Sensitivity of Bolivian seasonally-dry tropical forest to precipitation and temperature changes over glacial–interglacial timescales

Whitney, Bronwen S.; Mayle, Francis E.; Burn, Michael J.; Guillen, René; Chavez, Ezequiel; Pennington, R. Toby

doi:10.1007/s00334-013-0395-1

Cited by 17 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…This lake has yielded long-term palaeoclimate records, inferred from reconstructed lake-level changes [19][20][21] and pollen-based vegetation reconstructions [22,23]. These records indicate that eastern Chiquitanía and the Pantanal have rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org Phil.…”

Section: Study Site and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…These unique and isolated SDTFs of the inter-Andean valleys have experienced an evolutionary history separate to that of lowland SDTFs, having been separated for ca 10 Myr [52]. Andean SDTFs may very probably show a sensitivity to fire that is not demonstrated by the lower-diversity Chiquitano forest biome, which have shown resilience and adaptability in occupying new regions through rapid post-glacial migration [23,53]. Regardless of whether dry forests of inter-Andean valleys would be able to maintain a closed-canopy structure in the event of high fire activity, they contain some of the highest concentrations of endemics in the world [54], and the negative impact of fires on plant richness could have a devastating effect on this biodiversity hotspot.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We tested the overall significance of the fire fraction (controlled for variation in moisture) and the moisture fraction (controlled for variation in fire) by applying a permutation test (999 permutations) for redundancy analysis. All proxy datasets used for the variation partitioning analyses were pre-smoothed to have the same temporal resolution, and comprise (i) macroscopic charcoal influx data (this paper), (ii) algal community change, interpreted to be controlled by precipitation-driven lake level change (first axis of principal components analysis in reference [19]), and (iii) relative pollen per cent abundance data, which have been assigned to categories reflecting each of the three main vegetation community categories around LLG [22,23] (table 1). Even though the temporal resolution applied here makes it challenging to address the role of fire and flooding on short-term ecological processes driving community turnover, recent studies have shown woody vegetation is shaped by regularly occurring floods and fires [9,29].…”

Section: Study Site and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fire, climate and vegetation linkages in the Bolivian Chiquitano seasonally dry tropical forest

Power

Whitney

Mayle

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 24 to a discussion meeting issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'. South American seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) are critically endangered, with only a small proportion of their original distribution remaining. This paper presents a 12 000 year reconstruction of climate change, fire and vegetation dynamics in the Bolivian Chiquitano SDTF, based upon pollen and charcoal analysis, to examine the resilience of this ecosystem to drought and fire. Our analysis demonstrates a complex relationship between climate, fire and floristic composition over multi-millennial time scales, and reveals that moisture variability is the dominant control upon community turnover in this ecosystem. Maximum drought during the Early Holocene, consistent with regional drought reconstructions, correlates with a period of significant fire activity between 8000 and 7000 cal yr BP which resulted in a decrease in SDTF diversity. As fire activity declined but severe regional droughts persisted through the Middle Holocene, SDTFs, including Anadenanthera and Astronium, became firmly established in the Bolivian lowlands. The trend of decreasing fire activity during the last two millennia promotes the idea among forest ecologists that SDTFs are threatened by fire. Our analysis shows that the Chiquitano seasonally dry biome has been more resilient to Holocene changes in climate and fire regime than previously assumed, but raises questions over whether this resilience will continue in the future under increased temperatures and drought coupled with a higher frequency anthropogenic fire regime.This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.

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Section: Study Site and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Site and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fire, climate and vegetation linkages in the Bolivian Chiquitano seasonally dry tropical forest

Power

Whitney

Mayle

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Palaeoecological studies from localities across lowland tropical South America support a decrease in temperature during the LGM, indicated by the expansion of cold‐adapted taxa, which are currently either relictual elements in Amazonia and the Central Brazilian Highlands, such as Podocarpus, Ilex, Myrsine and Hedyosmum (Colinvaux et al , Cardenas et al ), or have vanished completely, like Araucaria (Ledru ). On the other hand, during the LGM there was a drastic retraction in the occurrence of the tropical palm Mauritia , which has been considered as an indicator of higher temperatures (Barberi et al ), as well as the disappearance of tree species characteristic of seasonally dry tropical forest in eastern Bolivia (Whitney et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Quaternary climatic fluctuations on the distribution of Neotropical savanna tree species

et al. 2016

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In order to develop niche models for tree species characteristic of the cerrado vegetation (woody savannas) of central South America, and to hindcast their distributions during the Last Glacial Maximum and Last Inter‐Glacial, we compiled a dataset of tree species checklists for typical cerrado vegetation (n = 282) and other geographically co‐occurring vegetation types, e.g. seasonally dry tropical forest (n = 355). We then performed an indicator species analysis to select ten species that best characterize typical cerrado vegetation and developed niche models for them using the Maxent algorithm. We used these models to assess the probability of occurrence of each species across South America at the following time slices: Current (0 ka pre‐industrial), Holocene (6 ka BP), Last Glacial Maximum (LGM – 21 ka BP), and Last Interglacial (LIG – 130 ka BP). The niche models were robust for all species and showed the highest probability of occurrence in the core area of the Cerrado Domain. The palaeomodels suggested changes in the distributions of cerrado tree species throughout the Quaternary, with expansion during the LIG into the adjacent Amazonian and Atlantic moist forests, as well as connections with other South American savannas. The LGM models suggested a retraction of cerrado vegetation to inter‐tableland depressions and slopes of the Central Brazilian Highlands. Contrary to previous hypotheses, such as the Pleistocene refuge theory, we found that the widest expansion of cerrado tree species seems to have occurred during the LIG, most probably due to its warmer climate. On the other hand, the postulated retractions during the LGM were likely related to both decreased precipitation and temperature. These results are congruent with palynological and phylogeographic studies in the Cerrado Domain.

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“…However, these climatic relationships may have had more complex effects than producing a simple Pleistocene arc of SDTF. Palaeoecological studies are beginning to reveal this complexity (Behling & Lichte, ; Burbridge et al ., ; Whitney et al ., , ) and more such studies are needed. Palaeodistribution modelling also holds promise for understanding the past distribution of SDTFs (cf.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and historical controls of floristic composition across the South American Dry Diagonal

Neves

Dexter

Pennington

et al. 2015

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The aim of this study was to test the role of environmental factors and spatially autocorrelated processes, such as historical fragmentation and dispersal limitation, in driving floristic variation across seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) in eastern South America.Location SDTFs extending from the Caatinga phytogeographical domain of north-eastern Brazil to the Chaco phytogeographical domain of northern Argentina, an area referred to as the Dry Diagonal.Methods We compiled a database of 282 inventories of woody vegetation in SDTFs from across the Dry Diagonal and combined this with data for 14 environmental variables. We assessed the relative contribution of spatially autocorrelated processes and environmental factors to the floristic turnover among SDTFs across the Dry Diagonal using variation partitioning methods. In addition, we used multivariate analyses to determine which environmental factors were most important in explaining the turnover.Results We found that the environmental factors measured (temperature, precipitation and edaphic conditions) explained 21.3% of the variation in species composition, with 14.1% of this occurring independently of spatial autocorrelation. A spatially structured fraction of 4.2% could not be accounted for by the environmental factors measured. The main axis of compositional variation was significantly correlated with a north-south gradient in temperature regime. At the extreme south of the Dry Diagonal, a cold temperature regime, in which frost occurred, appeared to underlie floristic similarities between chaco woodlands and southern SDTFs.Main conclusions Environmental variables, particularly those related to temperature regime, seem to be the most significant factors affecting variation in species composition of SDTFs. Thus historical fragmentation and isolation alone cannot explain the turnover in species composition within SDTFs, as is often assumed. Compositional and environmental heterogeneity needs to be taken into account both to understand the past distribution of SDTFs and to manage and conserve this key tropical biome.

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Sensitivity of Bolivian seasonally-dry tropical forest to precipitation and temperature changes over glacial–interglacial timescales

Cited by 17 publications

References 51 publications

Fire, climate and vegetation linkages in the Bolivian Chiquitano seasonally dry tropical forest

Fire, climate and vegetation linkages in the Bolivian Chiquitano seasonally dry tropical forest

Effects of Quaternary climatic fluctuations on the distribution of Neotropical savanna tree species

Environmental and historical controls of floristic composition across the South American Dry Diagonal

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