Tree Diversity Explains Variation in Ecosystem Function in a Neotropical Forest in Panama

Ruiz-Jaén, María C.; Potvin, Catherine

doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00631.x

Cited by 53 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…On one hand, this information is consistent with other observations (Kirby & Potvin, 2007;Ruiz-Jaen & Potvin, 2010) and perhaps, could be explored further for its use as a proxy measure of forest C stocks. On the other hand, land use practices that negatively affect dominant tree species (including Zapatero, Sangrillo and Mayo, which are timber species) may reduce carbon storage in the ecosystem (Kirby & Potvin, 2007).…”

Section: Accepted Articlesupporting

confidence: 65%

Traditional shifting agriculture: tracking forest carbon stock and biodiversity through time in western Panama

Pelletier

Codjia

Potvin

2012

Global Change Biology

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Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) requires developing countries to quantify green-house gas emissions and removals from forests in a manner that is robust, transparent, and as accurate as possible. While shifting cultivation is a dominant practice in several developing countries, there is still very limited information available on how to monitor this land-use practice for REDD+ as little is known about the areas of shifting cultivation or the net carbon balance. In the present work, we propose and test a methodology to monitor the effect of the shifting cultivation on above-ground carbon stocks. We combine multi-year remote sensing information, taken from a 12-year period, with an in-depth community forest carbon stock inventory in Palo Seco Forest Reserve, western Panama. With remote sensing, we were able to separate four forest classes expressing different forest-use intensity and timesince-intervention which demonstrate expected trends in above-ground carbon stocks. The addition of different interventions observed over time is shown to be a good predictor, with remote sensing variables explaining 64.2% of the variation in forest carbon stocks in cultivated landscapes. Multi-temporal and multi-spectral medium resolution satellite imagery is shown to be adequate for tracking land-use dynamics of the agriculture-fallow cycle. The results also indicate that, over time, shifting cultivation has a transitory effect on forest carbon stocks in the study area. This is due to the rapid recovery of forest carbon stocks, which results in limited net emissions. Finally, community participation yielded important additional benefits to measuring

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Section: Accepted Articlesupporting

confidence: 65%

Traditional shifting agriculture: tracking forest carbon stock and biodiversity through time in western Panama

Pelletier

Codjia

Potvin

2012

Global Change Biology

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“…Niche complementarity hypothesis has been proposed to explain the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function in many studies [60], [64]. This hypothesis predicts that more species take greater advantage of the niche opportunities that are available in an environment, thus result in more complete resource use [64].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topographic Variation in Aboveground Biomass in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest in China

et al. 2012

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The subtropical forest biome occupies about 25% of China, with species diversity only next to tropical forests. Despite the recognized importance of subtropical forest in regional carbon storage and cycling, uncertainties remain regarding the carbon storage of subtropical forests, and few studies have quantified within-site variation of biomass, making it difficult to evaluate the role of these forests in the global and regional carbon cycles. Using data for a 24-ha census plot in east China, we quantify aboveground biomass, characterize its spatial variation among different habitats, and analyse species relative contribution to the total aboveground biomass of different habitats. The average aboveground biomass was 223.0 Mg ha−1 (bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals [217.6, 228.5]) and varied substantially among four topographically defined habitats, from 180.6 Mg ha−1 (bootstrapped 95% CI [167.1, 195.0]) in the upper ridge to 245.9 Mg ha−1 (bootstrapped 95% CI [238.3, 253.8]) in the lower ridge, with upper and lower valley intermediate. In consistent with our expectation, individual species contributed differently to the total aboveground biomass of different habitats, reflecting significant species habitat associations. Different species show differently in habitat preference in terms of biomass contribution. These patterns may be the consequences of ecological strategies difference among different species. Results from this study enhance our ability to evaluate the role of subtropical forests in the regional carbon cycle and provide valuable information to guide the protection and management of subtropical broad-leaved forest for carbon sequestration and carbon storage.

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“…The highest values of wood density were observed for C. kraussii (0.593 g/cm 3˘0 .011) and S. gerrardii (0.571 g/cm 3˘0 .011) while the lowest mean wood density values (0.459 g/cm 3 and 0.445 g/cm 3 ) were observed for C. sylvaticus and T. dregeana (Figure 1). The results of the generalised linear model (Table 2) showed significant interaction effects between DBH and species.…”

Section: Effect Of Species On Wood Density and Agbmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Three allometric Equations (3)- (5) taking into account DBH (cm), H (m) and wood density ρ (g/cm 3 ), were used to fit the multispecies biomass models:…”

Section: Multispecies Dbh-height and Biomass Allometric Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tropical forests harbour a considerable number of plant species that underpin ecosystem functioning [1][2][3], provide forage resources to insect pollinators [4][5][6], contribute to control biological invasion, and help alleviate the effects of climate change by storing atmospheric carbon [7,8]. As pointed out by Pan et al [8], more than 40% of the global terrestrial carbon is contained in the living biomass of these forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aboveground Biomass and Carbon in a South African Mistbelt Forest and the Relationships with Tree Species Diversity and Forest Structures

Mensah

Veldtman

Toit

et al. 2016

Forests

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Biomass and carbon stocks are key information criteria to understand the role of forests in regulating global climate. However, for a bio-rich continent like Africa, ground-based measurements for accurate estimation of carbon are scarce, and the variables affecting the forest carbon are not well understood. Here, we present the first biomass study conducted in South Africa Mistbelt forests. Using data from a non-destructive sampling of 59 trees of four species, we (1) evaluated the accuracy of multispecies aboveground biomass (AGB) models, using predictors such as diameter at breast height (DBH), total height (H) and wood density; (2) estimated the amount of biomass and carbon stored in the aboveground compartment of Mistbelt forests and (3) explored the variation of aboveground carbon (AGC) in relation to tree species diversity and structural variables. We found significant effects of species on wood density and AGB. Among the candidate models, the model that incorporated DBH and H as a compound variable (DBH 2ˆH ) was the best fitting. AGB and AGC values were highly variable across all plots, with average values of 358.1 Mg¨ha´1 and 179.0 Mg¨C¨ha´1, respectively. Few species contributed 80% of AGC stock, probably as a result of selection effect. Stand basal area, basal area of the ten most important species and basal area of the largest trees were the most influencing variables. Tree species richness was also positively correlated with AGC, but the basal area of smaller trees was not. These results enable insights into the role of biodiversity in maintaining carbon storage and the possibilities for sustainable strategies for timber harvesting without risk of significant biomass decline.

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Tree Diversity Explains Variation in Ecosystem Function in a Neotropical Forest in Panama

Cited by 53 publications

References 62 publications

Traditional shifting agriculture: tracking forest carbon stock and biodiversity through time in western Panama

Traditional shifting agriculture: tracking forest carbon stock and biodiversity through time in western Panama

Topographic Variation in Aboveground Biomass in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest in China

Aboveground Biomass and Carbon in a South African Mistbelt Forest and the Relationships with Tree Species Diversity and Forest Structures

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