LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Lianas decelerate tropical forest thinning during succession.

Photo from wikipedia

The well-established pattern of forest thinning during succession predicts an increase in mean tree biomass with decreasing tree density. The forest thinning pattern is commonly assumed to be driven solely… Click to show full abstract

The well-established pattern of forest thinning during succession predicts an increase in mean tree biomass with decreasing tree density. The forest thinning pattern is commonly assumed to be driven solely by tree-tree competition. The presence of non-tree competitors could alter thinning trajectories, thus altering the rate of forest succession and carbon uptake. We used a large-scale liana removal experiment over 7 years in a 60- to 70-year-old Panamanian forest to test the hypothesis that lianas reduce the rate of forest thinning during succession. We found that lianas slowed forest thinning by reducing tree growth, not by altering tree recruitment or mortality. Without lianas, trees grew and presumably competed more, ultimately reducing tree density while increasing mean tree biomass. Our findings challenge the assumption that forest thinning is driven solely by tree-tree interactions; instead, they demonstrate that competition from other growth forms, such as lianas, slow forest thinning and ultimately delay forest succession.

Keywords: decelerate tropical; thinning succession; forest thinning; lianas decelerate; succession

Journal Title: Ecology letters
Year Published: 2022

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.