Cyclone Tolerance in New World Arecaceae: Biogeographic Variation and Abiotic Natural Selection

Griffith, M. Patrick; Noblick, Larry R.; Dowe, John Leslie; Husby, Chad E.; Calonje, Michael

doi:10.1093/aob/mcn132

Cited by 29 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This deduction is supported by recent studies comparing height-diameter tree allometries across the tropics, which have shown that areas exposed to frequent strong winds, such as New Caledonia (Blanchard et al, 2016) or Dominica (Thomas, Martin, & Mycroft, 2015), have lower growth in height relative to diameter. These changes in tree allometry could result from repeated pruning of crown tips by TCs (Brokaw & Grear, 1991) or from evolutionary adaptations to TCs, which have been suggested to explain differential responses of neotropical palms (Areacaeae) to TCs (Griffith, Noblick, Dowe, Husby, & Calonje, 2008). The latter would imply TCs to have important evolutionary influences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globally consistent impact of tropical cyclones on the structure of tropical and subtropical forests

et al. 2018

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Tropical cyclones (TCs) are large‐scale disturbances that regularly impact tropical forests. Although long‐term impacts of TCs on forest structure have been proposed, a global test of the relationship between forest structure and TC frequency and intensity is lacking. We test on a pantropical scale whether TCs shape the structure of tropical and subtropical forests in the long term. We compiled forest structural features (stem density, basal area, mean canopy height and maximum tree size) for plants ≥10 cm in diameter at breast height from published forest inventory data (438 plots ≥0.1 ha, pooled into 250 1 × 1‐degree grid cells) located in dry and humid forests. We computed maps of cyclone frequency and energy released by cyclones per unit area (power dissipation index, PDI) using a high‐resolution historical database of TCs trajectories and intensities. We then tested the relationship between PDI and forest structural features using multivariate linear models, controlling for climate (mean annual temperature and water availability) and human disturbance (human foot print). Forests subject to frequent cyclones (at least one TCs per decade) and high PDI exhibited higher stem density and basal area, and lower canopy heights. However, the relationships between PDI and basal area or canopy height were partially masked by lower water availability and higher human foot print in tropical dry forests. Synthesis. Our results provide the first evidence that tropical cyclones have a long‐term impact on the structure of tropical and subtropical forests in a globally consistent way. The strong relationship between power dissipation index and stem density suggests that frequent and intense tropical cyclones reduce canopy cover through defoliation and tree mortality, encouraging higher regeneration and turnover of biomass. The projected increase in intensity and poleward extension of tropical cyclones due to anthropogenic climate change may therefore have important and lasting impacts on the structure and dynamics of forests in the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Globally consistent impact of tropical cyclones on the structure of tropical and subtropical forests

et al. 2018

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“…Adequate genetic capture is necessary for sustainable ex situ conservation collections, but sampling guidelines based on studies such as the current one must also take into account planned redundancy to mitigate against losses through reduced seed viability (Kay et al 2011) and other losses (Griffith et al 2008). A recent thread in the literature discusses ways in which collecting protocols insure against loss or drift (Guja et al 2015;Guerrant et al 2015;.…”

Section: Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Will the same ex situ protocols give similar results for closely related species?

Griffith

Calonje

Meerow³

et al. 2017

Biodivers Conserv

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Conservation of imperiled plant species often requires ex situ (offsite) living collections. Protocols for developing these collections most often emphasize sampling depth, but little is known about the genetics of such collections. This study compares how well a single collecting protocol can capture the diversity in wild populations of two closely related species. We selected two exemplar species, bay rush (Zamia lucayana) and sinkhole cycad (Zamia decumbens), based on similarities and differences that allow for rigorous comparison, including geographic isolation and reproductive factors. For each species, we compared in situ plants to ex situ plants via the same panel of 10 microsatellite markers. Genetic distance analysis shows high fidelity of the ex situ collections to their in situ source populations and sub-populations. Structured resampling of allele capture from the in situ populations by the ex situ collections shows that allele capture increases as number of ex situ plants maintained increases, but with a diminishing rate of increase. Difference in the rate of allele capture between the two species was significant at the 123Biodivers Conserv (2017) 26:2951-2966 DOI 10.1007/s10531-017-1400-2 a = 0.1 level, (p = 0.097) but not at the a = 0.05 level. At larger collection sizes, the difference in rate of allele capture showed a high practical significance (d = 5.41). These data illustrate that a unified collecting protocol can achieve similar allele capture among related species, but also that geographic and reproductive factors can influence the rate of allele capture.

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“…Charles Darwin's early works on geology and evolution, such as Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs (1842) and Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859), were solely observational and synthetic, with essentially no experimentation, but are still some of the-best respected works in western science. Natural experiments still matter, such as determining the role of natural selection in the face of hurricanes (Griffith et al 2008). Much indigenous science is the same way, relying on natural experiments in lieu of reductionist approaches that are often considered disrespectful of the animal being experimented on.…”

Section: What Is Science?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous sciences are not pseudosciences

Gorelick

2014

IEE

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Given how difficult it is to define science, it is surprising how readily many people consider Indigenous sciences to be pseudoscience. I review definitions of indigenous science, as well as science and pseudoscience. I then proffer that either western or indigenous science is any broadly Bayesian undertaking, i.e. testing and updating hypotheses (prior and posterior probabilities) based on observed data. Western and indigenous sciences simply have different priors, ask different questions, and sometimes use different data, hence they may make very different predictions about very different phenomena. Indigenous sciences seem to have no more myth than do western sciences. I provide examples of where western and indigenous sciences may provide complementary approaches for understanding ecology and evolution.

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Cyclone Tolerance in New World Arecaceae: Biogeographic Variation and Abiotic Natural Selection

Abstract: Variation in cyclone tolerance in New World Arecaceae correlates with biogeography, and is not confounded with phylogeny. These results suggest natural selection of cyclone tolerance in cyclone-prone areas.

Cited by 29 publications

References 38 publications

Globally consistent impact of tropical cyclones on the structure of tropical and subtropical forests

Globally consistent impact of tropical cyclones on the structure of tropical and subtropical forests

Will the same ex situ protocols give similar results for closely related species?

Indigenous sciences are not pseudosciences

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