Second, I describe the forest regeneration process. Gap dynamics, promoted by branch and tree falls, is a fundamental component of the forest canopy renewal. Small gaps (caused by branch falls) facilitate the establishment and survival of seedlings and saplings in the shaded understory (advanced regeneration), whereas large gaps (caused by tree falls) enable trees to reach mature sizes. Gap creation and tree maturation are the extremes of a process of tree and species replacement in the forest canopy. Third, I explore relationships between the tree replacement process and the population and community mechanisms that facilitate maintenance of species diversity at a local scale of a few hectares. I argue and document that factors that promote high species diversity in the advanced regeneration favor high probabilities of heterospecific replacements among canopy trees. Hence, these factors facilitate the maintenance of species diversity in the forest canopy. Frugivores, by promoting diversity in the seed rain community, and biotic agents of seed, seedling and sapling mortality by operating mainly on abundant species, are key factors in facilitating diversity. Furthermore, the existence of trade offs in tree life history attributes (such as seed dispersal capacity, survivorship in the shade and growth under gap conditions) contributes to diversity maintenance by promoting heterospecific replacements. This review does not support ú1e idea that maintenance of tree species diversity in tropical rain forest depends on random processes, as some authors have claimed. instead, I conclude that ecological phenomena have a paran1ounl role on the possibility that a species gains a membresy in such highly diverse forests.

scholarly journals Tree Species Diversity, Composition and Aboveground Biomass Across Dry Forest Land-Cover Types in Coastal Ecuador

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 194008292199541
Author(s):  
Xavier Haro-Carrión ◽  
Bette Loiselle ◽  
Francis E. Putz
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Tree Species Diversity ◽  
Land Cover Types ◽  
Schizolobium Parahyba

Tropical dry forests (TDF) are highly threatened ecosystems that are often fragmented due to land-cover change. Using plot inventories, we analyzed tree species diversity, community composition and aboveground biomass patterns across mature (MF) and secondary forests of about 25 years since cattle ranching ceased (SF), 10–20-year-old plantations (PL), and pastures in a TDF landscape in Ecuador. Tree diversity was highest in MF followed by SF, pastures and PL, but many endemic and endangered species occurred in both MF and SF, which demonstrates the importance of SF for species conservation. Stem density was higher in PL, followed by SF, MF and pastures. Community composition differed between MF and SF due to the presence of different specialist species. Some SF specialists also occurred in pastures, and all species found in pastures were also recorded in SF indicating a resemblance between these two land-cover types even after 25 years of succession. Aboveground biomass was highest in MF, but SF and Tectona grandis PL exhibited similar numbers followed by Schizolobium parahyba PL, Ochroma pyramidale PL and pastures. These findings indicate that although species-poor, some PL equal or surpass SF in aboveground biomass, which highlights the critical importance of incorporating biodiversity, among other ecosystem services, to carbon sequestration initiatives. This research contributes to understanding biodiversity conservation across a mosaic of land-cover types in a TDF landscape.

Diversification of tree stands as a means to manage pests and diseases in boreal forests: myth or reality?

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Koricheva ◽  
Harri Vehviläinen ◽  
Janne Riihimäki ◽  
Kai Ruohomäki ◽  
Pekka Kaitaniemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Tree Species Diversity ◽  
Mixed Stands ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Pest Outbreaks ◽  
Disease Epidemics

Pure forest stands are widely believed to be more prone to pest outbreaks and disease epidemics than mixed stands, leading to recommendations of using stand diversification as a means of controlling forest pests and pathogens. We review the existing evidence concerning the effects of stand tree-species diversity on pests and pathogens in forests of the boreal zone. Experimental data from published studies provide no overall support for the hypothesis that diversification of tree stands can prevent pest outbreaks and disease epidemics. Although beneficial effects of tree-species diversity on stand vulnerability are observed in some cases, in terms of reductions in damage, these effects are not consistent over time and space and seem to depend more on tree-species composition than on tree-species diversity per se. In addition, while mixed stands may reduce the densities of some specialized herbivores, they may be more attractive to generalist herbivores. Given that generalist mammalian herbivores cause considerable tree mortality during the early stages of stand establishment in boreal forests, the net effect of stand diversification on stand damage is unlikely to be positive.

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