Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem — a Synthesis

Beck, Erwin; Kottke, Ingrid; Bendix, Jörg; Makeschin, Franz; Mosandl, R.

doi:10.1007/978-3-540-73526-7_43

Cited by 80 publications

(107 citation statements)

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“…It is becoming apparent that managing forests for maximum net primary productivity requires a high diversity of plants (Gamfeldt et al., 2013). ECM‐dominated forests are occasionally species poor to the extent that re‐establishing non‐ECM plants can be challenging (Weber, Günter, Aguirre, Stimm, & Mosandl, 2008). A possible cause could be the lack of AM propagules (e.g., Fisher & Fulé, 2004) that could support growth of a range of herbaceous understory plants (e.g., van der Heijden, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitation between woody and herbaceous plants that associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in temperate European forests

Veresoglou

Wulf

Rillig

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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In late‐successional environments, low in available nutrient such as the forest understory, herbaceous plant individuals depend strongly on their mycorrhizal associates for survival. We tested whether in temperate European forests arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) woody plants might facilitate the establishment of AM herbaceous plants in agreement with the mycorrhizal mediation hypothesis. We used a dataset spanning over 400 vegetation plots in the Weser‐Elbe region (northwest Germany). Mycorrhizal status information was obtained from published resources, and Ellenberg indicator values were used to infer environmental data. We carried out tests for both relative richness and relative abundance of herbaceous plants. We found that the subset of herbaceous individuals that associated with AM profited when there was a high cover of AM woody plants. These relationships were retained when we accounted for environmental filtering effects using path analysis. Our findings build on the existing literature highlighting the prominent role of mycorrhiza as a coexistence mechanism in plant communities. From a nature conservation point of view, it may be possible to promote functional diversity in the forest understory through introducing AM woody trees in stands when absent.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitation between woody and herbaceous plants that associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in temperate European forests

Veresoglou

Wulf

Rillig

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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“…High fire frequencies strongly reduce the occurrence of Weinmannia . As burning for forest clearance or new farming areas is still a common method used by settlers and has been so for centuries (Beck et al 2008c), Weinmannia may have been seriously affected by these fires during the last decades. This supports the assumption that fires remained frequent in the zone LC-IV.…”

Section: Anthropogenic Impact and Further Vegetation Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, palaeoecological records in mountain forests of the Andean region are thinly scattered not least because of the steep slopes and scarcity of natural archives (Bush et al 2007). The first palynological studies in the eastern Ecuadorian Andes focusing on the Podocarpus National Park (PNP) and its megadiverse mountain ecosystems have been carried out recently (Beck et al 2008a). Several palaeoecological analyses of sediment cores at high elevations up to 3,300 m a.s.l.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution studies on vegetation succession, hydrological variations, anthropogenic impact and genesis of a subrecent lake in southern Ecuador

Brunschön

Haberzettl

Behling

2010

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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A lake sediment record from Laguna Campana at 2,488 m a.s.l. in the eastern Ecuadorian Andes allows the reconstruction of local environmental conditions over the past *500 years. A high-resolution multi-proxy approach using pollen, spore, charcoal and XRF analyses provides information about lake genesis, hydrological variations and the development of the surrounding vegetation. Results suggest that Laguna Campana originated from a landslide, which are naturally common and anthropogenically promoted in the study area. Human activities, e.g. deforestation or slash and burn cultivation, impacted the local vegetation development and biodiversity during the recorded period. After a first dense layer of pioneer grasses developed on open soil around the small lake, successional stages of secondary upper mountain rainforest forest mainly composed of Alnus and Weinmannia were observed. The record shows no signs of dense forest regeneration but rather open vegetation with trees and a grassy understory. Especially since ca. A.D. 1980, the proportion of forest in the area was reduced, most probably by fire use for pastures, cultivation and wood extraction. Hydrological variability was derived from differences in minerogenic input and variations in Botryococcus braunii and Sphagnum occurrence. After wettest conditions at the study site, probably triggering the landslide, humid conditions persisted until a time of drier conditions between A.D. 1900 and 1960. A subsequent return to wetter conditions was observed over the last decades. XRF analyses suggest an increase in deposition of atmospherically derived lead since the formation of the lake.

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“…To study the highly diverse mountain ecosystems in south-eastern Ecuador, extended research has been carried out within the framework of the ''Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft'' (DFG) research group ''Tropical Mountain Ecosystems'' focusing on Podocarpus National Park (Beck et al 2008a). Currently (2007Currently ( -2010 more than 25 different research groups are working in the Estacion Cientifica San Francisco (ECSF) research area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Holocene environmental change and human impact inferred from three soil monoliths and the Laguna Zurita multi-proxi record in the southeastern Ecuadorian Andes

Niemann

Behling

2009

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem — a Synthesis

Cited by 80 publications

References 0 publications

Facilitation between woody and herbaceous plants that associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in temperate European forests

Facilitation between woody and herbaceous plants that associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in temperate European forests

High-resolution studies on vegetation succession, hydrological variations, anthropogenic impact and genesis of a subrecent lake in southern Ecuador

Late Holocene environmental change and human impact inferred from three soil monoliths and the Laguna Zurita multi-proxi record in the southeastern Ecuadorian Andes

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