Large trees drive forest aboveground biomass variation in moist lowland forests across the tropics

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • J.W.Ferry Slik
  • Gary Paoli
  • Krista McGuire
  • Ieda Amaral
  • Jorcely Barroso
  • Meredith Bastian
  • Lilian Blanc
  • Frans Bongers
  • Patrick Boundja
  • Connie Clark
  • Murray Collins
  • Gilles Dauby
  • Yi Ding
  • Jean-Louis Doucet
  • Eduardo Eler
  • Leandro Ferreira
  • Olle Forshed
  • Gabriella Fredriksson
  • Jean-Francois Gillet
  • Davis Harris
  • Miguel Leal
  • Yved Laumonier
  • Yadvinder Malhi
  • Asyraf Mansor
  • Emanuel Martin
  • Kazuki Miyamoto
  • Alejandro Araujo-Murakami
  • Hidetoshi Nagamasu
  • Reuben Nilus
  • Eddy Nurtjahya
  • Átila Oliveira
  • Onrizal Onrizal
  • Alexander Parada-Gutierrez
  • Andrea Permana
  • Lourens Poorter
  • John Poulsen
  • Hirma Ramirez-Angulo
  • Jan Reitsma
  • Francesco Rovero
  • Andes Rozak
  • Douglas Sheil
  • Javier Silva-Espejo
  • Marcos Silveira
  • Wilson Spironelo
  • Hans ter Steege
  • Tariq Stevart
  • Gilberto Enrique Navarro-Aguilar
  • Terry Sunderland
  • Eizi Suzuki
  • Jianwei Tang
  • Geertje van der Heijden
  • Johan van Valkenburg
  • Tran Van Do
  • Emilio Vilanova
  • Vincent Vos
  • Serge Wich
  • Hansjoerg Wöll
  • Tsuyoshi Yoneda
  • Runguo Zang
  • Ming-Gang Zhang
  • Nicole Zweifel
Aim
Large trees (d.b.h. ≥ 70 cm) store large amounts of biomass. Several studies suggest that large trees may be vulnerable to changing climate, potentially leading to declining forest biomass storage. Here we determine the importance of large trees for tropical forest biomass storage and explore which intrinsic (species trait) and extrinsic (environment) variables are associated with the density of large trees and forest biomass at continental and pan-tropical scales.
Location
Pan-tropical.
Methods
Aboveground biomass (AGB) was calculated for 120 intact lowland moist forest locations. Linear regression was used to calculate variation in AGB explained by the density of large trees. Akaike information criterion weights (AICc-wi) were used to calculate averaged correlation coefficients for all possible multiple regression models between AGB/density of large trees and environmental and species trait variables correcting for spatial autocorrelation.
Results
Density of large trees explained c. 70% of the variation in pan-tropical AGB and was also responsible for significantly lower AGB in Neotropical [287.8 (mean) ± 105.0 (SD) Mg ha−1] versus Palaeotropical forests (Africa 418.3 ± 91.8 Mg ha−1; Asia 393.3 ± 109.3 Mg ha−1). Pan-tropical variation in density of large trees and AGB was associated with soil coarseness (negative), soil fertility (positive), community wood density (positive) and dominance of wind dispersed species (positive), temperature in the coldest month (negative), temperature in the warmest month (negative) and rainfall in the wettest month (positive), but results were not always consistent among continents.
Main conclusions
Density of large trees and AGB were significantly associated with climatic variables, indicating that climate change will affect tropical forest biomass storage. Species trait composition will interact with these future biomass changes as they are also affected by a warmer climate. Given the importance of large trees for variation in AGB across the tropics, and their sensitivity to climate change, we emphasize the need for in-depth analyses of the community dynamics of large trees.
Original languageEnglish
JournalGlobal Ecology and Biogeography
Volume22
Issue number12
Pages (from-to)1261-1271
Number of pages11
ISSN1466-822X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

ID: 108819225