Carson, Walter P.

Schnitzer, Stefan A.

English

epublications@Marquette

Marquette Universitye-Publications@MarquetteBiological Sciences Faculty Research andPublications Biological Sciences, Department of5-1-2003Book Review of Nouragues: Deep Rainforest Ecology,edited by Frans Bongers, Pierre Charles-Dominique, Pierre-Michel Forget and Marc TheryWalter P. CarsonUniversity of PittsburghStefan A. SchnitzerMarquette University, stefan.schnitzer@marquette.eduPublished version. Ecology, Vol. 84, No. 5 (May 1, 2003): 1340-1341. DOI. © 2003 EcologicalSociety of America. Used with permission.Stefan Schnitzer was affiliated with the University of Minnesota at the time of publication.Book Reviews1340Ecology, 84(5), 2003, pp. 1340–1341q 2003 by the Ecological Society of AmericaNOURAGUES: DEEP RAINFOREST ECOLOGYBongers, Frans, Pierre Charles-Dominique, Pierre-MichelForget, and Marc The´ry, editors. 2001. Nouragues: dynam-ics and plant-animal interactions in a neotropical rain-forest. Monographiae Biologicae. Volume 80. Kluwer, Bos-ton, Massachusetts. xvi 1 421 p. $115.00, e125.00, £79.00,ISBN: 1-4020-0123-1 (acid-free paper).In 1986, a group of dedicated tropical biologists fromFrance established a remote biological field station in themiddle of a 1000 km2 old-growth rainforest in French Guiana.The site is named in reference to indigenous groups who werepresent in the area up until the 18th century. The goal of thepresent edited volume is to ‘‘present a synthesis of the sci-entific output of the research undertaken’’ to date. The ob-jective was not to present an ‘‘exhaustive overview’’ of theforest but rather to synthesize the results of research programsthat were active at the station. The resident research programswere operating under the assumption that ‘‘long evolutionaryprocesses lead plant and animal communities of different phy-letic lineages to establish complex interactions that governforest dynamics and the distribution of biodiversity.’’The book is divided into five parts including an introductionand sections entitled ‘‘Plant communities,’’ ‘‘Vertebrate com-munities and evolutionary ecology,’’ ‘‘Frugivory and seeddispersal,’’ ‘‘Forest dynamics and recruitment,’’ as well asan extensive set of appendices listing the major plant andvertebrate taxa. The book is focused primarily on vertebratesand the interactions of vertebrates and seed dispersal, topicsthat reflect the interests of the founders of the Nouragues site.The flow of these sections and chapters was logical and wellorganized.The first section consisted of three chapters that introducedthe field station, geography, and climate, as well as an oddlyplaced chapter detailing understory light environments. Thislatter chapter explored patterns of understory light quality,for which few data exist, and confirmed patterns of lightquantity, many of which have been found elsewhere. It wouldhave been helpful, however, if the patterns of light qualityhad been included in a broader theoretical context, explainingwhy these patterns were important. The chapter describingthe field station and its history was brief and to the point,with photos displaying the gridded 501 ha permanent forestplot as well as the housing facilities and the canopy walkway.With regard to research, one never really obtained a feel forwhat sorts of studies would be allowed and encouraged atthe site. Apparently, experimental studies are allowed, but towhat extent is unclear. Regardless, the site seems a very at-tractive place to conduct research and this is certainly a sitemore North, Central, and South American scientists shouldconsider for their own research (for more information see^www.cnrs.fr/nouragues&). Indeed, only six of the 43 con-tributors came from countries other than France and TheNetherlands. This is not a criticism but rather suggests anopportunity for North American and Latin American tropicalbiologists to interact with European biologists at this site.Perhaps the Organization of Tropical Studies or the Smith-sonian could be enticed to explore some cross-site compar-isons with the Nouragues station.The section on plant communities consisted of four chap-ters, one of which was focused on paleoecology. These chap-ters gave a very nice introduction to the community ecologyof the site and the tremendous plant species diversity foundthere. Nearly half of the tree species, however, remain un-identified below the family level. Rectifying this situation iscurrently an immediate priority of the botanical researchers.The coverage of the flora goes well beyond descriptions oflowland high rainforest and includes very nice descriptionsof more xeric vegetation types that are associated with in-selbergs and granite outcrops. The current descriptive worksets the stage for more experimental and process-orientedstudies that will be necessary in order to understand the causesfor the observed patterns. The chapter on paleoecology pro-vides a nice, albeit brief, discussion of the interaction of bothshort-term and long-term temporal processes in shaping foreststructure and composition.The chapters in the section on vertebrate communities andevolutionary ecology focused on the diversity and compo-sition of primates, bats, birds, fishes, and amphibians andreptiles. In general, these chapters were well done and wellwritten, though typically the result of relatively short-termstudies of a few years or less. Consequently, it was hard toget a feel for interannual variability in the taxa of interest. Achapter on canopy positional differences among primatesseemed a bit out of place and could probably have been betterjustified in terms of the scientific motivations. There was astrong chapter on the adaptive significance of flocking inbirds.The section on frugivory and seed dispersal was nicelydone and informative. The opening chapter, although brief,demonstrates the thoroughness of much of the research atNouragues and confirms once again the importance of animaldispersal in tropical forests. For example, primates could cre-ate clumped patterns of seedling recruitment that could ap-parently overwhelm the subsequent effects of predators andpathogens that attack these seedlings in these localized patch-es. A chapter on bat frugivory and seed dispersal was quitethorough, but drew conclusions about species coexistence andthe intensity of interspecific competition based upon putativeniche differences; such conclusions are fraught with dangerand circular in their reasoning. We suggest that these con-clusions are in fact testable hypotheses that warrant furtherinvestigation. A chapter on frugivory and dispersal by kin-kajous provided a wealth of information on this common butlittle-studied mammal.The final section of the book focused on forest dynamicsand recruitment and, in our view, was the strongest part ofthe book, but this may very well reflect our own researchMay 2003 1341BOOK REVIEWbiases and interests. The chapter on tree-fall gaps provideda valuable comparison of gaps among tropical forests and ofcontrasting methods used to estimate gap size (methods byBrokaw, Runkle, and Van der Meer). The results demonstrat-ed that, depending upon the method used, new canopy gapsranged annually from less than 0.2% to more than 2% of thestudy area. A chapter devoted to the ecology of root climbingvines in the Cyclanthaceae and Araceae shed light on animportant guild of plants that have received very little atten-tion. This chapter combined studies of both biotic (dispersal)and abiotic (e.g., humidity and light) factors that togetherinfluenced observed patterns of recruitment. There were twoinformative back-to-back chapters on the relationship be-tween seed predators/dispersers and recruitment. A muchgreater sample size of species (only four species in two fam-ilies in one study) would significantly increase the value ofthese studies and allow more substantive generalizations andconclusions. Regardless, these chapters were valuable and inone the authors made the salient point that the evidence fora mutualistic relationship between scatterhoarders and theirfood source is ‘‘merely circumstantial’’ and based on limitedevidence. The authors then provided a concise and thoughtfulreview weighing that evidence.Overall, the editors and contributors are to be congratulatedfor producing an excellent volume. They have established anew and important research site in South America and havenow completed many of the baseline studies that will makethis site attractive for researchers worldwide. Greater inte-gration and collaboration among this site with other sites inLatin America would be beneficial for all scientists involved.WALTER P. CARSONUniversity of PittsburghDepartment of Biological SciencesPittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260E-mail: walt1@pitt.eduSTEFAN SCHNITZERUniversity of MinnesotaDepartment of Forest ResourcesSt. Paul, Minnesota 55108Current address: University of Wisconsin–MilwaukeeDepartment of BiologyMilwaukee, Wisconsin 53211E-mail: schnitze@uwn.eduEcology, 84(5), 2003, pp. 1341–1343q 2003 by the Ecological Society of AmericaMATRIX MATTERSLindenmayer, David B., and Jerry F. Franklin. 2002. Con-serving forest biodiversity: a comprehensive multiscaledapproach. Island Press, Washington, D.C. xiv 1 351 p.$70.00 (cloth), ISBN: 1-55963-934-2 (alk. paper); $35.00(paper), ISBN: 1-55963-935-0 (alk. paper).During the past 20 years, conservation of forest biodiver-sity has emerged as a common conservation goal. Today fewwould argue that national parks, preserves, wilderness areas,and other protected areas will be sufficient to conserve bio-diversity effectively, either in North America or globally. Thisis principally because these protected areas are generally lo-cated in high elevation, remote, or low productivity sites andare highly fragmented. Ecological processes and human ac-tivities occurring outside of these protected areas (the ‘‘ma-trix’’) have a profound influence on biodiversity. There arefew books that can provide ecologists, conservationists, andland managers with practical advice on how to deal with thechallenging and critical problem of conserving forest biodi-versity in heavily impacted landscapes. Conserving forest bio-diversity is a welcome contribution in this arena, outlininggeneral principles and a useful, multi-scale framework. Thebook also provides many illuminating examples of the ap-plication of this framework to specific conservation problemson disparate parts of the globe. Lindenmayer and Franklinare in an excellent position to provide important insights onthis topic. Not only has their research contributed to theframework for this complex topic, but they have been in-volved in many efforts over their careers to apply ecologicalprinciples to specific conservation issues in regions such assoutheastern Australia (especially mountain ash forests),coastal coniferous forests in the western U.S., and the Noth-ofagus forests of southern Chile.The topic of matrix management for biodiversity is vast,and rather than attempt an exhaustive review of all pertinentliterature the authors instead have provided some general syn-thetic principles and working hypotheses to build a usefulframework as well as to illustrate possible applications. Thebook is certainly not a substitute for a general book on con-servation biology or landscape ecology, but may work wellas a supplement to these topics for a advanced undergraduateor graduate level course.The book is divided into four major sections: ‘‘Principlesfor biodiversity conservation in the matrix,’’ ‘‘Biodiversityconservation across multiple spatial scales,’’ ‘‘Adaptive man-agement and the human aspects of matrix management,’’ andcase studies, for a total of 19 chapters. In the first sectionfour chapters provide an overview of key principles of land-scape ecology, conservation biology, and disturbance ecologyto build a framework for thinking about the key ways in whichmatrix processes and structures influence biodiversity in gen-eral and the biodiversity function of reserves in particular.Included are discussions on some of the controversies in thefield, including application of island biogeographic theory toforested landscapes, competing models of landscape struc-ture, value of corridors, indicator species, and fragmentation/edge effects in the temperate forest regions that are the main

Book Review of \u3cem\u3eNouragues: Deep Rainforest Ecology\u3c/em\u3e, edited by Frans Bongers, Pierre Charles-Dominique, Pierre-Michel Forget and Marc Thery

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Book Review of \u3cem\u3eNouragues: Deep Rainforest Ecology\u3c/em\u3e, edited by Frans Bongers, Pierre Charles-Dominique, Pierre-Michel Forget and Marc Thery

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