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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
What controls tropical forest architecture? Testing environmental, structural and floristic drivers
Global Ecology and Biogeography, Volume 21, No. 12, Year 2012
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Description
Aim: To test the extent to which the vertical structure of tropical forests is determined by environment, forest structure or biogeographical history. Location: Pan-tropical. Methods: Using height and diameter data from 20,497 trees in 112 non-contiguous plots, asymptotic maximum height (H AM) and height-diameter relationships were computed with nonlinear mixed effects (NLME) models to: (1) test for environmental and structural causes of differences among plots, and (2) test if there were continental differences once environment and structure were accounted for; persistence of differences may imply the importance of biogeography for vertical forest structure. NLME analyses for floristic subsets of data (only/excluding Fabaceae and only/excluding Dipterocarpaceae individuals) were used to examine whether family-level patterns revealed biogeographical explanations of cross-continental differences. Results: H AM and allometry were significantly different amongst continents. H AM was greatest in Asian forests (58.3 ± 7.5m, 95% CI), followed by forests in Africa (45.1 ± 2.6m), America (35.8 ± 6.0m) and Australia (35.0 ± 7.4m), and height-diameter relationships varied similarly; for a given diameter, stems were tallest in Asia, followed by Africa, America and Australia. Precipitation seasonality, basal area, stem density, solar radiation and wood density each explained some variation in allometry and H AM yet continental differences persisted even after these were accounted for. Analyses using floristic subsets showed that significant continental differences in H AM and allometry persisted in all cases. Main conclusions: Tree allometry and maximum height are altered by environmental conditions, forest structure and wood density. Yet, even after accounting for these, tropical forest architecture varies significantly from continent to continent. The greater stature of tropical forests in Asia is not directly determined by the dominance of the family Dipterocarpaceae, as on average non-dipterocarps are equally tall. We hypothesise that dominant large-statured families create conditions in which only tall species can compete, thus perpetuating a forest dominated by tall individuals from diverse families. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Banin, Lindsay F.
Unknown Affiliation
Feldpausch, Ted R.
Unknown Affiliation
Phillips, Oliver L.
Unknown Affiliation
Baker, Timothy R.
Unknown Affiliation
Lloyd, Jon J.
Unknown Affiliation
Affum-Baffoe, Kofi
Unknown Affiliation
Arets, Eric J.M.M.
Unknown Affiliation
Berry, Nicholas J.
Unknown Affiliation
Bradford, Matt G.
Unknown Affiliation
Brienen, Roel J.W.
Unknown Affiliation
Davies, Stuart James
Unknown Affiliation
Drescher, Michael
Unknown Affiliation
Higuchi, N.
Unknown Affiliation
Hilbert, David W.
Unknown Affiliation
Hladik, Annette
Unknown Affiliation
Iida, Yoshiko
Unknown Affiliation
Salim, Kamariah Abu
Unknown Affiliation
Kassim, Abd Rahman
Unknown Affiliation
King, D. A.
Unknown Affiliation
Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela
Unknown Affiliation
Metcalfe, Daniel B.
Unknown Affiliation
Nilus, Reuben
Unknown Affiliation
Peh, Kelvin S.H.
Unknown Affiliation
Reitsma, Jan Meindert
Unknown Affiliation
Sonké, Bonaventure
Unknown Affiliation
Taedoumg, Hermann Evariste
Unknown Affiliation
Tan, Sylvester Kheng San
Unknown Affiliation
White, Lee J.T.
Unknown Affiliation
Wöll, Hannsjörg
Unknown Affiliation
Lewis, Simon L.
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 196
Authors: 30
Affiliations: 26
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1466-8238.2012.00778.x
ISSN:
1466822X
e-ISSN:
14668238
Research Areas
Cancer