The relative importance of above- versus belowground competition for tree growth during early succession of a tropical moist forest

Breugel, Michiel van; Breugel, Paulo van; Jansen, Patrick A.; Martı́nez-Ramos, Miguel; Bongers, Frans

doi:10.1007/s11258-011-0003-3

Cited by 43 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Traits central to the leaf economics spectrum are important indicators of changing drivers of species dominance, because above‐ground competition for light is more important than below‐ground competition for water and nutrients at early stages of secondary tropical forest succession (van Breugel et al . ). In our study sites, SLA, leaf area, leaf thickness and chlorophyll content of the dominant species became more divergent with increasing stand development (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Changing drivers of species dominance during tropical forest succession

et al. 2014

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Summary1. Deterministic theories predict that local communities assemble from a regional species pool based on niche differences, thus by plant functional adaptations. We tested whether functional traits can also explain patterns in species dominance among the suite of co-occurring species. 2. We predicted that along a gradient of secondary succession, the main driver of species dominance changes from environmental filtering in the relatively harsh (dry and hot) early successional conditions, towards increased competitive interactions and limiting similarity in later successional conditions (when light is limited). 3. We used the Kurtosis (K) (a measure of peakedness) of the functional trait distribution of secondary forest communities in high-diversity tropical rain forest in Chiapas, Mexico. The forests ranged 1-25 years in age, and we used eight functional leaf traits related to a plants' carbon, water and heat balance. We calculated the functional trait distribution based on species dominance, where trait values were weighted by species' relative basal area, as well as based on species presence, all species counting once. 'K-ratio' was subsequently computed by dividing kurtosis based on species dominance by kurtosis based on species presence. If the K-ratio is high, the dominant species are functionally similar and we interpreted this as environmentally driven functional convergence allowing species to become dominant. If the K-ratio is small, dominant species are a functionally dissimilar subset of the species present and we interpreted this as competitively driven functional divergence allowing species to become dominant. 4. We found that in early succession, dominant species represent a functionally narrow subset of species with similar traits, and in late succession, dominant species increasingly represent a wide subset of the species present. This trend was found for traits that reflect photosynthetic performance and light capture, and indicates increased competition for light with succession. No trend was found for traits that indicate defence against herbivory, suggesting no successional changes in herbivore pressure. 5. Synthesis. This is one of the first studies showing that drivers of species dominance change along a gradient of secondary succession. During the early successional time window we evaluated, the importance of environmental filtering as a driving force fades away rapidly, and the importance of niche partitioning for species dominance starts to emerge.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Changing drivers of species dominance during tropical forest succession

et al. 2014

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“…In our simulations, light was the only resource whose variability was explicitly accounted for (Maréchaux & Chave, ). Our analysis thus simulated a situation where above‐ground competition for light is greater than the effect of below‐ground competition for water and nutrients, a reasonable assumption in humid tropical forests, even in early successional stages (van Breugel, Breugel, Jansen, Martínez‐Ramos, & Bongers, ). However, competition for water may become stronger if drought intensity and frequency increase in the tropics (Duffy, Brando, Asner, & Field, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional diversity improves tropical forest resilience: Insights from a long‐term virtual experiment

et al. 2020

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1. Human activities modify the disturbance regimes of tropical forests. Since tropical forests host high biological diversity, understanding the role of biodiversity in ecosystem recovery pathways and the underlying ecological mechanisms is crucial to predict the fate of tropical ecosystems. Studies relying on regularly censused forest plots, rarely include disturbed forests, are not long enough to assess longterm forest dynamics and often lack repeatability.2. We used an individual-based model of tropical forest growth to assess the effect of species and functional diversity on long-term ecosystem recovery from disturbance. We manipulated the number of species and functional assemblages across a large number of simulations and simulated different levels of disturbance. To investigate the ecological mechanisms that underlie the effect of biodiversity on forest functioning along recovery pathways, we partitioned the net effect of biodiversity on ecosystem properties into complementarity and selection effects over time.3. We found that functional diversity improved tropical forest resilience after a disturbance. The complementarity effect dominated soon after the disturbance but was progressively surpassed by a selection effect as more competitive species dominated the forest community. This pattern increased with the intensity of the disturbance. Synthesis.We found that the mechanisms through which biodiversity influences forest functioning depend on the ecosystem state, shifting from a dominant complementarity effect in recently disturbed systems to a selection effect in systems disturbed a long time ago. Our results thus suggest that the time since the last disturbance is a key to understanding biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in tropical forests and can help reconcile previous contrasting results obtained with snapshots of ecosystem state in empirical studies. 832 | biodiversity-ecosystem functioning, complementarity effect, disturbance, individual-based model, recovery, selection effect, simulation | 833 Journal of Ecology SCHMITT eT al.

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“…Other species that occurred in over 50% of the youngest sites remained frequent in later successional stages, such as Xylopia frutescens , Terminalia amazonia , and various species in the Vismia and Miconia genera. The disappearance of some and persistence of other initially frequent species indicates a range in the capacity to tolerate increasing competition during succession [67], as well as differences in life span, among the early dominants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Succession of Ephemeral Secondary Forests and Their Limited Role for the Conservation of Floristic Diversity in a Human-Modified Tropical Landscape

et al. 2013

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Both local- and landscape-scale processes drive succession of secondary forests in human-modified tropical landscapes. Nonetheless, until recently successional changes in composition and diversity have been predominantly studied at the patch level. Here, we used a unique dataset with 45 randomly selected sites across a mixed-use tropical landscape in central Panama to study forest succession simultaneously on local and landscape scales and across both life stages (seedling, sapling, juvenile and adult trees) and life forms (shrubs, trees, lianas, and palms). To understand the potential of these secondary forests to conserve tree species diversity, we also evaluated the diversity of species that can persist as viable metapopulations in a dynamic patchwork of short-lived successional forests, using different assumptions about the average relative size at reproductive maturity. We found a deterministic shift in the diversity and composition of the local plant communities as well as the metacommunity, driven by variation in the rate at which species recruited into and disappeared from the secondary forests across the landscape. Our results indicate that dispersal limitation and the successional niche operate simultaneously and shape successional dynamics of the metacommunity of these early secondary forests. A high diversity of plant species across the metacommunity of early secondary forests shows a potential for restoration of diverse forests through natural succession, when trees and fragments of older forests are maintained in the agricultural matrix and land is abandoned or set aside for a long period of time. On the other hand, during the first 32 years the number of species with mature-sized individuals was a relatively small and strongly biased sub-sample of the total species pool. This implies that ephemeral secondary forests have a limited role in the long-term conservation of tree species diversity in human-modified tropical landscapes.

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The relative importance of above- versus belowground competition for tree growth during early succession of a tropical moist forest

Cited by 43 publications

References 56 publications

Changing drivers of species dominance during tropical forest succession

Changing drivers of species dominance during tropical forest succession

Functional diversity improves tropical forest resilience: Insights from a long‐term virtual experiment

Succession of Ephemeral Secondary Forests and Their Limited Role for the Conservation of Floristic Diversity in a Human-Modified Tropical Landscape

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