Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Functional leaf trait diversity of 10 tree species in congolese secondary tropical forest
Journal of Tropical Forest Science, Volume 26, No. 3, Year 2014
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
The Congo Basin has a large secondary forest area. Nevertheless, global plant trait databases lack substantial data from this biome and functional trait diversity is largely unknown. We analysed a unique leaf trait dataset (specific leaf area, nutrient and isotope concentrations) collected from 88 individual trees belonging to 10 different species in tropical lowland forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The trait data were found to be consistent with global datasets. δ15N was the only trait significantly influenced by plot location. For all other leaf traits, shade tolerance was a significant factor. The species factor was significant within each shade tolerance class. This shows that shade tolerance is an important but not exclusive factor determining functional diversity. Tree height had significant influence on δ13C, specific leaf area and area-based nutrient concentrations. Higher individual trees had thicker sun-adapted leaves, regardless of the species. A principal component analysis (PCA) resulted in three significant ordination axes: leaf-thickness, N-content and P-content. By hierarchical clustering of the PCA scores, four functional groups were distinguished. This showed that species with diverse strategies coexisted in the ecosystem. © Forest Research Institute Malaysia.
Authors & Co-Authors
Verbeeck, Hans
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Betehndoh, E.
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Maes, Wouter Hendrik
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Hubau, Wannes
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Belgium, Tervuren
Royal Museum for Central Africa
Kearsley, Elizabeth
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Buggenhout, L.
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Hufkens, Koen
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Huygens, Dries
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Chile, Valdivia
Universidad Austral de Chile
van Acker, Joris C.R.
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Beeckman, Hans
Belgium, Tervuren
Royal Museum for Central Africa
Mweru, Jean Pierre Mate
Democratic Republic Congo, Kisangani
Université de Kisangani
Boeckx, Pascal
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Steppe, Kathy
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Statistics
Citations: 13
Authors: 13
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
ISSN:
01281283
Study Locations
Congo