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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Successional shifts in tree demographic strategies in wet and dry Neotropical forests
Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol.32(6), pp.1002-1014
2023
Abstract
Aim: Tropical forest succession and associated changes in community composition are driven by species demographic rates, but how demographic strategies shift during succession remains unclear. Our goal was to identify generalities in demographic trade-offs and successional shifts in demographic strategies across Neotropical forests that cover a large rainfall gradient and to test whether the current conceptual model of tropical forest succession applies to wet and dry forests.
Location: Mexico and Central America.
Time period: 1985–2018.
Major taxa studied: Trees.
Methods: We used repeated forest inventory data from two wet and two dry forests to quantify demographic rates of 781 tree species. For each forest, we explored the main demographic trade-offs and assigned tree species to five demographic groups by performing a weighted principal components analysis to account for differences in sample size. We aggregated the basal area and abundance across demographic groups to identify successional shifts in demographic strategies over the entire successional gradient from very young (<5 years) to old-growth forests.
Results: Across all forests, we found two demographic trade-offs, namely the growth–survival trade-off and the stature–recruitment trade-off, enabling the data-driven assignment of species to five demographic strategies. Fast species dominated early in succession and were then replaced by long-lived pioneers in three forests. Intermediate and slow species increased in basal area over succession in all forests, but, in contrast to the current conceptual model, long-lived pioneers continued to dominate until the old-growth stage in all forests. The basal area of short-lived breeders was low across all successional stages.
Main conclusions: The current conceptual model of Neotropical forest succession should be revised to incorporate the dominance of long-lived pioneers in late-successional and old-growth forests. Moreover, the definition of consistent demographic strategies that show clear dominance shifts across succession substantially improves the mechanistic understanding and predictability of Neotropical forest succession.
Details
- Title
- Successional shifts in tree demographic strategies in wet and dry Neotropical forests
- Authors
- Nadja Rüger (Corresponding Author) - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchMarkus E. Schorn (Author) - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchStephan Kambach (Author) - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulRobin Chazdon (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research CentreCaroline E. Farrio (Author) - The University of Texas at AustinJorge A Meave (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoRodrigo Munoz (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMichiel van Breugel (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteLucy Amissah (Author) - Forestry Research Institute of GhanaFrans Bongers (Author) - Wageningen University & ResearchDylan Craven (Author) - Universidad MayorBruno Herault (Author) - Ghent UniversityCatarina C Jakovac (Author) - Wageningen University & ResearchNatalia Norden (Author) - Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research InstituteLourens Poorter (Author) - Wageningen University & ResearchMasha T van der Sande (Author) - Wageningen University & ResearchChristian Wirth (Author) - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchDiego Delgado (Author) - Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza CatieDaisy H Dent (Author) - University of StirlingJuan Manuel Dupuy (Author) - Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán A.C.Saara J DeWalt (Author) - Clemson UniversityBryan Finegan (Author) - Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza CatieJefferson S Hall (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteJose Luis Hernández-Stefanoni (Author) - Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán A.C.Omar R Lopez (Author) - Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología
- Publication details
- Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol.32(6), pp.1002-1014
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1111/geb.13669
- ISSN
- 1466-8238; 1466-822X
- Copyright note
- © 2023 The Authors. Global Ecology and Biogeography 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.
- Grant note
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research US National Science Foundation
- Organisation Unit
- Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99717597202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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