Evolutionary diversity is associated with wood productivity in Amazonian forests

Higher levels of taxonomic and evolutionary diversity are expected to maximize ecosystem function, yet their relative importance in driving variation in ecosystem function at large scales in diverse forests is unknown. Using 90 inventory plots across intact, lowland, terra firme, Amazonian forests and a new phylogeny including 526 angiosperm genera, we investigated the association between taxonomic and evolutionary metrics of diversity and two key measures of ecosystem function: aboveground wood productivity and biomass storage. While taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity were not important predictors of variation in biomass, both emerged as independent predictors of wood productivity. Amazon forests that contain greater evolutionary diversity and a higher proportion of rare species have higher productivity. While climatic and edaphic variables are together the strongest predictors of productivity, our results show that the evolutionary diversity of tree species in diverse forest stands also influences productivity. As our models accounted for wood density and tree size, they also suggest that additional, unstudied, evolutionarily correlated traits have significant effects on ecosystem function in tropical forests. Overall, our pan-Amazonian analysis shows that greater phylogenetic diversity translates into higher levels of ecosystem function: tropical forest communities with more distantly related taxa have greater wood productivity

Carbon uptake by mature Amazon forests has mitigated Amazon nations' carbon emissions

BACKGROUND: Several independent lines of evidence suggest that Amazon forests have provided a significant carbon sink service, and also that the Amazon carbon sink in intact, mature forests may now be threatened as a result of different processes. There has however been no work done to quantify non-land-use-change forest carbon fluxes on a national basis within Amazonia, or to place these national fluxes and their possible changes in the context of the major anthropogenic carbon fluxes in the region. Here we present a first attempt to interpret results from ground-based monitoring of mature forest carbon fluxes in a biogeographically, politically, and temporally differentiated way. Specifically, using results from a large long-term network of forest plots, we estimate the Amazon biomass carbon balance over the last three decades for the different regions and nine nations of Amazonia, and evaluate the magnitude and trajectory of these differentiated balances in relation to major national anthropogenic carbon emissions. RESULTS: The sink of carbon into mature forests has been remarkably geographically ubiquitous across Amazonia, being substantial and persistent in each of the five biogeographic regions within Amazonia. Between 1980 and 2010, it has more than mitigated the fossil fuel emissions of every single national economy, except that of Venezuela. For most nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname) the sink has probably additionally mitigated all anthropogenic carbon emissions due to Amazon deforestation and other land use change. While the sink has weakened in some regions since 2000, our analysis suggests that Amazon nations which are able to conserve large areas of natural and semi-natural landscape still contribute globally-significant carbon sequestration. CONCLUSIONS: Mature forests across all of Amazonia have contributed significantly to mitigating climate change for decades. Yet Amazon nations have not directly benefited from providing this global scale ecosystem service. We suggest that better monitoring and reporting of the carbon fluxes within mature forests, and understanding the drivers of changes in their balance, must become national, as well as international, priorities

Contrasting effects of tropospheric ozone on five native herbs which coexist in calcareous grassland

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of increased tropospheric ozone concentrations on the growth and morphology of five native herbs commonly found to coexist in calcareous grassland in areas of Britain and continental Europe: Anthyllis vulneraria L., Cirsium acaule (L.) Scop., Festuca ovina L., Pilosella offtcinarum F. Shultz & Shultz-Bip and Lotus comiculatus L.In a chronic fumigation (mean O3 concentration of 71 ppb (71 nl 1?1) for 7 h d?1 AOT40 4585 ppb-h) which lasted for 21 d, the effects of ozone were assessed using classical growth analysis. Large reductions in mean relative growth rates for shoot and root weight and root length were observed for the two legumes (Fabaceae) Lotus corniculatus and Anthyllis vulneraria, although these were only statistically significant for Lotus corniculatus. Significant reductions in specific root length (length per unit dry weight) were found for Cirsium acaule and Pilosella officinarum (Asteraceae), while for Festuca ovina (Poaceae) the allometric coefficient was reduced significantly following exposure to ozone.An acute fumigation (mean O3 concentration of 196 ppb, 7 h) resulted in a range of visible injury, from no injury (Festuca ovina and Pilosella officinarum) through moderate levels of injury (Cirsium acaule and Lotus corniculatus) to extensive and widespread injury (Anthyllis vulneraria). Scoring of visible damage showed that this was only statistically significant for the two legumes, Lotus corniculatus and Anthyllis vulneraria.These results suggest that native herbs may differ in their sensitivity to tropospheric ozone. Both chronic and acute exposures revealed that members of the Fabaceae may be most sensitive to ozone pollution, but the study also suggests that subtle changes in root morphology occurred for members of the Asteraceae. These findings are discussed in relation to the critical levels of ozone set recently for plants and the implications of increasing tropospheric ozone for the conservation of native plant communities

Competitive forests – making forests sustainable in south-west Ethiopia

The forests of south-west Ethiopia are declining and degrading largely because of the demand for agricultural land. This loss has significant global, national and local implications. This paper presents data on the economic revenues from various land uses and endeavours in the Cloud Forest and Coffee Forest, which facilitates understanding of the rationale behind the livelihood and land use choices made by individuals and communities. These choices are driven by the need to maximise economic benefits from the options available. In the Cloud Forest, the focus is on forest clearance so that smallholder agriculture production can expand. In the Coffee Forest, the increasing economic returns from small-scale coffee harvesting have meant that forest clearance has been halted, but the remaining forest is altered as a result of coffee cultivation. This paper identifies interventions that could increase the value of forest-based activities and products so that livelihood choices are more supportive of forest maintenance. It concludes that there is a need to maximise non-timber forest product revenue, alongside the development of other forest products, including wood and carbon, to make the forests competitive compared to agricultural land use. This exploitation of forest resources will not preserve these forests in pristine condition, but is a pragmatic response which could ensure that they continue to provide the majority of the economic, social and environmental services currently provided. However, to achieve this, major institutional and policy changes are required, as well as a significant investment in forest enterprise development and training and carbon funding through REDD+