ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0751-6312
Current Organisation
University of Bristol
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Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 09-03-2018
DOI: 10.5194/BG-2018-74
Abstract: Abstract. Borneo contains some of the world’s most bio erse and carbon dense tropical forest, but this 750 000-km2 island has lost 62 % of its old-growth forests within the last 40 years. Efforts to protect and restore the remaining forests of Borneo hinge on recognising the ecosystem services they provide, including their ability to store and sequester carbon. Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) is a remote sensing technology that allows forest structural properties to be captured in great detail across vast geographic areas. In recent years ALS has been integrated into state-wide assessment of forest carbon in Neotropical and African regions, but not yet in Asia. For this to happen, new regional models, need to be developed for estimating carbon stocks from ALS in tropical Asia, as the forests of this region are structurally and compositionally distinct from those found elsewhere in the tropics. By combining ALS imagery with data from 173 permanent forest plots spanning the lowland rain forests of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, we develop a simple-yet-general model for estimating forest carbon stocks using ALS-derived canopy height and canopy cover as input metrics. An advanced feature of this new model is the propagation of uncertainty in both ALS- and ground-based data, allowing uncertainty in hectare-scale estimates of carbon stocks to be quantified robustly. We show that the model effectively captures variation in aboveground carbons stocks across extreme disturbance gradients spanning tall dipterocarp forests and heavily logged regions, and clearly outperforms existing ALS-based models calibrated for the tropics, as well as currently available satellite-derived products. Our model provides a simple, generalised and effective approach for mapping forest carbon stocks in Borneo, and underpins ongoing efforts to safeguard and facilitate the restoration of its unique tropical forests.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 17-01-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 30-01-2019
DOI: 10.3390/RS11030275
Abstract: A common feature of most theories of invasion ecology is that the extent and intensity of invasions is driven by a combination of drivers, which can be grouped into three main factors: propagule pressure (P), abiotic drivers (A) and biotic interactions (B). However, teasing apart the relative contribution of P, A and B on Invasive Alien Species (IAS) distributions is typically h ered by a lack of data. We focused on Mediterranean coastal dunes as a model system to test the ability of a combination of multi-source Remote Sensing (RS) data to characterize the distribution of five IAS. Using generalized linear models, we explored and ranked correlates of P, A and B derived from high-resolution optical imagery and three-dimensional (3D) topographic models obtained from LiDAR, along two coastal systems in Central Italy (Lazio and Molise Regions). Predictors from all three factors contributed significantly to explaining the presence of IAS, but their relative importance varied among the two Regions, supporting previous studies suggesting that invasion is a context-dependent process. The use of RS data allowed us to characterize the distribution of IAS across broad, regional scales and to identify coastal sectors that are most likely to be invaded in the future.
Publisher: IEEE
Date: 07-2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-06-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-023-35452-6
Abstract: A major trade-off of land-use change is the potential for increased risk of infectious diseases, a.o. through impacting disease vector life-cycles. Evaluating the public health implications of land-use conversions requires spatially detailed modelling linking land-use to vector ecology. Here, we estimate the impact of deforestation for oil palm cultivation on the number of life-cycle completions of Aedes albopictus via its impact on local microclimates. We apply a recently developed mechanistic phenology model to a fine-scaled (50-m resolution) microclimate dataset that includes daily temperature, rainfall and evaporation. Results of this combined model indicate that the conversion from lowland rainforest to plantations increases suitability for A. albopictus development by 10.8%, moderated to 4.7% with oil palm growth to maturity. Deforestation followed by typical plantation planting-maturation-clearance-replanting cycles is predicted to create pulses of high development suitability. Our results highlight the need to explore sustainable land-use scenarios that resolve conflicts between agricultural and human health objectives.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/NPH.17729
Abstract: Canopy gaps and the processes that generate them play an integral role in shaping the structure and dynamics of forests. However, it is only with recent advances in remote sensing technologies such as airborne laser scanning that studying canopy gaps at scale has become a reality. Consequently, we still lack an understanding of how the size distribution and spatial organization of canopy gaps varies among forests ecosystems, nor have we determined whether these emergent properties can be reconciled with existing theories of forest dynamics. Here, I outline a roadmap for integrating remote sensing with field data and in idual‐based models to build a comprehensive picture of how environmental constraints and disturbance regimes shape the three‐dimensional structure of the world’s forests.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-03-2016
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS11109
Abstract: There is considerable evidence that bio ersity promotes multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality), thus ensuring the delivery of ecosystem services important for human well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood, especially in natural ecosystems. We develop a novel approach to partition bio ersity effects on multifunctionality into three mechanisms and apply this to European forest data. We show that throughout Europe, tree ersity is positively related with multifunctionality when moderate levels of functioning are required, but negatively when very high function levels are desired. For two well-known mechanisms, ‘complementarity’ and ‘selection’, we detect only minor effects on multifunctionality. Instead a third, so far overlooked mechanism, the ‘jack-of-all-trades’ effect, caused by the averaging of in idual species effects on function, drives observed patterns. Simulations demonstrate that jack-of-all-trades effects occur whenever species effects on different functions are not perfectly correlated, meaning they may contribute to ersity–multifunctionality relationships in many of the world’s ecosystems.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-07-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13388
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-03-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-03-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15569
Abstract: Forest microclimates contrast strongly with the climate outside forests. To fully understand and better predict how forests' bio ersity and functions relate to climate and climate change, microclimates need to be integrated into ecological research. Despite the potentially broad impact of microclimates on the response of forest ecosystems to global change, our understanding of how microclimates within and below tree canopies modulate biotic responses to global change at the species, community and ecosystem level is still limited. Here, we review how spatial and temporal variation in forest microclimates result from an interplay of forest features, local water balance, topography and landscape composition. We first stress and exemplify the importance of considering forest microclimates to understand variation in bio ersity and ecosystem functions across forest landscapes. Next, we explain how macroclimate warming (of the free atmosphere) can affect microclimates, and vice versa, via interactions with land‐use changes across different biomes. Finally, we perform a priority ranking of future research avenues at the interface of microclimate ecology and global change biology, with a specific focus on three key themes: (1) disentangling the abiotic and biotic drivers and feedbacks of forest microclimates (2) global and regional mapping and predictions of forest microclimates and (3) the impacts of microclimate on forest bio ersity and ecosystem functioning in the face of climate change. The availability of microclimatic data will significantly increase in the coming decades, characterizing climate variability at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales relevant to biological processes in forests. This will revolutionize our understanding of the dynamics, drivers and implications of forest microclimates on bio ersity and ecological functions, and the impacts of global changes. In order to support the sustainable use of forests and to secure their bio ersity and ecosystem services for future generations, microclimates cannot be ignored.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-04-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12964
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-06-2014
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 09-03-2018
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 26-10-2018
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 04-05-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.03.442416
Abstract: Canopy gaps are openings in the forest canopy resulting from branch fall and tree mortality events. Light reaches the lower layers of the canopy through these gaps, enabling understory trees to grow and maintaining the high heterogeneity and bio ersity of tropical forests. The size-frequency distribution of canopy gaps follows a power-law distribution, and the slope of this power-law (α) is a key indicator of forest structure and dynamics. We detected canopy gaps using a unique LiDAR data set consisting of 650 transects randomly distributed across the Brazilian Amazon Forest providing an unprecedented perspective on forest structural variation over 2500 km 2 of forest. We then investigated how α varied with forest structure, elevation, soil fertility, water deficit, wind gust speed and lightning intensity. We found that human modified forests had more large gaps than intact forests. Within the intact forests we observed a large-scale Northwest to Southeast pattern in α (more large gaps in the Southeast), which aligns with recent work on tree mortality rates. The two most important variables in predicting α were median canopy height and maximum modeled height, which had opposite effects on the number of large gaps. Forests with higher median canopy height contain fewer large gaps but the presence of very tall trees was associated with more large gaps. Environmental variables were of secondary importance in our model, with larger gaps occurring in drier forests with high soil fertility, wind speed, and lightning intensity. The distribution of large gaps in the forest canopy varies substantially over the Brazilian Amazon as a result of canopy structure and mortality rates. We mapped this variation and found more large gaps in human modified forests, forests on fertile soils and those exposed to higher wind, lightning and drought stress. Increasing extreme weather events due to climate change may therefore increase the number of large gaps in currently intact forests, causing them to resemble human modified forests.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-05-2023
Abstract: 1. Bio ersity is an important component of natural ecosystems, with higher species richness often correlating with an increase in ecosystem productivity. Yet, this relationship varies substantially across environments, typically becoming less pronounced at high levels of species richness. However, species richness alone cannot reflect all important properties of a community, including community evenness, which may mediate the relationship between bio ersity and productivity. If the evenness of a community correlates negatively with richness across forests globally, then a greater number of species may not always increase overall ersity and productivity of the system. Theoretical work and local empirical studies have shown that the effect of evenness on ecosystem functioning may be especially strong at high richness levels, yet the consistency of this remains untested at a global scale. 2. Here, we used a dataset of forests from across the globe, which includes composition, biomass accumulation and net primary productivity, to explore whether productivity correlates with community evenness and richness in a way that evenness appears to buffer the effect of richness. Specifically, we evaluated whether low levels of evenness in speciose communities correlate with the attenuation of the richness–productivity relationship. 3. We found that tree species richness and evenness are negatively correlated across forests globally, with highly speciose forests typically comprising a few dominant and many rare species. Furthermore, we found that the correlation between ersity and productivity changes with evenness: at low richness, uneven communities are more productive, while at high richness, even communities are more productive. 4. Synthesis . Collectively, these results demonstrate that evenness is an integral component of the relationship between bio ersity and productivity, and that the attenuating effect of richness on forest productivity might be partly explained by low evenness in speciose communities. Productivity generally increases with species richness, until reduced evenness limits the overall increases in community ersity. Our research suggests that evenness is a fundamental component of bio ersity–ecosystem function relationships, and is of critical importance for guiding conservation and sustainable ecosystem management decisions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-03-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-02-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16060
Abstract: Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-09-2017
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12849
Abstract: The importance of bio ersity in supporting ecosystem functioning is generally well accepted. However, most evidence comes from small-scale studies, and scaling-up patterns of bio ersity-ecosystem functioning (B-EF) remains challenging, in part because the importance of environmental factors in shaping B-EF relations is poorly understood. Using a forest research platform in which 26 ecosystem functions were measured along gradients of tree species richness in six regions across Europe, we investigated the extent and the potential drivers of context dependency of B-EF relations. Despite considerable variation in species richness effects across the continent, we found a tendency for stronger B-EF relations in drier climates as well as in areas with longer growing seasons and more functionally erse tree species. The importance of water availability in driving context dependency suggests that as water limitation increases under climate change, bio ersity may become even more important to support high levels of functioning in European forests.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2019
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 16-03-2023
Abstract: Tropical forests are biologically erse and structurally complex ecosystems that can store a large quantity of carbon and support a great variety of plant and animal species. However, tropical forest structure can vary dramatically within seemingly homogeneous landscapes due to subtle changes in topography, soil fertility, species composition and past disturbances. Although numerous studies have reported the effects of field-based stand structure attributes on aboveground biomass (AGB) in tropical forests, the relative effects and contributions of UAV LiDAR-based canopy structure and ground-based stand structural attributes in shaping AGB remain unclear. Here, we hypothesize that mean top-of-canopy height (TCH) enhances AGB directly and indirectly via species richness and horizontal stand structural attributes, but these positive relationships are stronger at a larger spatial scale. We used a combined approach of field inventory and LiDAR-based remote sensing to explore how stand structural attributes (stem abundance, size variation and TCH) and tree species richness affect AGB along an elevational gradient in tropical forests at two spatial scales, i.e., 20 m × 20 m (small scale), and 50 m × 50 m (large scale) in southwest China. Specifically, we used structural equation models to test the proposed hypothesis. We found that TCH, stem size variation and abundance were strongly positively associated with AGB at both spatial scales, in addition to which increasing TCH led to greater AGB indirectly through increased stem size variation. Species richness had negative to negligible influences on AGB, but species richness increased with increasing stem abundance at both spatial scales. Our results suggest that light capture and use, modulated by stand structure, are key to promoting high AGB stocks in tropical forests. Thus, we argue that both horizontal and vertical stand structures are important for shaping AGB, but the relative contributions vary across spatial scales in tropical forests. Importantly, our results highlight the importance of including vertical forest stand attributes for predicting AGB and carbon sequestration that underpins human wellbeing.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 13-07-2012
Abstract: Maestre et al . (Reports, 13 January 2012, p. 214) reported a general, but weak, positive relationship between plant ersity and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands. We show that the strength of this relationship changes consistently along multiple environmental gradients, becoming strongly positive in stressed habitats. This suggests that bio ersity loss may have especially strong consequences in harsh environments.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-05-2022
Abstract: Temperature change is an often‐assumed, but rarely tested, mechanism by which sensitive species may decline in forest landscapes following habitat degradation, fragmentation and destruction. Traits mediate how species respond to environmental change, with physiological, morphological and behavioural traits key to determining the response of ectotherms to temperature. We collected data on traits linked to thermal sensitivity (critical thermal maxima, body size, cuticle lightness and pilosity) for 46 dung beetle species ( Scarabaeinae ) in a forest–oil palm mosaic in Malaysian Borneo. By combining these data with a large‐scale community s ling c aign ( ,000 in iduals s led from traps) and an airborne Light Detection and Ranging‐derived thermal map, we investigated how traits mediate species‐ and community‐level responses to temperature. Using hierarchical models, we found that critical thermal maxima predicted how species respond to maximum temperatures. These results were mirrored in community‐level analyses alongside similar patterns in other thermal traits. Increased body size and decreased pilosity were associated with higher temperatures, while cuticle lightness showed a complex relationship with temperature across the disturbance gradient. Our findings highlight the potential mechanisms by whichforest specialists decline in human‐modified landscapes, resulting in changes to community patterns and processes. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-01-2022
DOI: 10.1111/JBI.14308
Abstract: Invasive species provide an opportunity to study biogeography in action, allowing us to observe how species adapt and fill their environmental niche when introduced to new ecological settings. Here we use sea spurge—a foredune specialist plant species native to Europe which has recently spread across Australia’s southern coasts—as a model system to explore species' environmental niches adaptations and potential for future spread following introduction outside their native range. Europe and Australia. Sea spurge, Euphorbia paralias , Euphorbiaceae. We compiled presence‐absence data of E. paralias from ,000 vegetation surveys in the native and invaded range. We combined presence‐absence data with information on climate, soil, coastal morphology and human pressure, to test whether E. paralias ’ environmental niche has shifted following invasion and used species distributions models (SDMs) to map its invasion potential under current and future climatic conditions. The environmental niche of E. paralias has shifted since reaching Australia, expanding into areas further away from people, closer to the shoreline and with higher temperatures. SDMs revealed that alongside broad‐scale gradients in temperature and rainfall, the distribution of E. paralias is also constrained by soil substrate and dune morphology—highlighting the importance of these fine‐scale drivers in shaping invasion dynamics in coastal environments. Moreover, SDMs suggest that future expansion in Australia will result from continued niche filling, not changes in climatic suitability. Despite its impressive dispersal ability, E. paralias has not yet reached equilibrium in its invaded range and is likely to continue to expand its distribution in Australia regardless of climate change. E. paralias ’ key to success has been its ability to suit novel environments. We provide one of the first ex les of how to leverage distribution data and SDMs to test hypotheses about niche conservatism and expansion in coastal dune invasive plant species.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2023
DOI: 10.1002/RSE2.336
Abstract: Accurate and efficient detection of canopy gaps is essential for understanding species regeneration and community dynamics in forests. Unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with visible light (e.g., RGB) cameras have the potential to be one of the most cost‐effective approaches for detecting gaps. However, current gap‐detection methods based on spectral, textural, and/or structural information derived from UAV RGB imagery are unreliable in species‐rich forests with complex terrain due to high spectral complexity and topographic shadowing. Here, we compared the performance of four methods, including pixel‐based supervised classification (PBSC), object‐based classification (OBIA), Canopy Height Model thresholding classification, and HSTAC [a novel method we developed which combines Photographic Height (H), Spectral (S), and Textural (T) information for Automatic Classification (AC)] for characterizing canopy gaps in a 20‐ha permanent subtropical forest plot of eastern China. All classification results were evaluated through a comparison with canopy gaps detected from both field surveys and UAV‐borne LiDAR data. Among the four classification methods, HSTAC performed best in terms of detection efficiency (96% overall accuracy when compared to field data and 85% when compared to the LiDAR data), classification accuracy (3–18% improvement compared to alternative methods), and speed (1–1.5 h faster on the same machine). Of the four topographic factors (elevation, slope, aspect, and convexity), elevation was the one that most affected the accuracy of canopy gap detection. The errors of PBSC classification mainly came from the gaps at low elevations, while OBIA located the position of gaps well but overestimated their sizes. Overall, HSTAC avoids many of the inherent limitations of current state‐of‐the‐art methods and can accurately map canopy gaps in erse subtropical forests with complex terrain. Our study provides a suitable way for long‐term forest canopy monitoring, real‐time applications, and contributes to a better understanding of forest plant community assembly and succession dynamics.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-12-2022
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.08875
Abstract: Tree ersity and species identity are known to play an important role in modulating forest productivity and its capacity to buffer the effects of climatic events. The FunDivEurope exploratory platform allowed us to analyse this modulating effect in a medium‐term time span, after an abrupt rise to a new stable level of the average summer temperature of ca 2°C, in Mediterranean forests in central Italy. This paper aims to answer the following questions: 1) did increasing temperature and drought events affect the growth of thermophilous deciduous forests? 2) Was this effect buffered in mixed stands compared to monocultures? 3) Did co‐occurring tree species with different ecological characteristics, from more mesophilous to more xerophilous, have different responses? In 2012 and 2017, wood cores were collected from 659 trees in 36 plots representative of thermophilous deciduous forests. The selected tree species were Castanea sativa , Ostrya carpinifolia , Quercus cerris , Quercus ilex and Quercus petraea . In the s ling plots, they were present in pure stands and mixtures from two to four species. After measuring annual rings on cores, chronologies of basal area increment were built, and inventory data were used to estimate tree growth. Results showed a strong reduction of growth, lasting at least 18 years, after the temperature rise. Tree ersity significantly reduced the growth drop after the sudden and stable rise in summer average temperature. Tree mixture effect on growth stability appeared to be dependent on the tree species present in the mixture. Temperature rise and associated drought events, even without changes in rainfall, are one of the main challenges that European forests will face in the current scenarios of climate change. Tree ersity can buffer the effects of climate change over periods of at least 15 years and should be considered in forest management plans.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-06-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-08-2013
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12124
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-08-2018
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Date: 2013
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 15-03-2016
Abstract: Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of bio ersity in maintaining multiple ecosystem functions and services (multifunctionality) at local spatial scales, but it is unknown whether similar relationships are found at larger spatial scales in real-world landscapes. Here, we show, for the first time to our knowledge, that bio ersity can also be important for multifunctionality at larger spatial scales in European forest landscapes. Both high local (α-) ersity and a high turnover in species composition between locations (high β- ersity) were found to be potentially important drivers of ecosystem multifunctionality. Our study provides evidence that it is important to conserve the landscape-scale bio ersity that is being eroded by biotic homogenization if ecosystem multifunctionality is to be maintained.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-10-2022
Abstract: Canopy gaps are openings in the forest canopy resulting from branch fall and tree mortality events. The geographical distribution of large canopy gaps may reflect underlying variation in mortality and growth processes. However, a lack of data at the appropriate scale has limited our ability to study this relationship until now. We detected canopy gaps using a unique LiDAR dataset consisting of 650 transects randomly distributed across 2500 km 2 of the Brazilian Amazon. We characterized the size distribution of canopy gaps using a power law and we explore the variation in the exponent, α . We evaluated how the α varies across the Amazon, in response to disturbance by humans and natural environmental processes that influence tree mortality rates. We observed that South‐eastern forests contained a higher proportion of large gaps than North‐western, which is consistent with recent work showing greater tree mortality rates in the Southeast than the Northwest. Regions characterized by strong wind gust speeds, frequent lightning and greater water shortage also had a high proportion of large gaps, indicating that geographical variation in α is a reflection of underlying disturbance processes. Forests on fertile soils were also found to contain a high proportion of large gaps, in part because trees grow tall on these sites and create large gaps when they fall thus, canopy gap analysis picked up differences in growth as well as mortality processes. Finally, we found that human‐modified forests had a higher proportion of large gaps than intact forests, as we would expect given that these forests have been disturbed. Synthesis . The proportion of large gaps in the forest canopy varied substantially over the Brazilian Amazon. We have shown that the trends can be explained by geographical variation in disturbance and growth. The frequency of extreme weather events is predicted to increase under climate change, and changes could lead to greater forest disturbance, which should be detectable as an increased proportion of large gaps in intact forests.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-12-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14903
Abstract: Logging, pervasive across the lowland tropics, affects millions of hectares of forest, yet its influence on nutrient cycling remains poorly understood. One hypothesis is that logging influences phosphorus (P) cycling, because this scarce nutrient is removed in extracted timber and eroded soil, leading to shifts in ecosystem functioning and community composition. However, testing this is challenging because P varies within landscapes as a function of geology, topography and climate. Superimposed upon these trends are compositional changes in logged forests, with species with more acquisitive traits, characterized by higher foliar P concentrations, more dominant. It is difficult to resolve these patterns using traditional field approaches alone. Here, we use airborne light detection and ranging‐guided hyperspectral imagery to map foliar nutrient (i.e. P, nitrogen [N]) concentrations, calibrated using field measured traits, over 400 km 2 of northeastern Borneo, including a landscape‐level disturbance gradient spanning old‐growth to repeatedly logged forests. The maps reveal that canopy foliar P and N concentrations decrease with elevation. These relationships were not identified using traditional field measurements of leaf and soil nutrients. After controlling for topography, canopy foliar nutrient concentrations were lower in logged forest than in old‐growth areas, reflecting decreased nutrient availability. However, foliar nutrient concentrations and specific leaf area were greatest in relatively short patches in logged areas, reflecting a shift in composition to pioneer species with acquisitive traits. N:P ratio increased in logged forest, suggesting reduced soil P availability through disturbance. Through the first landscape scale assessment of how functional leaf traits change in response to logging, we find that differences from old‐growth forest become more pronounced as logged forests increase in stature over time, suggesting exacerbated phosphorus limitation as forests recover.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-11-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-06-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-019-1128-0
Abstract: The identity of the dominant root-associated microbial symbionts in a forest determines the ability of trees to access limiting nutrients from atmospheric or soil pools
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-05-2016
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.2175
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-11-2021
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 02-05-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-12-2022
DOI: 10.1111/BTP.13190
Abstract: Recent advances in remote sensing such as airborne laser scanning have revolutionized our ability to accurately map forest canopy gaps, with huge implications for tracking forest dynamics at scale. However, few studies have explored how canopy gaps vary among forests at different successional stages following disturbances, such as those caused by logging. Moreover, most studies have focused exclusively on the size distribution of gaps, ignoring other key features such as their spatial distribution and shape. Here, we test a series of hypotheses about how the number, size, spatial configuration, and geometry of gaps vary across a logging disturbance gradient in Malaysian Borneo. As predicted, we found that recently logged forests had much higher gap fraction compared to old‐growth forests, a result of having both a greater total number of gaps and a higher proportion of large gaps. Regrowing forests, on the other hand, fell at the opposite end of the spectrum, being characterized by both fewer and smaller gaps compared to nearby old‐growth forests. Across all successional stages gaps were found to be spatially clustered. However, logging significantly diluted the degree of spatial aggregation and led to the formation of gaps with much more complex geometries. Our results showcase how logging and subsequent regrowth substantially alter not just the number and size of gaps in a forest, but also their spatial arrangement and shape. Linking these emergent patterns to their underlying processes is key to better understanding the impacts of human disturbance on the structure and function of tropical forests. Abstract in Malay is available with online material.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-06-2021
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13790
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-12-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-03-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-11-2020
Abstract: There is growing interest in the ecological value of set‐aside habitats around rivers in tropical agriculture. These riparian buffers typically comprise forest or other non‐production habitat, and are established to maintain water quality and hydrological processes, while also supporting bio ersity, ecosystem function and landscape connectivity. We investigated the capacity for riparian buffers to act as microclimatic refugia by combining field‐based measurements of temperature, humidity and dung beetle communities with remotely sensed data from LiDAR across an oil palm dominated landscape in Borneo. Riparian buffers offer a cool and humid habitat relative to surrounding oil palm plantations, with wider buffers characterised by conditions comparable to riparian sites in continuous logged forest. High vegetation quality and topographic sheltering were strongly associated with cooler and more humid microclimates in riparian habitats across the landscape. Variance in beetle ersity was also predicted by both proximity‐to‐edge and microclimatic conditions within the buffer, suggesting that narrow buffers lify the negative impacts that high temperatures have on bio ersity. Synthesis and applications . Widely legislated riparian buffer widths of 20–30 m each side of a river may provide drier and less humid microclimatic conditions than continuous forest. Adopting wider buffers and maintaining high vegetation quality will ensure set‐asides established for hydrological reasons bring co‐benefits for terrestrial bio ersity, both now, and in the face of anthropogenic climate change.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-09-2018
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13159
Abstract: In 2008, a group of conservation scientists compiled a list of 100 priority questions for the conservation of the world's bio ersity. However, now almost a decade later, no one has yet published a study gauging how much progress has been made in addressing these 100 high-priority questions in the peer-reviewed literature. We took a first step toward reexamining the 100 questions to identify key knowledge gaps that remain. Through a combination of a questionnaire and a literature review, we evaluated each question on the basis of 2 criteria: relevance and effort. We defined highly relevant questions as those that - if answered - would have the greatest impact on global bio ersity conservation and quantified effort based on the number of review publications addressing a particular question, which we used as a proxy for research effort. Using this approach, we identified a set of questions that, despite being perceived as highly relevant, have been the focus of relatively few review publications over the past 10 years. These questions covered a broad range of topics but predominantly tackled 3 major themes: conservation and management of freshwater ecosystems, role of societal structures in shaping interactions between people and the environment, and impacts of conservation interventions. We believe these questions represent important knowledge gaps that have received insufficient attention and may need to be prioritized in future research.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-09-2018
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14415
Abstract: Local-scale microclimatic conditions in forest understoreys play a key role in shaping the composition, ersity and function of these ecosystems. Consequently, understanding what drives variation in forest microclimate is critical to forecasting ecosystem responses to global change, particularly in the tropics where many species already operate close to their thermal limits and rapid land-use transformation is profoundly altering local environments. Yet our ability to characterize forest microclimate at ecologically meaningful scales remains limited, as understorey conditions cannot be directly measured from outside the canopy. To address this challenge, we established a network of microclimate sensors across a land-use intensity gradient spanning from old-growth forests to oil-palm plantations in Borneo. We then combined these observations with high-resolution airborne laser scanning data to characterize how topography and canopy structure shape variation in microclimate both locally and across the landscape. In the processes, we generated high-resolution microclimate surfaces spanning over 350 km
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 11-05-2020
Abstract: Late-spring frosts (LSFs) affect the performance of plants and animals across the world’s temperate and boreal zones, but despite their ecological and economic impact on agriculture and forestry, the geographic distribution and evolutionary impact of these frost events are poorly understood. Here, we analyze LSFs between 1959 and 2017 and the resistance strategies of Northern Hemisphere woody species to infer trees’ adaptations for minimizing frost damage to their leaves and to forecast forest vulnerability under the ongoing changes in frost frequencies. Trait values on leaf-out and leaf-freezing resistance come from up to 1,500 temperate and boreal woody species cultivated in common gardens. We find that areas in which LSFs are common, such as eastern North America, harbor tree species with cautious (late-leafing) leaf-out strategies. Areas in which LSFs used to be unlikely, such as broad-leaved forests and shrublands in Europe and Asia, instead harbor opportunistic tree species (quickly reacting to warming air temperatures). LSFs in the latter regions are currently increasing, and given species’ innate resistance strategies, we estimate that ∼35% of the European and ∼26% of the Asian temperate forest area, but only ∼10% of the North American, will experience increasing late-frost damage in the future. Our findings reveal region-specific changes in the spring-frost risk that can inform decision-making in land management, forestry, agriculture, and insurance policy.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 22-06-2018
Abstract: Abstract. Borneo contains some of the world's most bio erse and carbon-dense tropical forest, but this 750 000 km2 island has lost 62 % of its old-growth forests within the last 40 years. Efforts to protect and restore the remaining forests of Borneo hinge on recognizing the ecosystem services they provide, including their ability to store and sequester carbon. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is a remote sensing technology that allows forest structural properties to be captured in great detail across vast geographic areas. In recent years ALS has been integrated into statewide assessments of forest carbon in Neotropical and African regions, but not yet in Asia. For this to happen new regional models need to be developed for estimating carbon stocks from ALS in tropical Asia, as the forests of this region are structurally and compositionally distinct from those found elsewhere in the tropics. By combining ALS imagery with data from 173 permanent forest plots spanning the lowland rainforests of Sabah on the island of Borneo, we develop a simple yet general model for estimating forest carbon stocks using ALS-derived canopy height and canopy cover as input metrics. An advanced feature of this new model is the propagation of uncertainty in both ALS- and ground-based data, allowing uncertainty in hectare-scale estimates of carbon stocks to be quantified robustly. We show that the model effectively captures variation in aboveground carbon stocks across extreme disturbance gradients spanning tall dipterocarp forests and heavily logged regions and clearly outperforms existing ALS-based models calibrated for the tropics, as well as currently available satellite-derived products. Our model provides a simple, generalized and effective approach for mapping forest carbon stocks in Borneo and underpins ongoing efforts to safeguard and facilitate the restoration of its unique tropical forests.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-11-2020
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.15724
Abstract: The application of metabarcoding to environmental and invertebrate‐derived DNA (eDNA and iDNA) is a new and increasingly applied method for monitoring bio ersity across a erse range of habitats. This approach is particularly promising for s ling in the bio erse humid tropics, where rapid land‐use change for agriculture means there is a growing need to understand the conservation value of the remaining mosaic and degraded landscapes. Here we use iDNA from blood‐feeding leeches ( Haemadipsa picta ) to assess differences in mammalian ersity across a gradient of forest degradation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. We screened 557 in idual leeches for mammal DNA by targeting fragments of the 16S rRNA gene and detected 14 mammalian genera. We recorded lower mammal ersity in the most heavily degraded forest compared to higher quality twice logged forest. Although the accumulation curves of ersity estimates were comparable across these habitat types, ersity was higher in twice logged forest, with more taxa of conservation concern. In addition, our analysis revealed differences between the community recorded in the heavily logged forest and that of the twice logged forest. By revealing differences in mammal ersity across a human‐modified tropical landscape, our study demonstrates the value of iDNA as a noninvasive biomonitoring approach in conservation assessments.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-07-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.13357
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-06-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-019-1342-9
Abstract: In this Letter, a middle initial and additional affiliation have been added for author G. J. Nabuurs two statements have been added to the Supplementary Acknowledgements and a citation to the French National Institute has been added to the Methods see accompanying Author Correction for further details.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-04-2019
DOI: 10.1002/ECY.2650
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 23-03-2022
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-02-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S00267-012-9809-6
Abstract: Sandy coastlines are sensitive ecosystems where human activities can have considerable negative impacts. In particular, tr ling by beach visitors is a disturbance that affects dune vegetation both at the species and community level. In this study we assess the effects of the limitation of human tr ling on dune vegetation in a coastal protected area of Central Italy. We compare plant species ersity in two recently fenced sectors with that of an unfenced area (and therefore subject to human tr ling) using rarefaction curves and a ersity/dominance approach during a two year study period. Our results indicate that limiting human tr ling seems to be a key factor in driving changes in the plant ersity of dune systems. In 2007 the regression lines of species abundance as a function of rank showed steep slopes and high Y-intercept values in all sectors, indicating a comparable level of stress and dominance across the entire study site. On the contrary, in 2009 the regression lines of the two fenced sectors clearly erge from that of the open sector, showing less steep slopes. This change in the slopes of the tendency lines, evidenced by the ersity/dominance diagrams and related to an increase in species ersity, suggests the recovery of plant communities in the two fences between 2007 and 2009. In general, plant communities subject to tr ling tended to be poorer in species and less structured, since only dominant and tolerant plant species persisted. Furthermore, limiting tr ling appears to have produced positive changes in the dune vegetation assemblage after a period of only two years. These results are encouraging for the management of coastal dune systems. They highlight how a simple and cost-effective management strategy, based on passive recovery conservation measures (i.e., fence building), can be a quick (1–2 years) and effective method for improving and safeguarding the ersity of dune plant communities.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2021.152560
Abstract: Tree species ersity promotes multiple ecosystem functions and services. However, little is known about how above- and belowground resource availability (light, nutrients, and water) and resource uptake capacity mediate tree species ersity effects on aboveground wood productivity and temporal stability of productivity in European forests and whether the effects differ between humid and arid regions. We used the data from six major European forest types along a latitudinal gradient to address those two questions. We found that neither leaf area index (a proxy for light uptake capacity), nor fine root biomass (a proxy for soil nutrient and water uptake capacity) was related to tree species richness. Leaf area index did, however, enhance productivity, but negatively affected stability. Productivity was further promoted by soil nutrient availability, while stability was enhanced by fine root biomass. We only found a positive effect of tree species richness on productivity in arid regions and a positive effect on stability in humid regions. This indicates a possible disconnection between productivity and stability regarding tree species richness effects. In other words, the mechanisms that drive the positive effects of tree species richness on productivity do not per se benefit stability simultaneously. Our findings therefore suggest that tree species richness effects are largely mediated by differences in climatic conditions rather than by differences in above- and belowground resource availability and uptake capacity at the regional scales.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-07-2022
Abstract: How ecologists think about above‐ground forest structure and dynamics is fundamentally shaped by the data we can collect. This has historically been limited to what is possible with simple equipment such as a tape measure, which has often led to the three‐dimensional complexity of the form of trees being reduced to the diameter of a trunk, and perhaps the height of the tree. While simple and pragmatic, this trunk‐centric framework has some obvious limitations, as many of the major processes that influence how trees grow and interact with one another happen up in the canopy. For instance, the structural complexity of in idual trees' leaf and branch arrangements and how trees fill canopy space are direct drivers of in idual tree and whole‐forest productivity and dynamics, but remain poorly studied because they have traditionally been challenging to measure. However, recent advances in remote sensing and data processing are revolutionising our ability to accurately measure tree and forest structure from leaves to landscapes. Not only do we have access to more accurate data on structure, but we also have data spanning a much broader range of spatial, temporal and ecological scales, and new avenues of research that challenge how we understand forests are emerging. Synthesis . Here, we review the new opportunities these technologies bring us to measure the physical structure of trees and highlight the technological developments needed to maximise their value to the field of forest ecology. Today, perhaps for the first time, how ecologists choose to study above‐ground forest structure and dynamics is limited more by creativity than by what we can measure.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-11-2017
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12868
Abstract: Humans require multiple services from ecosystems, but it is largely unknown whether trade-offs between ecosystem functions prevent the realisation of high ecosystem multifunctionality across spatial scales. Here, we combined a comprehensive dataset (28 ecosystem functions measured on 209 forest plots) with a forest inventory dataset (105,316 plots) to extrapolate and map relationships between various ecosystem multifunctionality measures across Europe. These multifunctionality measures reflected different management objectives, related to timber production, climate regulation and bio ersity conservation/recreation. We found that trade-offs among them were rare across Europe, at both local and continental scales. This suggests a high potential for 'win-win' forest management strategies, where overall multifunctionality is maximised. However, across sites, multifunctionality was on average 45.8-49.8% below maximum levels and not necessarily highest in protected areas. Therefore, using one of the most comprehensive assessments so far, our study suggests a high but largely unrealised potential for management to promote multifunctional forests.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-12-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13231
Publisher: Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre Oy (REABIC)
Date: 2020
Publisher: IEEE
Date: 26-09-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-10-2022
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.14123
Abstract: High-resolution monitoring is fundamental to understand ecosystems dynamics in an era of global change and bio ersity declines. While real-time and automated monitoring of abiotic components has been possible for some time, monitoring biotic components-for ex le, in idual behaviours and traits, and species abundance and distribution-is far more challenging. Recent technological advancements offer potential solutions to achieve this through: (i) increasingly affordable high-throughput recording hardware, which can collect rich multidimensional data, and (ii) increasingly accessible artificial intelligence approaches, which can extract ecological knowledge from large datasets. However, automating the monitoring of facets of ecological communities via such technologies has primarily been achieved at low spatiotemporal resolutions within limited steps of the monitoring workflow. Here, we review existing technologies for data recording and processing that enable automated monitoring of ecological communities. We then present novel frameworks that combine such technologies, forming fully automated pipelines to detect, track, classify and count multiple species, and record behavioural and morphological traits, at resolutions which have previously been impossible to achieve. Based on these rapidly developing technologies, we illustrate a solution to one of the greatest challenges in ecology: the ability to rapidly generate high-resolution, multidimensional and standardised data across complex ecologies.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-10-2014
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12382
Abstract: Both theory and evidence suggest that ersity stabilises productivity in herbaceous plant communities through a combination of overyielding, species asynchrony and favourable species interactions. However, whether these same processes also promote stability in forest ecosystems has never been tested. Using tree ring data from permanent forest plots across Europe, we show that aboveground wood production is inherently more stable through time in mixed-species forests. Faster rates of wood production (i.e. overyielding), decreased year-to-year variation in productivity through asynchronous responses of species to climate, and greater temporal stability in the growth rates of in idual tree species all contributed strongly to stabilising productivity in mixed stands. Together, these findings reveal the central role of ersity in stabilising productivity in forests, and bring us closer to understanding the processes which enable erse forests to remain productive under a wide range of environmental conditions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-06-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16302
Abstract: Data capturing multiple axes of tree size and shape, such as a tree's stem diameter, height and crown size, underpin a wide range of ecological research—from developing and testing theory on forest structure and dynamics, to estimating forest carbon stocks and their uncertainties, and integrating remote sensing imagery into forest monitoring programmes. However, these data can be surprisingly hard to come by, particularly for certain regions of the world and for specific taxonomic groups, posing a real barrier to progress in these fields. To overcome this challenge, we developed the Tallo database, a collection of 498,838 georeferenced and taxonomically standardized records of in idual trees for which stem diameter, height and/or crown radius have been measured. These data were collected at 61,856 globally distributed sites, spanning all major forested and non‐forested biomes. The majority of trees in the database are identified to species (88%), and collectively Tallo includes data for 5163 species distributed across 1453 genera and 187 plant families. The database is publicly archived under a CC‐BY 4.0 licence and can be access from: 0.5281/zenodo.6637599 . To demonstrate its value, here we present three case studies that highlight how the Tallo database can be used to address a range of theoretical and applied questions in ecology—from testing the predictions of metabolic scaling theory, to exploring the limits of tree allometric plasticity along environmental gradients and modelling global variation in maximum attainable tree height. In doing so, we provide a key resource for field ecologists, remote sensing researchers and the modelling community working together to better understand the role that trees play in regulating the terrestrial carbon cycle.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-05-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2021
Abstract: Forest degradation through logging is pervasive throughout the world's tropical forests, leading to changes in the three‐dimensional canopy structure that have profound consequences for wildlife, microclimate and ecosystem functioning. Quantifying these structural changes is fundamental to understanding the impact of degradation, but is challenging in dense, structurally complex forest canopies. We exploited discrete‐return airborne LiDAR surveys across a gradient of logging intensity in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, and assessed how selective logging had affected canopy structure (Plant Area Index, PAI, and its vertical distribution within the canopy). LiDAR products compared well to independent, analogue models of canopy structure produced from detailed ground‐based inventories undertaken in forest plots, demonstrating the potential for airborne LiDAR to quantify the structural impacts of forest degradation at landscape scale, even in some of the world's tallest and most structurally complex tropical forests. Plant Area Index estimates across the plot network exhibited a strong linear relationship with stem basal area ( R 2 = 0.95). After at least 11–14 years of recovery, PAI was ~28% lower in moderately logged plots and ~52% lower in heavily logged plots than that in old‐growth forest plots. These reductions in PAI were associated with near‐complete lack of trees ‐m tall, which had not been fully compensated for by increasing plant area lower in the canopy. This structural change drives a marked reduction in the ersity of canopy environments, with the deep, dark understorey conditions characteristic of old‐growth forests far less prevalent in logged sites. Full canopy recovery is likely to take decades. Synthesis and applications . Effective management and restoration of tropical forests requires detailed monitoring of the forest and its environment. We demonstrate that airborne LiDAR can effectively map the canopy architecture of the complex tropical forests of Borneo, capturing the three‐dimensional impact of degradation on canopy structure at landscape scales, therefore facilitating efforts to restore and conserve these ecosystems.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-06-2014
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12622
Abstract: Established forests currently function as a major carbon sink, sequestering as woody biomass about 26% of global fossil fuel emissions. Whether forests continue to act as a global sink will depend on many factors, including the response of aboveground wood production (AWP MgC ha(-1 ) yr(-1) ) to climate change. Here, we explore how AWP in New Zealand's natural forests is likely to change. We start by statistically modelling the present-day growth of 97 199 in idual trees within 1070 permanently marked inventory plots as a function of tree size, competitive neighbourhood and climate. We then use these growth models to identify the factors that most influence present-day AWP and to predict responses to medium-term climate change under different assumptions. We find that if the composition and structure of New Zealand's forests were to remain unchanged over the next 30 years, then AWP would increase by 6-23%, primarily as a result of physiological responses to warmer temperatures (with no appreciable effect of changing rainfall). However, if warmth-requiring trees were able to migrate into currently cooler areas and if denser canopies were able to form, then a different AWP response is likely: forests growing in the cool mountain environments would show a 30% increase in AWP, while those in the lowland would hardly respond (on average, -3% when mean annual temperature exceeds 8.0 °C). We conclude that response of wood production to anthropogenic climate change is not only dependent on the physiological responses of in idual trees, but is highly contingent on whether forests adjust in composition and structure.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-03-2021
Abstract: Characterizing how ecosystems are responding to rapid environmental change has become a major focus of ecological research. The empirical study of ecological stability, which aims to quantify these ecosystem responses, is therefore more relevant than ever. Based on a historical review and bibliometric mapping of the field of ecological stability, we show that the two main schools relating to the study of stability—one focusing on systems close to their equilibrium and the other on non‐equilibrium behaviour—have developed in parallel leading to ergence in both concepts and definitions. We synthesize and expand previous frameworks and capitalize on the latest developments in the field to build towards an integrated framework by elaborating the overarching concept of ecological stability and its properties. Finally, the broad applicability of our work is demonstrated in two empirical cases. Synthesis . With rapidly changing environmental conditions, the stability of ecosystems has become a major focus of ecological research. Still, the concept of stability remains a major source of confusion and disagreement among ecologists. The conceptual framework presented here provides a basis to integrate currently erging views on the study of ecological stability.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-03-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-020-20811-Y
Abstract: The past 40 years in Southeast Asia have seen about 50% of lowland rainforests converted to oil palm and other plantations, and much of the remaining forest heavily logged. Little is known about how fragmentation influences recovery and whether climate change will h er restoration. Here, we use repeat airborne LiDAR surveys spanning the hot and dry 2015-16 El Niño Southern Oscillation event to measure canopy height growth across 3,300 ha of regenerating tropical forests spanning a logging intensity gradient in Malaysian Borneo. We show that the drought led to increased leaf shedding and branch fall. Short forest, regenerating after heavy logging, continued to grow despite higher evaporative demand, except when it was located close to oil palm plantations. Edge effects from the plantations extended over 300 metres into the forests. Forest growth on hilltops and slopes was particularly impacted by the combination of fragmentation and drought, but even riparian forests located within 40 m of oil palm plantations lost canopy height during the drought. Our results suggest that small patches of logged forest within plantation landscapes will be slow to recover, particularly as ENSO events are becoming more frequent.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-11-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-09-2019
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.5627
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-03-2020
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 14-10-2016
Abstract: The relationship between bio ersity and ecosystem productivity has been explored in detail in herbaceous vegetation, but patterns in forests are far less well understood. Liang et al. have amassed a global forest data set from ,000 s le plots in 44 countries. A positive and consistent relationship can be discerned between tree ersity and ecosystem productivity at landscape, country, and ecoregion scales. On average, a 10% loss in bio ersity leads to a 3% loss in productivity. This means that the economic value of maintaining bio ersity for the sake of global forest productivity is more than fivefold greater than global conservation costs. Science , this issue p. 196
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-08-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-022-01831-X
Abstract: The latitudinal ersity gradient (LDG) is one of the most recognized global patterns of species richness exhibited across a wide range of taxa. Numerous hypotheses have been proposed in the past two centuries to explain LDG, but rigorous tests of the drivers of LDGs have been limited by a lack of high-quality global species richness data. Here we produce a high-resolution (0.025° × 0.025°) map of local tree species richness using a global forest inventory database with in idual tree information and local biophysical characteristics from ~1.3 million s le plots. We then quantify drivers of local tree species richness patterns across latitudes. Generally, annual mean temperature was a dominant predictor of tree species richness, which is most consistent with the metabolic theory of bio ersity (MTB). However, MTB underestimated LDG in the tropics, where high species richness was also moderated by topographic, soil and anthropogenic factors operating at local scales. Given that local landscape variables operate synergistically with bioclimatic factors in shaping the global LDG pattern, we suggest that MTB be extended to account for co-limitation by subordinate drivers.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-12-2015
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Tommaso Jucker.