| 16:00 | PAROLIN, PIA (INRA, France) Functional traits and species coexistence in trees of three tropical flood-pulsed wetlands. Floodpulsed wetlands are subjected to periodical natural inundations. Only highly adapted trees grow there which may, or may not, share functional traits related to the extreme hydric annual changes. A comparative review of available data is given from three of the world’s biggest tropical river systems, Amazonian floodplains (Southamerica), the Okavango delta (Africa), and the Mekong floodplains (Asia). Information needed for appropriate management is still very scarce. |
| 16:15 | GHAZOUL, J. (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) Linking seed size to seed dispersal and wood density in dipterocarp trees The dipterocarp trees of Southeast Asian tropical forests bear seed that are dispersed by gravity or gyration. Fruit morphology, in terms of wing number, wing size, and nut size, varies widely across these species. We explore the relationships between fruit traits and dispersal capacities across dipterocarp species. We also test correlations between seed dispersal and wood density, and consider the implications of such correlations for future forest recovery following degradation and forest carbon storage capacity. |
| 16:30 | GRATZER G. NOPP-MAYR U. KEMPTER I. MURALT G. (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna) Seed removal in a Central European old-growth mixed-species forest – effects of predator guilds, tree masting and small mammal population dynamics We conducted a study on tree seed removal from experimental dishes addressing species effects and spatial and temporal aspects of post-dispersal seed predation in a Central European old-growth spruce-fir-beech mountain forest. Seeds of European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and Silver fir (Abies alba) were exposed on dishes in different types of exclosures allowing access only to specific guilds of seed predators. Removal experiments were carried out in two old-growth forests and a managed forest, and were replicated in micro-sites with and without cover of ground vegetation. We conducted the experiment in three consecutive years starting the year after a mast year of beech and spruce when seed availability peaked. Our experiments showed a distinctly different impact of different predator guilds on seed removal with highest removal rates of seeds from dishes accessible for small mammals. In contrast to our assumption and in contrast to the satiation hypothesis which assumes higher seed survival in and directly after mast years, seed removal was higher in the year following the mast year of beech when a population peak of small mammals occurred and lower in intermast periods when small mammal populations crashed. We thus hypothesise a higher importance of sporadic masting of trees in intermast periods than previously assumed. The important role of seed predation for forest dynamics is corroborated by the study. Altered masting intervals of trees combined with altered population dynamics of seed predators caused by climate change may lead to pronounced effects on forest dynamics. |
| 16:45 | LI,X PAINE,C.E.T SCHMID,B (University of Zurich, Switzerland) The relationships of relative growth rate to plant traits in 15 subtropical woody species under contrasting light conditions. Plant growth, a major driver of plant fitness, is determined by complex physiological response to environmental conditions. Previous studies have found relationships between relative growth rate and plant traits when growing under optimal conditions, but little is know about how these relationships change under different light conditions. Here we investigated the relationships among size-corrected relative growth rate (SGR) and four plant traits: specific leaf area (SLA), leaf area ratio (LAR), leaf mass ratio (LMR) and root mass ratio (RMR). In shadehouses, we grew seedlings of fifteen subtropical tree and shrub species in four light levels (3%, 17%, 44% and 100% of full light) for two years. We parameterized a mechanistic model based on power-law growth using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to predict SGR. We examined how the relationships varied among and within species. LMR and RMR were not correlated with either light availability or SGR. However, SLA and LAR significantly decreased with increasing light availability and were negatively correlated with SGR within most species across light treatments. On the contrary, these correlations were significantly positive among species under 3% light. Our results show that adaptation to shade is possible at the species levels through evolution of traits increasing light interception. However, adaptation to shade at the individual level through plastic acclimation of traits was not observed. |
| 17:00 | KUNSTLER GEORGES1, ALBERT CéCILE2, COOMES DAVID3, COURBAUD BENOîT1, LAVERGNE SéBASTIEN2, THUILLER WILFRIED2, VIARD-CRETAT FLORE1, VIEILLEDENT GHISLAIN4, ZIMMERMANN NIKLAUS5 (1 Cemagref, 2 Leca CNRS, 3 University of Cambridge, 4 Cirad, 5 WSL) Is the strength of competition among tree species influenced by phylogenetic or functional relatedness? Understanding the nature of competitive interactions among trees is critical to understand forest community structure and dynamics, and to predict their responses to global change. However, predicting the outcome of competitive interaction between numerous pairs of tree species and across large gradients of abiotic conditions remains challenging. A classical hypothesis -the “competition-relatedness hypothesis”- assumes that because of niche and trait conservatism, closely related species tend to be ecologically more similar and thus compete more severely than distantly related species. However, this hypothesis has remained largely untested with direct measurements of competition. Rather, it was only evaluated from simple patterns of species co-occurrence in the past. Recent publications have challenged this hypothesis on the ground that coexistence requires more complex explanations than simply niche differentiation. Coexistence is also driven by differences in species' competitive ability, and this could have effects opposed to the “competition-relatedness hypothesis”. For instance, pairs of species sharing similar values of trait responsible for a high competitive ability should compete less strongly than species with more distinct trait values. Using data on individual tree radial growth from more than 17000 forest plots in the French Alps, we explore the relative role of these two contrasting views of competitive interactions for 130 pairs of species. We developed a Bayesian neighbourhood growth competition model to estimate the intensity of competition between pairs of species. We then tested the relation between strength of competition between pairs of species and i)their phylogenetic distance or ii)their functional similarity for several key functional traits. |
| 17:15 | FAYOLLE, A.1, ENGELBRECHT, B.2, FREYCON, V.1, REJOU-MECHAIN, M.3, SWAINE, M.4, DOUCET, J.L.5, FAUVET, N.1, DOUMENGE, C.1, GOURLET-FLEURY, S.1 (1 CIRAD, France, 2 University of Bayreuth, Germany, 3 CNRS, UMR 5174, France, 4 University of Aberdeen, UK, 5 Gembloux AgroBioTech, Belgium) Environmental determinants of tree species and trait distributions in African moist forests The composition and diversity of tropical tree communities vary with environmental factors, however, the factors shaping distribution patterns at a regional scale remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify the environmental determinants of the distribution of tree species and their key functional traits in the tropical semi-evergreen forests of Central Africa. The distribution of 31 tree species was analyzed in an area of more than 7 millions hectares, crossing the borders of the Central African Republic, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. We examined the relation between species distribution patterns and environmental variations through multivariate analyses. Spatial variations of environmental factors pertaining to climate, topography and geology were quantified from maps and satellite records. Species traits: shade tolerance, wood density, leaf phenology, maximal diameter and annual growth rate were calculated or extracted from the literature. A correlated gradient of geology and geomorphology was of major importance for the distribution of the studied species while climate had little impact. Species were mainly divided into a group associated with a central sandstone plateau in the area, and species avoiding this plateau. The pattern of species distribution was significantly related to a set of functional traits, with species associated with the sandstone plateau characterized by slow growth rates, high wood density and evergreen leaves. This is consistent with a strategy of conservative resource use on nutrient poor and dry sandy soils. These findings are of major importance for the management of African moist forests, where little is known on species ecology. |
| 17:30 | P.M.S.A. RUWAN1, THORSTEN WIEGAND 2, KERSTIN WIEGAND1, RAJAPANDIAN KANAGARAJ2, I.AU.N. GUNATILLEKE3, C.V.S GUNATILLEKE3 (1 Department of Ecosystem Modelling, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Gemany,, 2 Department of Ecological Modeling, UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, PF 500136, D-04301 Leipzig, Germany, 3 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka) Tropical tree species assemblages in topographic habitats for different life stages Habitat-driven species assemblages and species distribution patterns in recruits, juveniles (< 1cm dbh), and adults (>= 1 cm) were examined for 219 species in the 25-ha Dipterocarp forest in Sinharaja (Sri Lanka). Habitat types1 were determined with Multivariate Regression Trees that grouped areas with similar species composition (i.e., species assemblages) according to the topographic variables elevation, slope, altitude above channel (ACH), topographic wetness index (TWI), convexity and slope. The variance explained by topographic variables for different life stages ranged between 13 and 24%. Elevation explains most of the species variance (10-13%), and convexity and slope were least important for the habitat classification. However, in contrast to earlier studies in the Sinharaja forest, aspect played an important role in our habitat classification. We found that the species assemblages emerging for the juvenile stage were the same as for the adult stage and similar to that for recruits. Habitat change due to temporal variation was negligible in all life stages. In Sinharaja, the indicator species for the juvenile stage were also indicators in the adult stage. Most species in the juvenile stage were associated with steep spurs but less steep spurs hosted more species for adults; which is similar to results from the Gutian Plot (China). Unconstrained K- means cluster analysis explained approximately 41-62% of species variance in the different life stages. This additional variance occurs due to important unobservable variables. 1. Steep spurs, S-W less steep spurs (LSS), S-W of the valley, N-E LSS with low-ACH, N-E LSS with high-ACH |
| 17:45 | FLUGGE, A.J. OLHEDE, S.C. MURRELL, D.J. (University College London, UK) The memory of spatial patterns - aggregation and population size change of tropical tree species Most tropical rainforest tree and shrub species are spatially aggregated, i.e. individuals belonging to the same species are more likely to be closer to one another than if they were uniformly distributed throughout the forest. The local dispersal of seeds can lead to aggregation even in the absence of strong external drivers of aggregation such as habitat patchiness. Data from a 50ha tropical rainforest plot at Barro Colorado Island (BCI) as well as past studies using individual-based simulation models show that local seed dispersal leads to a stronger aggregation in smaller populations than it does in larger populations. We therefore propose the hypothesis that a change of population size should also lead to a subsequent change in the aggregation of that population. If the change in aggregation in a population lags behind the change of population size this population is undergoing, then the current aggregation may hold information about the past population size change. In an individual-based simulation model we show, that on average we should expect to find growing populations to be more aggregated and shrinking populations to be less aggregated than stable populations of the same size. Therefore spatial aggregation is an important characteristic which might allow us to estimate recent changes in population size from just a single snapshot of the current state of the population. Analysing data from BCI we found a significant correlation of aggregation and population size change as we predicted it for top- and mid-canopy trees, but not for understorey trees and shrubs. |
| 18:00 | BROWN, C.1, ILLIAN, J.B.1, LAW, R.2, BURSLEM, D.F.R.P.3 (1 University of St Andrews, UK, 2 University of York, UK, 3 University of Aberdeen, UK) Spatial analysis to link pattern and process in forest ecology. A number of contrasting mechanisms have been suggested to explain species coexistence in diverse communities such as tropical rainforests. In particular, niche and neutral theories offer contradictory interpretations of the role of environmental variation and habitat specificity. However, widely-used first-order measures of community structure such as the species abundance distribution have proved unable to distinguish the effects of these and other proposed mechanisms. As a result, the potential of spatial analysis in forest ecology for distinguishing underlying processes is of increasing interest.Using a stochastic individual-based model in continuous space, we generate multi-species spatial patterns under neutral, niche, lottery, Janzen-Connell and heteromyopia assumptions. These patterns are analysed using a range of spatial statistics in order to identify spatial signals of each modelled process, and to determine the relative merits of different statistics in describing spatial structure. Their performance is also compared to that of the species abundance distribution, and so the potential for empirically distinguishing specific processes is assessed. We then apply these measures to spatially explicit census data from a number of large-scale tropical rainforest plots, in order to investigate the manifestation of ecological processes in forest spatial structure. The relative importance of environmental heterogeneity and neutral drift is assessed for plots with different environmental characteristics, and statistics which show most promise for empirical studies of coexistence mechanisms are identified. |
| 16:00 | FISCHER, R.1, ARMSTRONG, A.2, DOBNER, H.J.3, SHUGART, H.H.2, HUTH, A.1 (1 UFZ Leipzig, GER, 2 University of Virginia, USA, 3 HTWK Leipzig, GER) Modelling the dynamics of rainforests with FORMIX3. How strong is the impact of drought on tropical rainforests in Madagascar? The rainforests in Madagascar belong to one of the world's hot spots of biodiversity because of their species-richness and their endemism. Admittedly, only 10% of the original rainforest area in Madagascar have been remained.The long-term responses of forests on droughts cannot be easily measured. For extrapolations of short-term field measurements vegetation models are an important tool. In this study we use the process-based, individual-oriented simulation model FORMIX3. The main processes of this model are tree growth, mortality, regeneration and competition. Tree growth is calculated on a carbon balance. The parameters of the model have been estimated based on field data of a rainforest in the east of Madagascar.The objective of this study is to understand how drought modifies biomass, species composition, productivity, and carbon flux of a rainforest as a function of annual rainfall. The impact of drought on plants is modeled by calculating stress factors. Our study shows that the impact of drought on forest biomass and productivity is limited if the reduction of rainfall is not higher than 20% (IPCC2007). If the rainfall reduction is higher, we observe strong changes in the structure of the forest. Drought has also a strong influence on the carbon storage of the rainforest and on the biomass of the huge shade-tolerant trees. If we reduce the typical annual rainfall by 50%, the total biomass will be reduced by 10% and the carbon storage by 15%. |
| 16:15 | STOLL, P. NEWBERY, D.M. (University of Bern, CH) Neighbourhood interactions in a drought-perturbed tropical rain forest in Borneo Drought perturbation driven by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been put forward as stochastic variable determining the dynamics (i.e. mortality, recruitment and stem growth rates) of lowland rain forest in S.E. Asia. However, little is known about effects on neighbourhood interactions. We performed neighbourhood analyses on 94 species over two periods. The first period (P1: 1986–1996) was relatively undisturbed while the second (P2: 1996–2007) started with a strong drought (1997/98). A systematic model selection approach over neighbourhood radii from 1 to 20 m was used to ask which type of neighbour (e.g. con- or heterospecifc) influenced individual growth of medium sized trees (trees ? 10 to ? 100 cm gbh). We found moderate to strong intraspecific interactions within dominant over- and understory species in P1. Effect sizes of conspecific bigger neighbours were most negative for overstory species with high basal area indicating negative density dependence. In P2, however, many of the strong intraspecific interactions disappeared and conspecific effect sizes were no longer related to basal area. Neighbourhood analyses with randomized tree positions showed that density dependence in P1 was not simply the result of abundance distributions (e.g. because more common species have more conspecific neighbours). On the other hand, the relationship in P2 was indistinguishable from that of the analyses with randomized tree positions. It is not new that density dependent dynamics may be interrupted by disturbances. But that drought perturbation may interrupt density dependence in diverse tropical forests has not often been demonstrated. |
| 16:30 | BROUWERS, N.C. LYONS, T. HARDY, G. (State Centre of Excellence for Climate Change, Woodland and Forest Health, Australia) Forest health in the drying climate of southwest Western Australia The southwest of Western Australia (SWWA) has experienced a declining trend in rainfall since the early 1960’s. The future projections are unanimous in that this trend will continue at a rate of 1-5 mm reduction in rainfall per year. This has major consequences for the unique flora and fauna that occur in this internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot. In SWWA, large-scale surveys have been conducted measuring canopy health across the distribution of 3 endemic Eucalypt species (Eucalyptus wandoo (wandoo), E. gomphocephala (tuart), E. marginata (jarrah)). These surveys indicated a variation in crown health across the rainfall gradient indicating a possible relationship between health and rainfall and/or soil moisture availability. This research therefore aims to determine what water related climate factors are related to Eucalypt health/decline in SWWA, using a time series of LandsatTM/ATM data and observed and modelled estimates of water fluxes. This project will specifically test the hypothesis that reduced soil moisture availability is the main driver of observed trends in tree health. Preliminary results of this research will be presented and future steps and conservation/management challenges will be discussed. |
| 16:45 | DELONG, SC1, GRIESBAUER, H1, NITSCHKE, C2, ROGERS, B3 (1 University of Northern British Columbia, CA, 2 UBC and Univ of Melbourne, AUS, 3 BC Ministry of Natural Resources Operations, CA) Predicting climate change impacts to forests at the stand level. Drought is one of the leading causes of forest mortality related to climate change. We have developed a tool to predict risk of stand-level tree species mortality from dought and drought-induced insect attack. Within climatically homogeneous areas, we use current and predicted future climate data, along with modal site and soil conditions for ecosystem units, to calculate actual (AET) and potential evapotranspiration (PET) for these units. Knowledge of tree species drought tolerance limits, which can be expressed by AET/PET, can then be used to develop tree mortality risk maps using forest cover and ecosystem unit maps as input layers in a GIS. Risk related to tree mortality agents that are enhanced by drought (e.g., bark beetle species) can also be mapped based on ecoystem-specific AET/PET values and tree species and age derived from forest cover polygons. The accuracy of the maps are being tested with field data and remote sensing (e.g., Normailized Difference Vegetation Index) outputs. The tool we have developed can be used to map the risk of drought-related mortality at a relatively fine scale for any plant species with well established drought tolerance. The tool thus provides information at an approrpriate scale to guide operational forest management adaptation to climate change and compliments other tools such as large-scale bioclimate envelope models. |
| 17:00 | SWAB, R.M.1, REGAN, H.M.2, KEITH, D. A.3, FRANKLIN, J.4, SYPHARD, A.D.5, REGAN, T.J.6, OOI, M.K.J.7, CROOKSTON, J.B.8 (1 University of California, Riverside, and University of Copenhagen, DK, 2 University of California Riverside, US, 3 New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change New South Wales, AU, 4 Arizona State University, US, 5 Conservation Biology Institute, La Mesa ,CA, US, 6 University of Melbourne, VIC, AU, 7 University of Sheffield, UK, 8 San Diego State university, CA, US.) Which is worse, the fire or the frying pan? Evaluating plant vulnerability to climate change and altered fire regimes. Plants are threatened by range shifts under projected climatic changes. For plants in fire prone ecosystems, changing fire intervals are also a threat. Evaluating which threat is most influential on species vulnerability, and how species might respond to mitigate these threats is a goal of conservation biology. We evaluated the threats of habitat shift due to climate change and changing fire frequency for two fire obligate seeders: Leucopogon setiger, a shrub from the Australian heathland, and Ceanothus greggii, a shrub from the California chapparral. A spatially explicit stochastic matrix model, incorporating simulation of various fire return intervals, was linked with a dynamic bioclimate envelope model to evaluate relative vulnerability of each species to these dual threats. Both species were found to be sensitive to fire frequency, with shorter and longer intervals reducing expected minimum abundances (EMAs). Spatial decoupling of fires across the landscape helped mitigate vulnerability over the 100 year simulation period. Shifting habitat, while reducing EMAs, was less of a threat to the species. Incorporating life history traits into habitat suitability models increases the accuracy of predictions. This allows us to evaluate the impact of life history traits on species distributions, and will elucidate how particular bioecological factors can affect certain types of species under global climate change. |
| 17:15 | GRAY, E.F. BOND, W.J. (University of Cape Town) Biome switches: how southern African grasslands are vulnerable to encroaching forests in the face of global change. Grasslands have traditionally been viewed as anthropogenic and seral to forests. However, southern African savannas and grasslands contain many specialised species that appear to be highly adapted to open habitats, suggesting that grasslands have existed for much longer than initially thought. Indeed, soil carbon isotopes suggest that in southern Africa forests are often the more recent invaders of grasslands. Rather than grasslands being successional to forests the two systems exist in a patch mosaic as alternative stable ecosystem states in the landscape. They support unique communities and are ecologically distinct, both adding significantly to the biodiversity of the area. Over the last century grasslands and savannas in southern Africa have experienced woody plant encroachment due to both local scale land use changes and global scale atmospheric shifts. This is allowing forests to spread, and may eventually lead to a complete biome switch. Southern African grasslands are very rich in forb species with many endemics. Most cannot tolerate shade and are eliminated by encroaching scrub forest. Many forb species have large underground storage organs that allow rapid sprouting after fires. While very tolerant of frequent fires, such forbs are eliminated by shading. They are very poor colonisers and absent from secondary grasslands, so woody plant encroachment may be an irreversible process. Both forest and grassland systems are highly diverse and conservation efforts should aim to maintain the forest-grassland mosaic and avoid the complete eradication of grasslands by forests. |
| 17:30 | JADEJA, SHIVANI1, PRASAD, SOUMYA2, QUADER, SUHEL3, ISVARAN, KAVITA4 (1 Post-Graduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, WCS-India Program, National Centre for Biological Sciences, India, 2 36, Curzon Road, Dehradun, India, 3 National Centre for Biological Sciences, India, 4 Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Sciences, India) Antelope-woody invasive interaction: Implications for grassland community. Interaction between grassland dependent native antelope, blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) and woody invasive, mesquite (Prosopis juliflora), may threaten native grassland communities. The introduction of mesquite nearly 100 years ago to Indian grasslands led to the formation of a novel plant-animal interaction, via the native blackbuck dispersing invasive mesquite seeds through their dung. This study examines how the intra-specific differences in blackbuck ranging and territorial behaviour differentially affect mesquite seed dispersal. To understand the interaction between blackbuck and mesquite, different stages of the plant dispersal cycle were quantified using camera trapping, scan sampling, quadrat plots and factorial germination experiment. Results show that differences between territorial males, female groups and bachelor groups in ranging behaviour differentially influenced mesquite dispersal. Seed deposition and seedling recruitment were highest on clustered male mating territories, typically located in open grasslands. Hence, aggregated seed dispersal due to blackbuck male territorial behaviour facilitates mesquite spread in grasslands. Intraspecific variation in disperser behaviour determines seed dispersal patterns and has implications on spread of invasives and their management. Our results predict the spread of mesquite into open areas on territories. This can potentially lead to loss of blackbuck territorial sites and consequential effect on blackbuck mating system and population density. Thus, the novel antelope-mesquite interaction threatens the grassland community, including the grassland dependent blackbuck which facilitates its spread. Our study also helps suggest management practices for more effective control of mesquite. |
| 16:00 | KETTLE, C. J.1, BURSLEM DFRP2, MAYCOCK, C3, ELLENS, J1, GHAZOUL, J1 (1 ETH Zurich, 2 University of Aberdeen, UK, 3 University of Aberdeen) Ecological constraints to tropical forest restoration: considerations for REDD+ implementation Restoration of tropical forest financed through REDD+, has the potential to contribute to biodiversity conservation, poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation. However, a wide spectrum of alternative strategies exists by which forest cover can be restored with varying costs and benefits. For example natural regeneration of abandoned land has relatively low cost but potentially high benefits. Ecological restoration has very high costs although the benefits may also be high. The appropriateness of alternative strategies for increasing forest cover will depend not only on socioeconomic constraints but also the ecological realities of the landscape and the constituent tree species in the surrounding landscape. I will present a synthesis of our recent work in Borneo highlighting the importance of phenology, floral traits, seed dispersal and ecological succession, for defining the optimal strategy for restoration of lowland dipterocarp forest. Our findings indicate that the vulnerability of certain tree species to habitat fragmentation may be predictable based upon floral traits and that synergies between tree reproductive characteristics and fragmentation may influence the carbon storage benefits of future forest landscapes. I discuss the implications of these findings for strategic forest restoration. |
| 16:15 | PALMER, C. E. (London School of Economics, UK) REDD+ and rural livelihoods Up to one billion people live in and around tropical forests, the majority of whom are livelihood- and/or income-dependent on forest goods and services. Poverty, weak land tenure and lack of access to markets characterize the lives of many forest dwellers. Given ongoing trends in deforestation and forest degradation, there is a need not only to address these trends but also to put a value on forest restoration. This can be undertaken via policy initiatives that provide incentives to forest dwellers. In turn these could potentially improve livelihoods and incomes. Empirical evidence indicates, however, that many challenges remain. |
| 16:30 | PHELPS, J.1, WEBB, E.L.1, KOH, L.P.2 (1 National University of Singapore, 2 Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich, Switzerland) An uncertain future for biodiversity conservation finance through REDD+. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and through the conservation, sustainable management, and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+) offers unprecedented potential funding for forest conservation, reforestation and associated biodiversity. However, as a growing number of biodiversity conservation projects link with carbon emissions mitigation efforts, they might also be exposed to significant financial risks. The private sector is aware of the associated financial risks, which remain largely unaddressed within the conservation literature. We describe some of the prospective financial risks for biodiversity conservation efforts linked with REDD+, and propose initial strategies for financial resilience. |
| 16:45 | MARSHALL, A.R.1, LEWIS, S.2, LOVETT, J.3, SHIRIMA, D.4, BURGESS, N.D.5, MUNISHI, P.K.T.4, SALTER, R.6, BALMFORD, A.7 (1 University of York and Flamingo Land Ltd, UK, 2 University of Leeds, UK, 3 University of Twente, The Netherlands, 4 Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania, 5 University of Copenhagen, Denmark and WWF-USA, 6 University of York, UK, 7 University of Cambridge, UK) Carbon and Tree Allometry in the Eastern Arc Mountains: Influences of Climate, Topography and Disturbance With the development of international policy on reduced emissions by avoided deforestation and degradation, studies of carbon in tropical forests are gaining importance. Despite this, few studies have addressed the influence of elevation on carbon. Established theory that tree height declines with elevation has not been incorporated into some biomass models that use diameter but not height. We established 18 one hectare plots including 7,202 trees >=10 cm diameter. Plots were stratified along the elevation gradient in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. Using residual sum of squares, two models of tree diameter-height relationship were compared. A simple log-linear model was found to give the best prediction of the diameter-height relationship. We found that the slope of the relationship peaked at intermediate elevation (1000-1200m), where trees were tallest per unit diameter. This is unexpected from the established theory that tree height declines with elevation and is likely due to past logging at low elevations and poor growing conditions (soil, exposure, climate) at high elevations. Using a standard biomass equation and assuming 50% of the biomass is carbon, we estimated that the Eastern Arc Mountains contain 183.9 ± 33.5 t ha-1 C. Using a published method of calculating biomass from diameter alone, the estimate was greater (229.6 ± 37.0 t ha-1 C). Unexpectedly, the carbon content of Eastern Arc forests was shown to increase with elevation. The reason for this trend was unclear, however the results indicate how calculation of carbon storage must be tailored to local conditions. |
| 17:00 | JOS BARLOW (Lancaster Environment Centre) Post-fire forest regeneration: implications for REDD+ Forest degradation (logging, fragmentation) and recent severe droughts have combined to increase the frequency of fire in many humid tropical forests. These fires have severe impacts within the Amazon: low-intensity understorey fires often lead to very high levels of tree mortality (up to 50% of trees ?10 cm diameter) and a significant loss of faunal diversity (including the extirpation of disturbance-sensitive forest vertebrates). Fires can also lead to ecosystem instability and destabilising feedback cycles, as forests that have burned once are more likely to burn again. This paper examines post-fire regeneration in four different regions of the Brazilian Amazon that were affected by fire in the last 12 years, and examines the implications for REDD+ and biodiversity conservation. While high rates of tree mortality reduce the carbon content of forests, the mortality of many large trees and changes in the composition of the regenerating flora suggest fires will reduce the carbon value of tropical forests for decades and centuries. As most ignition sources stem from human activities, managing the socio-economic context of fire-use is essential if tropical forests are to maintain their structure and biodiversity into the foreseeable future. |
| 17:15 | TOBY GARDNER1, JOS BARLOW2, JOICE FERREIRA3, ALEX LEES4 (1 University of Cambridge, 2 Lancaster University, 3 Embrapa Amazonia Oriental, 4 Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi) The biodiversity benefits of REDD+ through avoided deforestation and reforestation Although REDD+ projects are primarily intended to ameliorate the impacts of climate change, the way in which they are designed and implemented stands to have an enormous impact on the conservation of global forest biodiverstiy. The cost-effective integration of carbon and biodiversity objectives is not a trivial task, and is complicated by both a lack of data from the most biodiverse areas of the world, and a poor understanding of species responses to environmental change. Here we highlight some of the challenges and opportunities facing the contribution of REDD+ to conservation, drawing upon recent global reviews of biodiversity conservation in tropical forest ecosystems and two large-scale research projects in the Brazilian Amazon. Where additionality can be shown, avoided deforestation stands to deliver much more substantial biodiversity benefits than regeneration schemes. However, ongoing degradation and cascade effects can quickly undermine the value of primary habitat. The success or failure of both forest conservation and regeneration initiatives depends critically on the wider landscape and regional context of the project area, as well as the legacy of past disturbance regimes and threats from ongoing development. The most cost effective solutions may often come from a blend of different conservation and restoration activities. Although monitoring is vital to ensuring the delivery of long-term biodiversity benefits most existing monitoring programs fail to deliver reliable and management-relevant information. |
| 17:30 | PFEIFER, M.1, MARSHALL, A.1, GONSAMU, A.2, PELLIKKA, P.3, HEMP, A.4, MARCHANT, R.1 (1 University of York, UK, 2 University of Toronto, CA, 3 University of Helsinki, FI, 4 University of Potsdam, DE) Satellite monitoring of forest structure and cover change to generate REDD baselines for East Africa How much carbon is stored by East Africa's woody vegetation? How do fire and land use affect carbon emissions? We test the applicability of remote sensing in combination with targeted field surveys for monitoring inter-annual and seasonal patterns of woody vegetation structure and cover at regional scales to address these questions assuming sensitivity of carbon storage to environmental changes. Impacts of fire, a major disturbing agent, are modelled using earth observation products. |
| 17:45 | WATSON, C. (London School of Economics and Politics, UK) Uncertain Benefits: Accounting for Emission Reductions from Forest Conservation The environmental integrity of a mechanism rewarding reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) will depend on appropriate accounting for emission reductions. Stemming from a lack of data, emission reductions accounting often contains substantial uncertainty which is rarely reported, if quantified, and the simple application of broad assumptions over large forest areas is commonplace. Large uncertainties could lead to the miss-direction of finance from over-estimation of emission reductions, or in lost opportunities for climate change mitigation and local realisation of benefits from under-estimation. Using a case study in the Bale Mountains Eco-Region in southwest Ethiopia, simple and complex forest carbon accounting methods are compared and the possible rent from a REDD project modelled. Complex accounting, through primary data collection, found weighted mean forest carbon stock of 195tC/ha ±81. Simple biome-averaged data would, therefore, under-estimate forest carbon density in the Eco-Region by as much as 63% in tropical moist forest and 58% in tropical dry forest. Equating to a two-fold difference in emission reductions estimates, primary data suggest that a REDD project in the Bale Mountains could bring in US$48 million as compared to US$9 million using secondary data, as modelled with a conservative market price of US$3/tCO2e and a 10% discount rate over the 20-year project period. This paper demonstrates the strong economic incentives for the quantification and communication of uncertainty forest carbon emission reductions accounting. |
| 18:00 | MANIATIS, D.1, MOLLICONE, D.2 (1 University of Oxford, UK, 2 Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations) Options for sampling and stratification for national forest inventories to implement REDD+ under the UNFCCC. Developing countries that are willing to participate in the recently adopted mitigation mechanism of Reducing emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation - and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) - will have to establish a national forest monitoring system in order to assess anthropogenic forest-related greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks. Such a system should support the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) requirement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the REDD+ mechanism is results-based. A national forest inventory (NFI) is one potential key component of such an MRV system. Following the Decision adopted during the 15th Session of the COP in Copenhagen, the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidance and Guidelines should be used as a basis for estimating anthropogenic forest-related greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks and changes in forest carbon stocks and area. First, we present the key indispensable elements of the IPCC Guidance and Guidelines that have been developed to fulfil the UNFCCC reporting requirements. Second, within this framework, we develop and propose a novel scheme for the stratification of forest land for REDD+. Finally, we present some non-exhaustive optional elements within this framework that a country could consider to successfully operationalise and implement its REDD+ NFI. Developing a NFI that a country may use to directly support REDD+ activities under the UNFCCC represents the development of a new challenge in this field. |
| 16:00 | GODBOLD, D.1, SMITH, A.1, MIGLIETTA, F.2, LUKAC, M.3 (1 Bangor University, UK, 2 IBIMET-CNR, Italy, 3 University of Reading, UK) Effects of Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment on growth of Fagus sylvatica, Betula pendula and Alnus glutinosa. BangorFACE Anthropogenic activities are increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and are expected to reach values in excess of 550 ppm by 2075. Forest ecosystems occupy one third of the terrestrial surface of the earth, with forest soils and biomass storing approximately 40% of terrestrial biosphere carbon. In forests, fine root turnover is a major contributor to belowground C storage and C flux. Using a Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) system we established long-term CO2 enrichment studies with monocultures or mixtures of Fagus sylvatica, Betula pendula, Alnus glutinosa (BangorFACE). In the treatment, the CO2 concentration was enriched to 580 ppm for 4 growing seasons (2005-2008). At the conclusion of the experiment above ground woody biomass pooled for all species was significantly increased by 17% in FACE compared to ambient. At the final sampling conducted during January 2009 fine root biomass was 59% higher under FACE than ambient in B. pendula, 11% in A. glutinosa and 59% in F. sylvatica. In addition, a greater allocation to deeper soils depths was shown in B. pendula and F. sylvatica, but not A. glutinosa. In B. pendula and A. glutinosa the biomass of total leaf litter fall and the calculated leaf area index was not affected by CO2 enrichment. However, in B. pendula in two growing seasons a delay in leaf litter fall was observed, with a consequent lengthening of the vegetation period. |
| 16:15 | SMITH, A.R.1, LUKAC, M.2, MIGLIETTA, F.3, HEALEY, J.R.1, AHMED, I.U.1, GODBOLD, D.L.1 (1 Bangor University, UK, 2 University of Reading, UK, 3 IBIMET-CNR, IT) Species diversity enhances carbon sequestration of CO2-enriched temperate forest Anthropogenic activities are not only increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, but also significantly contributing to biodiversity loss. Globally, forests cover one third of the terrestrial surface of the Earth, their soils and biomass store almost half of the carbon of terrestrial ecosystems. In forests, fine root turnover is a major contributor to belowground C storage and C flux. Despite the importance of forests in the global C cycle, the interaction between elevated atmospheric CO2, species diversity and below-ground productivity is poorly understood. Using a Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment system we established long-term CO2 enrichment studies with monocultures or a three-species mixture of Fagus sylvatica, Betula pendula, Alnus glutinosa (BangorFACE). Our data definitively shows that overyielding at higher diversity levels is altered by elevated CO2. Under ambient CO2, aboveground and fine root biomass was greater in the three species tree mixture than that predicted from the biomass of the single species, showing a positive interactive effect of multiple species on productivity. Under elevated atmospheric CO2, the belowground overyielding in the three species mixture was significantly increased, whereas the effect on aboveground biomass was similar under elevated and ambient CO2. Our results provide some of the first clear evidence that tree biodiversity will not only mediate the aboveground response to high CO2, but also make a major contribution to C input in to soils through the fine root biomass in a CO2 enriched atmosphere. |
| 16:30 | LUKAC, M.1, SMITH, A.R.2, AHMED, I.U.2, GODBOLD, D.L.2 (1 University of Reading, UK, 2 Bangor University, UK) Temperate forest enriched by elevated atmospheric CO2 increases phosphorus mineral weathering Human activities are increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations at an unprecedented rate. Forests are important sinks for anthropogenic CO2 emissions and are estimated to sequester 0.68 Gt C yr-1. Phosphorus (P) is the second most limiting macronutrient for plant growth, comprising approximately 0.2% of a plants dry weight. In forest ecosystems 20-80% of total P may be occluded in organic residues. Elevated CO2 increases forest net primary productivity and directly influences P cycling through increased metabolic demand. Subsequently P availability may constrain the response of forests growing under elevated CO2. Plants and mycorrhizae are able to influence P availability from inorganic sources through the exudation of organic acids which may aid in alleviating nutrient limitation. We investigated the effect of elevated CO2 on aggrading forest P cycling using a Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment facility and three native deciduous tree species Alnus glutinosa, Betula Pendula and Fagus sylvatica grown in monoculture and a three-species polyculture (BangorFACE). Utilising the Hedley P fractionation procedure we showed that trees grown in elevated CO2 decreased P pools of increasing recalcitrance more rapidly than trees grown in ambient CO2. A negative correlation between HCl extractable P and mycorrhizal extramatrical biomass suggests that P acquisition may be improved through enhanced primary mineral weathering under elevated CO2. However, despite increased input from mineral sources and enhanced cycling of organic residues, phosphate availability continues to decline, possibly leading to P limitation in the later years of forest growth. |
| 16:45 | JONES, D.L.1, SMITH, A.1, HILL, P.W.1, MURPHY, D.2, LUKAC, M.3, GODBOLD, D.1 (1 Bangor University, UK, 2 University of Western Australia, 3 University of Reading, UK) Elevated CO2 Induces Temporal Limitation of Low Molecular Weight Substrate Mineralisation in a Temperate Forest During the last 250 years atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased by 36%, and continues to rise at a rate of 1.4 ppm yr-1. Such a dramatic shift in atmospheric carbon dioxide is likely to induce dramatic changes in global biogeochemical cycling of carbon. Belowground C flow in the form of rhizodeposition has been shown to be enhanced under elevated atmospheric CO2 and is likely to impact on microbial C dynamics. Using a Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) system we established long-term CO2 enrichment studies with monocultures or mixtures of Fagus sylvatica, Betula pendula, Alnus glutinosa (BangorFACE). Using soil taken at a range of soil depths from the single species and 3 species polyculture plots, the community level physiological profiles of microbial utilization of low molecular weight substrates were determined using sixteen different substrates. Microbial utilisation kinetics were determined and related to carbon use efficiency and ecosystem function. When species were grown in monoculture, elevated CO2 mediated an increase in catabolic respiration that increased with depth, and was attributed to deeper prolific rooting, and greater mycorrhizal mycelial inputs. In contrast, when species were grown in polyculture a decrease in catabolic respiration and increase in carbon residence time was apparent. Environmental data correlations suggest that resource limitation may constrain microbial catabolic simulation in communities of higher diversity. |
| 17:00 | SMITH A.R.1, GODBOLD D.L.1, GWYNN-JONES D2, JONES D.L.1, SCULLION J2 (1 Bangor University, 2 Aberystwyth University) Responses to free air carbon dioxide enrichment vary with earthworm and tree species. (BangorFACE) Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations are known to affect tree litter quality. Earthworms as primary consumers of litter will be affected by these changes. Earthworm populations were sampled under Fagus sylvatica, Betula pendula, and Alnus glutinosa in a Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) system (BangorFACE). Litter collected from this experiment was fed to Lumbricus terrestris L. in mesocosm feeding trials. In both investigations, earthworm casts were assessed for various properties. Elevated CO2 had an adverse effect on abundance of L. terrestris and other anecic earthworm species in the field and on growth of L. terrestris in feeding trials. In the field, other earthworm species were unaffected by CO2 regime and, overall, earthworm responses to elevated CO2 were more pronounced under Alnus glutinosa than for Fagus sylvatica in particular; Alnus glutinosa litter showed the most marked decline in resource quality at elevated CO2. L. terrestris growth rates were generally slower when fed elevated CO2 litter, an effect again most pronounced for Alnus glutinosa. Field collected casts showed differences in chemical properties relating to tree species but no clear CO2 regime effect. In mesocosm studies, fresh casts from earthworms fed elevated CO2 litter had reduced respiration and again this effect was most pronounced for Alnus glutinosa. CO2 induced effects on forest earthworm communities are species specific with implications for forest ecosystem function. |
| 17:15 | HOOSBEEK, M.R.1, LUKAC, M.2, VELTHORST, E.J.1, SMITH, A.R.3, GODBOLD, D.L.3 (1 Wageningen University, Netherlands, 2 Imperial College London, UK, 3 Bangor University, UK) Free atmospheric CO2 enrichment did not affect symbiotic N2-fixation and soil carbon dynamics in a mixed deciduous stand in Wales Through increases in net primary production (NPP), elevated CO2 is hypothesized to increase the amount of plant litter entering the soil. The fate of this extra carbon on the forest floor or in mineral soil is currently not clear. Moreover, increased rates of NPP can be maintained only if forests can escape nitrogen limitation. In a Free atmospheric CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment near Bangor, Wales, 4 ambient and 4 elevated [CO2] plots were planted with patches of Betula pendula, Alnus glutinosa and Fagus sylvatica on a former arable field. After 4 years, biomass averaged for the 3 species was 5.50 (se 0.27) kg dw m-2 in ambient and 6.45 (se 0.13) kg dw m-2 in elevated [CO2] plots, a significant increase of 17% (P=0.018). During that time, only a shallow L forest floor litter layer had formed due to intensive bioturbation. Total soil C and N contents increased irrespective of treatment and species as a result of afforestation. We could not detect an additional C sink in the soil, nor were soil C stabilization processes affected by elevated [CO2]. We observed a decrease of leaf N content in Betula and Alnus under elevated [CO2], while the soil C/N ratio decreased regardless of CO2 treatment. The ratio of N taken up from the soil and by N2-fixation in Alnus was not affected by elevated [CO2]. We infer that increased nitrogen use efficiency is the mechanism by which increased NPP is sustained under elevated [CO2] at this site. |
| 17:30 | GORANSSON, H NDEMEERE, G GODBOLD, D.L (Bangor university, UK) Effects of drought on monocultures and mixtures of British deciduous tree species. In plots of six year old stands of Alnus glutinosa, Betula pendula, Fagus sylvatica and a mixture of the three species, subcanopy roofs were constructed. The roofs covered 70% of the total area and were made of transparent plastic. Using the roofs rain water was excluded from the plots from June to beginning of November 2010. Fine root production was lower in the drought treatment than in the controls, but as the standing root biomass did not decline to the same extent, fine root turnover decreased. Soil CO2 efflux for each tree species was higher in the controls than in the roof plots, until the roofs where removed. After roof removal the respiration rate in the treatment merged with that the control. No significant flush of CO2 due to a rewetting effect could be detected. Alnus had the highest soil respiration and Fagus the lowest in both the treatment and control stands, but the differences between species declined in November when the leaves had been shed. Our results indicate that there is no large rewetting effect compensating for the lower respiration during the growth season due to drought and differences between species in carbon turnover during the growth season vanish after the leaves had been shed. |
| 17:45 | MORIN, X.1, FAHSE, L.1, SCHERER-LORENZEN, M.2, BUGMANN, H.1 (1 ETH Zurich, 2 University of Freiburg) Tree species richness promotes productivity in European temperate forests through a strong complementarity effect On-going climate change affects forest functioning processes, such as productivity. But climate change will also alter forest biodiversity by causing local extinction and promoting colonization of new species through shifts in species distribution, which may in turn affect forest productivity. Understanding the link between biodiversity and productivity is thus a decisive issue in the current context of global biodiversity loss. The relationship between species richness and productivity has been explored widely through experiments, usually showing a positive relationship. However, they have rarely been able to explain how this effect will unfold in the long-term, especially in forests, and have very rarely investigated inter-site differences, particularly climate, on this relationship. Forest gap models might represent an alternative approach to study the diversity- productivity relationship. Here we used the forest succession model ForClim to conduct virtual experiments. We showed that tree diversity influences productivity in European temperate forests across a wide range of sites with different climate conditions through a strong complementarity effect. Our simulations highlight an overyielding phenomenon in which forest productivity in mixtures exceeds expectations based on monospecific forest yields in every site. Hence, our results confirm the positive diversity-productivity relationship shown in grassland experiments, and the increasing relative importance of complementarity in comparison with selection through time. We finally show that this biodiversity effect arises from the fact that light availability is better exploited in diverse forests as gaps left by mortality events are filled faster because of higher diversity in shade tolerance and growth ability. |
| 16:00 | CARDENAS, M.L.1, GOSLING, W.D. 1, SHERLOCK, S.C.1, POOLE, I.2, PENNINGTON, R.T.3, MOTHES, P.4 (1 The Open University, UK, 2 University of Aberdeen, UK, 3 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK, 4 Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ecuador) Response of pristine forests of western Amazonia to past climate change The montane forest of western Amazonia is one of the most biodiverse regions of the world. Unfortunately human impact in this area has been dramatic, causing an estimated loss of 60% of species. Equally concerning is the uncertain response of this, already weakened, biodiverse ecosystem to predicted climate change (+1.1-6.4oC by 2100). To help anticipate the impact of future climate change predictions, an improved understanding of the natural response of tropical vegetation to known past climate change is required. Here we present the first palaeoecological study to show the response of pristine tropical forests in western Amazonia to Quaternary Interglacial-Glacial cycles. This study is base on organic and volcanic sediments analysis come from a profile on the eastern Andean flank (Ecuador) deposited c.324,000-193,000 years ago, during parts of Marine Isotope Stages 9-6. Fossil pollen and wood preserved within organic sediments suggest that the composition of the forest changed in response to glacial-interglacial climate change. The presence of Podocarpus macrofossils c. 1000 m below the lower limit of their modern distribution indicates a relative cooling of at least 5oC during glacials and persistence of wet conditions. Interglacial deposits contain thermophilic palms suggesting warm and wet climates. Charcoal analysis reveal for the first time that apparently no natural fire occurred in western Amazonia in the absence of humans, without volcanic eruptions acting as a source of ignition. This study reveals that future global temperature change could radically alter vegetation communities and the biodiversity of western Amazonia. |
| 16:15 | WILLIAMS, J.J. GOSLING, W.D (The Open University, UK) Dynamic biogeography of Polylepis woodlands: insights from palaeoecological studies in the central Andes. Today, uncultivated sections of the high Bolivian Andes are principally grassland within which are pockets of woodland dominated by the tree genus Polylepis (Rosaceae). As enclaves of biodiversity, modern ecological interpretation, based upon climate-niche modeling, suggests that the Polylepis woodland only represents ~10% of its potential distribution. While modern humans are undoubtedly a cause of recent declines, the rational behind assuming a past Andean dominance of Polylepis is largely speculative. Nonetheless, it is considered that the grassland/woodland matrix is formed by a long history of human practices detrimental to woodland sustainment and regeneration. We introduce two new study locations from the surrounding mountain ranges of the Cochabamba Basin, Bolivia. The palaeoenvironmental records of Lake Challacaba (17°33’S, 65°34’W; 3419m) and Laguna Khomer Kocha Upper (17°16’S, 65°43’W; 4153m) suggest, that over longer time periods (18,000 years), climatically driven fire and moisture regimes are the dominant forces governing Polylepis abundance in the landscape. Over the last 4,000 years, only minor fluctuation in the grassland/woodland matrix are recorded through periods of major pre-Columbian cultural reorganisation, highlighting the uncertainty in assuming regional scale detrimental impacts of human populations. This study supports the conclusions from Lake Titicaca’s palynological record that Polylepis woodland never formed a permanent or continuous woodland ecosystem. The data presented help to fill the gap in our understanding of the natural state of Andean ecosystems. We here demonstrate how palaeoecological investigations allow us to avoid the dilemma of shifting ecological baselines, whilst providing the essential background information needed to develop effective conservation strategies. |
| 16:30 | WILLIAM D. GOSLING PHILIP B. HOLDEN (The Open University) Precessional forcing of tropical vegetation carbon storage Since the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution, which occurred about one million years ago, global temperatures have fluctuated with a quasi-periodicity of ~100 thousand years (kyr). The pattern of past change in the extent of woodlands, and therefore by inference vegetation carbon storage, has been demonstrated to have a strong positive link with this global temperature change at high and mid latitudes. However, understanding of climate systems and ecosystem function indicates that the pattern of woodland change at low latitudes may follow a fundamentally different pattern. We present output from the intermediate complexity model GENIE-1, comprising a single transient simulation over the last 800 kyr and a 174-member ensemble of 130 kyr transient simulations over the last glacial cycle. These simulations suggest that whilst vegetation carbon storage in mid-high northern latitudes robustly follows the characteristic ~100 kyr cycle, this signal is not a robust feature of tropical vegetation which is subject to stronger direct forcing by the precessional (21 kyr) orbital cycle (albeit with a highly uncertain response). We conclude that the correlation of palaeoenvironmental records from low latitudes with global temperature change must be done with caution. |
| 16:45 | METCALFE, D.J. FORD, A.J. (CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences) Palaeoclimatic drivers of current distributions of rainforest endemics in Queeensland, Australia Rainforest communities occupy only a small percentage of the Australian landmass, yet have a history stretching back millions of years, and represent the last remnants of the forest which formerly covered most of the continent. Repeated expansions and contractions of the range of rainforests during the Quaternary glaciations, and as a result of Holocene climate change, have resulted in serial mixing and then isolation of species in refugial habitat, leading to a high degree of endemism. Over 30% of the species in the bioregion are endemic to it, and a further 30% are endemic to Australia, yet the region is relatively poor in endemic genera and families. The Wet Tropics are also a haven for near-basal lineages, with 16 families represented, including an ANITA grade monotypic endemic family. Such levels of endemism are likely a result of repeated mixing and isolation, and in this paper we assess the sub-regional distribution of endemics in the Wet Tropics and discuss the broader affiliations of these forests to adjacent regions. We comment on the distribution of plants across the disjunctions known to affect animal distributions, and identify other barriers presumed significant in limiting plant movement. Our data brings together extensive field collections and recent molecular studies, and will suggest future avenues for molecular assessment of potential disjunctions and isolations |
| 17:00 | LUDGATE, N.F.1, GRIFFITHS, T.A. 2, BLYTH, A.J. 1, GOSLING, W.D. 1 (1 The Open University, UK, 2 University College London, UK) The impact of climate on the northern Vietnam lowland rain forests: new insights from lipid biomarkers. Traditionally micro- and macro-fossils, such as pollen and leaves, have been used to determine past vegetation change; however preservation, transport and unidentifiable taxa can bias these data. Lipid biological markers offer an opportunity to develop a comprehensive insight into past local vegetation change. Lipids found within sediments are derived from the breakdown of organic material. Plant wax lipids can be extracted from sediments, identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and interpreted to develop an independent record of past vegetation. This study forms the first comprehensive investigation of lipid biomarkers preserved in cave sediments. Lipid biomarkers have been recovered from two caves in Vietnam (Ninh Bình province). The Hang Boi and Hang Trong caves are presently over 70 m above sea level, formed in limestone karst structures surrounded today by northern Vietnam lowland rain forest. The sediments in both caves are dominated by anthropogenic shell middens interspersed with windblown sands and broken down bedrock. At Hang Boi charcoal radiocarbon dates indicate that c.20 cm of sediment was deposited within the cave between c. 12,400 and 12,100 calendar years before present (cal. yrs. B.P.). At Hang Trong a 170 cm sediment column represents continuous deposition over the last c. 18,500 cal. yrs. B.P. The study will reconstruct the local vegetation history using both palynological (pollen) and lipid biomarker analyses, providing new insights into the role of humans and climate in the formation of the modern lowland rain forest. |
| 17:15 | COLE, L.E.S. BHAGWAT, S. WILLIS, K. (Oxford University, UK) Probing the peat: an investigation into the resilience of tropical peatswamp forests. The coastal peat-swamp forests of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, are rapidly undergoing logging and conversion into oil palm plantations. Peatland ecosystems are assumed to have experienced little significant natural or anthropogenic disturbance in the past, persisting under a single ecologically-stable regime. However, the long-term disturbance history of peat-swamp forests has been poorly assessed, and little is known of their resilience to internal and external stresses. Have peat-swamp forests been disturbed in the past? What were the drivers? How did the vegetation respond? And how are these carbon-rich landscapes being used today? In order to answer these questions, three peat cores were extracted from coastal peat-swamp habitats in Sarawak. Fossil pollen grains and charcoal particles were identified and counted at regular depths in all cores, and inferred past vegetation change plotted. Results suggest that peat-swamp forest has been the dominant vegetation type in these ecosystems throughout the last 2000-9000 years (depending on the site), demonstrating resilience to episodes of burning and climate change. Only recent increases in fire and human impact may be challenging the persistence of these forests. This research will help to bring attention to the ecological functioning and requirements of this unique ecosystem, and provide information on what levels of disturbance they can tolerate. Such knowledge is important for defining the context within which these coastal peatlands should be managed today, providing parameters beyond which there is no evidence of forest recovery, and thus promoting the adoption of the Precautionary Principle into peatland management. |
| 17:30 | SVOBODA, M.1, NAGEL, T.2, WILD, J.3, HAIS, M.4 (1 Czech University of Life Sciences, CZ, 2 University of Ljulbjana, SLO, 3 Institute of Botany AS, CZ, 4 Unversity of South Bohemia, CZ) Historical range of variability in temperate mountain spruce forests of Central Europe. Climate change could significantly alter disturbance regimes in forest ecosystems worldwide. In mountain regions of Central Europe, scenarios with increased frequency of severe windstorms and droughts, which could trigger large-scale bark beetle outbreaks, are predicted. During the past decade, this region has experienced severe blowdowns and bark beetle outbreaks. Thus, an important question is whether these events are part of the historical range of variability in the region, or whether they are related to climate change and past management practices. In this talk, we review historical evidence regarding the occurrence of severe windstorms and bark beetle outbreaks in the Bohemia Forest (Czech Republic) and the Tatra Mts. ( Slovakia), where recently about 20 000 ha of forest was disturbed by windstorms and bark beetle. In addition, we review the few existing studies on the disturbance history and dynamics of spruce forests in the region. Based on historical evidence and published studies, severe stand replacing disturbances, including both windstorms and bark beetle outbreaks, have occurred in the region during the past several centuries and are likely to be part of the historical range of variability in these forests. However, the lack of representative studies makes quantification of the historical disturbance regime difficult. The influence of anthropogenic disturbance is also difficult to separate from natural events. Nevertheless, a better understanding of the historical range of variability is needed, particularly because the recent high severity disturbances in the region have led to controversy regarding the management of forests in several national parks. |
| 13:45 | PARMENTIER, I.1, HARDY, O. J.1, HARRIGAN, R. J.2, BUERMANN, W.2, MITCHARD, E.T.A3, ET AL.4 (1 Université Libre de Bruxelles, BE, 2 University of California, USA, 3 University of Edinburgh, UK, 4 ) Predicting alpha diversity of African rain forests: models based on climate and satellite-derived data do not perform better than a purely spatial model. Our aim was to evaluate the extent to which we can predict and map tree alpha diversity across broad spatial scales, either by using climate and remote sensing data, or by exploiting spatial autocorrelation patterns. Alpha diversity estimates were compiled for trees in 573 inventory plots in the West and Central African rain forests. Linear regression (OLS) and random forest (RF) statistical techniques were used to project alpha diversity estimates at unsampled locations using climate data and remote sensing data. The prediction reliabilities of OLS and RF models were evaluated using a novel approach and compared to that of a kriging model based on geographic location alone. The predictive power of the kriging model was comparable to that of OLS and RF models based on climatic and remote sensing data. The three models provided congruent predictions of alpha diversity in well-sampled areas but not in poorly inventoried locations. The reliability of the predictions of all three models declined markedly with distance from points with inventory data, becoming very low at distances > 50 km. Our results emphasize and illustrate the need to test model predictions in a spatially explicit manner. Good OLS or RF model predictions from inventory data at short distance largely result from the strong spatial autocorrelation displayed by both the alpha diversity and the predictive variables rather than necessarily from causal relationships. |
| 14:00 | PECK, M.R.1, CHINCHERO, M.A.2, JARAMILLO CARVAJAL, E.P.2, MARISCAL, A.2 (1 University of Sussex, UK, 2 Herbario Nacional del Ecuador (QCNE), Ecuador) Does tree-fall gap phase dynamics explain the Andean mid-altitudinal hump in species richness? Tree species diversity has been shown to peak at mid-altitudes in tropical mountain forest yet mechanisms behind this ‘mid- altitudinal hump’ remain unclear. We investigate whether natural tree-fall gap dynamics (NTGD) play a role in maintaining a greater ‘pioneer’ species pool at higher altitudes in forests of NW Ecuador where steeper slopes contribute to greater instability. We sampled juvenile and adult trees from 89 plots in tree-fall gaps, regenerating gaps and closed canopy in lowland (300 masl) and mid-altitudinal mountain forest (1400 masl). Total species richness (Chao1) of mid-altitudinal forest was 604 species (529 – 720, 95% CI) and ‘effective species richness’ (ESR) 168 effective species (± 0.71 SD). Lowland forest total species richness was 558 species (486 – 670, 95% CI) with 124 effective species (± 1.13 SD). Difference in ESR was significant, indicating a 136% increase in diversity for mountain forest. We found no significant difference in ratios of ‘ESR in gaps and regenerating gaps only’ over ‘total ESR’ between sites, 84.5% in lowland and 84.4% in montane forest, suggesting tree-fall gap dynamics played no role in the difference in diversity. Multivariate analysis of both juvenile and adult trees confirmed that NTGD successional category offered no significant explanation of species abundance in either forest (CCA, Monte Carlo simulation p>0.05). We conclude that the scale of the disturbance regime associated with natural tree-fall gaps does not play a significant role in explaining differences in tree species diversity between lowland and mid-altitudinal mountain forests of NW Ecuador. |
| 14:15 | LAGENDIJK, D.D.G. PAGE, B.R. SLOTOW, R (University of KwaZulu-Natal) The effects of browsing release by different sized herbivores on the recruitment of Sand Forest, South Africa. The critically endangered Sand Forest is limited to South Africa and Mozambique. Sand forest has a low resilience to disturbance and poor recruitment rates. The structure within Sand Forest has changed markedly during the past decade. (Re)Introduced herbivores such as elephant Loxodonta africana and nyala Tragelaphus angasii may have substantial impact on the sustainability of Sand Forest. We used an exclosure experiment in which we could separate the effects of elephant and nyala on vegetation and resource utilisation by other herbivores. In a replicated set of three treatments, consisting of an open access, partial exclosure (no elephant), and full exclosure (no elephant nor nyala) treatment, all woody individuals were measured, counted, identified to species, and browsing damage was recorded. Results of changes after two and five years of exclusion are presented. Seedling recruitment was inhibited by nyala and elephant in combination. Neither nyala nor elephant reduced sapling densities. Tree species assemblages were impacted by both elephant and nyala, and by each species individually. Tree turnover rates were higher where both herbivore species were present than in their combined absence. In addition, herbivory by small-sized herbivores increased in absence of larger species, which may contribute to the observed vegetation changes. When setting management goals to conserve forests of key importance, management plans need to consider the total herbivore assemblage present and the resulting browsing effects on vegetation. The indirect effect of herbivore assemblages, especially on tree species assemblages, can become critical as they affect vegetation dynamics, biodiversity and ecosystem processes. |
| 14:30 | WILD, J.1, SVOBODA, M.2, KOPECKY, M.1, ZENAHLIKOVA, J.2, EDWARDS, M.3 (1 Institute of Botany ASCR, CZ, 2 Czech University of Life Sciences, CZ, 3 Institute of System Biology and Ecology) Regeneration in spruce stands after stand-replacing disturbance mirrors spatial pattern of dead canopy trees. Large areas of temperate mountain spruce forests in Central Europe were disturbed by bark beetle outbreaks during last two decades. Many stands were re-planted and further managed, but those left without intervention raised questions about the course of disturbance-following regeneration or even about their natural ability to regenerate. General succession trends after large scale disturbances of coniferous forest are well known from boreal ecosystems. However, dynamics of temperate spruce forests are less studied due to their scarcity and low attention paid to disturbances in traditional Central European forest science. We have used snapshot pattern of seedlings and dead standing canopy trees (snags) distribution to identify relevant pattern-generated processes. We have collected data on height and stem position of seedlings, saplings and snags in 9 permanent plots (40 × 40 m). Univariate and bivariate pair correlation functions were used to analyze spatial pattern of all trees and the spatial relations between the seedling bank and dead canopy trees respectively. Snags were randomly distributed, while seedlings were strongly aggregated up to distance of 2 – 6 m. Bivariate analysis revealed strong spatial aggregation of seedlings/saplings around snags, which indicates importance of microsites close to stems of mature or dead trees for forest regeneration. These results were further supported by fitting simple Thomas cluster process model to field data, which successfully mimicked the observed spatial pattern using randomly distributed mature trees as centre of seedlings clusters. Emergent forests thus mirror the spatial structure of their dead predecessors. |
| 14:45 | PÜTZ, S.1, GROENEVELD, J.1, ALVES, L.F.2, METZGER, J.P.3, HUTH, A.1 (1 UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 2 Botanic Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado, USA , 3 University of Sao Paulo, Department of Ecology, São Paulo, Brazil) Understanding impacts of fragmentation and human disturbance on tree species community in tropical forest fragments Increasing demand for bio fuels may lead to even stronger human land use pressure in the tropics with the consequence of massive habitat destruction and following habitat fragmentation, for example within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlántica), one of the biodiversity hot spots in the world. Already approximately 92% of the former Atlantic forest has disappeared within the last five centuries and the remaining forests are mostly highly fragmented. However, fragmentation processes acting on structure and dynamics of tropical forest fragments are not the exclusive drivers, low intensive logging may act as factor, too. Combined impacts of different drivers may lead to an increasing complexity of the response of different tree species groups (plant functional types, PFTs) and thus challenge our understanding of fragmentation effects on tropical tree species communities on the long-term. Such challenges can ideally be tackled with simulation models. We present the first simulation study of remnant and secondary tropical forest fragments taking fragmentation processes and human disturbance into account, gaining an improved understanding of how tree species in tropical forest fragments react both to fragmentation and human disturbances. We present simulation results analysing different intensity levels of human disturbances in combination with fragmentation processes using the individual based spatially explicit forest growth model FORMIND. We apply FORMIND with a plant functional type approach to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest at the study site Caucaia/Ibiuna at the Plateau of São Paulo. |
| 15:00 | HOLDAWAY, R.J. ALLEN, R.B. CARSWELL, F.E. (Landcare Research, NZ) Modelling forest dynamics in order to predict carbon sequestration during natural succession. New Zealand enjoys a unique opportunity to convert c. 1 Mha of land to new forests for the purpose of carbon sequestration using natural forest regeneration. The achievement of afforestation on this scale requires quantification of actual and expected changes in carbon stock over time under different management regimes. Individual projects vary in size from 100 to 30,000 ha and occur in highly fragmented, often dispersal-limited landscapes characterised by strong environmental heterogeneity. Plot-based methods of measuring actual carbon stocks are well developed; however, our ability to model future changes in carbon stocks is limited. Existing models of forest dynamics, such as SORTIE-NZ, have the ability to predict changes in biomass (and thus carbon) over time, but these models are parameter-intensive and difficult to implement in strongly heterogeneous environments. This talk will discuss the ongoing development and parameterisation of a forest dynamics model that is targeted at predicting carbon sequestration rates at management scales. The Perfect Plasticity Approximation (PPA) is used as the basis to model growth and mortality due to its ability to capture successional dynamics. Preliminary results have successfully predicted carbon changes over time in naturally regenerating southern beech (Nothofagus) stands. Particular attention will be given to the significant challenges involved in the modelling of key processes such as dispersal limitation and large-scale abiotic variation. |
| 15:15 | JUMP, A.S. (University of Stirling) Tree growth decline and range retraction in mountain forests and implications for lowland regions Increases in temperature and drought linked to global climate change are having wide ranging impacts on forest tree species, from their ecology and distribution to their adaptation and survival. There is abundant evidence from mountain regions that tree species are shifting upwards in altitude: expanding populations at their upper limits are accompanied by declining growth and increased mortality lower down. Focusing on the retreating limits of temperate broadleaved forest in European mountains, I will discuss recent work on growth decline and dieback in forest trees, and rapid future shifts in species composition. I will conclude with a discussion of the implications of the findings of mountain-based studies for lowland regions, where an increase in the frequency and spatial extent of dieback events should be anticipated. |
| 15:30 | NATH, C.D.1, DE FRANCESCHI, D.2, BOURA, A.2, PÉLISSIER, R.3 (1 French Institute of Pondicherry, India, 2 Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, France, 3 Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France) Tree age estimation for tropical tree species by direct and indirect methods. The relationship between age and size of forest trees has applications in the fields of forest dynamics, silviculture, agroforestry and governance. Methods for establishing the age of trees have been classified as "direct" or "indirect". Direct methods involve exact age determination per tree by methods such as counting growth rings, whereas indirect methods involve development of representative curves per species by modeling annual growth measurements. Here we present a comparison of different methods of age estimation for three tropical tree species monitored at traditional agroforestry plantations in the Western Ghats of India. Age-size relationships for individual trees were obtained directly by counting periodic growth rings in wood. In addition, age-size trajectories were modeled indirectly using diameter increment data obtained with dendrometer bands. Direct estimates of tree age fell within the confidence envelopes developed by indirect methods for one of the tree species. This is probably because its fast growth rate coupled with annual deciduousness produced unambiguous growth rings that could be easily counted and verified against indirectly estimated values. However, for the other two species correspondence between age estimates obtained by different methods was not as good. Our results suggest that both, direct and indirect, methods of tree age estimation are likely to be of value in the context of tropical tree species. Advantages and disadvantages of the different methods are discussed in relation to assumptions about species' characteristics and projection techniques. |
| 13:45 | MEIR P1, COSTA ACL2, GALBRAITH D3, METCALFE DB4, ALMEIDA SS5, FISHER RA6, CARVALHO CR7, SOTTA ED8, CHAVES MM9 (1 University of Edinburgh, 2 Federal University of Para, 3 University of Oxford, 4 University of Umea, 5 Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, 6 National Center for Atmospheric Research, 7 Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Amazonia Ocidental), 8 Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Macapa), 9 Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica , Universidade Nova de Lisboa) Impacts of drought on Amazon rain forest functioning We report on the impact of experimental drought on the carbon and water cycles of Amazonian rain forest by reference to impacts on physiology in soil and plants, and the mortality of trees. We focus on a unique long-running throughfall (rainfall) exclusion experiment, first installed in 2001 in eastern Amazonia, and consider the results in the context of other experimental and large-scale observational evidence relating to drought impacts on rain forest functioning. We also combine our measurement evidence with modelling outcomes to examine similarities and differences in results, work that is the subject of new modelling analyses at ecosystem scale. |
| 14:00 | DANIEL METCALFE (swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) Effect of herbivory on tropical forest carbon cycling When it comes to understanding ecosystem – level carbon and nutrient cycling, do animals matter? In this presentation I highlight the potentially important role of herbivores for tropical forest carbon cycling. I provide (1) A review of available information about the variety of mechanisms whereby herbivores can affect ecosystem carbon cycling, and (2) Some the first estimates of the amount of foliage biomass removed by herbivores across several Amazon forests, (3) An analysis of carbon losses via herbivory in the context of other major ecosystem carbon fluxes. |
| 14:15 | SAYER, E.J.1, MARTHEWS, T.R.2, GRANT, H.K.1, HEARD, M.S.1, TANNER, E.V.J.3 (1 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK, 2 University of Oxford, UK, 3 University of Cambridge, UK) Carbon release from soil by increased litterfall in tropical forests. Tropical forests are a critical component of the global carbon cycle and their response to climate change will play an important role in determining future levels of atmospheric CO2. Increases in primary productivity in tropical forests over the last decades have been attributed to CO2 fertilization and greater biomass in tropical forests is predicted to be a substantial carbon sink in the future. However, estimates of the carbon sequestration capacity of tropical forests treat the soil as a ‘black box’ and possible feedbacks between increased productivity and soil carbon dynamics in tropical forests remain unknown. We show that increased litterfall in lowland tropical forest has the potential to release carbon from the soil through ‘priming effects’, where the decomposition of older soil organic carbon is stimulated by the addition of fresh organic matter. Using large-scale, long-term litter addition and removal treatments combined with a natural abundance isotope study, we found that the efflux of CO2 derived from soil organic carbon was significantly increased by litter addition. Moreover, this effect was sustained over several years. Thus it is essential that plant-soil feedbacks be taken into account in predictions of the carbon sequestration potential of tropical forests. |
| 14:30 | MAKKONEN, M.1, HANDA, I.T.2, HÄTTENSCHWILER, S.3, RUIJVEN, J.VAN4, BERG, M.P.1, BODEGOM, P.VAN1, AERTS. R.1 (1 VU University Amsterdam, 2 Université du Québec à Montréal , 3 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 4 Wageningen University) General patterns and mechanisms in plant litter decomposition from the Subarctic to the Tropics. Although various factors controlling plant litter decomposition have been identified in numerous studies, a consensus about the basic principles at the global scale has not been reached. Furthermore studies assessing the process at this scale have neglected the role of decomposers and presented contrasting results about the importance of climate and recourse quality.We conducted a reciprocal forest litter transplant experiment at four contrasting incubation environments across a wide latitudinal gradient. These environments were tropical, temperate, mediterranean and subarctic, with the two first ones presenting favourable climatic conditions for the decomposition. The focus was given to the resource quality effect and the traits behind it, without forgetting the possible role of different groups of decomposers. Like earlier litter transplant studies, we found climate as the strongest controller. Whereas we also found litter identity to have a consistent and strong effect as a contrast to these studies. Specifically the tropical litter species were overall the slowest to decompose supporting some recent findings. Furthermore the plant litter trait analysis showed a strong general pattern in the feeding preferences of the microbes revealing generalism across the gradient. Larger fauna had an effect only in the environments where the prevailing climatic conditions were favourable for the decomposition. Nevertheless, a causal link with climate should be questioned and more interest should be given to the stage of decomposition. Importantly the larger fauna showed also different feeding preferences than the microbes and were in general less driven by the traits. |
| 14:45 | IMMA OLIVERAS YADVINDER MALHI ROSA MARIA ROMAN CUESTA (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford) Effects of fire on the Tropical Montane Cloud Forests carbon budgets in the Southern Peruvian Andes Although Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCFs) have a limited distribution on a global scale, representing only about 2.5% of the total area supporting tropical forests, these ecosystems harbour exceptional levels of biodiversity and endemism and have a high conservation priority on a global basis. In the Southern Peruvian Andes, humid TMCFs sit immediately below highly flammable, high altitude dry grasslands that have suffered from anthropogenic fires for centuries. This treeline is a zone of climatic tension where substantial warming is likely to enhance fire presence at those elevetaions, hence increasing the impact on those ecosystems. TMCFs contain large carbon stocks in the form of peat soils and their loss through fire is a currently unaccounted source of CO2 to the atmosphere. In this study we present data of burnt and non-burnt TMCFs sites at high altitude (> 2800m) for different foret types (primary/secondary) and time since last fire, in the Southern Peruvian Andes. Field was conducted between March- October 2010. We carefully matched pairs of 30 x 30 m treatment (burnt) and control plots, where pre-treatment conditions and forest structure between pairs were assumed to have been similar. We will apply non-parametric paired tests (Wilcoxon's test) to look for differences on above-ground and below-ground carbon stocks associated with fires for different forest types. These results will provide novel information about the effects of fire on carbon budgets for different TMCFs forest types. |
| 15:00 | DOUGHTY, C.E.1, AMEZQUITA F.F.F.2, DURAND, L.2, HUARACA HUASCO, D. W.2, METCALFE, D. 3, SILVA-ESPEJO, J. E. 2, ARAUJO, A4, MALHI, Y.1 (1 Oxford University, 2 UNSAAC, 3 Swedish University of Agriculture, 4 Museo Noel Kempff) A comparison of Carbon Use Efficiency in tropical forests across 8, 1 hectare plots in Peru and Bolivia. We present the results of a comprehensive synthesis of autotrophic respiration and Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of 1 hectare plots in two forests in Bolivia and 6 in Peru along an elevation transect over a two year period. We combine autotrophic respiration and NPP for each site to estimate Gross Primary Productivity (GPP). We divide NPP by GPP to estimate Carbon Use Efficiency (CUE) for each forest. We compare CUE in 2009, which had average rainfall, to 2010, in which some sites experienced a significant drought. We test whether CUE decreases with drought as has been shown to occur in experimental droughts. We also further test whether old growth or infertile forests have a lower carbon use efficiency compared with recently disturbed forests. |
| 15:15 | MARTINEZ-VILALTA, J.1, VAYREDA, J.2, GRACIA, M.2, RETANA, J.1 (1 CREAF / UAB, Spain, 2 CREAF, Spain) Forest structure and recent changes in climate and forest management interact to determine the current carbon balance of Spanish forests. Forests and their soils contain the majority of the Earth’s terrestrial carbon stocks and control the major fluxes of C between the atmosphere and the biosphere. Although most temperate forests are currently accumulating carbon and may continue to do so in the near future, the situation is less clear in water-limited ecosystems, where the potentially positive effects of fertilization and rising temperatures interact with water availability. In this study we use the network of > 50,000 forest plots re-sampled across Spain over successive national forest inventories to identify the factors that determine the spatial variation of the carbon balance of Spanish forests. Spain provides an ideal study system, as it covers a large climatic gradient, from humid to dry Mediterranean areas, and its forests contain many species at the dry limit of their distribution and have experienced recent management changes. Our results show that C stock and tree density are the main determinants of the spatial distribution of the overall forest C balance and its main components, growth and mortality. In comparison, the effect of climate was relatively modest. Overall, recent warming trends have translated into lower growth rates and decreased capacity for carbon sequestration, particularly at relatively humid locations, highlighting the fact that these locations may be inherently more vulnerable to climate change. Interestingly, the negative effect of rising temperatures disappears if only managed stands are considered, where warming has actually promoted growth. This result emphasizes the potential of forest management to mitigate the effects of climate change. |
| 15:30 | VANDERWEL, M.C. PURVES, D.W. (Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK) Density-dependent stand growth dynamics may constrain increases in aboveground carbon storage under climatic change The rate at which forests uptake or release carbon under changing climatic conditions is a key component of models of the global carbon cycle. Despite the importance of this process, many dynamic global vegetation models incorporate a relatively simplistic approach that implies that aboveground carbon storage is proportional to NPP (all else being equal) at a given locality. However, rates of tree growth and mortality can exhibit both size- and density-dependent non-linearities that produce stronger constraints on stand biomass than would be expected with linear model forms. We parameterized models for growth and mortality with different functional forms and for different scales (tree- and stand-level) from inventory data in eastern North America, then assessed the implications of these different models for aboveground carbon storage in long-term simulations representing changing climatic conditions. We compared model predictions with observed patterns of stand growth, mortality, and basal area across a latitudinal gradient in eastern North America. Our findings suggests that the future increases in potential aboveground carbon storage within forests may be less pronounced than predicted by many Earth system models. |
| 13:45 | EWERS, R.M.1, REYNOLDS, G.2, TURNER, E.C.3 (1 Imperial College London, 2 Royal Society, 3 University of Cambridge) The Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project Opportunities to conduct large-scale field experiments are rare, but provide a unique prospect to reveal the complex processes that operate within natural ecosystems. Here, we present the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project, a new forest fragmentation experiment located in the lowland tropical forests of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia). SAFE represents an advance on existing experiments in that it: (1) allows discrimination of the effects of landscape-level forest cover from patch-level processes; (2) is designed to facilitate the unification of a wide range of data types collected on ecological patterns and processes that operate over a wide range of spatial scales; (3) has greater replication than existing experiments; (4) incorporates an experimental manipulation of riparian corridors; and (5) embeds the experimentally fragmented landscape within a wider gradient of land use intensity than existing projects. The SAFE Project combines research on biodiversity, ecosystem processes, soils, water and earth-atmosphere linkages, all conducted in an integrated manner to quantify the impacts of forest modification on ecological functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. |
| 14:00 | FARUK, A.1, KNELL, R.2, GARNER, T.1 (1 Institute of Zoology, London, 2 Queen Mary University of London) Evaluating the impact of oil palm plantation on tropical amphibian species diversity. Agricultural-altered habitats are rapidly dominating the Southeast Asian landscape. Recent studies have shown negative relationships between species diversity and commodities such as oil palm, but information on amphibian diversity are lacking. The aim of this study was to identify if species richness, individual abundances and assemblage composition differ between oil palm and adjacent forest reserve. Stream, riparian and terrestrial plots were surveyed in four mature oil palm plantation sites and two adjacent forest sites in Peninsular Malaysia in 2009 and 2010. Results from the collected data revealed that there were no differences in estimated species richness between the two habitats and among different plot types (stream, riparian and terrestrial). Individual abundances also did not differ with the exception of plantation streams. Assemblage composition greatly differed between the two habitat types. Whereas the assemblage composition in plantation streams seem consistent, forest stream assemblages showed variation between the two forest sites. Although plantation habitats do support breeding amphibians, abundance-based estimates fail to show fundamental differences in species composition between the two habitat types. Amphibian species dominating plantations were frequently found in other disturb habitats and urban areas, with few or no forest species present. We conclude that under current management regimes, oil palm plantations do not serve as a refuge or alternative habitat for forest dwelling amphibians. This talk will also outline possible management strategies to maximise suitability of plantations to forest amphibians. |
| 14:15 | SAIKIA, P. K. KAKATI SAIKIA, M. (Gauhati University, Assam, India) Effect of forest degradation on tropical forest birds of Assam: a case study in Nameri National Park. Study has tested the hypothesis that the relatively undisturbed forest has higher avian diversity and richness than disturbed forest We also investigates the response of the affected feeding group towards forest disturbances. Again, if the changes in diversity of avian fauna in disturbed forest are associated with restricted geographical distributions and whether the endemism is directly related to tropical primary forest. Study revealed that, the species composition was highest in primary forest than disturbed forest. The Shannon-Wiener estimate of diversity was significantly higher in undisturbed and moderately disturbed forest habitat than in disturbed forest. Species sampled in primary forest had more restricted geographical distribution than those sampled in disturbed forest . There was a significant relationship between undisturbed habitat preference of birds and its geographical distribution ranges. The preference of closed canopy forest by endemic or narrow range species was significantly higher than the wide range species. The species with narrow geographic distribution ranges tended to be confined on closed canopy forest, whereas species with wider geographical ranges have been more often found in the disturbed forest. Majority of the narrow range forest birds were frugivorous, omnivorous or insectivorous. Thus the tropical forest disturbances mainly effected the canopy feeding frugivorous, forest middle story insectivorous, necterivorous and omnivores bird species, whereas, granivorous birds have gained from forest degradation. There was a significant phylogenic relationship between primary forest and avian species. The order Piciformes, Galiformes, Gruiformes and Passeriformes have a tendency to prefer undisturbed habitat than others. Keywords:Tropical forest, closed canopy forest, endemic species, degraded forest, geographical distribution ranges, restricted ranges, feeding guild. |
| 14:30 | OFORI-BOATENG, C.1, ODURO, W.2, RODEL, M-O.3 (1 Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, 2 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, 3 Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) Patterns of amphibian diversity and community structure are influenced by forest type and forest disturbance in tropical West Africa. Habitat loss and modifications can have severe negative effects on biodiversity, yet a detailed understanding of the response of amphibian communities to forest modification in the Afrotropics is yet to be realized. We investigated the community structure and diversity patterns of leaf litter anurans in primary versus exploited forest habitats across three distinct forest types (wet, moist and dry) in Ghana, which provide an opportunity to contrast different forest types and disturbance gradients. Following a stratified random design, two-hectare plots were selected in each forest type and disturbance state and surveyed for species occurrence for a period of 18-months. Species diversity did not differ significantly between the different forest types and disturbance states. However, community structure differed, with a significant turnover of species between forest types. Also, forest exploitation resulted in significant negative changes in the amphibian community structure in only the wet forest type; a result that suggest a differential response of amphibian communities to forest disturbance in different forest types. In addition, the abundance of species requiring specialized breeding habitats declined drastically along a wet-dry forest type gradient with lower abundance in the drier forest type. The observed variation in amphibian community structure along these forest types is best interpreted in light of differences in species-specific breeding mechanisms, which differ with respect to forest type and disturbance gradients. These findings provide important insight into Afrotropical ecosystem restoration and reorganization after such impacts; range restricted species adapted to specialized breeding habitats are the worst affected by forest modifications. |
| 14:45 | BEBBER, D.P.1, CAPRETZ, R.2, MURTHY, I3, PARKER, G4, REN, H.5, RIUTTA, T.6, SLADE, E.7 (1 Earthwatch Institute, 2 Sociedade de Pesquisa em Vida Selvagem e Educação Ambiental, 3 Centre for Sustainable Technology, Indian Institute of Science, 4 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 5 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 6 Oxford University Centre for the Environment, 7 Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford) Biomass and diversity across disturbance gradients in five forests around the World Around three quarters of forests globally show varying signs of anthropogenic disturbance. As the global area of undisturbed forest dwindles, the role of degraded and secondary forests in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation will increase, yet disturbed forests are often considered as inferior to primary forests for these purposes. This study addresses variation of above-ground biomass and tree diversity across disturbance gradients in five sites around the world. Permanent sample plots were established across disturbance gradients at five sites in the UK, USA, Brazil, India and China. The type of anthropogenic disturbance varied among sites: fragmentation in the UK; low-intensity extraction in India; regrowth following harvesting in the USA and Brazil; and number of previous harvests in China. Forest plantations were also sampled. At each site, all trees > 5 cm DBH were mapped, measured, and identified to species. Estimates of tree diversity and above-ground biomass show varying patterns among sites. In the USA, Brazil and China, diversity and biomass increase significantly with time since disturbance, to a maximum for old-growth plots. Surprisingly, Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations in China were nearly as species-rich as old-growth forest. In India and the UK, no clear relationship between disturbance and biomass could be detected. Medium-term changes in forest biomass are being monitored by repeated measurements every 2-5 years. Short term growth responses to weather are being monitored using dendrometer bands. The relationship between growth and climatic variables will be used to parameterize models of the influence of climate change on forest biomass. |
| 15:00 | MUTHU KARTHICK (Care Earth) A study on riparian vegetation of River Moyar on the Mysore-Nilgiri corridor, southern India Ecology of riparian forests deserves scrupulous study for their medley of wildlife services. River Moyar in southern India connecting Western and Eastern ghats has been documented for floristic diversity. Linear transects were laid both along and across the river for enumerating woody plants. Each of the 20 four-KM length linear-transects were ended with one-KM perpendicular transects so that the gallery plus adjacent vegetation are covered. Trees, shrubs, lianas were identified, counted in each transect; samples collected were identified referring local floras, detailed photographs. The five month pilot-study (Dec-Apr) spanned wet to dry seasons. Totalling 131 woody-species from 45 families comprising 99 genera were found on river-bank; 110 species from 38 families, 85 genera recorded on perpendicular transects. For gallery vegetation, Diversity index (Shannon) ranged 2.0-3.25 and evenness (Pielou-index) of 0.59-0.89; whereas in perpendicular transects, 1.5-2.67 of diversity-index and 0.53-0.88 evenness occurred, which evinces the rich floristic diversity. Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae and Caesalpiniaceae families ranked top in gallery vegetation. Dry-scrub vegetation formed the adjacent forests for river at lower altitude and the medium-elevation is flanked by deciduous forests before transiting from savannah-woodland over the gorge. 30 and 25 single encounter of species occurred in gallery and perpendicular transects respectively. Fruits of the most common Syzygium cumini and Diospyros malabarica trees are relished by wild animals. Homonoia riparia, Phyllanthus polyphyllus shrubs are strictly riparian. RET plants viz., Santalum album, Phyllanthus indofischeri, Tamilnadia ulginosa, Syzygium tamilnadensis were recorded. This unique ecosystem merits the conservation value as a vital wildlife corridor apart enduring endangered plants. |
| 15:15 | KAKATI SAIKIA, M. SHARMA, D. K. SAIKIA, P. K. (Gauhati University, Assam, India) Impact of tropical forest degradation on Nymphalid butterflies: A case study in Chandubi reserve forest, Assam, India We examine the hypothesis, whether the diversity of Nymphalid butterflies in primary forest is associated with vegetation structure and canopy openness and that this relationship differs between butterfly taxa in relation to phylogenetic differences in light and shade preferences. Results indicates that the butterflies species sampled in closed canopy forest had more restricted geographical distribution than those being sampled in degraded forest. The species with greater light preference had significantly wider geographical distribution, whereas, the species with greater shade preferences had significantly narrower geographical range. The stepwise analysis of multiple regressions between the diversity indices of shade groups of butterflies and vegetation density of closed forest shows a significant positive relationship, but the relationship was negative when similar analysis was performed between species diversity indices of light preferred groups and vegetation density. Bulk of closed canopy forest butterflies is sensitive to changes in moisture availability and humidity. Thus, changes in canopy cover and light penetration, through microclimatic effects on adult and larval survival, does have an impact on butterfly distributions and abundance. While, the species richness and diversity are higher in degraded forest, the conservation value of primary forest lies more in the presence of species with restricted ranges. Study indicated strong and significant relationship between the species of narrow range of geographical distribution and species shade preference. The restricted ranges species are affected due to forest degradation. Thus, clearly bringing into light, that increasing diversity in degraded forest is associated with the loss of species with restricted geographical distribution. Key words: Forest degradation, primary forests, conservation value, endemic species, geographic distribution range, light and shade groups, Nymphalid butterflies, phylogeny, tropical forests. |
| 15:30 | KLAPWIJK, M.J.1, BATTISTI, A.2, AYRES, M.P.3, LARSSON, S.1 (1 Department of Ecology, Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, 2 Department of Environmental Agronomy-Entomology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy, 3 Biological Sciences, Darthmouth College, Hanover, NH, US) Assesing the impact of climate change on outbreak potential How important is climate change for frequency and distribution of insect outbreaks? Is it likely that a change in climate will strengthen the effects of current weather situations on in insect population density, resulting in increased magnitude or frequency of outbreaks? To answer this question direct effects of climate have to be taken into account together with indirect effects through host plants and natural enemies. These individual responses have to be weighted in how important they are influencing population growth rate. We conclude that the direct effects on herbivore population could lead to increase in numbers; however, indirect effects through natural enemies are likely to mitigate the net positive effect of climate change on the herbivore population. However, in effect of climate change on pathogens is ambiguous and therefore it is hard to predict how in what direction indirect effects through pathogens will affect herbivore densities. Overall increase of potential population growth rates for the herbivore might result in a weaker control of the herbivore population fluctuations making escape from controlling factors more likely in the future. |
| 13:45 | PATHAK, M.1, GHIMIRE, M.L2 (1 Society for Conservation GIS Nepal, 2 Centeral Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Nepal) An Assessment of Landcover Dynamism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) baseline Mapping in Nepal Nepal is one of the beneficiary country from the REDD mechanism. Requirements and readiness for optimum benefit from this mechanism is one of the ongoing discourses among government agencies and concern stakeholders. A basic underpinning requirement to support the efforts for reducing deforestation is the systematic and long-term observation of forests area and assessment of the associated land cover change scenario. In this regard, this study presents a framework for the assessment of land cover dynamism as per the requirement of REDD baseline mapping in Nepal. Land cover change and deforestation assessment was carried out by using Landsat satellite imageries and historical record of deforestation and land degradation. Analysis was conducted using the multi-temporal analysis of satellite imageries and land change modeling for REED mechanism. Study presents the pattern, process and main drivers of land cover dynamism in the Churia Area of Nepal (fragile landscape in Nepal and prone to deforestation and land degradation) during the 1970- 2001. Results shows that the total loss of forest area during the 19970-1990 was 6.4 percent (129371) which was followed by the loss of 2 percent (38222 ha.) area during 1990- 2001. Major pathway of land cover dynamism was: forest to Cultivation land; forest to riverbed; cultivation to riverbed; riverbed to forest and cultivation to forest. Conversion of forest to cultivated land was contributed 43 percent of the total forest loss during 1970-1990 which was followed by 21 percent of the total forest loss during 1990- 2001. |
| 14:00 | KHAN, M. S. I. (Copenhagen University, Denmark) Potential of REDD in mitigation and adaptation to climate change Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is a widely advocated climate change mitigation option. Even though a political agreement is still pending, REDD is continuously gaining momentum. As deforestation and degradation account for 17% of the global GHG emission, REDD is arguably one of the cheapest mitigation options. REDD promises a win-win situation for resource flow from developed to developing countries as well. To assess REDD’s linkage with climate mitigation and adaptation, eligible REDD countries were ranked on the basis of their total forest area, actual area of deforestation, amount of carbon emission, potential REDD benefits and climate vulnerability and a series of Spearman’s rank correlation analysis was carried out. Results showed that countries with higher GHG emission are more likely to get REDD benefits. Few such beneficiaries are on the verge of being net emitter in near future. Hence there is a high risk that the REDD resources would be invested for energy intensive development. REDD’s mitigation potential should not therefore be overemphasized and should be considered only as a measure to be employed in additional to direct emission cuts. Again, there was no significant relation between a country being a potential REDD beneficiary and being vulnerable to climate change because most of the vulnerable countries are small and low-lying island countries and countries in arid regions with insignificant forest area at global scale. Hence REDD resources will not flow to climate vulnerable countries. We propose, therefore, that a climate adaptation fund for vulnerable countries should be developed and maintained separately. |
| 14:15 | ENTENMANN, S. SCHMITT, C.B. (University of Freiburg, Germany) The role of biodiversity in climate change mitigation activities in Peru. Conservation strategies for forests and forest protected areas increasingly include economic objectives, payment mechanisms for carbon sequestration services in the context of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) playing a crucial role. Synergies between climate change mitigation activities and conservation of forest biodiversity are generally recognized. However, deficiently designed REDD+ schemes might result in negative impacts on biodiversity. In order to establish biodiversity safeguards and conservation objectives within REDD+ it is crucial to identify biodiversity components of high protection value. An interview survey with REDD+ stakeholders (n = 50) was realized in Peru to identify which components of biodiversity are considered as important at the national and local level. There was broad consent that biodiversity protection in general is important for the economical and ecologic long-term viability of REDD+ in Peru. High-priority conservation targets are often related to other ecosystem services, such as hydrological services originating from forested watersheds. Importance was also attributed to native timber and non-timber species with high market values. Beside use-values, emblematic and threatened species were perceived as important compositional components of biodiversity in Peru. The study also showed that monitoring of the impacts of REDD+ activities on forest biodiversity in Peru is a problematic task. Information on biodiversity is often restricted to lists of species, whereas little knowledge exists on functional and structural biodiversity components. However, such information is the basis for informed management decisions for both biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem services, especially in the light of global climate change. |
| 14:30 | MANIATIS, D.1, MALHI, Y.1, SAINT ANDRE, L.2, MOLLICONE, D.3, BARBIER, N.4, SAATCHI, S.5, HENRY, M.6, TEILLIER, L.7, SCHWARTZENBERG, M.8, WHITE, L.9 (1 University of Oxford, UK, 2 CIRAD, France, 3 Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, Italy, 4 UMR IRD-AMAP, France, 5 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, USA, 6 AgroParisTech-ENGREF, France, 7 Sylvafrica, Gabon, 8 TEREA, Gabon, 9 Secrétaire exécutif des Parcs Nationaux, Gabon) Evaluating the potential of commercial forest inventory data to report on forest carbon stock and forest carbon stock changes for REDD+ under the UNFCCC. In the context of the adoption of the REDD+ mitigation mechanism (reduced emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, conservation, sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks), it is important to obtain reliable data on the spatiotemporal variation of forest carbon stocks and forest carbon stock changes (called Emission Factor, EF). A re-occurring debate in estimating EF for REDD+ is the use of existing field measurement data. We provide an assessment of the use of commercial logging inventory data and ecological data for REDD+ countries in order to estimate a conservative EF (phase 2 of REDD+) or to report on EF at a tier 2 level following IPCC Guidance and Guidelines (phase 3 of REDD+). The data presented originate from five logging companies dispersed over Gabon, totalling 2,240 plots of 0.3 56 hectares. We distinguish three Forest Types (FTs) in the dataset based on floristic grounds. Estimated mean aboveground biomass (AGB) in the FTs ranges from 312 to 333 Mg ha-1. A 5 % accuracy is reached with the number of plots put in place for the FTs and a low sampling uncertainty obtained (± 10 to 13 Mg ha-1). The data could be used to estimate a conservative EF in phase 2 of a Phased REDD+ implementation and only partially to report on EF following tier 2 requirements for a phase 3. The challenges and caveats for using this type of data to report on EF, whether for conservative estimates or at a tier 2, are discussed. |
| 14:45 | SIBANDA, M.1, SHUMBA, E.M2 (1 Cambridge University, UK, 2 WWF Zimbabwe) Climate Change and Carbon Financing under Reduced Emmissions from Degradation and Deforestation in Miombo of southern Africa An investigation of the policy environment and potential for national and community benefits of carbon finance through reduced emissions from degradation and deforestation (REDD+)was done in 5 Miombo countries in southern Africa. These were Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The policy environment in most countries is favourable to the introduction of REDD+ due to the basis that community based natural resources management (CBNRM) programmes that have matured in most of the sub region. CBNRM projects have encouraged good natural resources stewardship benefiting nature and the poor communities in the region.Therefore income from REDD+ would be additional to what CBNRM projects already generate for national and local economies. Institutions at national level must be put in place for purposes of measuring, reporting and verification. In Zimbabwe legislation to ensure benefits accrue to the local level has recently been passed but remains largely untested. There is a need to develop in southern Africa national communication strategies in order to build a common understanding of opportunities and implications of a likely REDD+ regime. |
| 15:00 | MORECROFT, M.D. (Natural England) Adapting to climate change - the role of woodland in a fragmented landscape The need for adaptation to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services in a changing climate is widely acknowledged. Opportunities for ‘ecosystem-based’ approaches to adaptation, in which natural and semi-natural ecosystems can help society to adapt to climate change, are also being increasingly recognised. In England, and much of the temperate world, trees and forests exist in a fragmented landscape, dominated by agriculture and, in places, highly urbanised. Woodlands can play an important part in adaptation in these fragmented landscapes, providing, for example, shade, soil protection and flood risk management, with benefits for conservation and human health and well-being. Even individual trees and small patches of woodland can often be beneficial to the wider environment. It is important, however, that woodlands themselves are adapted to climate change. This will include decisions about what species and provenances to include in planting schemes, but there are also a wide range of issues about where trees and woodlands are planted. There are important tradeoffs between expanding existing woodland sites (which is likely to make them and the biodiversity they support more resilient to climate change) and creating a mosaic of tree cover in small patches across the landscape (which may deliver wider benefits). This is an important topic at the present time in England with new interest in both habitat networks and woodland creation. This paper will review these issues, presenting evidence and uncertainties, and consider ways forward. |
| 15:15 | MEACHAM, T.1, WILLIAMS, M.1, HEINEMEYER, A.2, EATON, E. 3, MORISON, J.3 (1 School of GeoScience, University of Edinburgh, UK, 2 Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York, UK, 3 Centre for Forestry and Climate Change, UK) The variability and environmental drivers of soil respiration in a deciduous forest: A cyclic sampling analysis. Forests play a critical role in the global carbon (C) cycle as they are an important C sink. Current predictions of the sequestration of carbon within this sink have large uncertainties, mainly due to a poor understanding of the individual soil CO2 efflux components and their environmental responses. Soil respiration (Rs) is often modeled as a single flux influenced by environmental variables, mainly temperature and moisture, similarly across all time scales. Recent studies have however shown a tight coupling between above-ground C assimilation and below-ground respiration. We investigated if and when Rs is predominantly controlled by plant productivity versus environmental drivers. Fixed markers were arranged according to a cyclic sampling design in a Southern England Oak forest 2009-2010. At each of these markers, Rs, soil moisture, litter depth and leaf area index were recorded every 3 months; dry root biomass was determined at the end of the study. Forest Rs fluxes were highest during summer months when rooting density was greatest. Larger Rs fluxes were noted in areas of greater litter depth and furrow areas with a deep organic layer. The average Rs flux measurements taken manually but infrequently over a dense network were consistently higher than those taken with the automated chambers with much fewer samples in space, but many more in time; but this could reflect a measurement artefact due to higher soil disturbance. This dataset provides a novel insight into the control of Rs by environmental drivers and plant productivity at different spatial scales, over a season. |
| 15:30 | BUGALHO M.N.1, BRANCO O.2, SILVA L.2, SILVA-DIAS F.3, DO Ó A.4, VAZ PO.3 (1 Centre for Applied Ecology, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, 2 WWF Mediterranean Programme, 3 Centre for Applied Ecology, Instituto Superior Agronomia,Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, 4 Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Portugal) Identifying hotspot areas for biodiversity and ecosystem services in cork oak woodlands The Mediterranean Basin is a Biodiversity hotspot hosting more than 25,000 plant species, 50% of which are endemic to the region, and a considerable number of endangered and critically endangered vertebrate species. A number of socio-ecological systems of high conservation value occur in the region. These systems have been maintained by human management due to their economic value. This includes the cork oak woodlands which occur in southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Cork is the most important direct product and incentive to management generated by these systems. Globally used as stopper in wine bottles, cork is harvested periodically without felling the trees. Global decrease of cork market prices is leading to lack of economic incentive to management, human abandonment and consequent shrub encroachment, landscape homogenization, and loss of biodiversity of cork oak woodlands. Novel economic incentives are required to maintain human management and secure biodiversity and ecosystem services generated by cork oak woodlands. Payment for ecosystem services (PES) is an increasingly used tool aiming to create incentives to responsible management. We developed a WebGIS tool which identifies high conservation value areas in Cork oak woodlands of southern Portugal. We identified main biodiversity hotspots (e.g. protected areas, areas of occurrence of endangered and critically endangered bird species) as well as areas important for aquifer recharge or carbon storage in these systems. PES in these areas may contribute to sustain human management and promote the conservation value of cork oak woodlands. |
| 13:45 | FILL, J.M. WELCH, S.M. WALDRON, J.L. MOUSSEAU, T.A. (University of South Carolina Columbia) Historical drivers of anthropogenic landscape change within the longleaf pine wiregrass ecosystem Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of remnant landscapes provide information for prioritizing land conservation and identifying native biodiversity hotspots. Woodlands and savannas were historical landscape components of the southern United States, characterized by the longleaf pine wiregrass ecosystem (LPW). Anthropogenic landscape change reduced the LPW to less than 2% of its former extent, contributing to the ecosystem’s imperilment. Resource extraction is a major cause of anthropogenic landscape change, and its drivers dynamically respond to new technologies and economic incentives. Therefore, attempts to model landscape change must be temporally congruent with the remnant landscape’s scale and resource extraction technologies. We used an access-to-market model to examine the distribution of remnant LPW landscapes in 1938 South Carolina with the assumption that transporting mature timber from its felling to a major transportation route had an economic cost that historically drove timber extraction. We used three transportation methods (water-ways, maintained roads, and main-line railroads) and Euclidian distance ratios to examine market access. The transportation methods spanned a range of historical harvest technologies that encompassed pre-industrial to mid-20th century technologies. Our results indicated that remnant LPWs were further from navigable water-ways than expected by chance. These results likely reflect the cumulative effects of older technologies, which defined market access for long time periods and thus were temporally congruent with remnant landscapes. Our study supports the supposition that LPW imperilment was linked to market access within an historical context, and demonstrated the potential for predicting likely locations of remnant landscapes through time. |
| 14:00 | WRIGHT, J.K.1, WILLIAMS, M.1, MITCHELL, R.J.M.2, STARR, G. 3 (1 University of Edinburgh, UK, 2 Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, USA, 3 University of Alabama, USA) Carbon/Water Interactions of Longleaf Pine Ecosystems. Carbon sequestration is an increasingly important consideration for forest and woodland management. There are still unresolved questions, however, regarding the dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle, particularly with respect to water availability. As ecosystems with a natural edaphic gradient and an identified potential for carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services, longleaf pine woodlands present an ideal opportunity to explore these relationships. This research aims to investigate the carbon-water interactions of longleaf pine ecosystems using model-data fusion techniques, with particular reference to the presence of the three main functional groups in the system (oak, pine and understory). We present results for longleaf pine ecosystem productivity across an edaphic gradient using the process-based Soil-Plant-Atmosphere (SPA) model. Data from eddy-covariance towers on wet and dry sites, in conjunction with data from an ecophysiological field campaign, have been used to validate the model and assess productivity across the gradient. The ultimate aim of this research, through the use of SPA, eddy-covariance and ecophysiological measurements is to develop a carbon budget for longleaf pine stands under a variety of moisture conditions. There is currently no published carbon budget for longleaf pine forests; a necessary step to further the understanding and conservation of longleaf pine and its unique ecosystem. In addition to this, this work provides an insight into the adaptability and ecological strategies of tree structure to drought conditions, which will be important if water availability becomes more limited with increasing anthropogenic pressures. |
| 14:15 | GALIANO, L. MARTÍNEZ-VILALTA, J. LLORET, F. (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain) Carbon reserves and canopy defoliation determine the recovery of Scots pine four years after a drought episode Severe drought may increase physiological stress on long-lived woody vegetation, occasionally leading to mortality of overstory trees. Little is known about the factors determining tree survival and subsequent recovery after drought. We used structural equation modeling to analyze the tree-level factors associated to recovery of Pinus sylvestris four years after an extreme drought episode occurred in 2004-2005 in NE Spain. Measured variables included the amount of green foliage, carbon reserves in the stem, mistletoe infection, needle physiological performance, and stem radial growth before, during and after the drought event. The amount of green leaves and the levels of carbon reserves were related to the impact of drought on radial growth, and mutually correlated. However, our most likely path model indicated that current depletion of carbon reserves was a result of reduced photosynthetic tissue. This relationship potentially constitutes a feed-back limiting tree recovery. Mistletoe infection reduced leaf nitrogen content, negatively affecting growth. Additionally, successive surveys in 2009 and 2010 showed for the first time a direct association between carbon reserves depletion (through stomatal closure and reduced leaf area) and drought-induced mortality. Severe drought events may induce long-lasting physiological disorders associated with canopy defoliation and depletion of carbon reserves, leading to prolonged recovery of surviving individuals and, eventually, to delayed tree death. Thus, our study contributes towards building a mechanistic basis for the delayed drought effects frequently observed in forests, and likely to increase under climate change. |
| 14:30 | THOMAS, S.C. FILEWOD, B. SCHURMAN, J. (University of Toronto, Canada) Surprises in climate change impacts in Canadian temperate forests: spatial microclimatic variability and the devastating effects of the warm spring of 2010 The forests of central Canada may experience some of the largest predicted impacts of anthropogenic climate change globally as predicted by climate envelope models. The extensive forests of the region are dominated by only a few species: climatic responses of the dominant species, sugar maple (Acer saccharum), will specifically be critical. Results from a temperature sensor array study (190 sensors recording hourly) located in large (12.5 ha) mapped forest plot in central Ontario indicate remarkable variability in soil surface temperatures. Average growing season temperatures differed by as much as 7.2°C across sites within the plot, being strongly influenced by topographic position and tree community composition. Variability at the scale of 10s of meters thus corresponds to average seasonal air temperature differences associated with a latitudinal gradient of 100s of kilometers, suggesting that “forest migration” may be manifested as local shifts in community composition. However, the record-breaking warm spring of 2010 witnessed large impacts on dominant tree species. Litter trap and canopy access studies show that Acer saccarhum lost ~50% of its leaf area following temperature peaks of 30-33°C during leaf expansion. Moreover, both retained leaves and a second traumatic leaf flush showed drastically reduced photosynthetic capacity, and eddy covariance measurements suggest that the forest was a substantial carbon source as a consequence. In sum, our results suggest a surprising vulnerability of this system to spring warming, but that local microclimatic refugia may substantially buffer future impacts. |
| 14:45 | LLORET, F.1, MARTINEZ-VILALTA, J.1, SERRA-DIAZ, J.M.2, NINYEROLA, M.2 (1 CREAF, Univ. Autonoma Barcelona, Spain, 2 Univ. Autonoma Barcelona, Spain) Changes in the climatic suitability of major forests tree species in Spain in relation to their functional traits and current demographic trend Climate change is modifying the essential condition determining species persistence, but species intrinsic features, such as population performance and functional attributes, may also contribute to their vulnerability. For instance, base-line high mortality rates clearly increase vulnerability, while traits associated to stress tolerance would help persistence. We explore the relationship between species demographic (mortality, relative growth rate RGR) and functional (height, wood density, specific leaf area SLA, seed size) attributes and climate change vulnerability in the Mediterranean region. We characterized the climatic suitability of twenty-seven dominant trees of Spanish forests by modeling current distribution from topo-climatic suitability, based on plots from the Third Spanish National Inventory and on the Digital Climatic Atlas of the Iberian Peninsula. Data from this inventory furnished the functional and demographic species characterization. Then, we mapped the future species climatic suitability by projecting models to A1FI scenario (HadCM3 simulation, Hadley Centre, UK). Comparisons between future suitability projection and current suitability provided an estimation of climatic vulnerability in front of the predicted climate change. We found that current mortality does not jeopardize vulnerability. A complex pattern emerged with species with lower RGR reducing its climatic suitability, except for species with denser wood, less height and higher SLA, which are common traits in Mediterranean species. That pattern applies for angiosperms, while in gymnosperms climatic suitability appears slightly enhanced in Mediterranean species with low RGR and height. The study highlights the relationship between functional traits and climatic vulnerability in a complex way, due to phylogenetical constraints and trade-offs between attributes. |
| 15:00 | SIMON, J. RENNENBERG, H. (University of Freiburg, Germany) Competition for nitrogen between adult European beech and its offspring is reduced by avoidance strategy Plant growth, reproduction, and biomass allocation may be affected differently by nitrogen availability depending on tree size and age. In this context, competition for limited N may be avoided by different strategies of N acquisition between different vegetation components (i.e. seedlings, mature trees, other woody and herbaceous understorey). This study investigated in a field experiment whether the competition for N between different vegetation components in beech forests was prevented via seasonal timing of N uptake. For this purpose, a removal approach was used to study the seasonal effects on N uptake and N metabolites in adult beech trees and beech natural regeneration. We found that the competition for N between beech natural regeneration and mature beech trees was reduced by seasonal avoidance strategies (“good parenting”) of N uptake regardless of the N sources used. |
| 15:15 | VERHEYEN, K. BAETEN, L. DE FRENNE, P. VERSTRATEN, G. (Ghent University, BE) It’s more than nitrogen deposition: driving factors behind the eutrophication signal in temperate forest understorey plant communities. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is expected to change forest understorey plant community composition and diversity, but results of experimental addition studies and observational studies are not yet conclusive. A shortcoming of observational studies, which are generally based on resurveys or sampling along large deposition gradients, is the possible occurrence of temporal and spatially confounding factors. However, by combining a temporal and spatial approach we were able to assess the contribution of N deposition versus other ecological changes on forest understorey plant communities. Therefore, data from 1205 (semi-)permanent vegetation plots taken from 23 rigorously selected understorey resurvey studies along a large deposition gradient across the temperate zone of Europe were compiled and related to various local and regional driving factors, including the rate of atmospheric N deposition, the change in large herbivore densities and the change in canopy cover and composition. Although no directional change in species richness occurred, there was considerable floristic turnover in the understorey plant community and species composition shifted towards more shade tolerant and nutrient demanding species. However, atmospheric N deposition was not important in explaining the observed eutrophication signal. This signal seems mainly caused by a shift towards a denser canopy cover and a changed canopy species composition with a higher share of species with more easily decomposed litter. Our multi-site approach clearly demonstrates that one should be cautious when drawing conclusions about the impact of atmospheric N deposition based on the interpretation of plant community shifts in single sites or regions due to other concurrent ecological changes. However, even though the effects of many decades of increased atmospheric N deposition are currently apparently overruled by the effects of canopy changes, atmospheric N deposition may still have a significant impact. More research is needed to better understand the processes that are at play. |
| 15:30 | DE FRENNE, P.1, BRUNET, J.2, SHEVTSOVA, A.3, GRAAE, B.J.4, VERHEYEN, K.1 (1 Ghent University, Belgium, 2 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden, 3 Umeå University, Sweden, 4 Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway) Temperature effects on forest herbs assessed by warming and transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient Slow-colonizing forest understorey plants are not able to rapidly adjust their distribution range following environmental disturbances. Therefore, the acclimation potential to climate change within their actual occupied habitats will likely be key for their persistence. Combining climate gradient studies with experiments to forecast the likely response to climate change could be a useful approach to overcome the limitations of using each method separately. However, such an approach has rarely been applied in climate change research. We combined common garden transplant experiments in three sites along a wide latitudinal gradient with an open-top chamber experiment in a single site to examine the effects of temperature on phenology, growth and reproductive performance of slow-colonizing forest herbs, using spring flowering Anemone nemorosa and early summer flowering Milium effusum as study species. In both species, emergence time and start of flowering clearly advanced with increasing temperatures. Vegetative growth and reproductive success consistently benefited from experimentally applied higher temperatures in A. nemorosa, but not always unidirectional when transplanted southwards. Apart from the effects on phenology, M. effusum responded less to increases in temperature. Generally, individuals transplanted at the home site performed best. This genetic local adaptation may reduce the plastic acclimation potential of these forest herbs in a warmer climate. Furthermore, the species-dependent plasticity in response to increasing temperatures hampers extrapolation to the community level. Future understorey community dynamics may be altered if the divergent responses of understorey plants differing in phenology and life form to climate change are a widespread phenomenon. |
| 14:00 | LEWIS, S.L. (University of Leeds, UK) Sinks, sources and cycles: Monitoring and understanding changes in carbon storage in tropical forests I explore what we would really like to know about changes in carbon storage in tropical forests, and currently what we know, from a top-down atmospheric perspective and a bottom-up forest inventory perspective. Top-down estimates imply a likely increase in carbon storage, while large-scale inventory results suggest a similar pattern. The cause(s) of such a changes are unclear, but largely focus on the relative roles of possible increases in resource availability and possible recovery from past disturbance over large areas as proximate causes. I then consider possible future changes to carbon storage, including the posibility of an increasing frequency of drought events, such as those affecting Amazonia in 2005 and 2010. Finally, I briefly highlight some policy-relevant carbon-related science: the production of carbon maps for country governments and placing carbon storage amongst a wider basket of ecosystem services that tropical landscapes provide. |
| 14:15 | BANIN, L.1, LEWIS, S. L.1, PHILLIPS, O.1, TAN, S.2, CHONG, L.2, BURSLEM, D.3, NILUS, R.4, KAMARIAH, A. S.5, LIM, S.5, SUKRI, R.5 (1 University of Leeds, UK, 2 Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Malaysia, 3 University of Aberdeen, UK, 4 Forest Research Centre, Sabah, Malaysia, 5 Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei) Tree growth and wood production: a comparison of Bornean and Amazonian forests. Tropical forests are highly productive, contributing approximately 30% of total terrestrial net primary productivity, yet, spatial variation in productivity and its determinants are still poorly understood. Using data from 28 permanent sample plots for all stems over 10cm diameter, we examine variation in plot-level basal area growth, above-ground wood production (AGWP) and tree turnover alongside individual tree diameter growth and AGWP in aseasonal NW Amazonia and N Borneo. Whilst annual plot-level basal area growth did not differ significantly between regions overall (median values 0.64 and 0.68 m2 ha-1 for Bornean and Amazonian plots respectively), AGWP was, on average, 42% greater in Borneo (median values 9.33 vs. 6.42 Mg ha-1 yr-1). We attribute differences in AGWP to regional differences in height-diameter allometry. In both regions, basal area growth and AGWP were strongly, positively associated with soil nutrients, but the edaphic environment was not responsible for the observed regional differences. The Bornean forests receive 18% more solar radiation than the Amazon forests which likely, at least in part, explains the greater stand-level production in Borneo. Nevertheless, after controlling for tree size and wood density, (1) wood production rates of Dipterocarpaceae were greater than non-Dipterocarpaceae in Bornean plots and (2) Bornean Dipterocarpaceae had much greater wood production than Amazonian trees. Overall, differences in stem allometry, the dominance of the Dipterocarpaceae and the structural (higher density of large stems) and environmental (solar radiation) differences likely explain the higher AGWP rates of forests in N Borneo compared with NW Amazon. |
| 14:30 | MARTHEWS, T.R.1, MALHI, Y.1, EWERS, R.2, TURNER, E.3 (1 Oxford University Centre for the Environment (OUCE), UK, 2 Imperial College, London, UK, 3 University of Cambridge, UK) A new network of intensive forest carbon monitoring plots in Sabah, Malaysia: the SAFE project. We are in the process of installing new Forest Carbon Monitoring plots in Sabah, Malaysia, following the intensive monitoring protocols used by the RAINFOR network in South America. Operating through the SAFE project (Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems, http://www.safeproject.net/) we are setting up, censusing and monitoring all carbon components of the ecosystem, aiming (1) to gain a full quantification of all components of the carbon budget and (2) to initiate a regular monitoring programme and continue it through the scheduled conversion period in 2011 to when there will be oil palm growing in the area. This will provide essential data not only on the 'before' and 'after' carbon dynamics of the area, but additionally a new, globally-unique data set quantifying the conversion from selectively-logged forest to oil palm plantation. This will reveal the overall carbon costs and consequences of conversion to oil palm in Sabah, which will lead to revised recommendations for best practice for carbon conservation and management during these changes of land use. |
| 14:45 | WOOLLEN, E.S. WILLIAMS, M. RYAN, C.M. GRACE, J. (The University of Edinburgh, UK) Carbon stocks in a miombo woodland landscape: spatial distribution and controls. Carbon accounting in terrestrial ecosystems has received increased attention in light of recent global climate change and the consequent development of international treaties and emissions trading schemes. The most common woodland type in sub-Saharan Africa is miombo woodland covering 2.7 million km2 of southern Africa. To increase our understanding of the distribution of vegetation and soil C stocks in a miombo woodland landscape we conducted a field study in central Mozambique. Our objective was to determine how vegetation and soil C stocks were distributed in miombo woodland, and to assess what controls the C stock distributions. We sampled along a 5km transect, using a cyclic sampling scheme to allow geostatistical analyses. Soil C stocks (9-22 Mg C ha-1 and 29-79 Mg C ha-1 in the top 0.05 m and 0.3 m respectively) and above-ground biomass C stocks (8-42 Mg C ha-1) varied significantly at short distance intervals, reflecting the heterogeneity of miombo woodland. Surface soil C stocks were autocorrelated up to 15 meters and up to 31 meters for deeper soil C stocks. Large-tree above-ground biomass and surface soil C stocks were significantly correlated with ridge tops (r2=0.70 and r2=0.33 respectively), where soils were better drained. Deeper soil C stocks were significantly correlated with higher soil clay content (r2=0.38), found in low lying areas. Management of C stocks in miombo woodlands should consider that biomass and deep soil C stocks were decoupled. Conservation of C stocks in miombo woodland should include ridge tops as well as low lying areas. |
| 15:00 | LINDSELL, J.A.1, SIAKA, A.S.2 (1 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, UK, 2 The Gola Forest Programme, Sierra Leone) Within site variation of carbon stocks in a West African lowland forest. Despite the growing importance of tropical forest carbon stocks for global climate change mitigation, there remain few data from Afrotropical systems. This is problematic since the African continent has globally significant forest cover but high deforestation rates and widespread forest degradation. We sought to document variation in biomass, and hence carbon stocks, in a typical West African lowland forest (Gola Forest in Sierra Leone) with a history of exploitation and abandonment. We measured trees over 10 cm dbh in multiple plots across the forest and estimated forest C stocks, mapped variation in C across the forest and related current C to historic offtake records and a range of predictor variables. We report mean carbon stock rate as compared with an E-W gradient observed in West Africa and IPCC default values; within site variation in C stocks in different parts of the forest; and relate this to past logging activities and data from timber offtake records. The results provide one of very few forest-wide surveys of C stocks in West Africa and make an important contribution to the evidence underpinning carbon financing initiatives. We emphasise the importance of spatially representative sampling of forest biomass and the need for site-specific data for C stock accounting. |
| 15:15 | RUTISHAUSER ERVAN1, BLANC LILIAN1, NICOLINI ERIC1, COUTERON PIERRE2 (1 CIRAD, 2 IRD) Linking forest history and biomass dynamic in a neotropical forest As living trees gather a substantial fraction of total carbon stock in tropical forests, above-ground biomass (AGB) dynamics received an increasing scientific and political interest these last years. Understanding the causes of variation in AGB stocks is necessary to predict the potential of tropical forests to lose or store carbon, and to understand how they respond to ongoing climate changes. Two main hypotheses were proposed to explain the observed increase of AGB in neotropical forests: (i) an increasing availability of abiotic ressources (CO2, nitrogen) enhancing forest dynamic and (ii) a recovery from past disturbances. At Paracou (French Guiana), we showed that biomass aggradation was mainly due to low mortality events rather than enhanced growth/recruitment rates (Rutishauser et al. 2010). The low mortality among large trees (DBH ? 40 cm) and self-thinning among small trees (DBH < 20 cm) was similar to that observed in forests recovering from harvesting. A description and characterization of the forest structure at fine scale revealed that the forest at our site can be seen as a mosaic of areas at different structural and dynamical stages. Most of them increased in mean stem diameter (Dg) and decreased in stem density (N), resulting in an overall AGB increase over the study period. We concluded that the observed AGB aggradation was primarily related to regeneration processes (ie recovering from ancient disturbances) and that a thorough description of the forest structure at a site helped to understand forest history and AGB dynamic. |
| 15:30 | GALBRAITH, D.1, MALHI, Y.1, MEIR, P.1, CHRISTOFFERSON, B.2, LEVINE, N.3, IMBUZEIRO, H.4, POWELL, T.3, SALESKA, S.2, COSTA, M.4, MOORCROFT, P.3 (1 University of Oxford, UK, 2 University of Arizona, USA, 3 Harvard University, USA, 4 University of Vicosa, Brazil) Using data from Amazonian rainforests to validate and improve global vegetation models The projected loss of large areas of Amazonian rainforest under some climate/vegetation model combinations (‘Amazon die-back’) is among the most concerning of all climate change projections. However, uncertainty surrounding this projection remains high and vegetation models represent a key component of the overall uncertainty. Yet, the vegetation models that make these projections have hardly been tested against field observations from Amazonia. In recent years, a large body of data on Amazonian carbon dynamics has become available that provides a key resource for constraining vegetation model uncertainty. Here, we assess the ability of four terrestrial ecosystem models to simulate observational data from two kinds of study in Amazonia: 1) bottom-up carbon budget studies where individual components of the carbon cycle are measured separately and 2) throughfall exclusion experiments where the forest has been subjected to drought of a similar intensity to the most severe climate predictions for Amazonia. We find that while the models capture some processes satisfactorily, such as carbon use efficiency, they fail to capture other processes such as the impacts of drought on forest biomass stocks. While models show very close agreement in the simulation of some processes, such as total NPP, they show considerable divergence in the simulation of other processes such as carbon allocation and the break-down of total autotrophic respiration into leaf, wood and root components. This comprehensive evaluation of individual processes is critical for model improvement and ultimately for narrowing the uncertainty associated with climate change impacts on Amazonian rainforests. |
| 15:45 | RIUTTA, T.1, BUTT, N.1, EDDOWES, P.2, MORECROFT, M.D.3, SLADE, E.M.1, BEBBER, D.P.2, MALHI, Y.1 (1 University of Oxford, UK, 2 Earthwatch Insitute, UK, 3 Natural England, UK) Tree structure, growth and carbon stocks in a fragmented broadleaf forest landscape Temperate forest, especially in Europe, is the most fragmented forest biome in the world. Although the effect of fragmentation on biodiversity has been studied extensively, the effect of fragmentation on forest carbon dynamics remains poorly understood. Forest edges lose more water and have higher, and more variable, soil and air temperatures than forest core areas. It is therefore likely that carbon cycle processes near the forest edge differ from those in the core. We compared the tree structure, growth and above-ground carbon stocks between forest core, forest edges and small forest fragments using data from an 18 ha plot in the core are of a large woodland patch (Wytham Woods, Oxford), and eight 1 ha plots at the edges of the large woodland and in surrounding fragments of different sizes. All stems were tagged, mapped and measured. Carbon stocks were estimated with allometric equations and monthly growth was measured using dendrometer bands in 1300 stems. Species composition was similar for the core, edges and fragments. However, the edges and fragments had a higher number of stems, greater basal area and larger above-ground C stocks per hectare than the forest core. The main cause was the higher proportion of multistems in the edges and fragments, reflecting the management history of the sites, typical for edges and small fragments. Tree growth varied markedly between species and size classes, and the species differed in their sensitivity to midsummer drought. However, differences in growth were not linked to patterns of fragmentation. |
| 16:00 | MARTIN, A.M. THOMAS, S.C. ZHAO, Y. (University of Toronto, Canada) A reassessment of carbon content in tropical trees: Phylogenetic signal, ecological correlates, and size-dependent changes. Accurate knowledge of carbon (C) content in live wood is essential for quantifying tropical forest C stocks, yet generic assumptions (such as 50%) remain widely used despite being supported by little chemical analysis. Empirical data from stem cores of 59 Panamanian rainforest tree species demonstrate that wood C content is highly variable among co-occurring species, with an average (47.4 ± 2.51%) significantly lower than widely assumed values. All prior published values have neglected to account for volatile C content of tropical woods. We show that volatile C is non-negligible and excluding it underestimates wood C content by 0.97 ± 0.57% on average. Our analyses also shows that wood C content is neither strongly phylogenetically conserved, nor correlated to ecological (i.e. wood density, maximum tree height) or demographic traits (i.e. growth and mortality rates). However, preliminary analyses indicate that cellulose: lignin ratios are a strong predictor of wood C, and vary with tree size, indicating predictable changes in wood C through tree development. Overall, we find that assuming generic C fractions in tropical wood overestimates forest C stocks by ~3.3 - 5.3%, a non-trivial margin of error with large implications for current global estimates of terrestrial C stocks and fluxes. Large-scale efforts to assess species-specific C content data for tropical tree species would substantially improve the accuracy of assessments of forest carbon stocks and fluxes. |
| 14:00 | OZANNE, C.M.P.1, LOWMAN, M.2, WASSIE, A.3, CARDELUS, C.4, CHAN, J., CIEGLER, J., HARPOOTLIAN, P.5, HEATWOLE, H.6, JARZEN, D., JARZEN, S,7, KLUTTZ, B., KLUTTZ, R.8, WINCHESTER, N.N.9, WITTMAN, P.10 (1 Roehampton University, UK, 2 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, USA, 3 Gafat Endowment, Ethiopia, 4 Colgate University, USA, 5 South Carolina, USA, 6 North Carolina State University, USA, 7 Florida Museum of Natural History, USA, 8 North Carolina, USA, 9 University of Victoria, Canada, 10 Canopy Quest, USA) Ethiopian forest diversity in the face of global change In Ethiopia, much of the naturally forested landscape has been cleared for human activities. One notable exception is the land surrounding churches that remain as sanctuaries, some over 1500 years old. These fragments of Afro-montane forest serve as important conservation reserves or "hotspots" for biodiversity in Ethiopia. However, the fragments are highly vulnerable to the impacts of global change, both directly from anthropogenic pressure and indirectly from change in climatic regimes, particularly rainfall patterns. Here we report on the outcomes of an initial wet-season rapid biodiversity assessment (invertebrates, epiphytes) and ecosystem function (herbivory and soil nutrient status) of two fragments in South Gondar. Over 8200 arthropods were collected in a 6 day field campaign, samples showed high levels of richness (e.g. Coleoptera 252 morphospecies from 33 families), with many new species and unique distribution records across taxa. Results show that the Coleoptera were dominated by Scarabaeidae, particularly dung beetles (counts and species). Significantly higher numbers of canopy and understory Diptera were collected at fragment edge plots than in the interior (p<0.001) and there was a trend towards a larger fauna in the larger site. Epiphyte nutrient status was significantly reduced at the forest edge compared with the interior and deforestation was found to have a strong negative effect on soil nutrients. Impact of anthropogenic pressure can clearly been seen in the data set. The implications of this pressure on biodiversity are discussed and the potential of the compounding effects of landscape conversion and climatic change in this region are explored. |
| 14:15 | CHRISTINE, F.N (National Museum of Tanzania) Impact of Global Changes on Land-snails, Diversity, Abundance and Composition on the Submontane Zone of Kilimanjaro Mountain. Tanzania. This paper will express the differences in the structure and composition of land-snail in 1999 and 2010 in the Submontane zone of Kilimanjaro Mountain. Status of land-snails and possible further effects of global changes will be explained. |
| 14:30 | DANIEL WEAVER (Roehampton University) The seasonal effects of rainfall on the vertical stratification of Diptera in a Nigerian Tropical Forest. In the race to understand how global climate change will affect the world’s ecosystems, many of which are already threatened by huge anthropogenic pressure, the use of environmental parameters along spatial gradients is of the utmost relevance. Ecological spatial gradients, their associated environmental conditions and resulting faunal communities offer a quantitative method for estimating the effects of global climate change on vulnerable ecosystems. Using Diptera collected from varying heights within the canopy of a Nigerian tropical forest by a composite intercept trap, spatial and environmental vectors were used to explore the responses of this diverse insect order, thought to be highly susceptible to changes in environmental conditions and yet integral to maintaining ecosystem services. Here we show responses of the dipteran community to rainfall. Dipteran abundance at three height strata (ground, mid and high canopy) showed significant differences (all p < 0.05) between periods of rain and no rain, with communities in the three height classes responding differently, particularly within periods of no rain (dry season). Significant changes in the contributions made by different families such as in the Nematocera and Calyptratea suborders were found, with family preferences for particular height strata during periods of rain and no rain. The implications of climate change impact on rainfall levels, frequency and seasonality for the diptera and the ecosystem processes they drive are discussed. |
| 14:45 | MEHRABI.Z1, MANN.D2, SLADE.E3 (1 University of Oxford, 2 Oxford University Museum of Natural History, 3 Oxford University Wildlife Conservation Unit) Microhabitat trap placement biases dung beetle biodiversity metrics in lowland tropical rainforest. Dung beetles are widely recognized by ecologists as an important focal group taxon for determining diversity patterns in tropical ecosystems. To detect the influence of habitat change on indicators it is important that habitat variables are measured at the scale at which they influence the taxon in question. Comparative studies using dung baited pitfall trapping to detect the influence of habitat disturbance on dung beetle biodiversity, has, as far as we are aware, not considered the possible effects of microhabitat trap placement on biodiversity metrics. Using a simple but statistically robust paired design we show that standardising the microhabitat in which a trap is placed significantly affects measures of dung beetle diversity and guild structure over small spatial scales (~50m). We demonstrate the important influences of environmental variables such as canopy openness, bare ground cover, litter layer depth and relative humidity on biodiversity metrics for this indicator group. We conclude that the observed results are likely to be due to microhabitat preferences of dung beetles during their acquisition of dung resources. To compare the effects of deforestation and habitat degradation on tropical insect biodiversity across multiple sites, sampling protocols must be standardized and scale relevant. Our work highlights the need for careful integration of the biological properties of indicator taxa when designing sampling protocols. We believe this approach may reduce noise from field data, making it both easier to interpret and to incorporate into conservation planning. |
| 15:00 | HARTIG, F. DISLICH, C. HUTH, A. (UFZ Leipzig, Germany) Approximate Bayesian parameter estimation for a stochastic tropical forest model. Stochastic simulation models are indispensable tools in ecology and biology. However, a major drawback is the lack of generally accepted methods for parameterization, model selection, and uncertainty assessment of stochastic simulation models. One solution are likelihood approximation methods that allow applying state-of-the-art statistical tools such as maximum likelihood estimation and Bayesian inference to stochastic simulation models. We discuss the functioning of these methods at the example of a tropical forest gap model (FORMIND). |
| 15:15 | DAUBY GILLES1, STéVART TARIQ2, LEAL MIGUEL3, HARDY OLIVIER1 (1 Evolutionary Biology and Ecology unit, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 2 Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa & Madagascar Department, 3 Wildlife Conservation Society, Kampala, Uganda) Sample-based estimation of diversity sensu stricto - transformed Hurlbert diversities into Effective Number of Species outperform Hill numbers. Application to tree species diversity into Gabon rainforests. A theoretical framework based on Hill numbers has recently been advocated for measuring and partitioning diversity sensu stricto. Hill numbers can be interpreted intuitively as Effective Number of Species (ENS) and they conform to the so-called replication principle, allowing a mathematically coherent multiplicative partitioning of diversity. Despite its numerous advantages, this framework has been developed without considering its robustness when treating community samples. We show that Hurlbert diversity indices (expected number of species among k individuals) can also be transformed into ENS conforming asymptotically to the replication principle while controlling the weight given to rare species through parameter k. We investigate the statistical properties of Hill and Hurlbert ENS using simulated communities with contrasted diversity and/or species abundance distributions. The properties of multiplicative beta diversity estimators based on ENS are also characterized by simulating communities with different levels of differentiation. We show that overall Hurlbert ENS has superior statistical performances under low sample size. An estimator of ENS estimating both Hill number for q=2 and Hurlbert ENS for k=2 is shown to display the best performances and is recommended for treating real datasets when rare species receive low weight. To better take into account rare species, current estimators of Hill numbers are not recommended when sample size is too low to approach an exhaustive species sampling while Hurlbert ENS performs reliably. To illustrate the properties of the proposed diversity partitioning framework, we present a case study of quantification of tree species diversity in terra-firme forests communities in Gabon (Atlantic central Africa). |
| 15:30 | TOSHIE MIZUNUMA1, MATTHEW WILKINSON2, MAURIZIO MENCUCCINI1, JOHN. GRACE1, JAMES I. L. MORISON2 (1 School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, 2 Centre for Forestry and Climate Change, Forest Research) The use of digital cameras for remote assessments of forest phenology - A modern approach to an old problem - Improving our understanding of how forest trees are likely to react to response to climate change is fundamental to the development of robust forestry mitigation and adaptation strategies. Long term phenology records are now contributing to a strong evidence base of climate change indicators. However, taking daily / sub-daily manual observations is often impractical, particularly in remote locations, resulting in a lack of precision about the timing of events such as bud-burst and leaf-fall. In addition, measurements from the ground may be biased to lower parts of the canopy and may not reflect the condition of the whole canopy that will be determining functional activity such as light interception, CO2 flux or evaporation, for example. Therefore, there is growing interest in the use of digital cameras for the remote measurement of phenological events at higher frequency, and potentially assessing larger canopy areas. Two different camera systems mounted on a tower have been used to capture canopy images since the beginning of the 2009 growing season for an oak-dominated mixed deciduous woodland at the Alice Holt Research Forest (Hampshire, UK). One system uses a standard digital camera with hemispherical lens, the other uses a webcam. This paper will examine how these remotely recorded digital images can be used for manual interpretation of key phenological stages both at the individual tree and at canopy level. We will also demonstrate techniques for quantitative assessment of canopy changes using automatic image processing freeware and relate our results to the measured fluxes of gross primary production obtained by eddy covariance. |
| 15:45 | PECK, M.R.1, MARISCAL, A.2, PADBURY, M.1, CANE, T.1, KNIVETON, D.R.1, CHINCHERO, M.A.2 (1 University of Sussex, UK, 2 Herbario Nacional del Ecuador (QCNE), Ecuador) Successful identification of tropical Ecuadorian Andean trees from inter-crown pixel distributions in hyperspatial aerial imagery. Identification of tropical tree species from remote sensing imagery has great potential for improving our understanding of the ecology of large tracts of tropical forest, integrating existing, sparsely distributed ground-based studies. We investigate whether taxa are identifiable from crown pixel pattern distribution metrics in very high resolution digital images of Ecuadorian cloud forest. We gathered digital imagery (0.05m resolution) using a remote-controlled helicopter platform and identified crowns in imagery to species in the field. Canopy species visible in imagery represented 56% of tree species (DBH>10 cm). Histogram descriptors and diversity metrics of pixel intensity in red, green and blue (RGB) bands from crown imagery (2m radius) were explored using ordination. Predictive models were developed and validated using four decision tree models (CHIAD, Exhaustive CHIAD, CRT and QUEST). RDA ordination confirmed that crown metrics correlated with traditional taxonomic groupings (p<0.001) and were best described by histogram mean in the green band. The best predictive model (CRT) generated 47% probability of correct species identification from crown data but predictive success was highly species-specific. Correct prediction ranged from zero for some taxa to 93% for Cercropia gabrielis. In conclusion, pixel distribution descriptors of hyperspatial aerial imagery provide information to predict some species and species grouping in tropical montane trees. High predictive success of primary and secondary forest indicator species shows that hyperspatial imagery can provide ecological information about forest disturbance. Further investigation of pattern metrics in hyperspatial imagery are recommended, including assessment of object-orientated pattern recognition methods in identifying tropical forest canopy species. |
| 16:00 | HUTH, A.1, KOEHLER, P.2 (1 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, 2 Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven) The heterogeneous structure of tropical forests – implications for remote sensing of biomass In this study we analyse the spatial heterogeneity of disturbed and undisturbed tropical forests using inventory data of forests of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia), Panama and a process-based forest model (FORMIND). The canopy height of forests is a key variable which can be obtained using air- or spaceborne remote sensing techniques such as radar interferometry or lidar. If allometric relationships between local canopy height and the local biomass can be established this would offer the possibility for a regional or global monitoring of the biomass stored in forests. We here investigated the correlation between canopy height in tropical rain forests with above-ground biomass, LAI and other structures at different spatial scales. We observe that canopy height correlates highly with biomass at a scale of 1 ha, but not at the scale of 0,04 ha. This correlation holds also in disturbed forests. We conclude that the spaceborne remote sensing techniques have the potential to quantify the above-ground biomass and disturbance types of tropical forests although this approach contains due to the natural heterogeneity structural uncertainties. |
| 14:00 | PINARD, M.A. BURSLEM D.F.R.P. (University of Aberdeen, UK) Conservation across complex tropical forest landscapes - protection, restoration and diversification of livelihoods Most protected areas in the tropics now exist as islands within a mosaic of land-use types that are required to sustain the livelihoods of resident human populations. These landscapes represent a challenge for conservation and restoration because of the complexity of the landscape and governance structures and multiple socio-ecological drivers of change. Using a case study of research on montane forest conservation in the buffer zone of the Knuckles Conservation Area (KCA) in central Sri Lanka, we illustrate how ecological and social research can be integrated and examined across spatial scales to inform strategies for landscape management. The buffer zone of the KCA is a mosaic of degraded grasslands, plantations of exotic timber trees, abandoned cardamom plantations, tea plantations, home gardens and forest fragments. The priorities for restoration differ across the landscape because of variability in the historical patterns of fragmentation and degradation and current threats to high conservation value forest. The degraded lands that are available for restoration and development differ in terms of their potential to support local development priorities and to deliver conservation objectives through restoration because of varying biophysical and socio-economic conditions. Lessons learned from this case study, in relation to understanding ecological variation, supporting local innovation and identifying opportunities for institutional support provide ideas for addressing some of the challenges to protected area management. |
| 14:15 | VUOHELAINEN, A.J.1, COAD, L.2, MARTHEWS, T.R.2, MALHI, Y2, KILLEEN, T.J.3 (1 Proforest & University of Oxford, UK, 2 University of Oxford, UK, 3 Conservation International, USA) Combining landscape modelling and key informant interviews to evaluate protected area effectiveness in reducing deforestation Accurate monitoring of the effectiveness of protected areas in reducing deforestation is increasingly important, given the vital role of forest conservation in climate change mitigation. Recent studies on protected area effectiveness have used remote sensing imagery to compare deforestation rates within protected areas to surrounding buffer areas. However, buffer analysis may overestimate protected area effectiveness and remote sensing data used in isolation provide limited information on the factors contributing to effectiveness. We used landscape modelling techniques to estimate the effectiveness of ten protected areas in Madre de Dios, Peru. Factors influencing protected area effectiveness were investigated using in-situ key-informant interviews. While our analyses suggested that all of the areas had prevented deforestation to some extent, the most effective areas were ecotourism and conservation concessions, with surveillance and good relations with surrounding landowners. Native community areas were found to be less effective, with deforestation mainly driven by internal resource use and population growth. Weak local governance and immigration were identified as underlying factors reducing the effectiveness of protection. The results highlight the need to combine remote sensing with in-situ information on protected area management, as identification of drivers and deterrents of deforestation is vital for improving the effectiveness of protection. |
| 14:30 | NKEMNYI, M.F KEODAM, N. VREESE, R.D. (Vrije universiteit Brussel) Reconciling Communities’ Livelihoods and Conservation Strategies in western Cameroon: a case study of the Bechati Forest Area In as much as we need to conserve the environment for it value, we also need to make sure that, we maintain a balance between conservation values and human livelihood needs. Biodiversity conservation and livelihood needs of a community depending on the resources to be conserved are two conflicting issues that must be addressed with consciousness to ensure sustainable conservation strategies. The Bechati forest area covers an area of about 15000ha and it is located in Western Cameroon, Africa. It is home to two great apes species (Pan troglodytes vellerosus and Gorilla gorilla Diehli), over 5 species of other primates and about 26 species of large mammals. Ten adjacent communities depend on this forest for livelihood, and the forest is presently been proposed as wildlife sanctuary due to it biological and ecological importance. This study explores the relationship between communities' livelihood needs and conservation strategies in the forest area in order to bring out the challenges involved. The study strongly builds it ideas and conclusions on the local communities’ opinions, perceptions and recommendation on conservation strategies. Major findings prove that over 77% of the community’s members feel that conservation strategies should first address basic community livelihood needs before looking at conservation values. They believe the forest is life and without the forest they cannot survive. Community perceptions remain a major issue to be handle to ensure sustainable conservation in this study area. |
| 14:45 | OKULLO, J.B.L.1, BUYINZA, J.1, OKIROR, P.1, ASINDUA, H.1, WAISAWA, D.1, ALUM, W.2, ADOKORACH, J.3, ONGOM, B.4, ORYEM-ORIGA, H.1, OBUA, J.5 (1 Makerere University, Uganda, 2 Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Uganda, 3 Plant Genetic Resource Centre (PGRC), Uganda, 4 International Center for Tropical Agriculture-CIAT, Uganda , 5 The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), Uganda) Threats to sustainable utilization and conservation of Shea parkland tree resources: a case of Vitellaria paradoxa (the Shea Butter tree) in Uganda An assessment of threats to sustainable utilization and conservation of the shea tree (V. paradoxa) were carried out in Uganda between 2007 and 2009. Data were collected using questionnaire, focused group discussions and key informant interviews; entered in and analysed using SPSS. Results indicate that the tree currently is entirely a wild resource with great economic potential. Over 90% of the respondents reported that its products are highly valued as source of edible oil that is also sold in local markets as edible fruits, building materials, firewood and charcoal for income. The major traditional tree management strategies in the shea parklands included protecting naturally regenerating individuals when opening farmlands, weeding, staking seedlings, early burning, use of taboos/bye-laws and discouraging other farmers from cutting down trees growing on their farmlands. Persistent insecurity, internal displacement and high demand of the species for fuelwood have threatened its conservation. This has led to more mature shea trees being cut for charcoal that are also sold to earn cash for meeting the basic household needs. Other threats included tree and land tenure system, termite attacks, lack of shea tree planting materials and high level of poverty in the area. Thus, to enhance conservation of V. paradoxa, community mobilisation, appropriate extension programmes, provision of market information, development of appropriate vegetative propagation methods and value addition are essential. Local communities’ involvement in executing interventions such as assisted tree regeneration coupled with protecting and stimulating the growth of naturally regenerating indigenous trees are a prerequisite in the area. |
| 15:00 | MILAD, M. SCHAICH, H. KONOLD, W. (Institute for Landscape Management) Forest conservation under a changing climate - challenges and opportunities in Central Europe. With a predicted rise in average global surface temperature at an unprecedented rate, as well as changes in precipitation and disturbance regimes, climate change will bring forth new challenges for nature conservation in central European forest ecosystems. Species and habitats to be protected as well as static concepts and area specific objectives of nature conservation will be affected in forest ecosystems due to changing site conditions and intensified dynamics. Still there are great uncertainties regarding the adaptive capacity of different forest ecosystems which are valuable from a nature conservation perspective such as extrazonal forests, ecotones, ancient woodlands or remnants of historical silvicultural systems. Are they especially prone to the impacts of climate change or will they offer potentials for adaptation? To be reliable and effective, current objectives and guidelines of forest conservation have to be reassessed and improved. They need either to be periodically evaluated and adjusted according to the idea of adaptive management or become more flexible regarding unknown future developments, without being arbitrary. Adequate monitoring and reference systems for evaluating conservation measures integrated in forest management should be developed. They could provide a basis for further adaption measures, including the adaptation of conservation areas and related networks. We present initial results from a literature review, expert interviews and a scientific expert workshop related to a research project on forest conservation strategies and climate change, which aims at making recommendations for adapting nature conservation in central European forests to global change. |
| 15:15 | BOSBEER, A.C. (Accreditation Services International) High Conservation Value Forests and ecologists’ contribution to the quality of Forest Stewardship Council certification Forests globally are under increasing pressure due to demand for wood and demand for land for development and agriculture. To alleviate public concerns about sustainability, certification of forests and forest products has been increasingly popular since the early 1990s. Certification means that the management of the forest adheres to a specific standard. Standards of all kinds exist: some are demanding, while others are not. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) system has been rated the best forest management standard. This quality is maintained by Accreditation Services International monitoring the organizations that audit and certify forests for FSC. In a global certification system, the standard outlining good forest management must suit each biome. Regional FSC standards are developed by working groups including environmental, social, and economic representatives. A good standard is specific and clear to all users, and ecologists should contribute to ensure that regionally developed FSC standards clearly specify ecological values and practice. A special conservation element invented by FSC is High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF). This specific concept encompasses both ecological and social values. FSC requires that High Conservation Values are identified by the forest manager in conjunction with experts, and these values must be maintained. Robust identification of HCVs is essential to ensure compliance with other requirements: for example, HCVF areas cannot be converted to other land uses, including plantations. Ways in which ecologists can contribute to this applied conservation will be outlined; participation by ecologists is essential for the FSC certification system to continue to be the best. |
| 15:30 | ROSA, I.M.D. EWERS, R.M. (Imperial College London, UK) Deforestation patch size dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon. Depending on the agent that causes deforestation (small farmers versus large agri-business), the impact on the landscape is different. Large clearings cause an immediate negative impact by removing a large portion of the forest cover, whereas smaller clearings have prolonged effects by creating a more fragmented landscape. Here, we analysed how much deforestation was caused by small, medium and large clearings in the Brazilian Amazon between 2001 and 2009. We found that the size distribution of deforestation events is changing in a consistent, directional manner. Large clearings comprise progressively smaller amounts of total annual deforestation, whereas the occurrence of smaller clearings remained unchanged through time. As a proportion, small clearings now account for 73 % of all deforestation, up from just 30 % in 2002. This increase has come as the contribution to total deforestation from large clearings has reduced from 13 to 3 % over the same time period. Moreover, the concentration of large patches is much more evident in Mato Grosso than anywhere else. Only in eastern Pará and, less so in Rondônia, were large clearings also detected. However, even in these states where there is highly developed agri-business dominated by soybean production and cattle ranching, the proportional contribution of large clearings to total deforestation has declined. Our results indicate that conservation policies are being effective at preventing large clearings, but have barely impacted the frequency of smaller ones. To reduce deforestation rates below their current level will require a new set of policies targeted at small-scale landowners. |
| 15:45 | AERTS, R.1, BERECHA, G.2, GIJBELS, P.2, VAN GLABEKE, S.3, VANDEPITTE, K.2, MUYS, B.1, ROLDÁN-RUIZ, I.3, HONNAY, O.2 (1 Div. Forest, Nature and Landscape, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 2 Lab. Plant Ecology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 3 Plant Sciences Unit, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Belgium) Genetic differentiation of wild and managed Coffea arabica populations in Afromontane rainforest fragments in SW Ethiopia 1. Coffea arabica L. has its origin and centre of diversity in the Afromontane rainforests of southwestern Ethiopia. Deforestation, habitat fragmentation and forest degradation threaten this wild coffee gene pool, which is vital to global coffee cultivation.2. We investigated genetic variation and diversity within and between eleven coffee stands across a gradient of increasing forest management intensity (‘forest coffee’, unmanaged large continuous forest vs. ‘semi-forest coffee’, managed, small fragments) using two multiplex panels of five microsatellite markers each. We used analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) to partition total genetic diversity and applied a Bayesian model-based cluster method to infer population structure.3. Genetic variability was larger within (72%) than between (21%) stands. There was a significant differentiation between three wild coffee genotypes in the least disturbed forest and a single genotype prevailing in the semi-forest coffee system. Managed populations were closely allied to local coffee cultivars indicating an effect of local selection, but measures of neutral genetic diversity (Ne, I, He, MV) did not differ significantly between management systems.4. Despite severe forest fragmentation, we found no evidence for genetic erosion in C. arabica, possibly because traditional Ethiopian coffee cultivation involves collecting, exchanging and replanting coffee. Nevertheless, this poses a threat to wild coffee populations because they are replaced by (or exposed to genetic exchange with) genotypes imported from other areas and that are preferred by local farmers due to specific characteristics. In-situ conservation efforts must therefore focus on avoiding intensification of coffee production in forest coffee systems. |
| 16:00 | KIRBY, K.J. (Natural England, UK) From natural reserves to cultural landscapes delivering ecosystem services: woodland conservation in Britain since 1949. A British state conservation service was first established in 1949. Since then its priorities have changed from the conservation of individual sites to whole landscapes; and from a prime focus on conserving ‘natural’ reserves to a recognition of the cultural nature of our landscapes and the range of ecosystem services that they deliver. From 1949-1980 the priority was identifying representative woodland sites across the country as reserves and sites of special scientific interest. However many were destroyed or badly degraded because the protection available was weak. In the 1980s site protection legislation was substantially increased (and further strengthened in 2000) and has been largely effective at limiting further damage. From 1985 onward policies were introduced that gave more protection to ancient woodland outside the formally protected sites. The Biodiversity Action Plan (1994) led to more attention to restoration of damaged sites and creation of new woodland – large-scale action to improve the permeability of whole landscapes for species movement. Woodland was the natural cover for much of Britain, but the impact of human activity on the extent, structure and composition of woodland, from the pre-historic period onward, has become increasingly appreciated: woodland conservation is about conserving ‘cultural landscapes’. Such sites and landscapes also deliver ecosystem services, particularly water management, carbon sequestration, erosion control and improve the quality of life: these are now promoted as justifications for putting resources into woodland conservation. |
| 14:00 | CHRISTOPHER REYER PETRA LASCH MARTIN GUTSCH (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) Meta-analysis of simulated forest productivity changes under global change. Forest productivity is a crucial element of the terrestrial carbon cycle and closely linked to water and nutrient availability. Process-based forest models have been widely used to project forest productivity under changing environmental conditions. However, there are different types of uncertainties associated with these studies: 1) future climate uncertainty as expressed by different climate change scenarios, 2) model structural uncertainty as a consequence of different possible formulations of ecological processes, and 3) model parameter uncertainty. We carry out a systematic literature review of stand-level, process-based simulation studies that use scenarios of climate change, atmospheric CO2-concentration, and nitrogen deposition to project forest productivity changes. We then conduct a meta-analysis of the projected productivity shifts relative to simulated past productivity. As of the year 2010, about 50 process-based, stand-level simulation studies on forest productivity under global change are available in the Web of Science database mostly covering temperate and boreal forests. Simulation studies in tropical forests are almost entirely lacking. We analyse these studies in terms of 1) individual and multi-model mean productivity changes and 2) mean productivity shifts for changes of individual environmental drivers and their combination. This approach permits capturing a wide range of climate change scenarios, model structures, and model parameters, which in turn allows for a quantification of productivity shift’s uncertainties. We compare the model results with measurements of past forest productivity changes. Ultimately our results show the sensitivity of forest productivity to CO2-fertilization effects, water availability, lengthening of the vegetation period, and interactions of these factors. |
| 14:15 | GUTIERREZ, A.G. HUTH, A. (Department of Ecological Modelling . Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ ) Climate change impacts on forest functioning in temperate rainforests of southern South America Forest responses to climate change may vary among regions of the world demanding to analyze climatic-induced changes in forests for each region in particular. Little is known about future changes that climate change could exert on temperate rainforests ecosystems of southern South America (SSA). Here, we developed an individual oriented process-based forest model and explore forest functioning in temperate rainforests of SSA under a business-as-usual scenario of climate change expected for year 2100. We parameterized the model using field data of individual trees and values from 17 tree species given in the literature. We evaluated model performance using field data from mature unlogged forests located in southern Chile (42°S, N=12, >250 years-old). Simulations under climate change showed a 11% decrease in above ground biomass compared to simulations under current climate. Mean net primary production was reduced in ~30% for year 2100 (from 7.6 to 2.4 tonnes of carbon -tC- ha/year). As a result of warming alone, the studied forests will become sources of carbon during this century (average among forest stands of -3.7 tC ha/year). The model predicted complex and variable patterns of carbon cycling among stands related to their successional stage and structural variability. Model results emphasise impacts of climate change on forest functioning in temperate rainforests of SSA expected to occur in the coming decades, and encourage the development of experimental studies focusing in monitoring whole ecosystem carbon in this region. |
| 14:30 | ZELAZOWSKI, P.1, MALHI, Y.1, HUNTINGFORD, C.2, SITCH, S.3, FISHER, J.B.4 (1 University of Oxford, UK, 2 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK, 3 University of Leeds, UK, 4 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA) Changes in the potential distribution of humid tropical forests on a warmer planet. The future of humid tropical forests (HTFs) has been explored in a number of studies that have tended to focus on the output from one or a few climate models, which work at low spatial resolution,whereas society and conservation-relevant assessment of potential impacts requires a finer scale. In this study we first characterize the contemporary climatological niche of HTFs using annual rainfall and maximum climatological water stress, which also adequately describe the current distribution of other biomes within the tropics. As a first-order approximation of the potential extent of HTFs in future climate regimes defined by global warming of 2?C and 4?C, we investigate changes in the niche through a combination of climate-change anomaly patterns (from 17 AOGCMs) and higher resolution (5 km) maps of current climatology. Our results confirm some risk of forest retreat, especially in eastern Amazonia, Central America and parts of Africa, but also indicate a potential for expansion in other regions, for example around the Congo Basin. The finer spatial scale enabled the depiction of potential resilient and vulnerable zones with practically useful detail. We further refine these estimates by considering the impact of new environmental regimes on plant water demand using the UK Met Office land-surface scheme. The CO2-related reduction in plant water demand lowers the risk of die-back and can lead to possible niche expansion in many regions. This analysis focuses on hydrological determinants of HTF extent. We conclude by discussing the role of other factors, notably the physiological effects of higher temperature. |
| 14:45 | LARJAVAARA, M. MULLER-LANDAU, H.C. (STRI, Panama) Temperature variation and biomass. Globally, forest ecosystems vary greatly in biomass. Shrublands represent one extreme of low biomass, while the highest biomass is measured in western North America, southern Australia and Chile. It has been reported that the highest biomass is a result of intermediate temperatures and abundance of precipitation. However, large areas of the highest biomass forests experience a summer drought. Further large areas in eastern parts of North America and Eurasia have similar annual precipitation and temperature but have most of the annual rainfall in the summer months, when water is most needed. Therefore it could be expected that a more favourable rainfall distribution would increase productivity and old-growth forest biomass. We hypothesize that intra-annual temperature variation is a significant driver of old-growth forest biomass in temperate climates, because the heat waves of summer cause autotrophic respiration to increase dramatically and cold spells in winter make photosynthesis impossible. We are currently exploring the mechanistic basis for this pattern (Larjavaara & Muller-Landau, in preparation). Forest biomass and carbon stocks have recently been the focus of wide interest as deforestation releases forest carbon stocks into atmosphere influencing the greenhouse effect. Further, it is hypothesized that global change is altering carbon stocks even in undisturbed natural forests, potentially causing positive or negative feedbacks on the greenhouse effect. We believe that understanding the current global biomass variation is key to understanding potential changes due to changing climate. |
| 15:00 | DYBZINSKI, R.1, FARRIOR, C.1, WOLF, A.1, REICH, P.B.2, PACALA, S.W.1 (1 Princeton University, USA, 2 University of Minnesota, USA) Understanding the ecology of photosynthate allocation to leaves, roots, and stems in closed-canopy forests: insights from an individual-based, analytically-tractable mechanistic model of nitrogen and light competition and comparisons to data We model the physiological and structural traits of individual trees competing for light and nitrogen and scale them up to their community-level consequences across a range of soil nitrogen availabilities. The model predicts the most competitive allocations to foliage, wood, and fine roots for canopy and understory stages of trees growing in old-growth forests. The most competitive allocations may be solved for analytically, revealing formulae composed of parameters that plant physiological ecologists commonly measure (e.g. maximum rate of photosynthesis, leaf mass per area, fine root turnover, etc.). The analysis shows that the most competitive allocations depend not on simple root-shoot relations, but rather on diminishing returns of carbon investment that ensure any alternate strategy will underperform the most competitive strategy in monoculture because of the competitive environment that it creates. Data from 152 stands support the model’s surprising prediction that the dominant structural tradeoff is between fine roots and wood, not foliage, suggesting the “root-shoot” tradeoff is more precisely a “root-stem” tradeoff for long-lived trees. Assuming other resources are abundant, the model predicts that closed-canopy forests are limited by both nitrogen and light, or nearly so. |
| 15:15 | PAINE, C. E. T. HECTOR, A. TURNBULL, L. A. (Universität Zürich) Rooting mechanistic growth models in physiology to enhance their generality. The growth of individual plants bridges physiology, metabolism and architecture with population and community dynamics. Recently developed mechanistic growth models consider growth to be an iterative process of carbon acquisition and allocation to various compartments. They are set up as a system of (potentially nonlinear) equations, which allows for enormous flexibility. Advantages of this approach include tractability for large datasets and accurate propagation of uncertainty in parameter estimates and derived rates. Current mechanistic models, however, tend to be species-specific and their parameterization requires laborious repeated measurements of biomass. In high-diversity ecosystems, however, most species are so rare that the species-specific approach is impracticable. Mechanistic models parameterized by functional trait values and physiological measurements offer a path toward generality by taking advantage of the recent proliferation of functional trait databases. We will discuss approaches by which growth rates may be predicted from functional traits. For example, relative growth rate could be modeled as a function of the proportion of biomass invested in leaves, specific leaf area and net assimilation rate. Net assimilation rate, could in turn, be decomposed into photosynthetic and respiration rates.Rooting mechanistic growth models in functional traits would allow growth rates to be estimated for any species for which relevant traits had been measured. Since trait data is generally much easier to collect than is growth data, such models would be both more mechanistic and more general. The development of general mechanistic models would be enormously valuable for predicting the dynamics of diverse communities. |
| 15:30 | HOBSON, P.R.1, NORRIS,C.1, IBISCH, P.L.2 (1 WRITTLE COLLEGE, 2 EBERSWALDE UNIVERSITY OF SUSTAINABILITY) Proxy measures of ecosystem resilience and thermodynamic efficiency in contrasting old growth and rapidly changing modified forests The growth of complexity and self-organisation over time is the basis of ecosystem sustainability, resilience and adaptive capacity. In contrast, the simplification and disturbance of landscape components, including vegetation structure, hydrological regimes and surface energy balance by anthropogenic stressors, can lead to loss of functionality. Added effects of climate change threaten to reduce the evolutionary potential as well as the goods and services of ecosystems. Measures are needed to identify sensitive indicators of stress that can distinguish between desirable and undesirable ecosystem states. Descriptions of ecosystem function based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics have been used to describe properties of self-organisation, energy capture and dissipation. In particular, analysis of ecosystem temperature characteristics founded on thermodynamic principles can give an indication of ecosystem resilience and function.. A detailed assessment of vegetation function, structure, and microclimatic conditions in contrasting forest types in the UK, Germany and Ukraine has revealed significant differences in the ecosystem function of modified forests when contrasted with old growth stands. Microclimatic temperature is noticeably more attenuated in less disturbed forests that also support more competitive-stress-tolerant plant communities, and higher biomass (live and dead). Even in moderately altered stands of native species plant functional types are more ruderal with a corresponding simpler structure, and local temperatures demonstrate both greater extremes and overall higher average summer values. The findings suggest that plant functional type signatures, biomass and local temperature patterns are useful proxy measures of forest system exergy capital and energy dissipation efficiency, which in turn is an indication of ecosystem resilience. |
| 15:45 | BARBIER, N.1, COUTERON, P.1, PROISY, C.1, GASTELLU-ETCHEGORRY, J.-P.2 (1 IRD/AMAP, France, 2 CESBIO, France) Linking canopy texture on VHR imagery to forest 3D structure: a modelling framework Information on tropical forest 3D structure and dynamics is notoriously difficult to acquire over representative areas, from both ground measurements and usual remote sensing methods. As new signals and methodologies are being developed to meet current societal needs, large scale assessment of their potential for inversion of biophysical variables is urgently required. In front of this task, much time could be gained by using physically/biologically validated models allowing the simulation of forest canopy remote sensing data for any type of forest architecture and for different acquisition conditions. In particular, we illustrate the potentialities of such a theoretical framework for the case of textural indices computed on metric resolution optical imagery via the Fourier transform textural ordination (FOTO) method. We combine a simple model, based on observed allometry rules and diameter frequency distributions, that produces biologically realistic 3D forest mock-ups, with the DART radiative transfer model. Alternatively, 3D forest structure can be obtained using small footprint LiDAR data. The resulting images are comparable, both qualitatively and quantitatively –according to texture metrics– to real RS canopy images. The approach allowed a systematic quantification of instrumental effects and the testing of mitigation methods. Sensitivity tests for various forest structure parameters are also being carried out. The potential of these tests, as a complement to large scale ground truthing approaches, to deliver operational methodologies with known precision and validity conditions for the quantification of biomass, dynamics and degradation in tropical forests is discussed. |
| 14:00 | SCHMITT, C.S. (University of Freiburg, Germany) Regional climate and distribution of floristic diversity in the moist montane forests of Ethiopia The Ethiopian rainforests form part of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot due to high species diversity and high threat from human land use activities. Regional differences in their floristic diversity have been described mainly based on herbarium specimens and qualitative field observations. This study had the objective to evaluate these regional differences in a systematic way through quantitative assessment of floristic diversity combined with statistical analysis of the environmental factors that influence species distribution patterns. Vegetation surveys were conducted in a total of 180 study plots located in five rainforest regions in southwestern and southeastern Ethiopia and covering altitudes from 970 to 2,280 m. Nineteen bioclimatic variables for each plot were derived from the WorldClim global climate data set (time period 1950-2000) based on geographic location (GPS). Preliminary analyses confirmed that each of the studied forest regions has a distinct regional climate and species composition. Regions with high numbers of (Sub-)Afromontane (near-)endemic species were mostly located at higher altitudes and characterised by high precipitation during the warmest quarter and low minimum air temperature of the coldest month. In contrast, regions with high numbers of Linking and Guineo-Congolian near-endemic species were generally located at lower altitude and had the highest precipitation seasonality. Based on these results, it is assumed that the large regional climatic differences in Ethiopia caused the evolution of distinct regional forest types. Understanding the bioclimatic variables that govern current species distribution patterns can help in predicting possible changes in floristic diversity caused by global climate change. |
| 14:15 | KYLE DEXTER JEROME CHAVE (Centre National de la Recherche (France)) Phylogenetic Signal for Extinction Risk in Amazonian Trees The combined effects of deforestation and climate change threaten to greatly reduce the extent of rainforest in the Amazon basin and drastically reduce the range size of many rainforest species. Because the primary determinant of species' extinction risk is range size, closely related species having similar range sizes should lead to significant phylogenetic signal for extinction risk. This in turn could indicate that more phylogenetic diversity will be lost when at risk species go extinct than would be expected under random extinction. We explore range size and extinction risk among Amazonian tree species and how they vary across the largest phylogeny constructed to date for Amazonian trees. We find that there will be a great increase by 2050 in the number of at risk species given current rates of deforestation. Furthermore, there is significant phylogenetic signal for current and projected range size and extinction risk. This suggests, importantly, that phylogenies can be a useful tool for estimating the extinction risk of poorly known Amazonian tree species. However, under a variety of quantifications of extinction risk, this does not translate into a greater loss of phylogenetic diversity than expected by chance. This is because most clades contain at least one species with a large range and because high risk taxa are not disproportionately represented on long terminal phylogenetic branches. |
| 14:30 | HARDY, O.J.1, BUDDE, K.2, DAINOU, K.3, DAUBY, G.1, DUMINIL, J.1, EWEDJE, E.E.1, HEUERTZ, M.2, KOFFI, G.1, LEY, A.1 (1 Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2 CIFOR-INIA, 3 Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - ULg) Phylogeographic patterns and gene flow in Central African rain forest plants. Analyses of the geographic patterns of genetic variation are very valuable to test biogeographic hypotheses and to study evolutionary and ecological processes at the population level. However, few such studies had been conducted on plant species in African rain forests. Recent studies on different species of trees and lianas now permit to assess whether some general patterns emerge. Using results based on chloroplastic and nuclear genetic markers (DNA sequences and microsatellites) we will address in particular two questions: (1) Do distinct species show congruent phylogeographic patterns that would reveal a shared history due to past forest fragmentation induced by climate changes? (2) What is the scale of seed and pollen dispersal distances in canopy tree species? Phylogeographic patterns observed on 10 trees species and 5 liana species will be compared, and estimates of seed, pollen and/or gene dispersal distances from five tree species will be presented. |
| 14:45 | YESSOUFOU, K.1, MAURIN, O.1, SAVOLAINEN, V.2, VAN DER BANK, M.1 (1 University of Johannesburg, South Africa, 2 IMPERIAL COLLEGE, UK) Testing neutral vs. deterministic process of community assembly in the Kruger National Park Is community assembly driven by niche or neutral process? This question is one of the most debatable in ecology. We investigate plant co-occurrence patterns in a tropical african savanna using both phylogenetic and standard statistical approaches. We show that communities are phylogenetically and phenotypically more underdispersed than expected by chance alone. We attribute this non-random pattern to a dominant niche-based process. We finally discussed the ecological forces that could mediate the process. Key words: Phylogenetic signal; neutral theory; deterministic process; community underdispersion; habitat filtering, facilitation; competition; Kruger National Park. |
| 15:00 | STEVEN J. HEATHCOTE1, J.A.C. SMITH1, Y. MALHI2, N.D. BROWN1 (1 Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, 2 Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford) Niche differentiation and biogeographic modelling of climate envelopes in CAM and C3 bromeliads As climate changes, the sensitivity of photosynthesis to factors such as temperature and water availability will play a major role in determining plant growth and productivity. CAM photosynthesis represents a fundamental adaptation to challenging environments, is found in a large number of tropical vascular epiphytes, which are key components of forest ecosystems. The Bromeliaceae are prevalent throughout the Neotropics, and contain roughly equal proportions of species using CAM and C3 photosythesis. Here, we use maximum entropy modelling (MAXENT) to analyse the geographic environments of C3 compared with CAM bromeliads, and of terrestrial compared with epiphytic species. We then use data from published regional floras to determine the relative importance of rainfall, temperature, evapotranspiration and strength of seasonality in determining the proportion of CAM species in the local flora. We show that rainfall is important in differentiating the niche of terrestrial C3 and CAM bromeliads, but that amongst epiphytic species there is a stronger segregation of C3 and CAM bromeliads by temperature. These findings will be discussed in relation to the importance of this photosynthetic pathway for tropical epiphytes in future climate scenarios. |
| 15:15 | CAVERS, S.1, SALMELA, M.J.2, COTTRELL, J.E.3, IASON, G.R.4, WACHOWIAK, W.5, ENNOS, R.A.6 (1 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK, 2 CEH & University of Edinburgh, 3 Forest Research, 4 Macaulay Institute, 5 Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK, 6 University of Edinburgh) The implications of high genetic diversity in tree populations for predicting and managing responses to global change; a case study of native Scots pine in Scotland. Tree populations maintain high levels of genetic diversity and low population differentiation for neutral markers, yet commonly display significant adaptive genetic differentiation at a range of geographic scales. In the interaction between natural selection, drift and gene flow that produces such patterns, landscape complexity plays an important role in determining the scale at which adaptive divergence occurs. Widespread species show clinal variation in phenotypic traits in open, uniform landscapes yet may how abrupt divergence at short spatial scales where they occur on more rugged topography, over which environmental conditions may vary at small spatial scales. In addition, as indicated by the typically high within-population diversity seen in tree species, it seems likely that similar phenotypic solutions are achieved by different combinations of alleles at many genes. The implication is that tree populations maintain a high potential for adaptation which is likely to produce a range of phenotypic responses if conditions change. Efforts to predict and manage the response of forests to global change need to acknowledge and assess the latent potential of tree populations to adapt. Here we use morphological and physiological data from provenance/progeny trials, and marker and gene-based studies of native Scottish Scots pine populations to demonstrate extensive genetic divergence for phenotypic traits across relatively short spatial scales, in the absence of significant neutral genetic structure, and to indicate a diversity of response of seedling populations to changes in environmental conditions. |
| 15:30 | GARRIDO-PÉREZ, E.I.1, MANZANÉ, E.2 (1 University of Goettingen, Germany, 2 University of Miami, USA) The evolutionary synthesis, climate changes and the evolution of lianas. Lianas represent about 30% of tropical forests' flora but still the fundamentals of their evolution remain poorly studied. We conciliate information from the anatomy, morphology, ecology, biogeography (Alwyn Gentry's data set) and palaeobotany of lianas into a single history on how lianas did evolve. Several taxa of woody plants convergently evolved into the climbing habit implying the following similarities between independent processes: (1) Liana ancestors were sub-populations of non-efficient self-supporting plants belonging to populations of self-supporting species. (2) Drought and glaciations favoured the rise of deep roots. (3) Saplings of ancestral lianas were able to support themselves until contacting surrounding trees. Since then the architectures and mechanical damage by trees favour liana anchoring mechanisms and are fixing and sophisticating cambium variants for lineages having them. (4) Light-demanding liana genera descend from ancestors living in tropical rainforest's edges; shade tolerant genera descend from ancestors living in the interior of forests. (5) Once climbing strategies evolved, lianas expanded their spatial range on top: light-demanding lianas colonized the interior while moderately shade-tolerant lianas colonized the edges. (6) By expanding their bodies on top as well as in the midstory, lianas interacted with a wider range of pollinators. Populations of pollinators and of lianas were split by the rise of mountains like the Andes, rivers like the Amazon and palaeo-islands originating many current liana-species. Angiosperm lianas evolved so recently that many niches for lianas remain open; the extinction of some species by global change and landscape transformations may open more niches. |
| 15:45 | GUNTON, R.M. KUNIN, W.E. (University of Leeds, UK) A global integrated diversity–latitude–area relationship for forest trees? The expected species-richness of a forest plot increases with both its area and its proximity to the tropical zone. Species–area relationships and the latitude–diversity gradient are both subjects of ongoing research, but the relationship between the two has been little investigated. We combine several global data sets in a statistical analysis to explore the interaction between sampling area and latitude for predicting plot diversity. Our analysis suggests that forest tree diversity peaks around 8–10° S, that the latitude–diversity gradient increases with sampling scale, and that species–area curves on log-log axes become more linear at higher latitudes. When country-level data are included in the analysis, the latitude–diversity gradient peaks at 9% per degree at a scale of 120 km2 and then declines. We consider theoretical implications of these analyses for understanding the global distribution of biodiversity. We also discuss problems with incorporating the country-level data in this analysis. |
| 1 | KABONGO, R.M. VAN DER BANK, M. MAURIN, O. (University of Johannesburg, South Africa) How can DNA barcoding help to control illegal logging? Identification of timber log materials is one of the major problems in controlling protected trees in Africa. Therefore developing appropriate tools for better control measures becomes an urgent necessity. This study aims at providing customs with a DNA library with which to enhance trees identification. To this end we extracted DNA from timber materials, PCR and sequenced DNA barcodes. The blast of sequences from timber log showed that molecular techniques can help crack-down illegal trade. |
| 2 | GIMENO, T. E.1, ESCUDERO, A.2, DELGADO, A.3, VALLADARES, F.1 (1 Instituto de Recursos Naturales CSIC, Spain, 2 Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain, 3 Estación Zaidin CSIC, Spain) Establishment of Juniperus thurifera in Mediterranean global change scenarios: good prospects under future climate, but strong influence of previous land use We compared the performance of Juniperus thurifera in different global change scenarios and evaluated the importance of facilitation. We transplanted saplings into three habitats (woodlands, former agricultural fields and livestock pastures) and two microenvironments (in the open and under the canopy of adults). To simulate different climatic scenarios we applied two watering treatments. Former agricultural fields had the highest survival, but were more sensitive than woodlands to water scarcity. Nurses facilitated saplings but underlying mechanisms varied. |
| 3 | IPSITA RAVEENDRA HERLEKAR1, KAVITA ISVARAN2 (1 National Centre for Biological Sciences, Wildlife Conservation Society- India Program, Bangalore, 2 Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) Effect of canopy fragmentation on nest site selection of grizzled giant squirrel. Knowledge about nest site selection of a species help track the effects of habitat alteration on its ecology. This study addresses the effect of canopy fragmentation on the nest site selection of the grizzled giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura) in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, India. Habitat structure, food availability and human disturbance were hypothesised to be main factors influencing nest site selection. The study area was gridded into cells of 100m x 30m. In these cells trees with nests were located and circular plots of 10m radius were laid around them. Local aspects of habitat structure and food availability were measured in these plots. Human disturbance was measured every 50m within the 100m x 30m cell. For comparison, random sites with no nests were sampled and ecological variables were measured in a similar way. In addition all direct and indirect signs of squirrel presence and ecological predictors were noted and measured in every 100m x 30m cell to investigate nest site selection within a larger choice of site. Results indicate tree height and density in immediate vicinity were the main predictors of presence of nests. Large scale habitat use was influenced by a joint effect of canopy connectivity and human disturbance. When canopy connectivity was high, factors such as low food availability and high human disturbance did not appear to depress either nest site selection or habitat use substantially, highlighting the threats from canopy fragmentation in an increasingly human dominated landscape. |
| 4 | IRENE MENDOZA1, ADELINE CAUBèRE1, PATRICK CHâTELET2, ISABELLE HARDY3, PIERRE-MICHEL FORGET1 (1 Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, France, 2 Station d’Etudes des Nouragues, France, 3 Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (France)) Plant phenology and climatic change: a case study from an Amazonian forest (Nouragues, French Guiana). The life cycle of plants strongly depends on climatic conditions, so plant phenology serves as bioindicator of ongoing climatic change. Phenological studies are especially needed in tropical forests, where the influence of climatic variability on fruit production and the later consequences for forest dynamics are more complex and unknown. The objective of this study is to understand whether inter-annual climatic events (such El Niño/La Niña) affect fruit and seed production of tropical forests. With this goal in mind, we have utilized a ten-year dataset of fruit and seed rain collected in the pristine Amazonian forest of Nouragues (French Guiana). Our starting hypothesis is that drought, high temperatures, and high irradiance associated to El Niño events in the Amazon will increase fruit production. Using cross-correlations between all variables of interest, we observe an influence of climatic indices such as the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI), namely the three El Niño events of the 2001-2010 series were followed by an increase of the fruit biomass. However, this general pattern was highly variable between species. Following the Janzen Satiation Hypothesis, increased seed crops may satiate pre-dispersal seed predators and thus, increase the possibility of seed dispersal by frugivorous species. High crop production may also satiate dispersers and potentiate negative density-dependent effects. Although many questions remain open, our results already show the influence of large climatic variations on fruit availability, which may have far-reaching implications for the survival of animal populations and forest regeneration in tropical forests. |
| 5 | RAKOTONARIVO, O.S.1, ALBRECHT, A.2 (1 Ecole Superieure des Sciences Agronomiques, Madagascar, 2 Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Madagascar) Spatial distribution of carbon stocks in forest biomass and soils in Madagascar: a key to implementing REDD “Reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation”. Variations of carbon stocks (CS) across landscapes and forest types are important sources of uncertainty due to scarcity of reliable estimates. To support the implementation of REDD mechanism, assessments of CS in soil and forest aboveground biomass were carried out in the southern region of Madagascar. A typology of CS was performed across spatial patterns (climate, altitude and land use) using allometric relationships and partial least squares models. Effects of climate, altitude and land use on CS were significant at p < 0.05. The CS of above ground biomass were 193 ± 56 and 31 ± 9 MgC.ha-1 in moist and dry forests, respectively. At a depth of 100 cm, soil CS of dry forests averaged 61 ± 20 MgC.ha-1 while those of moist forests were 241 ± 38 MgC.ha-1. Soil CS were positively correlated with altitude whatever the land use. The increase in soil CS was significant from an altitude of 600 m. Differences of soil CS between forests and farmlands of about 52 ± 30 MgC.ha-1 and 30 ± 13 MgC.ha-1 were observed in humid and semi-arid climate areas respectively. These differences could be seen as potential emissions of C after deforestation. This study demonstrated the main factors determining the spatial distribution of CS which are fundamental in guaranteeing the effectiveness of REDD schemes in forest conservation. However, further investigations such as carbon isotopic measurements should supplement these results in order to understand the dynamics of CS over time. |
| 6 | SENIOR, M.J.M HILL, J.K. (University of York, UK) Impacts of converting tropical forest to oil palm plantation: a systematic review of changes in functional biodiversity Oil palm agriculture is the main current driver of deforestation in South East Asia, and has well documented negative impacts on biodiversity. A number of recent review papers have shown significantly reduced species richness and altered composition in oil palm plantations compared to in tropical forests. These reviews provide clues as to possible functional impacts of converting forest to oil palm, but none have quantified the functional impacts of this land-use change. To address this we conducted a systematic literature review of the functional impacts of converting forest to oil palm. We focussed on birds, ants and beetles, three functionally important and well-studied groups, and we assessed changes in functional group richness and diversity. Individual species data were extracted either from the papers or by contacting authors. Based on agreed selection criteria eight studies were chosen which provided data sets from 10 independent sites. Species were classified to functional or feeding groups. Relative changes in functional group richness and changes in functional diversity between forest and oil palm were then calculated for the three taxa. This analysis provides the first quantitative evidence of how ecosystem functioning is likely to be affected by the conversion of forest to oil palm. |
| 7 | STROUD, J.T. WHEELER, P.M. (University of Hull, UK) Commercial forestry plantations: an important conservation refuge for the future? Investigating the spatial ecology of the European adder (Vipera berus). The adder is a priority species for UK BAP, but its landscape ecology is poorly studied. We employed patch occupancy methods to investigate the factors affecting adder presence in the highly spatially structured landscape of commercial forestry plantations. Adder presence was affected by local habitat variables and landscape connectivity. Optimum adder habitat is being increasingly limited due to development and agricultural intensification; commercial forestry plantations potentially provide a real conservation refuge for this species. Our results suggest landscape-level management of plantations is necessary to sustain healthy adder populations. |
| 8 | GROOT, N.E.1, PHILLIPS, O.L.1, LEWIS, S.L.1, GLOOR, E.1, PURVES, D.W.2 (1 University of Leeds, UK, 2 Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK) Spatial variations in tree mortality. The global terrestrial vegetation is currently a substantial carbon sink, albeit highly variable and with an uncertain response to a changing climate. Increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations could be beneficial to plant growth, though increased temperatures and more frequent occurrences of drought could lead to plants becoming stressed. Whether the terrestrial vegetation will remain a carbon sink, thus depends on its response to the changing climate. Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) model the potential responses of vegetation to a changing climate. Compared to the growth component, mortality is generally modelled in a relatively simple fashion by assuming a constant carbon loss or only incorporating some stochastic disturbances (e.g. fires). The objective of this study is thus to identify what determines the variation in tree mortality across vegetation types and environmental gradients. Variations in mortality are derived from tree censuses as recorded for permanent sample plots of the Forest Plots Database1 and the USDA FIA Database2. Mortality rates have been determined based on the number of stems and the amount of biomass lost per unit of area and compared amongst the world’s different biological biomes. Using statistical models, the relations between variations in mortality rates and tree characteristics and environmental characteristics will be quantified. These empirical mortality estimates and the identified mechanistic understanding will be used to improve current DGVM predictions. 1 Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Lewis, S.L., Phillips, O.L., Burkitt, M. Forest Plots Database. http://www.forestplots.net/ Date of extraction [15-04-2010] 2 USDA-Forest Service. Forest Inventory and Analysis Database. http://fia.fs.fed.us/ Date of extraction [28-09-2010] |
| 9 | RATAJCZAK, Z.J. NIPPERT, J.B. OCHELTREE, T.W. HARTMAN, J.C. (Kansas State University) Biological feedbacks and the transformation of praire to savanna/forest Conversion of temperate tallgrass prairie (eastern Kansas, U.S.A.) to savanna/forest is occurring at an unprecedented rate, even though antecedent disturbance regimes (fire/grazing) have been maintained. We present work that suggests biologically mediated feedbacks contribute to this woody expansion and are related to clonal expansion, resource partitioning, and fire. Clonal expansion: over 25 years, the average size of individual shrubs has increased 3.5-fold, turning a 20-fold increase in the number of shrubs into a 71-fold increase in aerial coverage. Water partitioning: stable isotopes of water (deltaD/delta18O) show that mature shrubs and their rhizomatous shrub clones, which extend into the grassland matrix, utilize significantly deeper soil water than competing grass (i.e. niche partitioning). Fire: at the center and edge of shrubs, fuel for fire declines exponentially with age. Belowground competition and fire mortality are thought to be the primary limitations of woody establishment/survival in grasslands/savannahs. In this context, our results illustrate that shrub clones have a greater chance of establishment within tallgrass prairie once the center parent is established. A positive feedback system can then reinforce expansion as these clones mature and develop their own clones (individual shrubs reach up to ~200 m2 in this way). Preliminary analysis of long-term data supports this hypothesis: as shrubs get larger, mortality rates decrease and propensity to expand increases. Since most shrubs easily survive and expand once established, we expect that the effects of broader global change (atmospheric CO2/N-deposition) on seedling establishment are driving woody expansion. |
| 10 | CHINCHILLA-SOTO, C. WILLIAMS,M. (University of Edinburgh, UK) Quantifying the role of traits variation on gross primary productivity along a chronosequence in the dry forest of Costa Rica The tropical dry forest (TDF) is characterized by a strong rain seasonality that defines its physiognomy and resource availability. 12% of the world’s TDF is present in the Mesoamerican region, an area largely studied in terms of phenological habits, species strategies and leaf traits (LT). Recent studies in the region suggest a strong seasonal variation in N, C and specific leaf area, and emphasize the wide range of leaf life span values of the species. However, information is scarce on how LT change through time and space, or on how LT and ecosystem level plant traits (PT) interact to define forest gross primary productivity (GPP). Hence, our goal is to study the variation of LT and PT along a post disturbance chronosequence in the dry forest of Costa Rica. We anticipate a variation in LT with forest stand age in order to maximize resource allocation during the period of water availability. We predict, for instance, that species in the younger stands (mostly deciduous) will show higher instantaneous values of water and nutrient use efficiency (WUE and NUE) and higher instantaneous GPP. It is also expected that PT, such as leaf area index, will increase along the chronosequence; therefore, annual rates of WUE and NUE will be higher for older stands and will result in higher annual GPP. The combination of the LT, PT and its interrelations in each stand could improve our estimations of this ecosystem’s GPP and its response to climate change; making the conservation of this ecosystem even more relevant. |
| 11 | FULLER, L. IRWIN, S. DEADY, R. KELLY, T.C. O'HALLORAN, J. (University College Cork) The effect of forest road-width on invertebrate biodiversity in Irish forests. Over the last century forest cover in Ireland has increased from 1% to 10%, primarily through the establishment of non-native plantation forests. The effect of these forests on biodiversity is important, particularly in the context of the global interest in biodiversity and Ireland’s participation in the Convention on Biological Diversity. In particular, the invertebrate biodiversity of these ecosystems is of interest, as invertebrates play important functional roles in forest ecosystems as herbivores, decomposers, predators and prey. Invertebrates are a much understudied group in Irish forests, and gaps in knowledge are still being filled. Spiders and ground beetles are two invertebrate taxa that are widely regarded as useful biodindicators in forests, due to their responses to a variety of environmental factors. Open space within forests is important for biodiversity, and the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of forest road width on forest invertebrate biodiversity, at sites that had originally been investigated in 2005. We aimed to assess the effect of forest road-width on invertebrate biodiversity as the trees mature and canopy cover increases over the forest road over time. We tested the hypothesis that a wider road-width increases species richness and abundance using a “standard” 15 metre road-width and a “wide” 30 metre road-width. Eight manipulation sites were established in second rotation plantation forests in the winter of 2003/2004. Spiders and ground beetles, two well-known and ubiquitous invertebrate bioindicator taxa, were sampled by pitfall trapping and identified to species level in 2004/2005 and again in 2010. |
| 12 | THIJS, K.W.1, MUSILA, W.2, AERTS, R.1, MATTHIJSEN, E.3, LENS, L.4, PELLIKA, P.5, SILJANDER, M.5, GULINCK, H.1, MUYS, B.1 (1 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 2 National Museums Of Kenya, Kenya, 3 University of Antwerp, Belgium, 4 Ghent University, Belgium, 5 University of Helsinki, Finland) Tree recruitment after severe forest fragmentation as a predictor of future forest composition. Forest fragmentation is a major cause of biodiversity loss in the Eastern Arc Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot. The remaining isolated fragments may hold an extinction debt, which is a time lag between earlier habitat deterioration and future extinction. Many tree species can delay extinction for a long time because of their long life expectancy and/or long living seedling banks. This delayed response of species on habitat alteration implies that conservation strategies based on actual canopy tree surveys are not satisfactory, e.g. species with senescent dominant trees in the canopy might lack viable offspring, while other species absent in the canopy might have disposed a healthy seedling bank waiting for emergence. Therefore it seems crucial to incorporate all life stages in surveys related to conservation planning. We studied this idea by comparing the upper canopy composition with these of the sapling and seedling layers for 83 plots in the 12 remaining tropical rainforest fragments of Taita Hills, Kenya. Comparison of the simultaneous ordination of these plots revealed a disparity between the three forest layers (tree-sapling-seedling). Apart from the observation that fragments have distinct tree communities, we found in the sapling and seedling layers of the small, severely disturbed fragments a shift towards the canopy composition of the larger less disturbed fragments, which suggests an ongoing natural restoration of these small remnants. Because several species absent in the canopy layer still survive in the undergrowth, the extinction debt is smaller than suggested, but still existing for some species. |
| 13 | MADDOCK, S.T.1, PECK, M.R.2, TOLHURST, B.3, SMITH, L.F.2, BROWN, M.2, AGUIRRE P, V. 4, MORALES, J.N.5 (1 University of Wales, Bangor, UK, 2 University of Sussex, UK, 3 University of Brighton, UK, 4 Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, Ecuador, 5 Santa Lucia Cloud Forest Reserve, Ecuador) Patterns of vertebrate diversity between primary, secondary and tertiary habitats in a community owned reserve in a data-deficient area of the Ecuadorean Andes Species richness was investigated for three vertebrate taxa (reptiles, large mammals, and birds) within the small community-owned Santa Lucía Cloud Forest Reserve, Pichincha, Northwest Ecuador. Whilst avifauna and large mammals are fairly well-described in the area, very little is known about the reptiles. We surveyed 4 habitat types, with substantial sampling intensity, covering 19 (plus additional methods), 118, and 14 independent sites, for reptiles, birds, and large mammals respectively. The habitat types represent differing degrees of anthropogenic disturbance: primary forest; secondary forest; silvipasture; and cultivation. Standardised methods were used to sample each taxon: including pitfall arrays with drift fences and time-constrained searches for reptiles; auditory and visual point count transects for birds; and camera trapping for large mammals. We are currently conducting data analysis using distance sampling, diversity indices (Shannon and Simpson), and multivariate statistics. Preliminary results indicate that primary forest exhibits greater species diversity overall, followed by secondary forest. This dataset provides a good resource for the region (with a minimum of two range extensions and possibly new species of Riama and Lepidoblepharis lizards) and stresses the importance of preserving pristine forests in the region for biodiversity purposes. |
| 14 | CROCKATT, M.E. BEBBER, D. (Earthwatch Institute, UK) Carbon cycling in fragmented forests: is there an edge effect on wood decay? Knowledge of carbon stocks and flux in forests is vital to understanding the global carbon cycle and to measuring carbon emissions. UK woodlands are highly fragmented, thus having a large proportion of "edge habitat", which typically varies from forest interior in terms of micro-climate, species distributions and ecological processes. It is therefore likely that wood decay rate will vary between edge and core habitat, as organisms responsible for wood decay (fungi, invertebrates, bacteria) respond to micro-climatic variations between edge and core of forest. Using 100 cm3 beech wood blocks to represent coarse woody debris, we test the hypothesis that wood blocks will decay faster at the core than the edge of a semi-natural ancient woodland in the UK, as forest edges are drier than the interior. Wood blocks have been placed at 5 m intervals along 100 m transects from the edge to centre of woodland, in place since August 2010. Variation in micro-climate along transects will be quantified using fixed moisture and temperature data loggers (from February 2011). As fungi are the main agents of wood decay, it is planned that fungal communities present within the woodblocks will be investigated using molecular techniques (pyrosequencing). |
| 15 | LUKE, S.H.1, EGGLETON, P.2, FAYLE, T.M.2, TURNER, E.C.3, DAVIES, R.G.1 (1 University of East Anglia, UK, 2 Natural History Museum, UK, 3 University of Cambridge, UK) Ant and termite assemblages along a tropical forest disturbance gradient in Sabah, Malaysia: potential changes in ecosystem function with diversity loss. Secondary forest and oil palm plantations are an increasing feature of landscapes in Southeast Asia but their value for biodiversity is largely unknown. Ants and termites are dominant groups in tropical ecosystems and play important roles in food webs and provision of ecosystem services such as decomposition. This study considers the effects of habitat change on ant and termite diversity, abundance and assemblage structure, focussing specifically on changes in functional diversity. Old growth forest, secondary forest and oil palm sites were surveyed in Sabah, Malaysia and ants and termites were collected from soil and dead wood. Environmental metrics associated with soil pits and dead wood where ants and termites were sampled were assessed at each site, along with aspects of the surrounding forest habitat. Generic richness and abundance of termites were highest in old growth forest, and decreased significantly in secondary and oil palm sites. Ants appeared less dependent on old growth forest, showing highest genus richness and abundance in secondary forest habitat and a high level of occurrence in oil palm. Both ant and termite community assemblages changed along a disturbance gradient indicating that forest specialists were not found in secondary forest and oil palm. Differences in abundance according to functional groups between habitat types suggest there could be significant impacts for ecosystem function. Protection of old growth forest is therefore essential for protecting termite assemblages and forest-specialist ants and potentially the ecosystem functions that they provide, but secondary forests also provide valuable habitat and should be protected. |
| 16 | BAZGIR, M. GUILLAUME, P. CARNOL, M. (University of Liège, Belgium) Element fluxes, forest floor characteristics and microbial activities under deciduous tree species after conversion of a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand. Forest management is currently confronted with major questions, such as how to adapt plantation forests to a changing world. This questioning is not only essential with regard to forest health and productivity, but also within the frame of climate mitigation. As Norway spruce monocultures (Picea abies) have been planted in Europe beyond their assumed natural range, are subjected to forest decline and have negative impacts on ecological conditions, conversion into mixed stands has been suggested. Tree species can influence nutrient inputs, soil microbial activity, soil chemistry and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. These tree species effects on biogeochemical cycles may vary according to soil type, site characteristics and land use history. The objective of the present study was to quantify element fluxes in throughfall and seepage water, forest floor exchangeable element pools and nitrogen transformations, 12 years after conversion from Picea abies monocultures to a mixed forest stand. Measurements were performed under young and mature Picea abies, Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., Quercus robur L. and Sorbus aucuparia L. Thus trees have grown on the same site, sharing identical initial soil conditions and site history, so that potential effects on microbial processes and soil properties can be imputed to tree species. Results showed that conversion had a short term impact on nutrient budgets and nutrient cycling in the upper soil layer; in particular on input fluxes of acidifying cations, soil base saturation, net N mineralization and nitrification. |
| 17 | SAIKIA, B.P.1, RABHA, A.2, SAIKIA, P.K.1 (1 Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Assam, India, 2 Assam Forest Department, Govt. of Assam, India) Community Participation in Forest Conservation Brings New Hope Curbing Forest Loss and Climate Change in Manas National Park Community participation in the conservation of a protected area is the key to the conservation of its forest, endangered fauna and its landscape which helps in curbing climate change and forest cover depletion. This is particularly so in an area of political restlessness in fringe villages of Manas National Park are mainly occupied by the Bodo tribe. This was found from present study that, management in the eastern boundary (as a model study of community participation for forest and wildlife conservation) of the national park is benefited from the community participation, where the anti-poaching patrolling duty was supported by public participation. Densities of the important wildlife faunal elements increased in 2008, as compared with 2003-2004 in the area: Wild Buffalo Bubalus bubalis (173.21%), Wild Boar Sus scrofa (168.11%), Asian Elephant Elephus maximus (120.74%), Gaur Bos gaurus (83.77%), Sambar Cervus unicolor (57.54%), Barking Deer Muntiacus muntjak (46.46%), Leopard Panthera pardus (40.05%), Tiger Panthera tigris(37.54%). After the community participation in the forest conservation of Manas National Park the forest cover increased 15 % over a period of five years. Results also reveals positive impact of community participation in forest conservation for curbing climate change and forest loss. However, during the study period (2008), the people engaged in anti-poaching efforts in the Park received very limited remuneration. The amount received by them is insufficient for their livelihood, and so it must be increased. |
| 18 | BIRCH, J.C.1, BASNYAT, M.2, PEH, K.3 (1 BirdLife International, 2 Bird Conservation Nepal, 3 University of Cambridge) The value of Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park for biodiversity and people. Thus far, ecosystem services assessment has largely focused on broad scale, global analyses, using rough proxy measures from remote sensing or on intensive and expensive measures at a few sites. To inform practical conservation decision-making, an intermediate approach is needed. This study used a new ‘toolkit’ to conduct rapid research through combining field surveys with existing data for assessing key ecosystem services such as carbon storage, nature-based tourism, cultivated goods and water provision. The approaches recommended through this toolkit incorporate accessible state-of-the-art methods with participatory, inexpensive ones that result in acceptably robust ecosystem services assessment at the site level. Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park (SNNP) is located 12km from Kathmandu, Nepal, covering an area of 159km2 with an elevation ranging from 100 m to 2,732 m asl. Over 1,250 plant species and 311 bird species have been recorded. Major forest types include Schima-Castenopsis, Chir Pine and mixed broadleaf forests. SNNP is primarily recognized for its importance as a watershed for the Kathmandu Valley, providing 53 million litres of water per day. It is an extremely popular site for local visitors. Over 100,000 visits were recorded in 2010. Preliminary analyses show that SNNP provides added benefits from a number of ecosystem services compared to services delivered by the surrounding (degraded) area. These results highlight the value of SNNP to local people, district level users and the global community, and present the scientific information in a way that can be easily used by site managers, community forest user-groups, regional and national decision-makers. |
| 19 | D.J. SMITH A. RAMSEY O. NEVIN (University of Cumbria, UK) How does the woodland environment influence violet-feeding Nymphalidae fritillary presence? Using a resource-based approach to define habitat, we describe how key elements of the woodland environment have particular importance in influencing the life history of fritillary species. Key woodland vegetation, structure, physical habitat components and fritillary abundance were quantified at three limestone woodland sites in north-west England. These sites contain core UK populations and are actively managed for fritillary conservation. High abundance fritillary populations are found to have significant positive correlations with percentage cover of; violets, vegetation at 0m and 0.2m high, bare rock and moss covered rock. Significant negative correlations were identified with percentage cover of; leaf litter, canopy, vegetation at 0.8m, 1.0m and 1.5m high. Regression by backwards elimination identifies key predictors for fritillary abundance; vegetation cover at 0.2m, violet cover, canopy cover, leaf litter and vegetation at 0.4m (R2=0.429, ANOVA: F5=50.838, p<0.001). Further analysis to determine at which spatial scale violet cover influences abundance identified a significant positive correlation with maximum patch size (rs=0.551, p=0.033). Base line violet criteria for fritillary abundance suggests a minimum; violet patch size, 3.0%, site median violet cover, 1.5%, and violet occurrence frequency, 84.0%. Species-specific implications of these results are considered for the high brown fritillary (Argynnis adippe) and the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne). These data suggest that, given the requisite violet coverage, suitable woodland structure provides a ‘tipping point’ between ‘high’ and ‘low’ abundance populations. The implications of any height significance may prove beneficial to conservation management strategies. |
| 20 | HERES, A.M. MARTÍNEZ -VILALTA, J. CLARAMUNT LÓPEZ, B. (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), SPAIN) Growth patterns in relation to drought-induced mortality in Scots pine populations from NE Iberian Peninsula. Drought-related tree mortality has become a widely spread phenomenon in the last decades. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a boreal species with high ecological amplitude that reaches its southwestern (and dry) limit in the Iberian Peninsula. Iberian Scots pine populations represent thus particularly good models to study the effects of increased aridity as predicted by climate change scenarios for the western Mediterranean basin. A total of 117 Scots pines, including both living and dead individuals, were sampled at two populations located in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula, where recent mortality episodes have been recorded. In the two populations, standing dead trees account for ca. 20% of all individuals. The aims of this study were to use tree rings to investigate if there was an association between the timing of tree death and severe drought periods registered in the two areas and to compare the growth patterns of trees that died with those of surviving ones. Our results show a direct association between Scots pine mortality and severe drought periods characterized by exceptionally low summer water availability. At the two sites, the growth patterns of dead trees were clearly distinguishable from those of the trees that survived. In particular, dead trees were more sensitive to climate dryness and started to grow significantly less than their surviving neighbors 10-40 years before dying, implying a slow process of growth decline preceding death. |
| 21 | METCALFE, D.J. (CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences) Plot-based research in the Australian Wet Tropics. The Wet Tropics Bioregion of north-eastern Australia contains the largest area of rainforest vegetation in Australia. At 900,000 ha the Bioregion covers less than 0.2% of Australia’s land area, yet supports 60% of the butterflies, 48% of the birds and 36% of the mammals found in continental Australia. Plot-based studies of forest dynamics are now approaching 40 years of continuous records, but these data have been supplemented by the first canopy crane in the southern hemisphere (established in 1995) and in 2010 by funding to support establishment of a fully censused 25 ha rainforest plot and the development of a new teaching and research facility. The 25 ha Robson Creek plot is situated on the Atherton Tablelands at about 700 m asl, and combines floristic inventory with faunal studies, hydrological and climatological monitoring. The Daintree Rainforest Observatory will be a purpose-built teaching and research facility run by James Cook University adjacent to the canopy crane and a new lowland plot network. The Robson Creek and Daintree Rainforest Observatory sites make up the two main components of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Rainforest Supersite. |
| 22 | ROWLAND, L1, WILLIAMS, M1, MEIR, P1, BONAL, D2 (1 university of edinburgh, 2 INRA, Université Nancy, France) The climate vulnerability and carbon dynamics of a neotropical forest Modelling future carbon-climate interactions in the Amazon rainforest requires quantification of the potential responses of forest carbon pools to changing meteorology; an area of research in which there remains a high degree of model uncertainty. Predicting the carbon response of tropical forests to changes in environmental conditions creates a complex problem of quantifying uncertainty in an ecosystem which is both dynamic, and for which responses to the environment are often nonlinear. This project aims to quantify and model carbon fluxes from undisturbed tropical forest plots in Paracou, French Guiana. The plots have contrasting soil, nutrient and soil moisture status, providing a good test of how well different ecological constraints can be modelled. Detailed meteorological and carbon flux measurements from the site will enable model-data fusion using the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere model. Data-assimilation will be used to estimate parameter uncertainty and test the modelled responses of this tropical forest carbon cycle to variations in seasonal water stress. This first analysis describes a data-model comparison and is used to highlight discrepancies between the carbon balance of the tropical forest ecosystem as derived from measurements and model output. The sensitivity analysis displays how responsive this modelled forest carbon budget is to manipulations in precipitation and temperature; two key factors controlling the severity of seasonal water stress. |
| 23 | RAJAPAKSHA, N.S.S1, BUTT, K.R1, VANGUELOVA, E2, MOFFAT, A.J2 (1 University of Central Lancashire, UK, 2 Forest Research, Alice Holt, UK) Soil fauna diversity under Short Rotation Forestry - Impacts and Responses. The Short Rotation Forestry (SRF) concept was introduced as a method to increase biomass production in the UK whilst benefiting productive ecosystems. Crops are grown for 8 to 20 years, generally much shorter than traditional forestry practices but longer than Short Rotation Coppice (SRC). However, SRF plantations have raised concerns about potential impacts on soil carbon and nutrients: through quality and quantity of leaf litter, its decomposition and incorporation into the soil environment. Decomposition of litter may be dependent on soil faunal activity and diversity. An important component of the soil fauna is the earthworm community. Presence of earthworms may have impacts on litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, soil improvement and subsequently on tree growth. Additionally, tree species can impact on abundance and diversity of the associated earthworm community. Major project aims are to investigate effects of interacting factors of SRF species and soil types on the earthworm community and the effect of earthworms on litter decomposition, soil carbon and nutrient cycling of these systems. |
| 24 | NAVARRO, F.B. RIPOLL, M.A. JIMÉNEZ, M.N. TERRÓN, L. GALLEGO, E. (IFAPA Centro Camino de Purchil, Granada, Spain) Digital dendrometric data clarify the response to sporadic climatic events of Aleppo pines subject to different thinning intensities. M.A. Ripoll, M.N. Jiménez, L. Terrón, E. Gallego & F.B. Navarro Grupo de Sistemas y Recursos Forestales, Área de Abstract: This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different thinning intensities upon the dendrometric characteristics of a semi-arid Pinus halepensis afforestation planted in the winter of 1993-1994 in SE Spain. Three different intensities of overstory reduction (~650, 450 and 330 trees per ha) were carried out during the spring of 2005 from an initial density of 1,450 trees per ha. To collect our data four trees were selected on the basis of the average diameter at the breast height (DBH) of each treatment. Dendrometric data were recorded every 30 minutes during 2010 by means of digital circumference dendrometers (type DC) from Ecomatik®. Within the different areas of overstory thinning our results showed different growth patterns of Pinus halepensis, such us greater total growth, earlier growth initiation, better response to dry periods and better response to rainfall events, concomitant with a decrease in tree density. Therefore, we propose to reduce the overstory in semi-arid Mediterranean afforestations as forest management actions intended to adapt to climate change conditions. Keywords: dendrometry; DBH; forest management; semi-arid; SE Spain. AcknowledgmentsThis work was financed by The Andalucian Environmental Council (Junta de Andalucía) through the Convenio de Colaboración Nº 304. We also thank the INIA and FEDER for financial support provided by project SUM2008-00003-C03. We are grateful to A. L. Tate for revising our English text. |
| 25 | JIMÉNEZ, M.N. RIPOLL, M.A. TERRÓN, L. GALLEGO, E. NAVARRO, F.B. (IFAPA Centro Camino de Purchil, Granada, Spain) Effects of thinning within the context of climate change: the example of a semi-arid Aleppo pine afforestation in SE Spain It is becoming more and more common in the Mediterranean basin to guard against forest fires by creating wooded firebreaks by reducing the overstory, pruning the remaining trees and slash mulching. Nevertheless, very few attempts have been made to analyse the effect of the practice of thinning upon tree growth in semi-arid areas by following a well-defined experimental design over a significant period of time. To contribute to our understanding of the effects of thinning we carried out three different intensities of overstory reduction (~650, 450 and 330 trees per ha) during the spring of 2005 from an initial density of 1,450 trees per ha in a semi-arid Aleppo pine afforestation in SE Spain planted in the winter of 1993-1994. The annual growth data of each stand (DBH, ?DBH, canopy cover, biomass and carbon) were measured in 4 randomly located quadrats of 20 x 20 m from the early summer of 2005 to 2010. Our results revealed different growth patterns of Pinus halepensis inside the different areas of overstory thinning as a response to the new biotic (less competition) and abiotic (more radiation, soil water availability and so on) conditions. These results could be of great interest because of their implications to forest management within a context of global change in an area where reductions and irregularity in precipitation as well as increases in temperature are predicted. Keywords: biomass; dasometry; forest management; semi-arid; SE Spain. AcknowledgmentsThis work was financed by The Andalucian Environmental Council (Junta de Andalucía) through the Convenio de Colaboración Nº 304. We also thank the INIA and FEDER for financial support provided by project SUM2008-00003-C03. We are grateful to A. L. Tate for revising our English text. |
| 26 | PINARD, M.A. (University of Aberdeen, UK) Forest dependent poor at the agricultural frontier: the complexity of poverty and the promise of sustaining forests in Amazonia The Amazon Basin is one of the most dynamic frontiers of development in the tropics, an ideal system for unravelling links between human vulnerability and natural ecosystem sustainability. Using case studies in Pando, Bolivia and Pará, Brazil we examined local concepts of poverty and how land use change impacted on forest dependent people. From interviews and workshops we learned that local concepts of poverty are, for many, associated with urbanization, restricted access to cultural opportunities, lack of political voice, and destruction of the natural environment. Most people living in and near the forest did not recognize themselves as poor, as the forest provided for basic needs; more often poverty was associated with urban centres or was a foreign concept. Their vulnerability was described as unfulfilled demands, for example, for medical services, and lack of quality education and hardship associated with traditional production systems were drivers of rural-urban migration. Key drivers of impoverishment included policy and development models that promoted export crop production over forest-based options or local markets, land conflicts and lack of support to develop sustainable livelihood systems. The form and intensity of forest dependence varied, but traditional extractivism was important to many, even those who had relocated to urban centres. Forest was presented as integral to people’s concept of identity. In both countries changes in governance are affecting environmental management and the understanding and creation of poverty. The desire to sustain ecosystems whilst promoting economic growth through development remains a key challenge. |
| 27 | METCALFE, D.J. (CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences) Assessing trade-offs and synergies in contrasting ecosystem services in a tropical landscape. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) World Heritage Area, Australia, supports global biodiversity values, tourism and fisheries, but is threatened by water quality decline from agricultural run-off. Water Quality Improvement Plans have been developed to regulate nutrient and sediment run-off through land management practices including riparian re-vegetation and wetland restoration, but no tools exist to assess trade-offs in land use change across the catchment to reef continuum. We adapted the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework to identify trade-offs in linked ecosystem services and for stakeholders in the Tully-Murray catchments’ floodplain and adjacent GBR. Applying four land use scenarios from extensive forest clearance to revegetation of all waterways, we assessed the outcomes on water quality regulation, and trade-offs with eight other linked floodplain services and four GBR services. The analysis highlighted symmetry between private beneficiaries in the floodplain and GBR, and potential mis-matches between current formal water quality institutions and ecosystem service flows. We discuss other data and research requirements, including the need to test the ecosystem services approach as a participatory planning tool in the GBR region. |
| 28 | SLOT, M.1, WRIGHT, S.J.2, KITAJIMA, K.1 (1 University of Florida, USA, 2 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama) foliar respiration of canopy trees and lianas in a tropical forest. Leaf respiration is the largest component of the internal carbon budget of tropical forests. Yet, accurate quantification of in-situ respiration rates is technically challenging, and uncertainty remains about how respiration responds to climatic changes. In particular, the paucity of leaf respiration data for tropical canopy trees and lianas is a major impediment to modeling carbon fluxes. Global circulation models often assume doubling of respiration with 10°C temperature increase (i.e. Q10=2.0), but based on scarce data, general Q10 temperature dependence models predict values lower than 2.0 for tropical vegetation. Furthermore, potential differences in Q10 values among functional groups may have strong community and ecosystem consequences. For example, it is unclear whether increasing liana dominance in many tropical forests reflects physiological differences between trees and lianas in their response to changing climate. We quantified leaf dark respiration (Rdark) and Q10 for 14 tree and 13 liana species in the canopy of a tropical forest in Panamá, accessing leaves with a canopy crane. Rdark expressed on leaf mass basis and standardized to 25°C was marginally higher in lianas than in trees (1.24 and 1.12 nmol g-1s-1 respectively. t-test; P=0.07). Q10 values were marginally higher (t-test; P=0.1) for trees (mean=2.46, range 1.7-4.5) than for lianas (mean=2.33, range 1.2-3.5). Averages for both functional groups are considerably higher than 2.0 and conflict with the Q10 temperature dependence models. We relate these results to leaf functional traits and discuss the consequences of our findings for modeling of carbon exchange in tropical forests. |
| 29 | BEBBER, D.P.1, CAPRETZ, R.2, MURTHY, I.3, PARKER, G.4, REN, H.5, RIUTTA, T.6, SLADE, E.7 (1 Earthwatch Institute, 2 Sociedade de Pesquisa em Vida Selvagem e Educação Ambiental, 3 Centre for Sustainable Technology, Indian Institute of Science, 4 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 5 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 6 Oxford University Centre for the Environment, 7 Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford) Biomass and diversity across disturbance gradients in five forests around the World Around three quarters of forests globally show varying signs of anthropogenic disturbance. As the global area of undisturbed forest dwindles, the role of degraded and secondary forests in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation will increase, yet disturbed forests are often considered as inferior to primary forests for these purposes. This study addresses variation of above-ground biomass and tree diversity across disturbance gradients in five sites around the world. Permanent sample plots were established across disturbance gradients at five sites in the UK, USA, Brazil, India and China. The type of anthropogenic disturbance varied among sites: fragmentation in the UK; low-intensity extraction in India; regrowth following harvesting in the USA and Brazil; and number of previous harvests in China. Forest plantations were also sampled. At each site, all trees > 5 cm DBH were mapped, measured, and identified to species. Estimates of tree diversity and above-ground biomass show varying patterns among sites. In the USA, Brazil and China, diversity and biomass increase significantly with time since disturbance, to a maximum for old-growth plots. Surprisingly, Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations in China were nearly as species-rich as old-growth forest. In India and the UK, no clear relationship between disturbance and biomass could be detected. Medium-term changes in forest biomass are being monitored by repeated measurements every 2-5 years. Short term growth responses to weather are being monitored using dendrometer bands. The relationship between growth and climatic variables will be used to parameterize models of the influence of climate change on forest biomass. |
| 30 | NATHALIE BUTT1, PAULA AFONSO DE OLIVEIRA2, MARCOS HEIL COSTA2 (1 Oxford University/ Universidade Federal de Viçosa , 2 Universidade Federal de Viçosa ) Evidence that deforestation affects the onset of the rainy season in Rondonia, Brazil Anecdotes from local residents and modelling studies suggest that deforestation may delay the onset of the rainy season (O) in western Brazil, but detection studies using climatological time series are not available. We here investigate trends in O in the state of Rondonia, Brazil, a region that has been continuously deforested since the 1970s. Daily rainfall data from 16 station time series, spanning periods of at least 25 years, with five covering more than 30 years, are used. We define O as the first day after September 1st with rainfall > 20 mm day-1. A t-test indicates that for stations that lie inside the major deforested area, O has significantly shifted to, on average, 11 days (and up to 18 days) later in the year over the last three decades. However, for stations that lie in areas that have not been heavily deforested, O has not shifted significantly. Non-parametric and parametric trend analyses all gave similar results for the change of O with time, and all of the statistically significant results indicated a delay in O. Approximately 25% (4) of the stations analyzed showed a marked shift in timing of O: these stations are located inside deforested areas, primarily near the BR 364 highway that crosses Rondonia. Delaying trends may be as great as 0.6 days per year: after 30 years of deforestation the onset of the rainy season is expected to be 18 days later. |
| 31 | VILà-CABRERA, A. MARTíNEZ-VILALTA, J. VEYREDA, J. RETANA, J. (CREAF, Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) Structural and climatic determinants of demographic rates of Scots pine forests across the Iberian Peninsula Understanding the environmental factors underlying the spatial variation of tree species’ demography is a key topic in forest ecology. Changes in forests uses and drought periods have been characteristic processes during the last decades in the Iberian Peninsula, region which represents the south-western distribution limit of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Our aim was to use climate and stand structure data to explain mortality and growth patterns of Scots pine forests across the Iberian Peninsula during the last decades. We used data from 2392 plots of the National Forest Inventory of Spain sampled from 1986 to 1996 (IFN2) and re-sampled from 1997 to 2007 (IFN3). Between the IFN2 and IFN3, the amount of standing dead trees increased eleven-fold. Stand development and competition seem to be the main factors associated with demography as forest structure was strongly related to spatial variation in mortality and growth. Additionally, higher mortality and lower growth rates were related to dryness, although our results suggested that effects of climatic stressors were not restricted to dry sites. Competition induced mortality in dry sites was suggested by the interaction between forest structure and climate. A slight negative relationship was found between mortality and growth. Additionally, regeneration tended to be lower at plots with higher mortality. Taken together, our results suggest a large-scale self-thinning which appears to be enhanced by dry conditions and may lead to a mismatch in forest turnover. Forest management may thus provide an effective adaptive tool under the drier conditions predicted by most climate models. |
| 32 | AHMED S.1, EWERS R.M.2, PURVES D.3 (1 Imperial College London, 2 Imperial College London , 3 ) Spatio-temporal patterns of road network development in the Brazilian Amazon A key driver of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is the growth of infrastructure, particularly roads. Given the diversity and density of organisms living within these forests, road development and associated deforestation in the Amazon has severe implications for global biodiversity. Roads exert negative effects on species in all biomes, but tropical diversity is particularly vulnerable to the effects of roads. Given that the Amazon is so diverse, provides many ecosystem services, and is rapidly undergoing extensive development, it is imperative that spatial models of road network growth are developed that allow future scenarios of road spatial patterns and their extended effects to be quantified. Here, we quantified the patterns of network growth using time series of road maps obtained by digitising LandSat ETM images at two spatial and temporal scales: the entire Brazilian Amazon in 2004 and 2007, and annually for an eight year period for three selected LandSat scenes with different initial road density. We found significant spatial variation in the rate of road development that is a function of existing road network density. The resulting patterns will be used to develop a spatio-temporal model to predict future road network development, ultimately leading to more accurate predictions of deforestation rates and patterns in this globally important ecosystem. |
| 1 | ROZENBERGAR, D. NAGEL, T.A. DIACI, J. (University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department for Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Slovenia) Interspecific differences in shade tolerance of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba during larger regeneration stages Interspecific variation in shade tolerance is widely accepted as an important driver of succession in forest communities. Recent work on this topic suggests that the light requirements of many tree species increase with tree size, which may lead to a shift in the shade tolerance rankings among coexisting tree species. In this study, we examine shade tolerance differences between Abies alba and Fagus sylvatica during the late sapling-poll sized life stage. Both species have similar regeneration niches during early regeneration stages, so a potential coexistence mechanism could be related to changes in shade tolerance as trees reach larger regeneration stages. Mechanisms defining species-specific growth in different light conditions include physiological and morphological adaptations on a leaf level, as well as changes in biomass distribution and crown architecture on a plant level. On the plant level, quantification of shade tolerance is possible by analyzing crown architecture, and height and diameter growth. We measured these parameters for randomly selected A. alba and F. sylvatica trees with an average height of 6 m growing in a range of light conditions in unevenaged stands. All trees were cut at the base and discs were analyzed for radial growth, and light was measured 6 m above the ground. Our results focus on interspecific differences in reaction to light, particularly regarding sapling architecture, radial growth rates, and minimum light levels for survival and growth. |
| 2 | CECILIA CHAVANA-BRYANT1, DR FRANCE GERARD2, PROF YADVINDER MAHLI3 (1 University of Oxford / CEH, 2 CEH Wallingford, 3 University of Oxford) Leaf life-cycles and their impact on our interpretation of EO-derived vegetation indices of Amazonian Forests The phenological dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems reflect the response of the Earth's biosphere to inter- and intra-annual dynamics of the Earth's climatic and hydrological regimes (Myneni 1997, Nature). Drought events have been linked to variations in vegetation greenness (Saleska et al. 2007, Science; Samanta et al. 2010, GRL) and some of these studies have been interpreted as evidence of resilience of tropical rainforests to drought. The studies have been entirely satellite-based however, where “greenness” is expressed through vegetation indices (VIs) or Leaf Area Index (LAI) estimates, and thus far there has been little corroboration with on-the-ground observations of the phenology of tropical forests. We suspect that leaves vary in their spectral reflectance properties as they age, and that there is a distinct possibility that the seasonal variation in VIs is driven by leaf aging as well as by the shedding or appearance of new leaves. Here, we present the first field-based results of a study investigating the influence that age-related variation in the spectral reflectance of leaves may have on the "greenness" of a tropical forest canopy. This data was acquired during the 3-month-long dry season experienced at a site in French Guyana. Around 6,000 reflectance measurements of individual leaves of different ages, sampled vertically (top, mid, low canopy) from 8 different canopy tree species, were collected. These were complemented by top-of-canopy reflectance measurements; leaf morphological measurements; leaf demography of two 1m branches from each canopy level from which leaves were harvested; forest structural measurements; and LAI and meteorological data. |
| 3 | BODIMEAD, J.B. DOBERSKI, J. (Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge) Comparison of growth of Quercus robur (L.) and Fraxinus excelsior (L.) saplings in newly created woodland on a clay soil: the role of environmental factors? Quercus robur and Fraxinus excelsior are widely planted in broadleaved woodland creation schemes on a range of soil types in the UK. This includes areas of ex-agricultural land and land reclamation schemes, very often on clay soils. This study reports data collected on growth of these two species at a new woodland site (known as '800' wood), near Cambridge. The mean incremental growth of five year old saplings of F. excelsior and Q. robur were measured on a chalky boulder clay soil, with an elevation range from 33.6m to 53.5m above sea level. Differences in growth between species and sample plots were assessed in relation to a range of environmental factors. These included soil texture, soil moisture, pH, slope and elevation. Differences in growth between the two species were significant, with particularly slow growth exhibited by Q. robur. Differences in growth between plots were significant for F. excelsior (height and diameter) but only significant for diameter for Q. robur. F. excelsior had a much more extensive root system, both at topsoil and subsoil depths. This was consistent with the higher growth rate of F. excelsior. Although there were differences in soil moisture between plots, there was no clear link between moisture and growth increment in either species. No other factors were identified as individual drivers of growth differences. Additional studies are currently in progress to identify the possible causes of differences in growth increment. |
| 4 | SHOBHA MAHARAJ (Department of Plant Sciences) Projected Impacts of Climate Change on High Conservation Value species within the forests of a Small Island Commonwealth State According to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th Assessment Report, small islands, such as those in the Caribbean, have characteristics which make them especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, sea-level rise and extreme events. There is an acute paucity of knowledge about: (i) the potential impacts of climate change upon the plant communities within these forests; and (ii) management strategies that can be adopted to ensure continued survival of these communities. Since 2005, 240 plotless Rapid Botanical Surveys were conducted across all the vegetation types of the small island of Trinidad. In these surveys, all vascular plants within the landscape were collected, identified and recorded. Multivariant analyses of these data have been used to define communities within Trinidad’s forests and provide baseline information for future research. Further, the response of High Conservation Value species within these communities to the A2 climate change scenario of a regional climate model (RCM) was modelled using the MaxEnt species distribution model. These projections were used to (i) detect spatial and compositional shifts and (ii) determine the feasibility of using species distribution modelling as a conservation tool at the small island scale. |
| 5 | FAUSET, S.1, BAKER, T.R.1, FELDPAUSCH, T.R.1, LEWIS. S.L.1, AFFUM-BAFFOE, K.2, FOLI, E.3 (1 University of Leeds, 2 Ghana Forestry Commission, 3 Forestry Research Institute of Ghana) Temporal and spatial trends in liana abundance in Ghana, West Africa. Lianas are known to decrease tree growth and increase tree mortality in tropical forests and therefore have important effects on the carbon balance of these ecosystems. In the Amazon and Central America, liana abundance has been found to have increased in recent decades, however, the causes of spatial and temporal variation in the their abundance is unclear. Spatial patterns may be driven by variation in climate, forest structure and/or disturbance; increases in abundance over time have been hypothesized to reflect the effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. One limitation of current data is the lack of studies outside the Neotropics. Here we therefore use a twenty year dataset from eighteen intact 1 ha permanent sample plots from evergreen and semi-deciduous forests in Ghana, West Africa, to explore spatial and temporal patterns of liana abundance. Temporal trends were assessed by comparing a liana infestation score assigned to each tree in a plot, and additional surveys of all lianas infesting 50 trees per plot were used to investigate spatial patterns. The results show no significant increase in liana infestation of trees between 1990 and 2010. Liana abundance decreased with increasing tree basal area: stem ratio and increased with tree stem density. The lack of change over time in liana abundance in these plots suggests that the driver(s) of liana increase in the Neotropics may not be important in all tropical forests. |
| 6 | MARTIN ADAMEK1, PREMYSL BOBEK1, VEROSLAVA HADINCOVA2 (1 Departement of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, 2 Institute of Botany, Academy of Science, Czech Republic) Wildfire in Bohemian Switzerland NP (Czech Republic): long-term dynamics and the impact on forest vegetation The importance of wildfire for the existence of certain northern globe forest ecosystems is well known from Mediterranean, North America, Scandinavia or Siberia. In Central Europe it is perceived as a minor ecological factor. Hence studies of fire ecological impact on forest vegetation dynamics have been marginalized. However, recent observation of the area and paleoecological data suggested that wildfire ecological significance should be acknowledged.The aim of our study is to reveal the frequency and dynamics of forest fires in sandstone area of Bohemian Switzerland NP (Czech Republic, Central Europe) during the Holocene period and to find out the wildfire impact on the local forest vegetation. To reveal the pre-historic wildfire occurrence we used paleoecological records of charcoals in the peat sediments. The recent fire history was obtained by means of forestry archive records. To asses the wildfire impact on the vegetation we sampled the phytosociological record of various post-fire succession phases. Further, the linkage between wildfire records and particular landscape structures will be studied using the GIS methods. The first results suggest that (i) forest fires are more frequent in pine forests in sandstone areas than in other parts of the Czech Republic, (ii) undergrowth vegetation in post-fire plots differs from unaffected stand still after several decades, especially in moss layer, (iii) trees most adapted to survive the fire are Quercus petraea, Q. robur, Larix decidua and Pinus sylvestris. The most susceptible tree species are Picea abies and invasive Pinus strobus. |
| 7 | SANGMA, A. SAIKIA, P. K. (Centre for Animal Ecology and wildlife Biology, Gauhati University) Habitat Use Pattern of Leopard Panthera pardus with Special Reference to Forest Cover Requirements in Manas National Park, Assam, India The leopard Panthera pardus is a schedule I species in the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 .In Manas National Park (MNP) Leopard is facing problem from shrinkage of habitat, decline of prey population. This is necessary to investigate dependence of Leopard on different habitat for their conservation planning. Hence present study was done to evaluate habitat utilization pattern of Leopard.Data on habitat utilization pattern of Leopard in MNP was gathered by direct observation, indirect signs of Leopard such as scat, pugmark etc. from different representative types of habitat for reconstruction of habitat use pattern and habitat selectivity in MNP.Habitat classification was made with satellite imagery in GIS environment viz. Evergreen Forest, Semi-evergreen Forest, Mixed Deciduous Forest, Dry Grassland, Wet Grassland , River Sand, water body and other habitat . Leopard was found to utilise mostly the Mixed Deciduous Forest habitat (24.15 %) followed by Dry Grassland (21.52 %), Water body (14.87 %), Semi-evergreen Forest (12.92%) , Evergreen Forest (9.91 %), Wet grassland (6.89 %), River Sand (5.35 %), and other habitat by 4.39 % . As Leopard in MNP utilizes Mixed Deciduous Forest habitat, Dry Grassland , Water body together about 60.54 % and hence conservation of these three types of forest is necessary for the survival of Leopard. There should be a site specific management plan for management of Grassland and Wetland areas as these areas are mostly used by herbivores and hence by Leopard for the increase in herbivore population level in a sustainable manner. |
| 8 | RAY, P.C.1, SANGMA,A.1, BISWAS, J.2 (1 Centre for Animal Ecology and wildlife Biology, Gauhati University, 2 Primate Research Centre, NE-India, Assam.) Conservation of Western Hoolock Gibbon , an indicator species in Joypore Reserve Forest, Assam, India The Joypore Reserve Forest (JRF), Assam, India with an total area of 108 sq. km. lies between 27º06?-27º16? N latitudes and 95º21?-95º29? E longitudes is now threatened by loss of dense forest and canopy cover (> 25% of total area) on the periphery. The decreasing trend of forest cover and canopy impacted the distribution status of the Western Hoolock Gibbon Hoolock hoolock in the JRF as the Western Hoolock Gibbon is a upper canopy dwellers and uses dense canopy cover. Present study was done form Jan 2009- March 2010. Study revealed that present population of Hoolock Gibbon are on a rise (78 individuals i.e., > 10% of 69 individuals recorded earlier as per Das et al., 2003.) in JRF. This was found that 28 groups of Gibbons have their area of occupancy mostly in between the 27º08?-27º15? N latitudes and 95º25?-95º28? E longitudes (which accounts for > 70% of total forest area) and utilizes the area for their activity pattern because the rest of the forest area (> 25%) has less dense canopy cover mostly the SouthWest and SouthEast boundary area adjacent to Arunachal Pradesh. This is under threats due to anthropogenic disturbances like: frequent hunting and poaching, existing and upcoming tea estates, vehicle movements, livelihood issues for local people, livestock grazing etc. leading to fragmented Canopy cover. Therefore, there is a need of site specific and species- Specific Conservation plan for both the forest and their dependents specially the Gibbon and vice versa. |
| 9 | BENAVIDES, R. RABASA, S.G. VALLADARES, F. (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain) Recruitment and growth of Pinus sylvestris in its southern limit of distribution (Spain) Factors controlling seedling establishment of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Mediterranean areas are largely unknown, despite its relevance for forest regeneration and the understanding of impact of climate change in these areas. We analysed the factors controlling recruitment and shoot length of Scots pine throughout its altitudinal gradient in Valsain (Central Mountain Range, centre of Spain). The results of the analyses showed that density of both current-year seedlings and saplings were significantly affected by elevation and by facilitation provided by adult individuals. Density of seedlings and saplings was independent from others microhabitat variables such as shrubs cover, herbs cover or light intensity. When the density curves of seedlings and saplings were compared, we observed an increased optimal elevation. By contrast, we found no effect of elevation on shoot growth, but we detected a different altitudinal response of shoot growth and a different effect of competition depending on the age of the juveniles. |
| 10 | ARRIAGA, A. LOZANO, Y. GONZALEZ-ARIAS, A. GARTZIA-BENGOETXEA, N. (NEIKER-Tecnalia, Spain) Functional adaptation of soil microbial community in oak stands to global warming. Global warming will affect significantly forest ecosystems. This temperature increase could rise the respiration rate of the soil microorganisms, contributing, through CO2 production, to feedback the process. However, soil microbial community could adpat to this warming maintaining respirations rates similar to those present before the temperature increase. The aim of this study was to determine temperature sensitivity of forest soils within a climatic gradient and to evaluate the adaptation capacity of soil microbial community to temperature increase. Nine Quercus robur stands ranging from 740-1850 mm annual precipitation and 12.6-8.0 ºC annual mean temperature were selected..Substrate induced respiration was determined by microrespirometry in soil samples (0-10 cm) incubated at 4 different temperatures (5, 15, 25 and 35ºC). Fifteen C substrates were used: carbohydrates, amines, amino acids, carboxylic acids and phenolic acids. CO2 production remained constant when increasing temperature from 5 to 25º C . However, when reaching 35 ºC, there was a significant decrease in soil respiration in al the samples. The carbon utilization pattern was similar at all temperatures in all the samples. The highest productions of CO2 were obtained with carbohydrates and carboxylic acids. In the first case, because of an preferential metabolization, and in the second, possibly because they can be found in high quantities in forest ecosystems as a product of root exudation. These forest soils may not enhance temperature increase through increasing CO2 production due to global warming. |
| 11 | RAúL GARCíA-VALDéS1, MIGUEL A. ZAVALA2, MIGUEL B. ARAúJO1, DREW W. PURVES3 (1 Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid, Spain, 2 CIFOR, INIA, Madrid, Spain, 3 Computational Ecology and Environmental Science group, Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK.) Projecting non-equilibrial tree species responses to climate change. We forecast the potential future geographical distributions of the 10 most common Iberian trees using a novel method that does not assume that species are at equilibrium with current climate. Using Bayesian methods, in conjunction with repeat measurements of species occurrences from over 45,000 forest plots, we parameterized an environment-dependent spatially-explicit patch occupancy model for each species, and used the parameterized model to simulate species distributions out to 2100 with and without climate change. The model estimates that most species are substantially out of equilibrium and will remain so for the entire 21st century, with or without climate change. These results suggest that spatial processes and transient dynamics play a critical role in determining the response of forest species to climate change. |
| 12 | BEATRIZ IBáñEZ LORENA GóMEZ-APARICIO JOSE MANUEL ÁVILA TEODORO MARAñóN (Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNASE,CSIC)) Tree species effect on recruitment dynamics in Mediterranean forests affected by oak decline. The seedling stage is probably the most vulnerable in the life cycle of plants. Seedling recruitment dynamics are therefore a main determinant of sucessional trajectories and community composition. Understanding the connections between the composition and abundance of the canopy and seedling layer can be extremely useful to predict how changes in forest structure due to anthropic or natural disturbances might translate into changes in the forest regeneration potential. I used a neighborhood approach to explore the relationship between the composition and health status of canopy trees and the seedling and sapling layer in mixed Quercus suber forests of southern Spain affected by problems of tree death and decline. The abundance and diversity of woody seedlings and saplings was quantified in six plots, and the position, size, identity and health status of each canopy tree was recorded. The results of the study showed that the identity, abundance, distribution and health of the dominant trees in the neighbourhood have a predictable effect on the abundance of regeneration in the understorey. The presence of Q. suber and Q. canariensis trees had a positive effect on the abundance of conspecific seedlings and saplings, but a negative effect on heterospecific regeneration. The opposite patterns was found for Olea europaea trees. I did not find any evidence for a negative effect of declining or dead Q. suber trees on recruitment. This study constitutes a first step towards the understanding of the implications that cork oak decline might have for the recruitment dynamics of these forest ecosystems. |
| 13 | ITURBIDE, M. PINTO, M. DEL HIERRO, O. (Neiker, SPA) Modelling forest species potential niche distribution in the Basque Country under climate change conditions. Forest tree species have been modelled to study the influence that the climate change could have in the geographical distribution of their potential niche trough occidental Europe, paying special attention to the variation of niche extents in the Basque Country, where the climate spatial variability is high. Furthermore, and in spite of being a small land, there are two important bioclimatic regions, mediterranean and temperate, this characteristic makes niche modelling analysis specially interesting. Two models have been used, GARP (Genetic Algorithm for Rule Set Prediction) and MAXENT (Maximum Entropy Algorithm). In general, both models are considered to be appropriate for predicting species distribution. Niche modelling is based on finding those areas where the environmental conditions can support a species population according to conditions that are currently in the presence points of that species. In our study, we extracted presence data points from the national forest inventory and used high resolution climate layers in order to asses the distribution of the potential niche for current conditions and future climate change conditions of five species, Quercus robur, Quercus pyrenaica, Quercus petraea, Quercus suber and Fagus sylvatica. The resulting maps show a tendency of the species that are currently distributed in the Basque Country to disappear and migrate to higher latitudes in Europe, while mediterranean species are introduced with the consequent change of ecosystem types. |
| 14 | FIRM, D. NAGEL, T.A. (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) Pathways of secondary forest succession in Larix decidua dominated stands in the Slovenian Alps. A conceptual model of secondary forest succession in the Alps suggests predictable patterns of species replacement towards shade tolerant species, yet few studies have verified this model. We quantified the demographic processes and rates of compositional change during secondary forest succession in subalpine Larix decidua dominated forest stands and tested the hypothesis that Larix decidua, a shade intolerant species, will be replaced by more shade tolerant species (e.g. Picea abies, Fagus sylvatica) in future stand development. The study area is situated on a karst plateau in the south-eastern part of the European Alps, with a long history of human land use until the 20th century. We used long-term data gathered from five permanent sample plots (plot size varies between 0.13 and 1 ha) to analyse recruitment, growth, and mortality rates for the most abundant tree species, as well as dendroecological and historical evidence to reconstruct the history of disturbance. There were no significant differences in the rates of recruitment and mortality between shade intolerant and tolerant species. The results suggest that pathways of secondary forest succession may not be as predictable as previously thought, and that Larix decidua stands in the Alps may be able to persist as alternative stable states due to the history of severe human disturbance. |
| 15 | DISLICH, C.1, HUTH, A.2 (1 UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany, 2 UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research & University of Osnabrück, Germany) How do landslides affect forest dynamics in tropical montane forests? Shallow landslides are a major source of natural disturbance in tropical montane forests. Due to landslides vegetation and often the upper soil are removed, leaving space for a primary succession and resulting in strongly changed conditions for forest regeneration. Landslides might therefore affect different processes of forest dynamics: tree growth can be reduced due to nutrient limitation, tree recruitment reduced due to a thick vegetation of shrubs and ferns that establishes on young landslide sites and mortality might be increased due to instability of soils and exposition to wind. We utilize an individual based model of forest growth to investigate how changes in these processes affect the temporal and spatial succession process and to estimate the effect of landslides on the carbon balance of forest. The forest model was parameterized for one forest type of the Reserva Biológica San Francisco in the Andes of South Ecuador, where approximately 2.6% of the area is covered with visible traces of landslides. We developed scenarios of forest succession after landslides, where different processes (tree growth, recruitment, mortality) are changed compared to processes in undisturbed forest. For the different scenarios we find distinct patterns of spatial variation of tree biomass within the first fifty years of succession. For all scenarios, overall tree biomass recovers within approximately 100 years but species composition takes longer time to recover (> 200 years). On the landscape level landslides reduce standing biomass and produce a high spatial heterogeneity. |
| 16 | KOPECKY, M. HEDL, R. (Institute of Botany ASCR) Taxonomic homogenization caused by spread of habitat generalists. Aim: Besides general decrease in species richness and shifts in composition within sites, there is growing evidence that species assemblages are becoming increasingly similar among sites. This taxonomic homogenization (TH) appears to be one of the most prominent threats to global biodiversity. While TH was repeatedly documented, there is a little evidence of whether it is caused by extinction of habitat specialists or by expansion of habitat generalists. We used data from re-surveyed vegetation plots in order to test 1) if the species composition became more similar between the surveys, 2) if the potential TH was caused by species extinction or immigration and 3) if extinct and immigrated species differ in their habitat specialization. Location: Temperate deciduous forests of Devín Wood, Czech Republic. Methods: We used a set of 122 vegetation plots surveyed in 1953 and again in 2003. We compare compositional heterogeneity between the surveys by an analysis of multivariate homogeneity of group dispersions. Then, we compared changes in compositional heterogeneity caused by species extinctions and species immigrations. Finally, we compared degree of habitat specialization between extinct and immigrated species. Results: Studied vegetation became significantly taxonomically homogenized. This was caused by species immigrations, not by species extinctions. The immigrated species have significantly lower degree of habitat specialization than the extinct species. Conclusion: We found that TH in the studied temperate forest was caused by spread of habitat generalists. This is in sharp contrast to findings of previous studies which suggest that specialists’ extinction is the main cause of TH. |
| 17 | ROBSON, T.M. APHALO, P.J. (University of Helsinki, Finland) How do the relative strategies of South American Nothofagus species to cope with drought and shade compare with their responses to solar UV-B radiation? Several species of Nothofagus co-occur in the south of South America where they are subject to an altered solar UV-B environment due to the annual break-up of the ozone hole during the Austral spring. These closely-related species inhabit sites of differing exposure, soil moisture retention, and precipitation patterns. Relatively little is known about their ecophysiology, but niche differentiation among these closely-related species appears to reflect the extent of their stress tolerance. We measured functional traits reflecting gas exchange and water relations in Nothofagus antarctica seedlings in controlled conditions during a period of imposed summer drought under two light environments (sun / shade). The response of N. antarctica to these stress factors was small compared with that of other South American Nothofagus species tested in the same experiment. In a separate long-term field experiment, we followed the response of adult N. antarctica and N. pumilio trees to solar UV-B. Plastic branch filters were used to produce near-ambient and reduced solar UV-B treatments over three growing seasons, and branch growth and leaf traits of these trees were monitored. Again, leaf morphological and physiological traits of N. antarctica were unresponsive to solar UV-B, whereas N. pumilio was somewhat affected by solar UV-B. We discuss whether the response of N. antarctica to solar UV-B can be considered part of a general strategy of stress tolerance, by considering whether similar attributes are needed to overcome the various environmental stresses we applied. We reflect on the basis of niche segregation in this genus. |
| 18 | MILLER, C.S.1, GOSLING, W.G.1, COE, A.L.1, SHANAHAN, T.2 (1 The Open University, UK, 2 University of Texas, USA) 350,000 years of environmental change on the African continent Marine d18OCarb records reveal three global glacial-interglacial cycles over the last 350,000 years. During the transitions from glacial to interglacial, many terrestrial ecosystems underwent significant changes; however, ecosystem response in the tropics remains unclear. The fossil pollen record offers the opportunity to explore the response of vegetation to past climatic change. We present a new 350,000 year fossil pollen record from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Bosumtwi is today surrounded by Guineo-Congolian rainforest, c. 850 km south of the ecotone with the Acacia wooded grasslands. Precipitation in west tropical Africa is controlled by the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone; it is therefore likely that the fossil record contained within Bosumtwi will reflect past changes in the global climate. Over the last 350,000 years the pollen record from Bosumtwi is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). The most significant exception to this is the last 12,000 years (Holocene interglacial) which is dominated first by mixed dry forest taxa (Celtis and Fabaceae Mimosoideae) and then wetter forest taxa (Alchornea and Moraceae/Urticaceae) since 5,000 years ago. In addition there is clear evidence of the impact of humans since 5,000; planting Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis). Prior to the Holocene decreases in grasses are concomitant with rises in dry and montane forest taxa. The pattern of vegetation change seen in the Bosumtwi fossil pollen record is in partial agreement with the marine isotope record; however differences between these two records indicates that global temperature change alone does not drive vegetation change in west tropical Africa. |
| 19 | CSILLERY, K. CORDONNIER, T. COURBAUD, B. KUNSTLER, G. (CEMAGREF Grenoble, France) p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } Mortality of 30 tree species in the French Alps: the effects of climate p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } Tree mortality is a key factor affecting forest dynamics, productivity, species composition, and has consequences on forest management. Few studies have estimated tree mortality, and little is known how tree mortality is affected by climatic factors. Here we estimate tree mortality using a data set of the French Forest Service (FNFI) for 30 tree species. The study area is spanning a large range both in terms of altitude and latitude. Nearly 34,300 temporary plots were established in the period of 1980 - 2002 from sea level to nearly 2500m of altitude, from the Mediterranean pre-Alps, through the Mont Blanc massif, to the Jura mountains. Even though each plot was visited only once, for each dead tree, the approximate year of death was evaluated from the state of the trunk up to as far as 5 years prior to the survey. A Cox proportional hazards model with mixed effects was used to evaluate the effect of several tree and climatic variables on tree survival. We find that tree mortality is highly species specific, and, additionally to tree size, climatic factors can have a strong effect on tree mortality. Our results suggest that the influence of climatic factors is stronger for species that are situated on the edge of their ecological niche or have been planted outside of their original geographic range. |
| 20 | FRIEDRICH ANGERMüLLER KARIN FRANK ANDREAS HUTH (Center of Environmental Research - UFZ) How strong do tree diversity and management affect the carbon fixation in future European forests? Forests are one of the most important sinks of carbon. Therefore we investigate biomass production of European forests under the influence of biodiversity, climate change and different management strategies. These interactions are simulated by the gap model FORMIND. The process based FOMRIND model represents individual trees that belong to different plant functional types. Forest dynamics emerge from tree physiognomy, light competition, tree growth, mortality (harvest) and recruitment which are calculated on an annual scale. We aim to provide estimates for potential biomass yields, the carbon storage and the stability of the forest under changing conditions and different species combinations. |
| 21 | MEJIA-CHANG, M. OGAYA, R. PEÑUELAS, J. (CREAF) Water sources for Mediterranean vegetation in the face of climate change: can 18O isotopes solve the conundrum? Climate change predictions anticipate an increase in the frequency and severity of drought events in the Iberian Peninsula. Under this scenario, a better understanding of the competitive advantage of co-existing species to cope with drought is vital to foresee changes in the Mediterranean plant community. In this context, oxygen isotopes in water emerge as an integrative tool to provide information on water source signature related to different soil profiles, as well as to seasonality and origin of precipitation. In addition, once taken up by plants, isotopes act as markers for the degree of evapo-transpiration or environmental stress. Here we present results for summertime plant water sources, xylem water and water stress measurements conducted on Quercus ilex, Phillyrea latifolia and Arbutus unedo growing in a holm oak forest in the Prades mountains (northeast Iberian Peninsula). This study is part of a long-term experiment where rainfall has been partially excluded from treatment plots during eleven years, resulting in a reduction in soil moisture of close to 15%. Preliminary data suggest that Q. ilex growing in the rain-excluded plots is able to obtain water from deeper soil profiles in comparison to control plots, as evidenced by the more negative xylem oxygen signature. Isotopic data is discussed in the context of distinct plant life-form and long-term information on plant growth and performance. In addition, information on Q. ilex from Prades is further compared with results from individuals growing under natural conditions along a precipitation gradient in the Mediterranean Coast. |
| 22 | BREARLEY, F.Q.1, NAGY, L.2, PRAJADINATA, S.3, PROCTOR, J.4 (1 Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, 2 EcoScience Scotland, 3 Forestry Research and Development Agency, Indonesia, 4 University of Stirling, UK) Tropical secondary forests – testing the chronosequence approach With the increasing disturbance and destruction of tropical primary forests, the role of secondary forests in providing ecosystem services is increasing. Many studies of tropical secondary forests use a space-for-time chronosequence. In this study, we test the validity of a chronosequence approach using data from tropical secondary forests from the Barito Ulu study site in Central Indonesian Borneo. Forest plots between the ages of 3 and 20 years following disturbance were censused up to five times over an eleven-year period allowing a comparison of plots of the same age across years. Forests increased in basal area (and biomass) and species richness over time and this was captured using both a chronosequence approach and direct observations. The changing species composition of the plots behaved in a more idiosyncratic fashion as was not as well predicted from the chronosequence approach when compared with the direct observations. Chronosequences are therefore helpful but do not describe the tropical successional processes fully. |
| 23 | KLINEROVA, T.1, DRHOVSKA, L.1, HéDL, R.2, VOJTA, J.1 (1 Charles University, Prague, 2 Institute of Botany, Prague) Ancient and recent woodlands: which are more favourable for typical forest species?. Between ancient and recent woodlands, there exist considerable differences in the composition of the herb layer. However, these differences vary in dependence on many factors, such as local conditions, possibilities for colonization or species traits. We compared data from two sites with similar species pool (70 % of common herb species), but different local conditions (the Elbe basin in the central Bohemia and Doupovské Mountains in the west Bohemia). Some species with strong significant affinity to the ancient woodlands in one site were connected to the ancient woodlands in second site also (e.g. Melica nutans, Calamagrostis arundinacea), but others were connected to recent woodlands (e.g. Galium odoratum, Mercurialis perennis). We explain observed differences with nutrient and light conditions, based on Ellenberg indicator values. Our results will allow us to say which conditions is decisive for which species and which kind of woodlands are favourable for typical forest species. It seems that woodland continuity as a factor is very strongly modificated by combination of substrate and canopy which differs between studied sites. So the woodland continuity, itself, should not necessary be the main reason for decision which forest to protect and how. |
| 24 | LIAM CAVIN (University of Stirling, UK) Lady Park Wood - a case study in the response of beech woodland growth to drought. Climate change has affected both the frequency and intensity of drought events, and has been predicted to result in more severe events in the future. This has resulted in an observed drop in terrestrial net primary production in the 21st century. Thus, the effect of drought on the growth of forest forming tree species is of key interest. Much research is currently focusing on the response of beech, Fagus sylvatica, to climate change, due to its status as one of the dominant European broadleafed tree species. Lady Park Wood, in Monmouthshire, UK, is a minimal intervention nature reserve dominated by F. sylvatica, and has been the subject of a long term monitoring programme since 1945. This poster presents a study which aims to integrate the records of historical ecological change with dendroecological sampling and analysis to examine the drought response of F. sylvatica. Additionally, the growth of a significant competitor species at the site is analysed: that of sessile oak, Quercus petraea. Basal area increment analysis is used to compare the divergent responses of three cohorts from the site. |
| 25 | PANGALA, S.R.1, GAUCI, V.1, GOWING, D.J.1, HORNIBROOK, E.R.2 (1 The Open University, UK, 2 University of Bristol, UK) Methane emissions from tropical and temperate wetland trees. Wetlands are the single largest source of a powerful greenhouse gas, methane (CH4). In recent studies, strong CH4 emission plumes observed over the tropical forests have highlighted the potential of a novel woody tree CH4 release pathway, termed “the chimney effect”. In trees, morphological adaptations such as formation of hypertrophied lenticels and aerenchymaceous tissues, and development of adventitious roots in response to flooding makes ‘the chimney effect” possible; transporting both O2 to the O2-deprived roots and other soil-produced gases such as CH4 and N2O from the root-zone to the atmosphere. Most emissions occur from the stems or leaves, thus acting as a conduit to release CH4. With 60 % of the wetlands being forested and tropical forests permanently or seasonally flooded; the new CH4 release pathway could be an important contributor to the global CH4 budget. My study will examine the woody CH4 emission contributions at process and ecosystem level for both temperate and tropical wetlands. CH4 emissions from wetland trees at Flitwick Moor nature reserve in Bedfordshire and Belait peat swamp forests in Brunei will be monitored. Using controlled mesocosm experiments the effect of water table on CH4 emissions and the processes responsible for CH4 emissions from 2-3 year old common alder trees (Alnus glutinosa), a wetland tree species will be studied. The study will highlight the importance of a new woody CH4 emission pathway and its contributions to wetland CH4 emissions by providing detailed understanding of the variables controlling the emissions. |
| 26 | ZMESKALOVA, J.1, WILD, J.2 (1 Charles University, Prague, CZ , 2 Institute of Botany ASCR, CZ ) What is the relationship between microclimatic inversion in deep valleys and regeneration of the main tree species? The inversion of microclimate in deep sandstone valleys is one of interesting phenomena in Bohemian Switzerland. In the past natural forest communities of Dicrano-Pinion and Piceion excelsae have been replaced by spruce monocultures. This change is vegetation structure and species composition has been done in majority of the area (60%). Other problems are caused by introduction of allochthonous species e.g. Pinus strobus. Nowadays is the area of Bohemian Switzerland protected as a national park mainly because of sandstone geomorphology. The vegetation of about 20% area is hold in non-intervention regime (1st zones of NP), which allows natural vegetation regeneration. However, no study has in detail addressed the question how exactly climatic inversion documented in deep valleys influences natural regeneration processes on a small scale. Since 2009 we have realized long-term microclimatic measurements of moisture and temperature with 400 sensors and have collected phytosociological relevés in selected six valleys in 1st zones of NP. The final aim of our project is to create microclimatic-vegetation model of the valleys. The model will be extrapolated to a major part of the NP and will be used for predictions of rare species presence. In this part, we describe the relationship between climatic inversion and observed regeneration of natural spruce communities on the bottom of the valleys. Presented results rely on data collected in 2010 in three valleys. The main observed tree species are Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris, Betula pendula, and they are known to differ in their requirements on microclimate for successful regeneration. |
| 27 | GENTSCH, L.1, STURM, P.1, BARTHEL, M.1, HAMMERLE, A.1, KNOHL, A.2 (1 ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2 Georg-August University of Goettingen, Germany ) Continuous field-based chamber measurements of the isotopic 13C-discrimination of beech tree branches. Isotopic discrimination against 13CO2 during photosynthesis is an indicator of plant response to prevalent environmental conditions and is used to constrain the atmospheric mass balance of 13CO2 in global carbon models. It varies in response to factors that influence the demand/supply balance of CO2 in the leaf. Models reflecting such dependencies and carbon isotopic measurements of organic matter or air profiles are commonly used to obtain estimates of the 13C-discrimination. Direct measurements of 13C-discrimination under field conditions are however sparse, due to the technical deployment involved. Here we present a two month dataset with 13CO2 measurements obtained by combining a recently developed laser spectrometer (Aerodyne Research) with three custom-made steady-state through-flow branch bags. Branch bags were mounted on three beech trees in a deciduous forest in Switzerland from August till October 2010. Automated measurements were conducted every 45 minutes. Alongside normal gas-exchange measurements, the setup facilitates the continuous investigation of the isotopic 13C-discrimination during the day and of the delta13C signal of leaf respiration during the night. PAR, relative humidity, air and leaf temperature were recorded for each branch bag for a precise evaluation of plant response to environmental factors. A strong daily variation of the isotopic 13C-discrimination was observed, with less discrimination over midday & a stronger discrimination during dusk & dawn. In addition, we found noticeable shifts in 13C-discrimination over the course of the measurement period, likely to be due to shifts in environmental conditions. These shifts were also reflected in the delta13C signal of nocturnal leaf respiration. |
| 28 | WEI, L. LOVELOCK, C.E. LOCKINGTON, D.A. (National Centre for Grounderwater Research and Training, The University of Queensland, Australia) N increase via Casuarina glauca N2 fixation in a riparian wetland N limitation is common in marine environments due to less availability of soil N. N2 fixation can be a potential N complementary process. Casuarina glauca were found growing just above high tide line in some wetlands, such as Tinchi Tamba and Point Halloran, South East Queensland, Australia. This species has been shown to be a N2-fixating species. We assumed that C. glauca may play an important role for N inputs in riparian wetlands. To investigate if C. glauca can influence on the nitrogen status of neighbors, leaves of C. glauca and coexisting species, Avicennia marina, Aegiceras corniculatum, Melaleuca quinquenervia and Eucalyptus tereticornis were collected from four sites in the two wetlands. The values of ?15N decreased consistently when non-fixing species co-occurred with C. glauca with the exception of A. marina. A significant increase of leaf %N was observed in M. quinquenervia (from 26 to 31% tissue dry weight). The simultaneous shifts in ?15N and increase in %N indicate that the N derived from N2 fixation by C. glauca is likely to be shared by neighboring plants, and suggests that N2 fixation processes contribute to N inputs in riparian wetlands, potentially alleviating N limitation. |
| 29 | WACHOWIAK, W. SALMELA, M.J. CAVERS, S. (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, UK) Patterns of phenotypic and genetic variation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in a heterogeneous environment at the species margin In the Scottish Highlands, Scots pine is at the north-western extreme of its huge natural distribution. Here, it occupies patchily distributed populations growing in highly variable environments from the cold, relatively dry eastern Highlands to the mild, wet Atlantic Ocean coast. As these woodlands are the heavily fragmented remnants of a postglacially-established forest, they form a unique system for analysis of the effects of population expansion and range contraction on patterns of phenotypic and genetic variation in heterogeneous environments. We used progeny trial experiments and data from mitochondrial and nuclear genes to assess phenotypic and genetic variation among Scots pine populations across an environmental gradient in Scotland. Evidence for significant divergence in the timing of bud flush and bud set was found among pinewoods. Overall, populations from colder areas with shorter growing seasons have an earlier bud flush although a large proportion of the total variation was found among families within populations. No evidence of population structure was found at either mitochondrial or nuclear genes. These results indicate that despite severe historical woodland fragmentation, overall genetic diversity has been maintained and different populations have distinct phenotypes. This suggests the potential of Scots pine to produce a diverse array of adaptive responses to changing environments in the complex landscape of the Highlands despite the homogenising effects of likely extensive gene flow. |
| 30 | DALE, S. E.1, BARDGETT, R.D.1, TURNER, B.L.2 (1 Lancaster University, UK, 2 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama) Leaf litter decomposition along a precipitation gradient in a lowland neotropical forest Changes in precipitation regimes are a dominant feature of climatic change predictions in tropical forests in Central America, with likely consequences for organic matter decomposition and hence ecosystem carbon balance. Here, we investigated the relative importance of precipitation, changes in plant litter quality, and edaphic properties on rates of decomposition using a reciprocal leaf litter transplants along a precipitation gradient in Panama. Along the 40 km gradient, total annual rainfall increases from 1800 mm per year on the Pacific Coast to 3500 mm per year on the Atlantic Coast. Senesced leaves from ten plant species, including trees, understory shrubs and lianas, varying in litter chemistry and in their distribution along the gradient, were decomposed at 19 sites across the rainfall gradient. Selected sites also varied in soil nutrient status due to differences in parent material, and the microbial community composition of soils along the gradient was assessed using phospholipid fatty acid analysis. Mass loss of litter after one full 9-month wet season varied significantly across plant species and sites, with a significant interaction, while mean annual precipitation alone explained little of the variation in this measure. These results suggest that during the wet season in lowland neotropical forests, even in sites with relatively low rainfall, decomposition is limited by plant litter quality and soil nutrients rather than moisture availability. |
| 31 | ZUZANA MICHALOVA MARTIN WEISER (Charles University) Effects of competittive herbs on regenaration of spruce stands in High Tatras National Park, North Slovakia At present, large areas of boreal forests in middle european region are being damaged. The following die-up courses also changes in microclimate conditions and understory vegetation, which are both decisive factors in the process of natural regeneration of Norway spruce. Large windthrow occurred in the High Tatras National Park on 24th November 2004, which was followed by bark beetle outbreak. This led to establishment of unique site, where we were able to define important parameters for germination and survival of spruce seeds, which regenerate here mainly. Of great importance, as we hypothesize, is the role of competition between herbs and spruce seedlings, and our main point is to find out, what is the survival success in each type of herb cover. Therefore, we set up a system of plots in spatially nested hierarchies, where we recorded age and vitality of each spruce seedling and tagged them in order to observe their growth dynamics throughout several years. In order to estimate the effects of possibly confounding factors, we measured other parameters, like terrain exposure, thickness of humus layer and occurrence of decay wood. We are planning to measure soil wetness and solar irradiation, as they are both influenced by the vegetation. We hope that suchlike design would allow us to estimate the effects of competition and its scale dependence. Here we present our preliminary results. Our conclusions might be also interessting for forestry assesment, especially close-to-nature management. |
| 32 | VLEMINCKX, J.1, AMANI, C.2, HARDY, O. J.1 (1 Université libre de Bruxelles, 2 université de Bukavu) Factors determining the organization of tree diversity in the tropical forests of the congolese basin. Tropical forests are subject to current debate concerning the processes maintaining their incomparable biodiversity and those determining their spatial organization. Here we analyzed the factors determining the spatial patterns of the tree diversity in a tropical semi-deciduous forest of the Congolese basin. 15 floristic inventories were set up, 8 on sandy soil and 7 on clay soil : 15 x 1 ha for the individuals belonging to the stratum of dominant trees and 15 x 0,2 ha for those belonging to the stratum of dominated trees. We analyzed how alpha diversity, basal area, density of individuals and some edaphic properties differed between the two types of soils and varied within each type of soil. We also checked if edaphic determinism tends to cluster species that are phylogenetically close. Globally, we observed that edaphic conditions and stochastic processes (demographic drift and dispersal limitation) are both important factors explaining spatial distribution of species. Changes in species composition (or beta-diversity) appeared to be linked both to edaphic preferences and to spatial distance (limited dispersal). The phylogenetic structure analysis identified clades that are more abundant on sandy soil than on clay soil in the dominant stratum, which may reflect phylogenetically conserved adaptations to the edaphic conditions. |
| 33 | ALICE HUGHES1, CHUTAMUS SATASOOK2, PIPAT SOISOOK2, PAUL J J 3, SARA BUMRUNGSRI2, GARETH JONES1 (1 University of Bristol, 2 Prince of Songkla University, 3 Harrison Institute) Southeast Asian bat biodiversity, and an analysis of present and potential future threats This study determines maximum bat diversity areas and discusses appropriate impact mitigation under future scenarios. We investigate relationships between species richness and both forest fragment size, and human population density. The effectiveness of National Parks in protecting species richness is examined, and areas of high diversity in relation to deforestation explored. The study predicts the effects of future climate and vegetation change scenarios on diversity and species range size for 171 species. Each species spatial locations were paired with ecogeographic variables, and their habitat suitability determined using Maxent. Future projections of species distributions under four IPPC scenarios (decreasing severity from A2,AB,B1,B2) between 2000-2100 were made. Diversity correlates positively with forest fragment size and negatively with human population density. Under 45% of any diversity class fell within National Parks, and 28.9% of parks were deforested between 1993-2006. High rates of deforestation were found surrounding areas of highest diversity. We predict decreases in diversity in all highly diverse areas at 2050 and 2080, using bioclimatic scenarios (A2,B1). Decreased species richness was predicted under all four scenarios at 2100 (A2,AB,B1,B2). At 2050 and 2080 all scenarios predicted that 3% and 9% species respectively would lose all current habitat, in 2100 5-10% of species are projected to lose this. In analysis of overall species range 2-6% of species had no suitable habitat in 2050, and 2080, this rises to 4 to 8% in 2100. When considering potential vegetation and climate changes, only 1% of species show no range extent changes. Even species predicted to expand ranges may be unable to reach new areas due to forest fragmentation. Unless landscape connectivity increases then most species may decrease in range, therefore increasing their extinction probability. |
| 34 | VERA HOLLAND1, WOLFGANG BRüGGEMANN2 (1 BiK-F, 2 Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main) Can Mediterranean oaks counteract deforestation caused by climate change in Central Europe? In the course of climate change, new forestry trees will be necessary for very dry and warm stands in Central Europe. In the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, we investigate Mediterranean winter-green oak taxa for their summer drought- and winter frost-hardiness. Here we report on the winter performance of the photosynthetic apparatus of the evergreen taxa Quercus suber L. and Quercus x hispanica Lam.. Experiments were carried out under extraordinary harsh winter conditions in the Rhine-Main plain in 2008/09. We analyzed the function of Photosystem II by pulse-modulated (PAM) fluorescence analyses and compared the derived physiological parameters describing the activity of the photosynthetic apparatus with the accumulation of protective pigments (Zea- and Antheraxanthin), which allow PS II to dissipate excessive light energy as heat. Both taxa revealed “chronic photoinhibition” during winter, but recovered well in the course of April. |