Soil properties explain tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, across phosphorus-depleted tropical forests

Soong, Jennifer L.; Janssens, Ivan A.; Grau, Oriol; Margalef, Olga; Stahl, Clément; Langenhove, Leandro Van; Urbina, Ifigenia; Chave, Jérôme; Dourdain, Aurélie; Ferry, Bruno; Freycon, Vincent; Hérault, Bruno; Sardans, Jordi; Peñuelas, Josep; Verbruggen, Erik

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-58913-8

Cited by 99 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Similarly, older rubber plantations with bigger trees generally had better soil health. This finding is generally consistent with what has been found in other regions reporting the effects of forest biomass on soil properties [41]. However, our observation that actinomycete counts (ACT) were actually higher in older rubber plantations (15 to 25 years) than any of the natural forest types was entirely unexpected.…”

Section: Variation In Soil Health Parameters By Vegetation Typessupporting

confidence: 93%

Soil Health Impacts of Rubber Farming: The Implication of Conversion of Degraded Natural Forests into Monoculture Plantations

et al. 2020

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High revenues from rubber latex exports have led to a rapid expansion of commercial rubber cultivation and, as a consequence, the conversion of different land use types (e.g., natural forests) into rubber plantations, which may lead to a decrease in soil health. In this study in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, we determined: (1) the variation of soil health parameters along a chronosequence of rubber tree stands and natural forests and (2) the relationships and potential feedback between vegetation types, vegetation structures and soil health. Our results revealed that: (1) soil health was higher in natural forests than in rubber plantations with a higher values in higher biomass forests; (2) soil health was lower in younger rubber plantations; (3) soil health depends on vegetation structure (with significantly positive relationships found between soil health and canopy cover, litter biomass, dry litter cover and ground vegetation cover). This study highlights the need for more rigorous land management practices and land use conversion policies in order to ensure the long-term conservation of soil health in rubber plantations.

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Section: Variation In Soil Health Parameters By Vegetation Typessupporting

confidence: 93%

Soil Health Impacts of Rubber Farming: The Implication of Conversion of Degraded Natural Forests into Monoculture Plantations

et al. 2020

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“…Hence, our findings point to the proposed positive relationship between resource availability and plant species richness via soil resource-based niche differentiation 15,23 . For instance, studies conducted in Africa 40 and Guyana 41 found that belowground soil properties accounted for the variability in aboveground forest structure because differences in resource availability and nutrient retention determined forest dynamics due to different life-history strategy of tree species adapted to different positions along environmental gradients 42 . Such shifts in taxonomic and functional species composition along topoedaphic gradients 35,36 likely reflect trade-offs among investment strategies along the plant economics spectrum 18,43 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic and edaphic controls over tropical forest diversity and vegetation carbon storage

Hofhansl

Chacón‐Madrigal

Fuchslueger

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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tropical rainforests harbor exceptionally high biodiversity and store large amounts of carbon in vegetation biomass. However, regional variation in plant species richness and vegetation carbon stock can be substantial, and may be related to the heterogeneity of topoedaphic properties. therefore, aboveground vegetation carbon storage typically differs between geographic forest regions inassociation with the locally dominant plant functional group. A better understanding of the underlying factors controlling tropical forest diversity and vegetation carbon storage could be critical for predicting tropical carbon sink strength in response to projected climate change. Based on regionally replicated 1-ha forest inventory plots established in a region of high geomorphological heterogeneity we investigated how climatic and edaphic factors affect tropical forest diversity and vegetation carbon storage. plant species richness (of all living stems >10 cm in diameter) ranged from 69 to 127 ha −1 and vegetation carbon storage ranged from 114 to 200 t ha −1 . While plant species richness was controlled by climate and soil water availability, vegetation carbon storage was strongly related to wood density and soil phosphorus availability. Results suggest that local heterogeneity in resource availability and plant functional composition should be considered to improve projections of tropical forest ecosystem functioning under future scenarios.Tropical forests host two thirds of terrestrial biota 1 and comprise one fourth of the planet's terrestrial carbon (C) stored in aboveground vegetation biomass (AGB) 2 . It has been proposed that biodiversity positively affects carbon storage in hyper-diverse tropical forests 3 , but this finding has been repeatedly challenged by studies showing that relationships between species diversity and ecosystem functioning are dependent on the scale of observation 4,5 , and usually saturate at high levels of species richness, such as in tropical forests 6,7 . As a consequence, relationships between biodiversity and C storage remain poorly resolved for tropical forests [6][7][8] . It is inherently difficult to disentangle factors determining tropical ecosystem functioning and isolating possible effects of species diversity,

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“…Studies have shown that the height-diameter relationship varies significantly with climate (Banin et al 2012); soil fertility (Soong et al 2020) and climatic zones (Nogueira et al 2007), forest types and region (Banin et al 2012). As such, the same tree species growing in different sites might have different biomass in the forests.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, the same tree species growing in different sites might have different biomass in the forests. Since climate variation and soil fertility affects tree growth (Soong et al 2020), the inclusion of the tree height in developing allometric models improves the accuracy of biomass estimations of forests. The relation between DBH and AGB demonstrates a high coefficient of determination in the linear regression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allometric Equations for Aboveground Biomass Estimations of Four Dry Afromontane Tree Species

Gebeyehu

Soromessa

Tesfaye

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Tree species based developing allometric equations are important because they contain the largest proportion of total biomass and carbon stocks of forests. Studies on developing and validating the species-specific allometric models (SSAM) remain insufficient that may result to biomass estimation errors in the forests. The purpose of this study is to determine the wood density of four tree species and develop and validate the accuracy of allometry for biomass estimations. A total of 103 sample trees representing four species were harvested semi-destructively. The species specific allometric equations (SSAM) were developed using aboveground biomass (AGB in kg) as dependent variable, and three of the predictor’s variables: diameter at beast height (DBH in cm), height (H in m) and wood density (WD in g cm-3). The relation between dependent and independent variables were tested using multiple correlations (R2). The model selection and validation was based on statistical significance of model parameter estimates, Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), adjusted coefficient of determination (R2), residual standard error (RSE) and mean relative error (MRE). Results: The results showed that the AGB correlated significantly with diameter at breast height (R2 > 0.944, P < 0.001), and tree height (R2 > 0.742, P <0.001). The species-specific allometric models, which include DBH, H and WD predicted AGB with high-model fit (R2 > 93.6%, P < 0.001). These models for biomass estimations produced small MRE (1.50–3.40%) and AIC (-7.04 –12.84) compared to a single predictor (MRE:-0.4 – 20.1%; AIC: -7.25 – 35.29). The SSAM also predicted AGB against predictors with high-model fit (R2 > 93.6%, P < 0.001) and small MRE: 1.50 – 3.40% compared to existing general allometric models (MRE: - 31.3 – 11.31%). Conclusions: The research confirmed that the inclusion of DBH, H, and WD in the SSAM predicted AGB with small bias than a single or two predictors. The wood density values of those studied species can be used as the references for biomass estimations using general allometric equations. The study contributes to species-specific allometric models for understanding the total biomass estimation of species. Therefore, the application of species-specific allometric models should be considered in biomass estimations of forests.

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Soil properties explain tree growth and mortality, but not biomass, across phosphorus-depleted tropical forests

Cited by 99 publications

References 65 publications

Soil Health Impacts of Rubber Farming: The Implication of Conversion of Degraded Natural Forests into Monoculture Plantations

Soil Health Impacts of Rubber Farming: The Implication of Conversion of Degraded Natural Forests into Monoculture Plantations

Climatic and edaphic controls over tropical forest diversity and vegetation carbon storage

Allometric Equations for Aboveground Biomass Estimations of Four Dry Afromontane Tree Species

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