Autogenic regulation and resilience in tropical dry forest

Muñoz, Rodrigo; Bongers, Frans; Rozendaal, Danaë M. A.; González, Edgar J.; Dupuy, Juan Manuel; Meave, Jorge A.

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13749

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 97 publications

(110 reference statements)

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“…In fact, the latter metric suggests a nearly circular pattern in the trajectories of most plots in the ordination space, irrespective of substrate. This observation implies a highly stable floristic composition, as is usually expected in old-growth forests under stable climatic regimes (Muñoz et al, 2021). The lack of differences in forest dynamics, even on these substrates associated with clearly dissimilar abiotic environments, is difficult to explain.…”

Section: Species Composition Differs Between Substrates But Compositi...mentioning

confidence: 88%

“…To this end, we analyzed the individual 10.3389/ffgc.2023.1082207 tree trajectories over time (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020) and determined, on an annual basis, what demographic process a given individual was undergoing: either recruitment, survival, or death. Based on these demographic classification, we determined the contribution of an individual toward a specific state variable (positive, negative, or null), and then added those change rates per demographic process, year, and plot (Muñoz et al, 2021). We performed this procedure for all four state variables analyzed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Good knowledge on tropical forest dynamics is essential for several purposes, ranging from the design of sound forest management practices to anticipating their responses to climatic changes (McDowell et al, 2020). At present, there is a sizeable number of studies on tropical moist and rain forest dynamics (Grubb, 1996;Sheil et al, 2000;Condit et al, 2004;Lewis et al, 2004;Laurance et al, 2009), but our understanding of tropical dry forest (TDF) dynamics lags considerably behind (Siyum, 2020;Muñoz et al, 2021). This is unfortunate, as TDFs account for more than half of the forest cover across the tropics and represent the tropical ecosystem most threatened by human activities (Janzen, 1988;Miles et al, 2006;Chaturvedi et al, 2017;Hasnat and Hossain, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lithological substrates influence tropical dry forest structure, diversity, and composition, but not its dynamics

Muñoz

Enríquez²,

Bongers³

et al. 2023

Front. For. Glob. Change

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IntroductionTropical dry forests (TDF) are not only the most widespread tropical forest type but also the most threatened forest ecosystem worldwide. Yet, because their dynamics have been insufficiently studied, our knowledge about the factors responsible for the spatial and temporal variability in TDF dynamics remains very limited. In this study, we aimed (1) to assess the effects of two lithological substrates on TDF structure, diversity, and species composition, and (2) to determine whether and how these substrates affect temporal dynamics on TDF attributes.MethodsWe used information gathered through a 12-year long annual monitoring of 14 old-growth TDF permanent plots in southern Mexico, seven of which were established on limestone and seven on phyllite. Previous work shows that limestone-derived soils have higher humidity, conductivity, and phosphorous and calcium contents, but lower nitrogen content.ResultsTDF structure and diversity attributes were consistently higher on limestone TDF, while canopy height was higher on phyllite TDF. By contrast, temporal variation in TDF attributes, demographic rates (recruitment, growth, and mortality) and attribute residence times were indistinguishable between substrates. We also found a strong differentiation of species composition between substrates, yet substrates did not influence the temporal behavior of composition.DiscussionOur results suggest that limestone is a more favorable environment for TDF development (soil-effects mechanism), but the flora of the forest on phyllite seems to be better adapted to cope with harsher environmental conditions (composition-effects mechanism), which counterbalances the environmental advantage of limestone, ultimately resulting in spatially homogeneous TDF dynamics at the landscape level. Future studies should examine the role of functional attributes on old-growth TDF dynamics, as this will allow a better understanding of the impacts of extreme climatic events on forest attributes and their dynamics, as well as to foresee potential ecosystem state shifts and tipping points.

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Section: Species Composition Differs Between Substrates But Compositi...mentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lithological substrates influence tropical dry forest structure, diversity, and composition, but not its dynamics

Muñoz

Enríquez²,

Bongers³

et al. 2023

Front. For. Glob. Change

Self Cite

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“…However, for succession processes that last several tens or hundreds of years, it is difficult to cover the entire succession process with this approach, although some longitudinal studies have followed plant succession for more than 25 years (e.g., Kardol et al 2010, Martínez-Ramos et al 2021b, Prach et al 2021. This long-term longitudinal approach has enabled new analyses, for example, the role of autogenic regulation in tropical forest resilience (Muñoz et al 2021).…”

Section: You Cannot Step Into the Same River Twice: Analyzing Vegetat...mentioning

confidence: 99%

From vegetation ecology to vegetation science: current trends and perspectives

et al. 2022

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Vegetation is a key biosphere component to supporting biodiversity on Earth, and its maintenance and proper functioning are essential to guarantee the well-being of humankind. From a broad perspective, a fundamental goal of vegetation ecology is to understand the roles of abiotic and biotic factors that affect vegetation structure, distribution, diversity, and functioning, considering the relevant spatial and temporal scales. In this contribution, we reflect on the difficulties and opportunities to accomplish this grand objective by reviewing recent advances in the main areas of vegetation ecology. We highlight theoretical and methodological challenges and point to alternatives to overcome them. Our hope is that this contribution will motivate the development of future research efforts that will strengthen the field of vegetation ecology. Ultimately, vegetation science will continue to provide a strong knowledge basis and multiple theoretical and technological tools to better face the current global environmental crisis and to address the urgent need to sustainably conserve the vegetation cover of our planet in the Anthropocene.

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“…The authors use 20 different resilience, resistance and recovery indices comparing secondary growth before and after disturbance. Muñoz et al (2021) combine demographic and community data to show that the resilience of tropical forests is driven by autogenic regulation. The authors use long-term community data from old-growth and secondary forests in southern Mexico to analyse three key state variables (basal area, tree density and species richness), their annual rates of change and their underlying demographic processes (recruitment, growth and mortality).…”

Section: Integrating Multiple Levels Of Biological Organisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconciling resilience across ecological systems, species and subdisciplines

et al. 2021

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Resilience has emerged as a key concept in ecology and conservation biology to understand and predict ecosystem responses to global change. In its broadest sense, resilience describes the ability of an ecosystem to resist, and recover from, a disturbance. However, the application of such a concept in different subdisciplines of ecology and in different study systems has resulted in a wide disparity of definitions and ways of quantifying resilience. This Special Feature, which spans the Journal of Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology and Functional Ecology, provides an overview of how ecologists define, quantify, compare and predict resilience across different study systems. The 29 contributions to this Special Feature show the broad range of approaches used by ecologists to study resilience. Almost half of the contributions (48%) study resilience at the community level, with a 30% of them studying resilience at multiple levels of biological organisation. A large proportion of these articles are observational (42%), experimental (14%) or a combination of both (17%) while a 17% utilise theoretical or computational approaches. Although 38%, 21% and 14% of the studies were based solely on plants, animals or micro‐organisms, respectively, 17% of them incorporated these multiple trophic levels. Synthesis. A unified ecological understanding of resilience across systems and taxa requires a trans‐disciplinary consensus on what resilience actually is and how to best measure it. Here, we provide an overview of how ecologists define, quantify, compare and predict resilience across different ecological systems and subdisciplines, with reference to the diverse approaches used by contributions to this Special Feature. We identify four key recommendations to harmonise future efforts in resilience research: (a) define resilience using existing theoretical frameworks; (b) use common and comparable metrics to measure resilience; (c) clearly contextualise and define the pre‐ and post‐disturbance state of the ecological system and (d) consider explicitly the disturbance type and regime impacting the system.

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Autogenic regulation and resilience in tropical dry forest

Abstract: Autogenic regulation and resilience in tropical dry forest.

Cited by 11 publications

References 97 publications

Lithological substrates influence tropical dry forest structure, diversity, and composition, but not its dynamics

Lithological substrates influence tropical dry forest structure, diversity, and composition, but not its dynamics

From vegetation ecology to vegetation science: current trends and perspectives

Reconciling resilience across ecological systems, species and subdisciplines

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