Effects of ENSO and Temporal Rainfall Variation on the Dynamics of Successional Communities in Old-Field Succession of a Tropical Dry Forest

Maza-Villalobos, Susana; Poorter, Lourens; Martı́nez-Ramos, Miguel

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0082040

Cited by 69 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…The spatial signatures of these processes, however, have been distorted by the effects of natural and human-induced disturbances. All these processes have given rise to much higher rates of mortality and recruitment than those recorded over the first few years of succession in abandoned fields located in areas of dry (Maza-Villalobos et al, 2013) and wet (van Breugel et al, 2007) tropical climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in spatial point patterns of pioneer woody plants across a large tropical landslide

2014

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We assessed whether the relative importance of positive and negative interactions in early successional communities varied across a large landslide on Casita Volcano (Nicaragua). We tested several hypotheses concerning the signatures of these processes in the spatial patterns of woody pioneer plants, as well as those of mortality and recruitment events, in several zones of the landslide differing in substrate stability and fertility, over a period of two years (2001 and 2002). We identified all woody individuals with a diameter >1 cm and mapped them in 28 plots measuring 10 x 10-m. On these maps, we performed a spatial point pattern analysis using univariate and bivariate pair-correlation functions; g (r) and gi2 (r), and pairwise differences of univariate and bivariate functions. Spatial signatures of positive and negative interactions among woody plants were more prevalent in the most and least stressful zones of the landslide, respectively. Natural and human-induced disturbances such as the occurrence of fire, removal of newly colonizing plants through erosion and clearcutting of pioneer trees were also identified as potentially important pattern-creating processes. These results are in agreement with the stress-gradient hypothesis, which states that the relative importance of facilitation and competition varies inversely across gradients of abiotic stress. Our findings also indicate that the assembly of early successional plant communities in large heterogeneous landslides might be driven by a much larger array of processes than previously thought.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in spatial point patterns of pioneer woody plants across a large tropical landslide

2014

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“…Subsequent dry years cause drastic reductions in population size. (Goldberg & Turner, 1986;Chesson et al, 2004;Villalobos et al, 2013;García-Cháves et al, 2014). In Northeastern Brazilian tropical dry forest areas, studies on the dynamics of caatinga herbaceous plants showed that populations may be dramatically reduced in their density, and may even disappear, from the habitats in drier years Lima et al, 2007;Santos et al, 2007;Silva et al, 2008;Santos et al, 2013b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, there may be a reduction in seeds production during that season (Salo, 2004;Silva et al, 2008;Villalobos, Poorter, & Martínez-Ramos, 2013), which may compromise the size of populations in the subsequent year. An example of such reduction is observed in an annual grass, Bromus madritensis subsp.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effect of temporal variation in precipitation on the demography of four herbaceous populations in a tropical dry forest area in Northeastern Brazil

Silva

Andrade

Santos

et al. 2015

RBT

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Abstract:In tropical dry forests, the dynamics of herbaceous populations is strongly influenced by seasonal and annual variation in total rainfall. Moreover, the present and past events of climatic anomalies (e.g. severe drought years and erratic rain before the growth season) may cause drastic reductions in population size, leading to the temporal disappearance of some species. Therefore, this three-year study aimed to assess the dynamics of Delilia biflora (Asteraceae), Commelina obliqua (Commelinaceae), Phaseolus peduncularis (Fabaceae) and Euphorbia heterophylla (Euphorbiaceae). The study was conducted in an area of tropical dry forest known as Caatinga, situated in the experimental station of the Pernambuco Agronomic Institute (IPA), in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil. The Caatinga has a semiarid climate with strong seasonal and annual variation in total precipitation. During this study, there was a climatic anomaly event called the 2006 drought, and also erratic rains in the dry season. The birth, death and survival of plants were evaluated monthly using 105 plots (1 × 1 m). Differences in density between years and seasons were evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The explanatory power of present and past precipitation on density was evaluated using the General Linear Model. In this study, we present the first record of Euphorbia heterophylla in the studied area. The studied populations were larger during the rainy seasons and in wet years, and were drastically reduced in the driest year and dry seasons. Commelina obliqua was the least sensitive to variation in total rainfall. Regarding the variation in density, all four species were present during all three years. Birth rates were higher during the rainy season, and death rates were higher in the dry season. Sporadic rain in the dry season caused pronounced seedling recruitment followed by death, and had a strong impact on the dynamics of D. biflora, E. heterophylla and P. peduncularis. The precipitation of the current year explained between 3 % -18 % of the inter-annual density variation, and the explanatory power of the previous year precipitation on the density of populations ranged from 32 % to 67 %. Therefore, climatic events of the past also have a significant consequence over the four populations. In conclusion, drastic reduction in total precipitation between years may be considered as a predictive parameter for herbaceous plants population size (in the present and future time) in a Northeastern Brazilian tropical dry forest area. Rev. Biol. Trop. 63 (4): 903-914. Epub 2015 December 01.

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“…Second, large-scale studies of secondary forests indicate a strong effect of climate on the recovery rates of carbon and biodiversity (Anderson-Teixeira et al 2013, Poorter et al 2016, Rozendaal et al 2019. Third, longitudinal studies in secondary forests have revealed how droughts modulate recovery speed, increase mortality, and reduce recruitment and growth (Chazdon et al 2005, Maza-Villalobos et al 2013, Mart ınez-Ramos et al 2018, due to the negative effects on the water balance and photosynthetic rates of trees, especially in the earlier stages of succession (Bretfeld et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the growth and climate sensitivity of secondary forests in highly deforested Amazonian landscapes

Elias

Ferreira

Lennox

et al. 2020

Ecology

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Tropical forests hold 30% of Earth’s terrestrial carbon and at least 60% of its terrestrial biodiversity, but forest loss and degradation are jeopardizing these ecosystems. Although the regrowth of secondary forests has the potential to offset some of the losses of carbon and biodiversity, it remains unclear if secondary regeneration will be affected by climate changes such as higher temperatures and more frequent extreme droughts. We used a data set of 10 repeated forest inventories spanning two decades (1999–2017) to investigate carbon and tree species recovery and how climate and landscape context influence carbon dynamics in an older secondary forest located in one of the oldest post‐Columbian agricultural frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon. Carbon accumulation averaged 1.08 Mg·ha−1·yr−1, and species richness was effectively constant over the studied period. Moreover, we provide evidence that secondary forests are vulnerable to drought stress: Carbon balance and growth rates were lower in drier periods. This contrasts with drought responses in primary forests, where changes in carbon dynamics are driven by increased stem mortality. These results highlight an important climate change–vegetation feedback, whereby the increasing dry‐season lengths being observed across parts of Amazonia may reduce the effectiveness of secondary forests in sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change. In addition, the current rate of forest regrowth in this region was low compared with previous pan‐tropical and Amazonian assessments—our secondary forests reached just 41.1% of the average carbon and 56% of the tree diversity in the nearest primary forests—suggesting that these areas are unlikely to return to their original levels on politically meaningful time scales.

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Effects of ENSO and Temporal Rainfall Variation on the Dynamics of Successional Communities in Old-Field Succession of a Tropical Dry Forest

Cited by 69 publications

References 75 publications

Changes in spatial point patterns of pioneer woody plants across a large tropical landslide

Changes in spatial point patterns of pioneer woody plants across a large tropical landslide

Effect of temporal variation in precipitation on the demography of four herbaceous populations in a tropical dry forest area in Northeastern Brazil

Assessing the growth and climate sensitivity of secondary forests in highly deforested Amazonian landscapes

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