Dendroecology in the tropics: a review

Abstract

Over the last decade the field of tropical dendroecology has developed rapidly and major achievements have been made. We reviewed the advances in three main themes within the field. First, long chronologies for tropical tree species were constructed which allowed climate reconstructions, revealed sources of climatic variation and clarified climate-growth relations. Other studies combined tree-ring data and stable isotope ( 13 C and 18 O) measurements to evaluate the response of tropical trees to climatic variation and changes. A second set of studies assessed long-term growth patterns of individual trees throughout their life. These studies enhanced the understanding of growth trajectories to the canopy, quantified autocorrelated tree growth and yielded new estimates of tree ages. Such studies were also used to reconstruct the disturbance history of tropical forests. The last set of studies applied tree-ring data to growth models. Tree-ring data can replace diameter measurements from research plots, provide additional information to construct population models, improve timber yield models and validate model output. Based on our review, we propose two main directions for future research.(1) An evaluation of the causes and consequences of growth variation within and among trees and their relation to environmental variation. Studies evaluating this directly contribute to improved understanding of tropical tree ecology. (2) The simultaneous measurement of widths and stable isotope fractions in tree rings offers the potential to study responses of trees to climatic change. Given the major role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle, knowing these responses is of high priority.

Ages and long-term growth patterns of four threatened Vietnamese tree species

“…These maximum ages are within the range of published ages based on ring counts for (sub)tropical tree species (Martinez-Ramos and Alvarez-Buylla 1998, Rozendaal et al 2010). …”

DENDROCRONOLOGIA DE ÁRVORES DE Schizolobium parahyba(Vell.) S. F. Blake DE OCORRÊNCIA NA REBIO DE TINGUÁ-RJ

“…Portanto, durante muito tempo não se acreditava na existência de anéis anuais de crescimento em espécies das regiões tropicais. Esse pressuposto foi pensado em decorrência da falta de sazonalidade nos trópicos ZUIDEMA, 2011). No entanto, já em 1927 foi descrita a presença de anéis de crescimento anuais em árvores tropicais (COSTER, 1927).…”

“…O crescimento das espécies florestais pode ser influenciado pela precipitação de diferentes maneiras. Ocorrem correlações com a precipitação total anual, no período das chuvas, na estação seca, no período de transição e no ano prévio ZUIDEMA, 2011). Alguns estudos evidenciam correlação negativa entre crescimento e precipitação (BUCKLEY et al, 2007;SOLIZ-GAMBOA et al, 2010), o que demonstra diferentes estratégias de crescimento em relação a uma mesma variável climática.…”

Occurrence and anatomical features of growth rings in tropical rainforest trees in Peninsular Malaysia: a preliminary study

“…Rozendaal and Zuidema (2011) and Pumijumnong (2013) reviewed the potential of performing tree-ring chronology in the tropics. The development of tree-ring chronologies of teak (Tectona grandis) in India (e.g., Bhattacharyya et al 1992;Borgaonkar et al 2007), Java (e.g., D＇Arrigo et al 1994), Thailand (e.g., Pumijumnong et al 1995), and Myanmar (e.g., Pumijumnong et al 2001) has stimulated interest in annual ring formation in other tropical trees.…”