Climate shapes the novel plant communities that form after deforestation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Brandeis, Thomas J.; Helmer, Eileen H.; Marcano‐Vega, Humfredo; Lugo, Ariel E.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.07.030

Cited by 34 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…To display the climatic conditions of dry forest assemblages, we used a moisture availability index applied to forests throughout Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands by Brandeis et al in their study of forest species assemblages in those islands [14]. The index (C/mm) is the quotient of air temperature in degrees centigrade (C) and rainfall in millimeters (mm).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was based on 30-year average annual rainfall and air temperature for each of the 22 species assemblages (used here interchangeably with "forest") in their analysis. Brandeis et al [14] analyzed the forest communities of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands using the results of island-wide forest inventories. From their Tables 8 and 9 [14], we selected nine novel and eight native dry forest species assemblages for comparisons of forest structure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brandeis et al [14] analyzed the forest communities of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands using the results of island-wide forest inventories. From their Tables 8 and 9 [14], we selected nine novel and eight native dry forest species assemblages for comparisons of forest structure. These assemblages were all successional and of similar age (<60 years), the main difference being their species composition.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the analysis of element chemistry and stoichiometry of novel and native dry forests, we build on the study of Erickson et al [13] who analyzed fallen leaf litter mass and chemistry (11 elements) in 140 plots located across Puerto Rico within 14 of the species assemblages described by Brandeis et al [14]. Using the same data set as in Erickson et al [13], we selected the five driest forest communities for a total of 41 plots.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novelty and Its Ecological Implications to Dry Forest Functioning and Conservation

Lugo

Erickson

2017

Forests

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Tropical and subtropical dry forest life zones support forests with lower stature and species richness than do tropical and subtropical life zones with greater water availability. The number of naturalized species that can thrive and mix with native species to form novel forests in dry forest conditions in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands is lower than in other insular life zones. These novel dry forests are young (<60 years) with low structural development, high species dominance, and variable species density. Species density is low during initial establishment and increases with age. At the 1-ha scale, novel forests can have greater species density than mature native forests. Species groups, such as nitrogen-fixing species, and other naturalized species that dominate novel dry forests, have a disproportional influence on forest element stoichiometry. Novel dry forests, compared to the mean of all forest species assemblages island-wide, tend to have fallen leaf litter with lower than average manganese and sodium concentrations and lower than average C/N and C/P ratios. After accounting for significant differences in stand age, geology, and or precipitation, novel dry forests compared to native dry forests have higher C anomalies, lower Ca and Na anomalies, and lower C/N ratio anomalies. Taken together, these characteristics may influence litter decomposition rates and the species composition, diversity, and food web dynamics in litter and soil. Novel dry forests also contribute to the conservation of native plant species on highly degraded lands.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novelty and Its Ecological Implications to Dry Forest Functioning and Conservation

Lugo

Erickson

2017

Forests

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“…We also evaluated whether the phenology indices are related to the relative importance of deciduous species. PRVI is an ideal setting to test this hypothesis since its forests range from dry to wet, and rainfall and temperature seasonality affect forest species composition, including the relative importance of deciduous species [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictions of Tropical Forest Biomass and Biomass Growth Based on Stand Height or Canopy Area Are Improved by Landsat-Scale Phenology across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Remotely-sensed estimates of forest biomass are usually based on various measurements of canopy height, area, volume or texture, as derived from LiDAR, radar or fine spatial resolution imagery. These measurements are then calibrated to estimates of stand biomass that are primarily based on tree stem diameters. Although humid tropical forest seasonality can have low amplitudes compared with temperate regions, seasonal variations in growth-related factors like temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and day length affect both tropical forest deciduousness and tree height-diameter relationships. Consequently, seasonal patterns in spectral measures of canopy greenness derived from satellite imagery should be related to tree height-diameter relationships and hence to estimates of forest biomass or biomass growth that are based on stand height or canopy area. In this study, we tested whether satellite image-based measures of tropical forest phenology, as estimated by indices of seasonal patterns in canopy greenness constructed from Landsat satellite images, can explain the variability in forest deciduousness, forest biomass and net biomass growth after already accounting for stand height or canopy area. Models of forest biomass that added phenology variables to structural variables similar to those that can be estimated by LiDAR or very high-spatial resolution imagery, like canopy height and crown area, explained up to 12% more variation in biomass. Adding phenology to structural variables explained up to 25% more variation in Net Biomass Growth (NBG). In all of the models, phenology contributed more as interaction terms than as single-effect terms. In addition, models run on only fully-forested plots performed better than models that included partially-forested plots. For forest NBG, the models produced better results when only those plots with a positive growth, from Inventory Cycle 1 to Inventory Cycle 2, were analyzed, as compared to models that included all plots.

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Case Study: Geographic Distribution and Level of Novelty of Puerto Rican Forests

et al. 2013

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Climate shapes the novel plant communities that form after deforestation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Cited by 34 publications

References 36 publications

Novelty and Its Ecological Implications to Dry Forest Functioning and Conservation

Novelty and Its Ecological Implications to Dry Forest Functioning and Conservation

Predictions of Tropical Forest Biomass and Biomass Growth Based on Stand Height or Canopy Area Are Improved by Landsat-Scale Phenology across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Case Study: Geographic Distribution and Level of Novelty of Puerto Rican Forests

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