Old paradigms grow up: tree species composition and forest productivity across Amazonia
Timothy
R.
Baker, Max Planck Institut for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany and Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK, t.baker@geog.leeds.ac.uk
(Presenting)
Oliver
L.
Phillips, Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK, o.phillips@geog.leeds.ac.uk
Yadvinder
Singh
Malhi, University of Oxford, UK, ymalhi@ed.ac.uk
Samuel
Soares
Almeida, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil, samuel@museu-goeldi.br
Luzmilla
Arroyo, Museo Nacional Noel Kempf Mercado, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolívia, luzmillaarroyo@hotmail.com
Antony
Di Fiore, Department of Anthropology, New York University, USA, anthony.difiore@nyu.edu
Terry
Erwin, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA, Erwin.Terry@nmnh.si.edu
Niro
Higuchi, Institito National de Pesquisas Amazônicas, Manaus, Brazil,, niro@inpa.gov.br
Timothy
Killeen, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, Washington DC, USA, t.killeen@conservation.org
Susan
Laurance, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama,, laurances@tivoli.si.edu
William
F.
Laurance, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama,, laurancew@tivoli.si.edu
Abel
Monteagudo, Herbario Vargas, Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Cusco, Peru, tamarainfor@latinmail.com
David
Neill, Missouri Botanical Garden, co. Herbario Nacional del Ecuador, Quito Ecuador, neill@ecnet.ec
Percy
Núñez Vargas, Herbario Vargas, Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Cusco, Peru,, nunez1ca@yahoo.ca
Nigel
Pitman, Center for Tropical Conservation, Duke University, Durham, USA,, ncp@duke.edu
José
Natalino Macedo
Silva, EMBRAPA Amazonia Oriental, Belém, Brazil,, natalino@cpatu.embrapa.br
Jonathan
James
Lloyd, Max Planck Institut for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany, jon.lloyd@bgc-jena.mpg.de
Ecological understanding of variation in the growth rates of different tree species in tropical forests is largely based on studies of seedlings and variation in the rate of diameter increment amongst adult trees. These studies indicate that growth rates are related to species light demand and maximum size. However, it is not known whether these paradigms apply to the biomass increment of adult trees, or whether variation in the composition of Amazonian forests may therefore be important for understanding large-scale variation in forest productivity.
Using long-term, field data from a network of forest plots, we show that: (1) rates of above-ground biomass increment are highest for the most light demanding, compared to more shade tolerant species, and species maximum size is positively correlated with the rates of relative biomass increment, (2) light demanding species are more abundant in western Amazon forests, whereas species with greater maximum heights are more common in central and eastern Amazon forests, and, (3) as a result of these patterns, variation in species life history strategy may explain one third of the basin-wide variation in forest productivity.
These results illustrate the importance of species composition, as well as environmental factors, in understanding large-scale spatial variation in carbon cycling in Amazonian forests.
Submetido por Tim Baker em 18-MAR-2004
Tema Científico do LBA: CD (Armazenamento e Trocas de Carbono)