Origin of the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem and its evolution in long-term primary succession

Abstract. Born among volcanoes in the north central Pacific about 4 million years ago, the Hawaiian rainforest became assembled from spores of algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, ferns and from seeds of about 275 flowering plants that over the millenia evolved into ca. 1000 endemic species. Outstanding among the forest builders were the tree ferns (Cibotium spp.) and the 'Ōhi'a lehua trees (Metrosideros spp.), which still dominate the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem today. The structure of this forest is simple. The canopy in closed mature rainforests is dominated by cohorts of Metrosideros polymorpha and the undergrowth by tree fern species of Cibotium. When a new lava flow cuts through this forest, kipuka are formed, i.e. islands of remnant vegetation. On the new volcanic substrate, the assemblage of plant life-forms is similar as during the evolution of this system. In open juvenile forests, a mat-forming fern, the uluhe fern (Dicranopteris lineraris) becomes established. It inhibits further regeneration of the dominant 'Ōhi'a tree, thereby reinforcing the cohort structure of the canopy guild. In the later part of its life cycle, the canopy guild breaks down often in synchrony. The trigger is hypothesized to be a climatic perturbation. After that disturbance the forest becomes reestablished in about 30–40 yr. As the volcanic surfaces age, they go from a mesotrophic to a eutrophic phase, reaching a biophilic nutrient climax by about 1–25 K yr. Thereafter, a regressive oligotrophic phase follows; the soils become exhausted of nutrients. The shield volcanoes break down. Marginally, forest habitats change into bogs and stream ecosystems. The broader 'Ōhi'a rainforest redeveloping in the more dissected landscapes of the older islands looses stature, often forming large gaps that are invaded by the aluminum tolerant uluhe fern. The 'Ōhi'a trees still thrive on soils rejuvenated from landslides and from Asian dust on the oldest (5 million year old) island Kaua'i but their stature and living biomass is greatly diminished.

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Origin of the Hawaiian rainforest and its transition states in long-term primary succession

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-10-5171-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 5171-5182 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

D. Mueller-Dombois ◽

H. J. Boehmer

Keyword(s):

Transition States ◽

Life Forms ◽

Metrosideros Polymorpha ◽

Central Pacific ◽

Plant Life Forms ◽

The North ◽

Remnant Vegetation ◽

Tree Ferns ◽

Fern Species

Abstract. This paper addresses the question of transition states in the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem with emphasis on their initial developments. Born among volcanoes in the north central Pacific about 4 million years ago, the Hawaiian rainforest became assembled from spores of algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, ferns and from seeds of about 275 flowering plants that over the millennia evolved into ca. 1000 endemic species. Outstanding among the forest builders were the tree ferns (Cibotium spp.) and the 'ōhi'a lehua trees (Metrosideros spp.), which still dominate the Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem today. The structure of this forest is simple. The canopy in closed mature rainforests is dominated by cohorts of Metrosideros polymorpha and the undergrowth by tree fern species of Cibotium. When a new lava flow cuts through this forest, kipuka are formed, i.e., islands of remnant vegetation. On the new volcanic substrate, the assemblage of plant life forms is similar to the assemblage during the evolution of this system. In open juvenile forests, a mat-forming fern, the uluhe fern (Dicranopteris linearis), becomes established. It inhibits further regeneration of the dominant 'ōhi'a tree, thereby reinforcing the cohort structure of the canopy guild. In the later part of its life cycle, the canopy guild breaks down often in synchrony. The trigger is hypothesized to be a climatic perturbation. After the disturbance, the forest becomes reestablished in about 30–40 yr. As the volcanic surfaces age, they go from a mesotrophic to a eutrophic phase, reaching a biophilic nutrient climax by about 1–25 K yr. Thereafter, a regressive oligotrophic phase follows; the soils become exhausted of nutrients. The shield volcanoes break down. Marginally, forest habitats change into bogs and stream ecosystems. The broader 'ōhi'a rainforest redeveloping in the more dissected landscapes of the older islands loses stature, often forming large gaps that are invaded by the aluminum tolerant uluhe fern. The 'ōhi'a trees still thrive on soils rejuvenated from landslides and from Asian dust on the oldest (5 million years old) island Kaua'i but their stature and living biomass is greatly diminished.

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Testing the potential of pollen assemblages to capture composition, diversity and ecological gradients of surrounding vegetation in two biogeographical regions of southeastern Europe

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany ◽

10.1007/s00334-021-00831-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Papadopoulou ◽

Ioannis Tsiripidis ◽

Sampson Panajiotidis ◽

Georgios Fotiadis ◽

Daniel Veres ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Structure ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Life Forms ◽

Ecological Gradients ◽

Vegetation Diversity ◽

North Central ◽

Plant Life Forms ◽

Pollen Diagrams ◽

Biogeographical Regions ◽

Species Specific

AbstractDue to the complex relationship between pollen and vegetation, it is not yet clear how pollen diagrams may be interpreted with respect to changes in floristic diversity and only a few studies have hitherto investigated this problem. We compare pollen assemblages from moss samples in two southeastern European forests with the surrounding vegetation to investigate (a) their compositional similarity, (b) the association between their diversity characteristics in both terms of richness and evenness, and (c) the correspondence of the main ecological gradients that can be revealed by them. Two biogeographical regions with different vegetation characteristics, the Pieria mountains (north central Greece) and the slopes of Ciomadul volcano (eastern Romania), were chosen as divergent examples of floristic regions, vegetation structure and landscape openness. Pollen assemblages are efficient in capturing the presence or absence, rather than the abundance in distribution of plants in the surrounding area and this bias increases along with landscape openness and vegetation diversity, which is higher in the Pieria mountains. Pollen assemblages and vegetation correlate better in terms of richness, that is, low order diversity indices. Relatively high correlation, in terms of evenness, could be potentially found in homogenous and species poor ecosystems as for Ciomadul. Composition and diversity of woody, rather than herb, vegetation is better reflected in pollen assemblages of both areas, especially for Pieria where a direct comparison of the two components was feasible, although this depends on the species-specific pollen production and dispersal, the openness of landscape and the overall diversity of vegetation. Gradients revealed by pollen assemblages are highly and significantly correlated with those existing in vegetation. Pollen assemblages may represent the vegetation well in terms of composition, diversity (mainly richness) and ecological gradients, but this potential depends on land use, vegetation structure, biogeographical factors and plant life forms.

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The Sydney Cyprus Survey Project: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of Long-Term Change in the North Central Troodos, Cyprus

Journal of Field Archaeology ◽

10.2307/530620 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 19 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Michael Given ◽

A. Bernard Knapp ◽

Nathan Meyer ◽

Timothy E. Gregory ◽

Vasiliki Kassianidou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North Central ◽

The North ◽

Term Change

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Agricultural Drought in North-Central Mexico

Monitoring and Predicting Agricultural Drought ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195162349.003.0018 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

José Alfredo Rodríguez-Pineda ◽

Lorrain Giddings

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Land ◽

Agricultural Drought ◽

Natural Phenomenon ◽

North Central ◽

Water Policies ◽

The North ◽

Time Period ◽

Northern Half ◽

The Government

Drought is the most significant natural phenomenon that affects the agriculture of northern Mexico. The more drought-prone areas in Mexico fall in the northern half of the country, in the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, and Aguascalientes (figure 10.1). The north-central states form part of the Altiplanicie Mexicana and account for 30.7% of the national territory of 1,959,248 km2. This area is characterized by dry and semidry climates (Garcia, 1981) and recurrent drought periods. The climate of Mexico varies from very dry to subhumid. Very dry climate covers 21%, dry climate covers 28%, and temperate subhumid and hot subhumid climates prevail in 21% and 23% of the national territory, respectively. About 20 years ago, almost 75% of Mexico’s agricultural land was rainfed, and only 25% irrigated (Toledo et al., 1985), making the ratio of rainfed to irrigated area equal to 3. However, for the northern states this ratio was 3.5 during the 1990–98 period (table 10.1). Because of higher percentage of rain-fed agriculture, drought is a common phenomenon in this region, which has turned thousands of hectares of land into desert. Though the government has built dams, reservoirs, and other irrigation systems to alleviate drought effects, rain-fed agriculture (or dryland farming) remains the major form of cultivation in Mexico. In Mexico, there is no standard definition for agricultural drought. However, the Comisión Nacional del Agua (CNA; i.e., National Water Commission), which is a federal agency responsible for making water policies, has coined its own definition for drought. This agency determines whether a particular region has been affected by drought, by studying rainfall records collected from the national climatic network. The national climatic network is spread throughout the country and is managed by the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN; i.e., National Meteorological Services). The CNA determines, for a municipal region, if the rainfall is equal to or less than one standard deviation from the long-term mean over a time period of two or more consecutive months. If it is, then the secretary of state declares drought for the region.

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North-Central Pacific Tropical Cyclones: Impacts of El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Madden–Julian Oscillation

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-12-00809.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 26 (19) ◽

pp. 7720-7733 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Philip J. Klotzbach ◽

Eric S. Blake

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

El Niño ◽

El Nino ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

Rapid Intensification ◽

Madden Julian Oscillation ◽

Cyclone Activity ◽

Central Pacific ◽

North Central ◽

The North

Abstract Both El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) have been documented in previous research to impact tropical cyclone (TC) activity around the globe. This study examines the relationship of each mode individually along with a combined index on tropical cyclone activity in the north-central Pacific. Approximately twice as many tropical cyclones form in the north-central Pacific in El Niño years compared with La Niña years. These differences are attributed to a variety of factors, including warmer sea surface temperatures, lower sea level pressures, increased midlevel moisture, and anomalous midlevel ascent in El Niño years. When the convectively enhanced phase of the MJO is located over the eastern and central tropical Pacific, the north-central Pacific tends to have more tropical cyclone activity, likely because of reduced vertical wind shear, lower sea level pressures, and increased vertical motion. The convectively enhanced phase of the MJO is also responsible for most of the TCs that undergo rapid intensification in the north-central Pacific. A combined MJO–ENSO index that is primarily associated with anomalous rising motion over the tropical eastern Pacific has an even stronger relationship with north-central Pacific TCs, as well as rapid intensification, than either individually.

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Analysis Of Physical And Mechanical Properties Of Deepsea Sediments From Potential Manganese Nodulemining Areas In The North Central Pacific

10.4043/4132-ms ◽

1981 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jean-Paul Tisot ◽

Bernard Gerard

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Physical And Mechanical Properties ◽

Central Pacific ◽

North Central ◽

The North

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Vertical distribution of scandium in the north central Pacific

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1029/2007gl029903 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 34 (11) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Hiroshi Amakawa ◽

Miho Nomura ◽

Kazunori Sasaki ◽

Yasuji Oura ◽

Mitsuru Ebihara

Keyword(s):

Vertical Distribution ◽

Central Pacific ◽

North Central ◽

The North

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Catalan ethnoflora: a meta-analytic approach to life forms and geographic territories

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine ◽

10.1186/s13002-020-00424-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Airy Gras ◽

Montse Parada ◽

Joan Vallès ◽

Teresa Garnatje

Keyword(s):

Global Analysis ◽

Life Forms ◽

Point Of View ◽

Distribution Area ◽

New Approach ◽

North East ◽

Plant Life Forms ◽

The North ◽

Plant Life ◽

Large Distribution

Abstract Background Catalonia (in the north east of the Iberian Peninsula) is among the most prospected territories in Europe, from the ethnobotanical point of view. The aim of the present paper is to undertake a global analysis in the area considered, including plants, plant life forms, and ethnobotanical data within a physiographic and geographic framework. Methods Data from 21 ethnobotanical prospection areas in Catalonia were collected, analyzed, and compared, with the focus on plant life forms and geographic divisions. Results A total of 824 taxa constitute the Catalan ethnoflora, and 316 of them are shared by the six physiographic zones recognized in Catalonia. When three major geographic areas are considered (Pyrenean, inland, and littoral), 394 taxa have been reported in only one out of the three areas. Concerning life forms, phanerophytes and chamaephytes together, i.e., those taxa present all through the year, are the most cited (37.12%). Conclusions This first study constitutes a new approach to ethnobotanical data analysis. The results show the particular importance of plants with a large distribution area and plants with available biomass throughout the year. Apart from this, other kind of plants, e.g., those present in only one territory, are of interest for its originality and sometimes for the local significance.

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Biology and Economics of Recommendations for Insecticide-Based Management of Soybean Aphid

Plant Health Progress ◽

10.1094/php-rv-16-0061 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 265-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Robert L. Koch ◽

Bruce D. Potter ◽

Phillip A. Glogoza ◽

Erin W. Hodgson ◽

Christian H. Krupke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Insect Pest ◽

Soybean Aphid ◽

North Central ◽

The North ◽

Central United States ◽

Glycine Max L ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

Aphis Glycines Matsumura

Soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, remains the key insect pest of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, in the north-central United States. Management of this pest has relied primarily on scouting and application of foliar insecticides based on an economic threshold (ET) of 250 aphids per plant. This review explains why this ET remains valid for soybean aphid management, despite changes in crop value and input costs. In particular, we review how soybean aphid impacts soybean yield, the role of biology and economics in recommendations for soybean aphid management, and the short- and long-term consequences of inappropriately timed insecticide applications. Accepted for publication 13 December 2016.

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