Differential responses of forest strata species richness to paleoclimate and forest structure

Vascular epiphytes contribute significantly to tropical diversity. Research on the factors that determine vascular epiphytic diversity and composition in tropical areas is flourishing. However, these factors are entirely unknown in tropical-temperate transition zones, which represent the distribution limit of several epiphytic species. We assessed the degree to which climatic and structural variables determine the diversity of vascular epiphytic assemblages (VEAs) in a transition zone in Mexico: the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve. We found 12,103 epiphytic individuals belonging to 30 species and 15 genera along a climatic gradient from 300 to 2,000 m a.s.l. Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the most species-rich families. Forests along the windward slope of the Sierra Madre Oriental (semideciduous forest and tropical montane cloud forest) had higher species richness than forests along the leeward slope (pine-oak forest and submontane scrub). Species richness was largely determined by seasonality and, to a lesser degree, by forest structure, whereas abundance was mainly determined by host tree size. Variation in VEAs composition was largely explained by climatic variables, whereas forest structure was not as important. VEAs differed among forest types and slopes in terms of taxonomic and functional composition. For example, certain bromeliad indicator species reflected differences between slopes. Although within-tree epiphytic species richness (alpha diversity) was low in this transition zone relative to other habitats, species turnover among forest types (beta diversity) was high. These findings suggest that each forest type makes a unique and important contribution to epiphytic diversity in this transition zone.

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Species Richness, Forest Structure, and Functional Diversity During Succession in the New Guinea Lowlands

Biotropica ◽

10.1111/btp.12136 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 46 (5) ◽

pp. 538-548 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Timothy J. S. Whitfeld ◽

Jesse R. Lasky ◽

Kipiro Damas ◽

Gibson Sosanika ◽

Kenneth Molem ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Forest Structure ◽

New Guinea

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Patterns of tree species richness in Jalisco, Mexico: relation to topography, climate and forest structure

Plant Ecology ◽

10.1007/s11258-010-9738-5 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 210 (1) ◽

pp. 67-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Robin M. Reich ◽

Charles D. Bonham ◽

Celedonio Aguirre-Bravo ◽

Migel Chazaro-Basañeza

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Forest Structure ◽

Tree Species ◽

Tree Species Richness

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Ecosystem recovery in terra firme forests after cutting and burning: a comparison on species richness, floristic composition and forest structure in the Jaú National Park, Amazonia

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society ◽

10.1111/j.1095-8339.1999.tb00514.x ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 130 (2) ◽

pp. 97-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

LEANDRO V. FERREIRA ◽

GHILLEAN T. PRANCE

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Forest Structure ◽

National Park ◽

Floristic Composition ◽

Terra Firme ◽

Ecosystem Recovery

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Effects of a recalcitrant understory fern layer in an enclosed tropical restoration experiment

NeoBiota ◽

10.3897/neobiota.59.51906 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 59 ◽

pp. 99-118

Author(s):

Luis C. Beltrán ◽

Karla María Aguilar-Dorantes ◽

Henry F. Howe

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Invasion Success ◽

Forest Fragments ◽

Mixed Species ◽

Dispersal Mode ◽

Seed Addition ◽

Tree Canopies ◽

Forest Strata

Establishing mixed-species tree plantings and fencing them to protect seedlings from herbivory is a valuable strategy for reconnecting forest fragments separated by agropastoral lands. However, fencing may provide exotic plants with the escape from herbivory required to invade the understory of planted communities. Here we take advantage of such a situation to ask how the identity of planted species and the resulting canopy cover influenced invasion success by the Asian swordtail fern (Nephrolepis brownii Desv. Nephrolepidaceae) in a 13-year-old tropical restoration experiment. Through a seed addition experiment, we also evaluated the effects the ferns had on recruiting seedlings. We found that the invasion was most acute in the unplanted control plots where canopy cover was consistently scarce. Frond density correlated negatively with canopy cover, though most of the variance in the model is explained by the design of our experiment (r2m = .161, r2c = .460). Between planting treatments that differed in the dispersal mode of the planted trees, the wind-dispersed treatment had higher fern density and longer fronds than the animal-dispersed treatment. The animal-dispersed treatment had the highest recruiting species richness, which was negatively correlated with fern density (r2 = .748). The seed addition experiment confirmed that mortality rates increased where frond density was higher (F1,41 = 7.159, p = .011) and germination rates were lowered for the smaller-seeded species (F1,42 = 13.2, p = .002). To prevent recalcitrant understory layers from establishing in plantings in the future, we recommend: (1) establishing larger plantings or expanding existing ones to minimize edge effects (particularly light filtration), (2) supplementing young plantings with additional seedlings to prevent canopy gaps from forming, and (3) planting an assemblage of species that cover the full forest strata and have consistently full tree-canopies.

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Relationship Between Forest Strata Structure and Regeneration in the Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest

10.21203/rs.3.rs-59358/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Junsong Long ◽

Mengping Tang ◽

Guangsheng Chen

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Tree Species ◽

Stand Structure ◽

Tree Height ◽

Crown Width ◽

Tree Species Richness ◽

Broad Leaved Forest ◽

Forest Strata ◽

Richness Index ◽

Leaved Forest

Abstract Background: Regeneration is an extremely important and complex ecological process, which is disturbed by many factors. The current stand structure has an important influence on regeneration. The aim of this study is to provide theoretical reference for improving the regeneration capacity subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest and formulating management measures of regeneration restoration.Methods: A permanent plot of 100m × 100m was set up in the evergreen broad-leaved forest of Tianmu Mountain National Nature Reserve, Zhejiang Province, China. The plot was divided into 25 survey units of 20m × 20m by the adjacent grid survey method, and all the trees in the plot were investigated. The tree height, DBH, crown width, density, species richness index, aggregation index, competition index and mingling of each forest stratum were used as the stand structure index. The tree height, DBH, crown width, density and species richness index of regeneration trees were used as regeneration indicators. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to explore the relationship between forest strata structure and regeneration of evergreen broad-leaved forest. Results: In the whole stand, DBH, tree species richness index and crown width were the main structure factors affecting regeneration. In the upper forest stratum, the tree height was the main structure factor affecting regeneration. In the middle forest stratum, the tree species richness index and crown width were the main factors affecting regeneration. In the lower forest stratum, crown width, competition index, tree height and tree species richness index were the main factors affecting regeneration. The effects of tree species richness index and crown width on regeneration in the whole stand were mainly reflected in the middle and lower forest strata in each forest stratum. Conclusions: The influencing order of each forest stratum structure on regeneration was: lower forest stratum > middle forest stratum > upper forest stratum. Different regeneration indicators had different responses to the main stand structure indices, while the young tree height and DBH, and the tree species diversity and density of regeneration trees were most affected by the main stand structure indices. In order to promote the regeneration of evergreen broad-leaved forest in the future, different management measures should be taken for different forest strata, and the threshold value of each index should be controlled.

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Impacts of trails on cliff-edge forest structure

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b95-103 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 73 (6) ◽

pp. 943-953 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Pampang Parikesit ◽

Douglas W. Larson ◽

Uta Matthes-Sears

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Community Structure ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Community ◽

Forest Structure ◽

Environmental Gradient ◽

Soil Characteristics ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Plant Community Structure ◽

Niagara Escarpment

Plant community structure and soil characteristics were quantitatively studied along forested cliff edges of the Niagara Escarpment in southern Ontario, Canada. The objective of the study was to try to differentiate between the effects of two gradients on vegetation structure: the environmental gradient between the cliff edge and dense forest, and an anthropogenic gradient, generated by the presence of major hiking trails parallel to the cliff edges. Species frequencies were determined along 69 transects distributed over eight sites with different amounts of past and present trampling disturbance. The data were analyzed using cluster and ordination analysis as well as analyses of variance. The results showed that soil characteristics were the major influence organizing the vegetation of cliff-edge forests and that soil properties and plant community structure were more strongly influenced by anthropogenic factors than by the environmental gradient between cliff edge and forest. Trampled plots had some properties in common with cliff-edge plots. Species richness was highest at intermediate trail-use levels; abandonment of heavily disturbed trails resulted in the restoration of species richness, but most new colonizing plants were disturbance-tolerant ruderals. Soil properties did not completely recover even after 10 years of trail abandonment. The results suggest that the current use of cliff edges along the Niagara Escarpment is nonsustainable, and reversing its effects on cliff-edge forest structure may take a considerable amount of time. Key words: Niagara Escarpment, plant community ecology, disturbance, trampling, cluster analysis, ordination.

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