scholarly journals Consequences of a Reduced Number of Plant Functional Types for the Simulation of Forest Productivity

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rico Fischer ◽  
Edna Rödig ◽  
Andreas Huth

Tropical forests represent an important pool in the global carbon cycle. Their biomass stocks and carbon fluxes are variable in space and time, which is a challenge for accurate measurements. Forest models are therefore used to investigate these complex forest dynamics. The challenge of considering the high species diversity of tropical forests is often addressed by grouping species into plant functional types (PFTs). We investigated how reduced numbers of PFTs affect the prediction of productivity (GPP, NPP) and other carbon fluxes derived from forest simulations. We therefore parameterized a forest gap model for a specific study site with just one PFT (comparable to global vegetation models) on the one hand, and two versions with a higher amount of PFTs, on the other hand. For an old-growth forest, aboveground biomass and basal area can be reproduced very well with all parameterizations. However, the absence of pioneer tree species in the parameterizations with just one PFT leads to a reduction in estimated gross primary production by 60% and an increase of estimated net ecosystem exchange by 50%. These findings may have consequences for productivity estimates of forests at regional and continental scales. Models with a reduced number of PFTs are limited in simulating forest succession, in particular regarding the forest growth after disturbances or transient dynamics. We conclude that a higher amount of species groups increases the accuracy of forest succession simulations. We suggest using at a minimum three PFTs with at least one species group representing pioneer tree species.

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. e1296
Author(s):  
Jonás Álvarez-Lopeztello ◽  
Rafael F. Del Castillo ◽  
Celerino Robles ◽  
Laura V. Hernández-Cuevas

Background: Tropical rainforests and savannas are often spatially distributed at close distances. The combined effects of soil type and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) might contribute to explain the preference of tropical rainforest tree species for forest areas over those of savannas. However, few studies have examined such effects on pioneer tropical tree species. Objective: Evaluate the effects of soil type and inoculation with an AMF consortium on the growth of seedlings of pioneer tree species of tropical rainforest. Methods: A factorial 2 x 2 experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of soil type (rainforest or savanna) and native AMF consortium on growth (height and stem diameter) of four native pioneer tree seedling species under tree nursery conditions. Results and conclusions: The highest growth was detected on rainforest soils inoculated with AMF. Uninoculated plants growing on savanna soils rendered the lowest performance. AMF inoculation could be a valuable procedure in ecological restoration projects of tropical forests.


Biotropica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina A. Ruzi ◽  
Paul‐Camilo Zalamea ◽  
Daniel P. Roche ◽  
Rafael Achury ◽  
James W. Dalling ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew I. Daws ◽  
Sheina Bolton ◽  
David F.R.P. Burslem ◽  
Nancy C. Garwood ◽  
Christopher E. Mullins

AbstractOrthodox, desiccation-tolerant seeds lose desiccation tolerance during germination. Here, we quantify the timing of the loss of desiccation tolerance, and explore the implications of this event for seed mortality and the shape of germination progress curves for pioneer tree species. For the nine species studied, all seeds in a seedlot lost desiccation tolerance after the same fixed proportion of their time to germination, and this proportion was fairly constant across the species (0.63–0.70). The loss of desiccation tolerance after a fixed proportion of the time to germination has the implication that the maximum number of seeds in a seedlot that can be killed by a single drying event during germination (Mmax) increases with an increasing time to 50% germination (t50) and an increasing slope of the germination progress curve. Consequently, to prevent the seed population from becoming highly vulnerable to desiccation-induced mortality, species with a greater t50 would be expected to have a shallower germination progress curve. In conclusion, these data suggest that the loss of desiccation tolerance during germination may constitute a significant, but previously unexplored, source of mortality for seeds in seasonal environments with unpredictable rainfall.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Felfili Fortes ◽  
Cátia Nunes-da-Cunha ◽  
Sejana Artiaga Rosa ◽  
Eliana Paixão ◽  
Wolfgang J. Junk ◽  
...  

Vegetatio ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 101-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elgene O. Box

Plant Ecology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 197 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yu ◽  
Jerry M. Baskin ◽  
Carol C. Baskin ◽  
Yong Tang ◽  
Min Cao

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