Global dominance of lianas over trees is driven by forest disturbance, climate and topography

Alain Senghor K. Ngute; David S. Schoeman; Marion Pfeifer; Geertje M. F. Heijden; Oliver L. Phillips; Michiel Breugel; Mason J. Campbell; Chris J. Chandler; Brian J. Enquist; Rachael V. Gallagher; Christoph Gehring; Jefferson S. Hall; Susan Laurance; William F. Laurance; Susan G. Letcher; Wenyao Liu; Martin J. P. Sullivan; S. Joseph Wright; Chunming Yuan; Andrew R. Marshall

doi:10.1111/gcb.17140

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Global dominance of lianas over trees is driven by forest disturbance, climate and topography

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Global dominance of lianas over trees is driven by forest disturbance, climate and topography

Alain Senghor K. Ngute, David S. Schoeman, Marion Pfeifer, Geertje M. F. Heijden, Oliver L. Phillips, Michiel Breugel, Mason J. Campbell, Chris J. Chandler, Brian J. Enquist, Rachael V. Gallagher, …

Global Change Biology, Vol.30(1), pp.1-18

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17140

PMID: 38273497

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Abstract

carbon

climbers

competition

ecosystem function

forest succession

liana–tree interaction

plant–climate interaction

plant–plant interaction

restoration

vines

Growing evidence suggests that liana competition with trees is threatening the global carbon sink by slowing the recovery of forests following disturbance. A recent theory based on local and regional evidence further proposes that the competitive success of lianas over trees is driven by interactions between forest disturbance and climate. We present the first global assessment of liana–tree relative performance in response to forest disturbance and climate drivers. Using an unprecedented dataset, we analysed 651 vegetation samples representing 26,538 lianas and 82,802 trees from 556 unique locations worldwide, derived from 83 publications. Results show that lianas perform better relative to trees (increasing liana-to-tree ratio) when forests are disturbed, under warmer temperatures and lower precipitation and towards the tropical lowlands. We also found that lianas can be a critical factor hindering forest recovery in disturbed forests experiencing liana-favourable climates, as chronosequence data show that high competitive success of lianas over trees can persist for decades following disturbances, especially when the annual mean temperature exceeds 27.8°C, precipitation is less than 1614 mm and climatic water deficit is more than 829 mm. These findings reveal that degraded tropical forests with environmental conditions favouring lianas are disproportionately more vulnerable to liana dominance and thus can potentially stall succession, with important implications for the global carbon sink, and hence should be the highest priority to consider for restoration management.

Details

Title: Global dominance of lianas over trees is driven by forest disturbance, climate and topography
Authors: Alain Senghor K. Ngute (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research Institute
David S. Schoeman (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Marion Pfeifer (Author) - Newcastle University
Geertje M. F. Heijden (Author) - University of Nottingham
Oliver L. Phillips (Author) - University of Leeds
Michiel Breugel (Author) - National University of Singapore
Mason J. Campbell (Author) - James Cook University
Chris J. Chandler (Author) - University of Nottingham
Brian J. Enquist (Author) - University of Arizona
Rachael V. Gallagher (Author) - Western Sydney University
Christoph Gehring (Author) - Universidade Estadual do Maranhão
Jefferson S. Hall (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Susan Laurance (Author) - James Cook University
William F. Laurance (Author) - James Cook University
Susan G. Letcher (Author) - College of the Atlantic
Wenyao Liu (Author) - Chinese Academy of Sciences
Martin J. P. Sullivan (Author) - Manchester Metropolitan University
S. Joseph Wright (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Chunming Yuan (Author) - Yunnan Academy of Forestry
Andrew R. Marshall (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research Institute
Publication details: Global Change Biology, Vol.30(1), pp.1-18
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Date published: 2024
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17140
ISSN: 1365-2486
PMID: 38273497
Copyright note: © 2024 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Grants: Understanding the importance of lianas for forest health and management, FT170100279, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99994187402621
Output Type: Journal article

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