Journal article
Successional dynamics in Neotropical forests are as uncertain as they are predictable
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.112(26), pp.8013-8018
2015
Abstract
Although forest succession has traditionally been approached as a deterministic process, successional trajectories of vegetation change vary widely, even among nearby stands with similar environmental conditions and disturbance histories. Here, we provide the first attempt, to our knowledge, to quantify predictability and uncertainty during succession based on the most extensive long-term datasets ever assembled for Neotropical forests. We develop a novel approach that integrates deterministic and stochastic components into different candidate models describing the dynamical interactions among three widely used and interrelated forest attributes - stem density, basal area, and species density. Within each of the seven study sites, successional trajectories were highly idiosyncratic, even when controlling for prior land use, environment, and initial conditions in these attributes. Plot factors were far more important than stand age in explaining successional trajectories. For each site, the best-fit model was able to capture the complete set of time series in certain attributes only when both the deterministic and stochastic components were set to similar magnitudes. Surprisingly, predictability of stem density, basal area, and species density did not show consistent trends across attributes, study sites, or land use history, and was independent of plot size and time series length. The model developed here represents the best approach, to date, for characterizing autogenic successional dynamics and demonstrates the low predictability of successional trajectories. These high levels of uncertainty suggest that the impacts of allogenic factors on rates of change during tropical forest succession are far more pervasive than previously thought, challenging the way ecologists view and investigate forest regeneration. © 2015, National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Details
- Title
- Successional dynamics in Neotropical forests are as uncertain as they are predictable
- Authors
- N Norden (Author) - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, ColumbiaH A Angarita (Author) - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, ColumbiaF Bongers (Author) - Wageningen University, NetherlandsM Martínez-Ramos (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, MexicoI G D L Cerda (Author) - Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, SpainM Van Breugel (Author) - Yale-National University of Singapore College, SingaporeE Lebrija-Trejos (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PanamaJ A Meave (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, MexicoJ Vandermeer (Author) - University of Michigan, United StatesG B Williamson (Author) - Louisiana State University, United StatesB Finegan (Author) - Tropical Agricultural Centre for Research and Higher Education, Costa RicaR Mesquita (Author) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, BrazilRobin L Chazdon (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
- Publication details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.112(26), pp.8013-8018
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.1500403112
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Tropical Forests & People Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451172402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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