Baker, TR, Vela Diaz, DM, Chama Moscoso, V et al. (12 more authors) (2016) Consistent, small effects of tree-fall disturbances on the composition and diversity of four Amazonian forests. Journal of Ecology, 104 (2). pp. 497-506. ISSN 0022-0477
Abstract
Understanding the resilience of moist tropical forests to tree fall disturbance events is important for understanding the mechanisms that underlie species coexistence and for predicting the future composition of these ecosystems. Here, we test whether variation in the functional composition of Amazonian forests determines their resilience to disturbance.
2. We studied the legacy of natural tree fall disturbance events in four forests across Amazonia that differ substantially in functional composition. We compared the composition and diversity of all free-standing woody stems 2 - 10 cm diameter in previously disturbed and undisturbed 20 x 20 m subplots within 55, one hectare, long-term forest inventory plots.
3. Overall, stem number increased following disturbance, and species and functional composition shifted to favour light-wooded, small-seeded taxa. Alpha diversity increased, but beta diversity was unaffected by disturbance, in all four forests.
4. Changes in response to disturbance in both functional composition and alpha diversity were, however, small (2 – 4 % depending on the parameter) and similar among forests.
5. Synthesis. This study demonstrates that variation in the functional composition of Amazonian forests does not lead to large differences in the response of these forests to tree fall disturbances and overall, these events have a minor role in maintaining the diversity of these ecosystems.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. 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. |
Keywords: | alpha diversity, beta diversity, determinants of plant community diversity and structure, functional composition, maximum height, seed mass, tropical forest, wood density, |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Ecology & Global Change (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > River Basin Processes & Management (Leeds) > SOG: water@leeds |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC NE/C517484/1 Leverhulme Trust RF-2015-653 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Dec 2015 15:30 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 21:56 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12529 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/1365-2745.12529 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:92622 |