Limitantes climáticos de espécies arbóreas através do gradiente tropical-subtropical em florestas da mata atlântica

Por que algumas espécies são amplamente distribuídas enquanto outras possuem estreita amplitude de distribuição? Essa questão há muito tempo tem motivado ecólogos a tentar entender as distribuições das abundâncias das espécies e como essas distribuições estão ligadas às tolerâncias das espécies. Espera-se que, em comunidades de plantas, a composição e a abundância das espécies variem de acordo com as tolerâncias individuais para diferentes condições climáticas, resultando em um menor número de espécies fisiologicamente tolerantes a condições mais estressantes e amplamente distribuídas no gradiente climático. Essa ideia é predita pela hipótese da tolerância fisiológica. A Mata Atlântica possui grande variação latitudinal e altitudinal, capturando gradientes relacionados com precipitação e temperatura, sendo assim uma ótima área de estudo para avaliar limites climáticos de espécies arbóreas. Uma maneira para classificar as tolerâncias das espécies e também identificar sob quais condições as espécies alcançam maior abundância (afiliação) é mapear suas distribuições através de gradientes climáticos, utilizando inventários florísticos. Diante desse contexto, nesta dissertação objetivamos investigar as amplitudes da distribuição de espécies arbóreas na Mata Atlântica ao longo de gradientes de temperatura e precipitação, bem como suas afiliações climáticas. Utilizamos dados de comunidades florestais do banco de dados TreeCo para obter dados de ocorrência e abundância de espécies arbóreas através do gradiente da Mata Atlântica (622 comunidades). Para as 2001 espécies analisadas neste trabalho, calculamos as amplitudes de ocorrência e o índice de afiliação em relação à temperatura média e à sazonalidade da precipitação. Identificamos que, como esperado pela hipótese da tolerância fisiológica, espécies que conseguem tolerar temperaturas mais frias são distribuídas ao longo de um amplo gradiente de temperatura, enquanto algumas espécies se restringem a locais com temperaturas mais quentes. Em relação à sazonalidade de precipitação, identificamos espécies amplamente distribuídas, ou seja de locais com menor sazonalidade até locais com maior sazonalidade, e espécies restritas a locais com maior sazonalidade, não seguindo o padrão da hipótese da tolerância fisiológica. Considerando as espécies significativamente afiliadas à temperatura e à sazonalidade da precipitação, verificamos que suas distribuições ótimas no gradiente climático tem associação ao padrão espacial biogeográfico da Mata Atlântica, onde se destacam dois blocos florestais predominantes: um grupo temperado sul e um grupo tropical norte.Why some species are widely distributed while others are concentrated into narrow amplitudes? For a long time, this question has motivated ecologists to investigate the distributions of species abundances and how they are linked to species tolerances. In plant communities, it is expected a variation in species composition and abundances according to individual species tolerances to different climatic conditions, resulting in a smaller number of species physiologically tolerant to more stressful conditions and widely distributed in the climatic gradient. This idea is predicted by the physiological tolerance hypothesis. The Atlantic Forest has a marked latitudinal and altitudinal range, capturing climatic gradients related to precipitation and temperature, which thus represent a great study area to evaluate tree species climatic limits. One way to classify species tolerances and identify under what conditions the species reach greater abundance (affiliation) is mapping species distributions across climatic gradients by using many floristic inventories. Under this perspective, the aim of this dissertation was to investigate the distribution ranges of tree species in the Atlantic Domain along temperature and precipitation gradients, and their climatic affiliations. We used forest communities data from the TreeCo database to obtain occurrence and abundance of tree species through the Atlantic Forest gradient (622 communities). For the 2001 species analyzed in this work, we calculated the ranges of occurrence and the affiliation index for mean temperature and precipitation seasonality. As expected by the physiological tolerance hypothesis, we found that species that tolerate lower temperatures are distributed across a wider temperature gradient, while some species are restricted to milder temperatures. Regarding the precipitation seasonality, we identified widely distributed species, i.e. from lower to greater precipitation seasonality, and species restricted to sites with greater seasonality, not following the physiological tolerance hypothesis. Considering the species significantly affiliated to temperature and/or to precipitation seasonality, we verified that their optimal distributions along the climatic gradients were associated with the biogeographic pattern of the Atlantic Forest, in which two forest blocks stand out: a temperate south group and a tropical northern group

The effect of neighbor species' phylogenetic and trait difference on tree growth in subtropical forests

Questions: To comprehensively understand ecological dynamics within a forest ecosystem, it is vital to explore how surrounding trees influence the growth of individual trees in a community. This study investigates the importance of biotic interactions on tree growth by examining several metrics of competitive interactions and community structure and considering three classes of intrinsic growth rates among the focal individuals: slower, intermediate, and faster‐growing trees. We also separated the focal trees based on their canopy position. Location: Brazilian subtropical forests. Methods: We assessed various factors related to the focal trees and their neighbors, including differences in traits, neighborhood crowding, phylogenetic distance, and overall trait composition within the community. We then ran linear mixed‐effects models to test how these different metrics influenced the growth rates of the focal trees. Results: Our results indicate that phylogenetic distance is linked to higher growth. Specific leaf area (SLA), leaf area (LA), and wood density (WD) are significantly related to tree growth. Trees surrounded by neighbors with higher SLA than themselves grow better, particularly smaller trees. Similarly, taller trees with smaller LA than their neighbors grow better. Trees in the intermediary growth class grow better when they have higher WD than their neighbors. Conversely, smaller trees benefit from greater WD difference between the focal trees and their neighbors, while height difference negatively impacts faster‐growing trees. Moreover, communities with higher SLA and WD positively impact the growth of faster‐growing trees. Conclusions: We conclude that the interactions between trees are mediated by their ecological differences, but the performance and responses to surrounding competitors vary along with their grow class and position within a community. This study has revealed that the tree's intrinsic growth rate mediates the effect of traits and phylogeny of surrounding trees on individual tree growth

Elevational shifts in tree community composition in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest related to climate change

Question: Climate change induces shifts in species distributions, ultimately changing community composition. Mountains are especially sensitive to climate change, and tree species are predicted to move towards higher elevations, but observed changes are not always unidirectional. The diversity and complexity of tropical and subtropical systems limits our understanding of climate‐induced responses of subtropical mountain forests. Here, we investigated migration trends in tree community composition along an elevational gradient, and between the transition from lowland to montane forests in subtropical forests. Location: Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Methods: We used thermal affiliations of 627 tree species to calculate community temperature scores (CTS) for different life‐history stages of trees in 96 permanent plots. We compared CTS of different life‐history stages across space and time. Results: Most tree communities (58%) did not show a significant difference of CTS between life‐history stages, indicating a non‐migration trend. On the other hand, 27% of tree communities showed upward migration and 15% downward migration. Upward migration was more common in montane forests, and downward migration in lowland forests. Our temporal analysis shows significant changes in CTS values for juvenile communities with 0.36°C decrease in lowland forests and 0.34°C increase in montane forests. Conclusions: Contrasting results between lowland and montane forest communities indicate that the transition zone influences migration patterns and may reflect differences in species’ thermal limitations, as well as by non‐thermal factors such as biotic interactions. Our findings provide the first evidence of climate change‐induced community shifts in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We demonstrated that upward migration trends were predominantly observed in montane–upper mountain forests, while downward migrations were noted in lowland–submontane forests. The thermophilization of montane forests may suggest an increased risk of reduction for cold‐demanding species under climate change scenarios

The pace of life for forest trees.

Tree growth and longevity trade-offs fundamentally shape the terrestrial carbon balance. Yet, we lack a unified understanding of how such trade-offs vary across the world's forests. By mapping life history traits for a wide range of species across the Americas, we reveal considerable variation in life expectancies from 10 centimeters in diameter (ranging from 1.3 to 3195 years) and show that the pace of life for trees can be accurately classified into four demographic functional types. We found emergent patterns in the strength of trade-offs between growth and longevity across a temperature gradient. Furthermore, we show that the diversity of life history traits varies predictably across forest biomes, giving rise to a positive relationship between trait diversity and productivity. Our pan-latitudinal assessment provides new insights into the demographic mechanisms that govern the carbon turnover rate across forest biomes

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Taking the pulse of Earth's tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of funding agencies. Here we show how a global community is responding to the challenges of tropical ecosystem research with diverse teams measuring forests tree-by-tree in thousands of long-term plots. We review the major scientific discoveries of this work and show how this process is changing tropical forest science. Our core approach involves linking long-term grassroots initiatives with standardized protocols and data management to generate robust scaled-up results. By connecting tropical researchers and elevating their status, our Social Research Network model recognises the key role of the data originator in scientific discovery. Conceived in 1999 with RAINFOR (South America), our permanent plot networks have been adapted to Africa (AfriTRON) and Southeast Asia (T-FORCES) and widely emulated worldwide. Now these multiple initiatives are integrated via ForestPlots.net cyber-infrastructure, linking colleagues from 54 countries across 24 plot networks. Collectively these are transforming understanding of tropical forests and their biospheric role. Together we have discovered how, where and why forest carbon and biodiversity are responding to climate change, and how they feedback on it. This long-term pan-tropical collaboration has revealed a large long-term carbon sink and its trends, as well as making clear which drivers are most important, which forest processes are affected, where they are changing, what the lags are, and the likely future responses of tropical forests as the climate continues to change. By leveraging a remarkably old technology, plot networks are sparking a very modern revolution in tropical forest science. In the future, humanity can benefit greatly by nurturing the grassroots communities now collectively capable of generating unique, long-term understanding of Earth's most precious forests.Additional co-authors: Susan Laurance, William Laurance, Francoise Yoko Ishida, Andrew Marshall, Catherine Waite, Hannsjoerg Woell, Jean-Francois Bastin, Marijn Bauters, Hans Beeckman, Pfascal Boeckx, Jan Bogaert, Charles De Canniere, Thales de Haulleville, Jean-Louis Doucet, Olivier Hardy, Wannes Hubau, Elizabeth Kearsley, Hans Verbeeck, Jason Vleminckx, Steven W. Brewer, Alfredo Alarcón, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Eric Arets, Luzmila Arroyo, Ezequiel Chavez, Todd Fredericksen, René Guillén Villaroel, Gloria Gutierrez Sibauty, Timothy Killeen, Juan Carlos Licona, John Lleigue, Casimiro Mendoza, Samaria Murakami, Alexander Parada Gutierrez, Guido Pardo, Marielos Peña-Claros, Lourens Poorter, Marisol Toledo, Jeanneth Villalobos Cayo, Laura Jessica Viscarra, Vincent Vos, Jorge Ahumada, Everton Almeida, Jarcilene Almeida, Edmar Almeida de Oliveira, Wesley Alves da Cruz, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Fabrício Alvim Carvalho, Flávio Amorim Obermuller, Ana Andrade, Fernanda Antunes Carvalho, Simone Aparecida Vieira, Ana Carla Aquino, Luiz Aragão, Ana Claudia Araújo, Marco Antonio Assis, Jose Ataliba Mantelli Aboin Gomes, Fabrício Baccaro, Plínio Barbosa de Camargo, Paulo Barni, Jorcely Barroso, Luis Carlos Bernacci, Kauane Bordin, Marcelo Brilhante de Medeiros, Igor Broggio, José Luís Camargo, Domingos Cardoso, Maria Antonia Carniello, Andre Luis Casarin Rochelle, Carolina Castilho, Antonio Alberto Jorge Farias Castro, Wendeson Castro, Sabina Cerruto Ribeiro, Flávia Costa, Rodrigo Costa de Oliveira, Italo Coutinho, John Cunha, Lola da Costa, Lucia da Costa Ferreira, Richarlly da Costa Silva, Marta da Graça Zacarias Simbine, Vitor de Andrade Kamimura, Haroldo Cavalcante de Lima, Lia de Oliveira Melo, Luciano de Queiroz, José Romualdo de Sousa Lima, Mário do Espírito Santo, Tomas Domingues, Nayane Cristina dos Santos Prestes, Steffan Eduardo Silva Carneiro, Fernando Elias, Gabriel Eliseu, Thaise Emilio, Camila Laís Farrapo, Letícia Fernandes, Gustavo Ferreira, Joice Ferreira, Leandro Ferreira, Socorro Ferreira, Marcelo Fragomeni Simon, Maria Aparecida Freitas, Queila S. García, Angelo Gilberto Manzatto, Paulo Graça, Frederico Guilherme, Eduardo Hase, Niro Higuchi, Mariana Iguatemy, Reinaldo Imbrozio Barbosa, Margarita Jaramillo, Carlos Joly, Joice Klipel, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Carolina Levis, Antonio S. Lima, Maurício Lima Dan, Aline Lopes, Herison Madeiros, William E. Magnusson, Rubens Manoel dos Santos, Beatriz Marimon, Ben Hur Marimon Junior, Roberta Marotti Martelletti Grillo, Luiz Martinelli, Simone Matias Reis, Salomão Medeiros, Milton Meira-Junior, Thiago Metzker, Paulo Morandi, Natanael Moreira do Nascimento, Magna Moura, Sandra Cristina Müller, Laszlo Nagy, Henrique Nascimento, Marcelo Nascimento, Adriano Nogueira Lima, Raimunda Oliveira de Araújo, Jhonathan Oliveira Silva, Marcelo Pansonato, Gabriel Pavan Sabino, Karla Maria Pedra de Abreu, Pablo José Francisco Pena Rodrigues, Maria Piedade, Domingos Rodrigues, José Roberto Rodrigues Pinto, Carlos Quesada, Eliana Ramos, Rafael Ramos, Priscyla Rodrigues, Thaiane Rodrigues de Sousa, Rafael Salomão, Flávia Santana, Marcos Scaranello, Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin, Juliana Schietti, Jochen Schöngart, Gustavo Schwartz, Natalino Silva, Marcos Silveira, Cristiana Simão Seixas, Marta Simbine, Ana Claudia Souza, Priscila Souza, Rodolfo Souza, Tereza Sposito, Edson Stefani Junior, Julio Daniel do Vale, Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira, Dora Villela, Marcos Vital, Haron Xaud, Katia Zanini, Charles Eugene Zartman, Nur Khalish Hafizhah Ideris, Faizah binti Hj Metali, Kamariah Abu Salim, Muhd Shahruney Saparudin, Rafizah Mat Serudin, Rahayu Sukmaria Sukri, Serge Begne, George Chuyong, Marie Noel Djuikouo, Christelle Gonmadje, Murielle Simo-Droissart, Bonaventure Sonké, Hermann Taedoumg, Lise Zemagho, Sean Thomas, Fidèle Baya, Gustavo Saiz, Javier Silva Espejo, Dexiang Chen, Alan Hamilton, Yide Li, Tushou Luo, Shukui Niu, Han Xu, Zhang Zhou, Esteban Álvarez-Dávila, Juan Carlos Andrés Escobar, Henry Arellano-Peña, Jaime Cabezas Duarte, Jhon Calderón, Lina Maria Corrales Bravo, Borish Cuadrado, Hermes Cuadros, Alvaro Duque, Luisa Fernanda Duque, Sandra Milena Espinosa, Rebeca Franke-Ante, Hernando García, Alejandro Gómez, Roy González-M., Álvaro Idárraga-Piedrahíta, Eliana Jimenez, Rubén Jurado, Wilmar López Oviedo, René López-Camacho, Omar Aurelio Melo Cruz, Irina Mendoza Polo, Edwin Paky, Karen Pérez, Angel Pijachi, Camila Pizano, Adriana Prieto, Laura Ramos, Zorayda Restrepo Correa, James Richardson, Elkin Rodríguez, Gina M. Rodriguez M., Agustín Rudas, Pablo Stevenson, Markéta Chudomelová, Martin Dancak, Radim Hédl, Stanislav Lhota, Martin Svatek, Jacques Mukinzi, Corneille Ewango, Terese Hart, Emmanuel Kasongo Yakusu, Janvier Lisingo, Jean-Remy Makana, Faustin Mbayu, Benjamin Toirambe, John Tshibamba Mukendi, Lars Kvist, Gustav Nebel, Selene Báez, Carlos Céron, Daniel M. Griffith, Juan Ernesto Guevara Andino, David Neill, Walter Palacios, Maria Cristina Peñuela-Mora, Gonzalo Rivas-Torres, Gorky Villa, Sheleme Demissie, Tadesse Gole, Techane Gonfa, Kalle Ruokolainen, Michel Baisie, Fabrice Bénédet, Wemo Betian, Vincent Bezard, Damien Bonal, Jerôme Chave, Vincent Droissart, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, Annette Hladik, Nicolas Labrière, Pétrus Naisso, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Plinio Sist, Lilian Blanc, Benoit Burban, Géraldine Derroire, Aurélie Dourdain, Clement Stahl, Natacha Nssi Bengone, Eric Chezeaux, Fidèle Evouna Ondo, Vincent Medjibe, Vianet Mihindou, Lee White, Heike Culmsee, Cristabel Durán Rangel, Viviana Horna, Florian Wittmann, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Kofi Affum-Baffoe, Ernest Foli, Michael Balinga, Anand Roopsind, James Singh, Raquel Thomas, Roderick Zagt, Indu K. Murthy, Kuswata Kartawinata, Edi Mirmanto, Hari Priyadi, Ismayadi Samsoedin, Terry Sunderland, Ishak Yassir, Francesco Rovero, Barbara Vinceti, Bruno Hérault, Shin-Ichiro Aiba, Kanehiro Kitayama, Armandu Daniels, Darlington Tuagben, John T. Woods, Muhammad Fitriadi, Alexander Karolus, Kho Lip Khoon, Noreen Majalap, Colin Maycock, Reuben Nilus, Sylvester Tan, Almeida Sitoe, Indiana Coronado G., Lucas Ojo, Rafael de Assis, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Douglas Sheil, Karen Arévalo Pezo, Hans Buttgenbach Verde, Victor Chama Moscoso, Jimmy Cesar Cordova Oroche, Fernando Cornejo Valverde, Massiel Corrales Medina, Nallaret Davila Cardozo, Jano de Rutte Corzo, Jhon del Aguila Pasquel, Gerardo Flores Llampazo, Luis Freitas, Darcy Galiano Cabrera, Roosevelt García Villacorta, Karina Garcia Cabrera, Diego García Soria, Leticia Gatica Saboya, Julio Miguel Grandez Rios, Gabriel Hidalgo Pizango, Eurídice Honorio Coronado, Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Walter Huaraca Huasco, Yuri Tomas Huillca Aedo, Jose Luis Marcelo Peña, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza, Vanesa Moreano Rodriguez, Percy Núñez Vargas, Sonia Cesarina Palacios Ramos, Nadir Pallqui Camacho, Antonio Peña Cruz, Freddy Ramirez Arevalo, José Reyna Huaymacari, Carlos Reynel Rodriguez, Marcos Antonio Ríos Paredes, Lily Rodriguez Bayona, Rocio del Pilar Rojas Gonzales, Maria Elena Rojas Peña, Norma Salinas Revilla, Yahn Carlos Soto Shareva, Raul Tupayachi Trujillo, Luis Valenzuela Gamarra, Rodolfo Vasquez Martinez, Jim Vega Arenas, Christian Amani, Suspense Averti Ifo, Yannick Bocko, Patrick Boundja, Romeo Ekoungoulou, Mireille Hockemba, Donatien Nzala, Alusine Fofanah, David Taylor, Guillermo Bañares-de Dios, Luis Cayuela, Íñigo Granzow-de la Cerda, Manuel Macía, Juliana Stropp, Maureen Playfair, Verginia Wortel, Toby Gardner, Robert Muscarella, Hari Priyadi, Ervan Rutishauser, Kuo-Jung Chao, Pantaleo Munishi, Olaf Bánki, Frans Bongers, Rene Boot, Gabriella Fredriksson, Jan Reitsma, Hans ter Steege, Tinde van Andel, Peter van de Meer, Peter van der Hout, Mark van Nieuwstadt, Bert van Ulft, Elmar Veenendaal, Ronald Vernimmen, Pieter Zuidema, Joeri Zwerts, Perpetra Akite, Robert Bitariho, Colin Chapman, Eilu Gerald, Miguel Leal, Patrick Mucunguzi, Miguel Alexiades, Timothy R. Baker, Karina Banda, Lindsay Banin, Jos Barlow, Amy Bennett, Erika Berenguer, Nicholas Berry, Neil M. Bird, George A. Blackburn, Francis Brearley, Roel Brienen, David Burslem, Lidiany Carvalho, Percival Cho, Fernanda Coelho, Murray Collins, David Coomes, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Greta Dargie, Kyle Dexter, Mat Disney, Freddie Draper, Muying Duan, Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, Robert Ewers, Belen Fadrique, Sophie Fauset, Ted R. Feldpausch, Filipe França, David Galbraith, Martin Gilpin, Emanuel Gloor, John Grace, Keith Hamer, David Harris, Tommaso Jucker, Michelle Kalamandeen, Bente Klitgaard, Aurora Levesley, Simon L. Lewis, Jeremy Lindsell, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Jon Lovett, Yadvinder Malhi, Toby Marthews, Emma McIntosh, Karina Melgaço, William Milliken, Edward Mitchard, Peter Moonlight, Sam Moore, Alexandra Morel, Julie Peacock, Kelvin Peh, Colin Pendry, R. Toby Pennington, Luciana de Oliveira Pereira, Carlos Peres, Oliver L. Phillips, Georgia Pickavance, Thomas Pugh, Lan Qie, Terhi Riutta, Katherine Roucoux, Casey Ryan, Tiina Sarkinen, Camila Silva Valeria, Dominick Spracklen, Suzanne Stas, Martin Sullivan, Michael Swaine, Joey Talbot, James Taplin, Geertje van der Heijden, Laura Vedovato, Simon Willcock, Mathew Williams, Luciana Alves, Patricia Alvarez Loayza, Gabriel Arellano, Cheryl Asa, Peter Ashton, Gregory Asner, Terry Brncic, Foster Brown, Robyn Burnham, Connie Clark, James Comiskey, Gabriel Damasco, Stuart Davies, Tony Di Fiore, Terry Erwin, William Farfan-Rios, Jefferson Hall, David Kenfack, Thomas Lovejoy, Roberta Martin, Olga Martha Montiel, John Pipoly, Nigel Pitman, John Poulsen, Richard Primack, Miles Silman, Marc Steininger, Varun Swamy, John Terborgh, Duncan Thomas, Peter Umunay, Maria Uriarte, Emilio Vilanova Torre, Ophelia Wang, Kenneth Young, Gerardo A. Aymard C., Lionel Hernández, Rafael Herrera Fernández, Hirma Ramírez-Angulo, Pedro Salcedo, Elio Sanoja, Julio Serrano, Armando Torres-Lezama, Tinh Cong Le, Trai Trong Le, Hieu Dang Tra