Impacts of wind disturbance on fragmented tropical forests: A review and synthesis

Laurance, William F.; Curran, Timothy J.

doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.2008.01895.x

Cited by 185 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 110 publications

(147 reference statements)

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“…S9), which in turn promotes air movement between open fields and neighboring forests. Consequently, fuels along forest edges are expected to become drier, leading to increased fire intensity (34). Second, deforestation fragments the landscape, creating a greater perimeter of forest edges (35).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrupt increases in Amazonian tree mortality due to drought–fire interactions

Brando

Balch

Nepstad

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

667

710

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Interactions between climate and land-use change may drive widespread degradation of Amazonian forests. High-intensity fires associated with extreme weather events could accelerate this degradation by abruptly increasing tree mortality, but this process remains poorly understood. Here we present, to our knowledge, the first field-based evidence of a tipping point in Amazon forests due to altered fire regimes. Based on results of a large-scale, longterm experiment with annual and triennial burn regimes (B1yr and B3yr, respectively) in the Amazon, we found abrupt increases in fire-induced tree mortality (226 and 462%) during a severe drought event, when fuel loads and air temperatures were substantially higher and relative humidity was lower than long-term averages. This threshold mortality response had a cascading effect, causing sharp declines in canopy cover (23 and 31%) and aboveground live biomass (12 and 30%) and favoring widespread invasion by flammable grasses across the forest edge area (80 and 63%), where fires were most intense (e.g., 220 and 820 kW·m −1 ). During the droughts of 2007 and 2010, regional forest fires burned 12 and 5% of southeastern Amazon forests, respectively, compared with <1% in nondrought years. These results show that a few extreme drought events, coupled with forest fragmentation and anthropogenic ignition sources, are already causing widespread fire-induced tree mortality and forest degradation across southeastern Amazon forests. Future projections of vegetation responses to climate change across drier portions of the Amazon require more than simulation of global climate forcing alone and must also include interactions of extreme weather events, fire, and land-use change.forest dieback | fireline intensity | stable states | MODIS | fire mapping

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrupt increases in Amazonian tree mortality due to drought–fire interactions

Brando

Balch

Nepstad

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

667

710

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In agricultural and urban areas, acid rain, pesticides and herbicides, hydrological changes, livestock grazing, and pressure from invading species can severely degrade fragments (Myers 1988, Apensperg-Traun et al 1996, Hobbs and Huenneke 1992. In coming de cades, anthropogenic climate change may emerge as an increasingly important threat to fragmented ecosystems, especially if droughts, storms, and other rare weather events increase in frequency or severity (Timmerman et al 1999, Laurance andCurran 2008). Thus, forest fragments and their biota are sometimes subjected to a withering array of environmental pressures that may be episodic or chronic in nature.…”

Section: Environmental Synergismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Island Biogeography Theory

Laurance¹

2009

The Theory of Island Biogeography Revisited

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has also had an enormous impact on conservation biology. The theory has inspired much thinking about the importance of reserve size and connectivity in the maintenance of species diversity, and stimulated an avalanche of research on fragmented ecosystems. But, like all general models, IBT is a caricature of reality, capturing just a few important elements of a system while ignoring many others. Does it provide a useful model for understanding contemporary habitat fragmentation?Here I critically evaluate the conceptual utility and limitations of IBT for the study of fragmented ecosystems. I briefl y encapsulate the historical background, considering how IBT has helped to shape our thinking about habitat fragmentation over the past forty years. I then describe how fragmentation research has transcended the theory, using fi ndings from tropical and other ecosystems.The Impact of IBT Prior to MacArthur and Wilson's (1967) seminal book, habitat fragmentation was not high on the radar screen of most ecologists, land managers, and politicians. That all changed with IBT (Powledge 2003). The theory has helped to revolutionize the thinking of mainstream ecologists about habitat fragmentation and stimulated literally thousands of studies of fragmented and insular ecosystems (fi gure 8.1).Before summarizing some key conceptual advances linked to IBT, I have two caveats. First, in discussing the impact of IBT on fragmentation research, it can be diffi cult to distinguish between the contributions of Go here for book information

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“…These studies include studies of the effects of precipitation (e.g., Møller 2011), wind (e.g., Weimerskirch et al 2012) and storms (e.g., Michener et al 1997, Laurance andCurran 2008). A few studies has also started to investigate the effects of extreme weather conditions rather than mean conditions on animals (e.g., Jiguet et al 2003, Møller 2011, Moreno and Møller 2011, Dolenec et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term trends in wind speed, insect abundance and ecology of an insectivorous bird

Møller

2013

Ecosphere

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Citation: Møller, A. P. 2013. Long-term trends in wind speed, insect abundance and ecology of an insectivorous bird.Ecosphere 4(1):6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES12-00310.1Abstract. Recent climate change has affected spatial and temporal patterns of temperature and precipitation, but also wind speed. Wind affects the abundance and the distribution of flying insects and can therefore influence the abundance of food for insectivores including insectivorous birds. I tested for temporal trends in wind speed, assessed the effect of wind speed on the abundance of flying insects, and tested for effects of wind speed on reproduction and adult survival rate, using long-term data on the barn swallow Hirundo rustica from 1971-2011. Wind speed varied largely independently among the months April-August, with a decreasing trend during 1971-2011 for July only. The abundance of flying insects decreased strongly with increasing wind speed during summer. Decreasing wind speed during July coincided with the pre-laying period of the second brood of the barn swallow, and years with stronger wind in July had lower abundance of food before laying during 1997-2011 and lower breeding success. Adult barn swallows had lower body mass in years with windy summers, and adult annual survival rate to the next year decreased both when wind speed increased and when body mass was reduced. These findings suggest that wind plays an important role in the ecology of insectivorous birds as shown by relationships with reproductive success and survival.

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Impacts of wind disturbance on fragmented tropical forests: A review and synthesis

Cited by 185 publications

References 110 publications

Abrupt increases in Amazonian tree mortality due to drought–fire interactions

Abrupt increases in Amazonian tree mortality due to drought–fire interactions

Beyond Island Biogeography Theory

Long‐term trends in wind speed, insect abundance and ecology of an insectivorous bird

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