Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in Andean forests: Results from a large-scale plot network

Malizia, Agustina; Blundo, Cecilia; Carilla, Julieta; Acosta, Oriana Osinaga; Cuesta, Francisco; Duque, Álvaro; Aguirre, Nikolay; Mendoza, Zhofre Aguirre; Ataroff, Michele; Báez, Selene; Calderón-Loor, Marco; Cayola, Leslie; Cayuela, Luis; Ceballos, Sergio Javier; Cedillo, Hugo; Rios, W. Farfan; Feeley, Kenneth J.; Fuentes, Alfredo; Gámez, Luis E.; Grau, Ricardo; Homeier, Juergen; Jadán, Oswaldo; Llambí, Luis Daniel; Rivera, María Isabel Loza; Macía, Manuel J.; Malhi, Yadvinder; Malizia, Lucio R.; Peralvo, Manuel; Pinto, Esteban; Tello, Sebastián J.; Silman, Miles R.; Young, Kenneth R.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0231553

Cited by 70 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Elevation has been largely recognized a good composite variable of temperature and precipitation variability, but also climatic extremes 36 , atmospheric pressure and edaphic conditions 37 in forests. On the other hand, elevation has been commonly used as an integrative environmental proxy explaining gradients of species richness, tree density and forest dynamics at local to regional scales [38][39][40][41] . We tested the roles of environmental variables other than elevation in a sensitivity analysis, namely elevation (second-order polynomial), climatological net primary productivity (NPP, Miami model), cation exchange capacity (CEC) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate reverses directionality in the richness–abundance relationship across the World’s main forest biomes

et al. 2020

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More tree species can increase the carbon storage capacity of forests (here referred to as the more species hypothesis) through increased tree productivity and tree abundance resulting from complementarity, but they can also be the consequence of increased tree abundance through increased available energy (more individuals hypothesis). To test these two contrasting hypotheses, we analyse the most plausible pathways in the richness-abundance relationship and its stability along global climatic gradients. We show that positive effect of species richness on tree abundance only prevails in eight of the twenty-three forest regions considered in this study. In the other forest regions, any benefit from having more species is just as likely (9 regions) or even less likely (6 regions) than the effects of having more individuals. We demonstrate that diversity effects prevail in the most productive environments, and abundance effects become dominant towards the most limiting conditions. These findings can contribute to refining cost-effective mitigation strategies based on fostering carbon storage through increased tree diversity. Specifically, in less productive environments, mitigation measures should promote abundance of locally adapted and stress tolerant tree species instead of increasing species richness.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate reverses directionality in the richness–abundance relationship across the World’s main forest biomes

et al. 2020

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“…The abundance of species with high wood specific gravity may contribute to the high AGB stocks of subtropical forests. Tree species composition (and therefore community‐mean WSG) differed between tropical and subtropical Andean forests, due to the influence of different floristic regions (Malizia et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest biomass stocks and dynamics across the subtropical Andes

Blundo

Malizia

et al. 2020

Biotropica

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Forest biomass plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. Therefore, understanding the factors that control forest biomass stocks and dynamics is a key challenge in the context of global change. We analyzed data from 60 forest plots in the subtropical Andes (22–27.5° S and 300–2300 m asl) to describe patterns and identify drivers of aboveground biomass (AGB) stocks and dynamics. We found that AGB stocks remained roughly constant with elevation due to compensating changes in basal area (which increased with elevation) and plot‐mean wood specific gravity (which decreased with elevation). AGB gain and loss rates both decreased with elevation and were explained mainly by temperature and rainfall (positive effects on both AGB gains and losses). AGB gain was also correlated with forest‐use history and weakly correlated with forest structure. Mean annual temperature and rainfall showed minor effects on AGB stocks and AGB change (gains minus losses) over recent decades. Although AGB change was only weakly correlated with climate variables, increases in AGB gains and losses with increasing rainfall—together with observed increases in rainfall in the subtropical Andes—suggest that these forests may become increasingly dynamic in the future. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material

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“…With increasing elevation in mountains, decreasing temperatures and soil fertility expose plants to an increasingly unfavorable environment as reflected by less species-rich and less productive forests 15 – 17 . This should filter out species lacking appropriate adaptation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Leaf trait variation in species-rich tropical Andean forests

Homeier

Seeler

Pierick

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Screening species-rich communities for the variation in functional traits along environmental gradients may help understanding the abiotic drivers of plant performance in a mechanistic way. We investigated tree leaf trait variation along an elevation gradient (1000–3000 m) in highly diverse neotropical montane forests to test the hypothesis that elevational trait change reflects a trend toward more conservative resource use strategies at higher elevations, with interspecific trait variation decreasing and trait integration increasing due to environmental filtering. Analysis of trait variance partitioning across the 52 tree species revealed for most traits a dominant influence of phylogeny, except for SLA, leaf thickness and foliar Ca, where elevation was most influential. The community-level means of SLA, foliar N and Ca, and foliar N/P ratio decreased with elevation, while leaf thickness and toughness increased. The contribution of intraspecific variation was substantial at the community level in most traits, yet smaller than the interspecific component. Both within-species and between-species trait variation did not change systematically with elevation. High phylogenetic diversity, together with small-scale edaphic heterogeneity, cause large interspecific leaf trait variation in these hyper-diverse Andean forests. Trait network analysis revealed increasing leaf trait integration with elevation, suggesting stronger environmental filtering at colder and nutrient-poorer sites.

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Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in Andean forests: Results from a large-scale plot network

Cited by 70 publications

References 69 publications

Climate reverses directionality in the richness–abundance relationship across the World’s main forest biomes

Climate reverses directionality in the richness–abundance relationship across the World’s main forest biomes

Forest biomass stocks and dynamics across the subtropical Andes

Leaf trait variation in species-rich tropical Andean forests

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