Dataset Information

Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling.

ABSTRACT: While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few 'hyperdominant' species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and producing woody carbon are concentrated in a small number of tree species, whether the most abundant species also dominate carbon cycling, and whether dominant species are characterized by specific functional traits. We find that dominance of forest function is even more concentrated in a few species than is dominance of tree abundance, with only ?1% of Amazon tree species responsible for 50% of carbon storage and productivity. Although those species that contribute most to biomass and productivity are often abundant, species maximum size is also influential, while the identity and ranking of dominant species varies by function and by region.

SUBMITTER: Fauset S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4423203 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling.

Fauset Sophie S Johnson Michelle O MO Gloor Manuel M Baker Timothy R TR Monteagudo M Abel A Brienen Roel J W RJ Feldpausch Ted R TR Lopez-Gonzalez Gabriela G Malhi Yadvinder Y ter Steege Hans H Pitman Nigel C A NC Baraloto Christopher C Engel Julien J Pétronelli Pascal P Andrade Ana A Camargo José Luís C JL Laurance Susan G W SG Laurance William F WF Chave Jerôme J Allie Elodie E Vargas Percy Núñez PN Terborgh John W JW Ruokolainen Kalle K Silveira Marcos M Aymard C Gerardo A GA Arroyo Luzmila L Bonal Damien D Ramirez-Angulo Hirma H Araujo-Murakami Alejandro A Neill David D Hérault Bruno B Dourdain Aurélie A Torres-Lezama Armando A Marimon Beatriz S BS Salomão Rafael P RP Comiskey James A JA Réjou-Méchain Maxime M Toledo Marisol M Licona Juan Carlos JC Alarcón Alfredo A Prieto Adriana A Rudas Agustín A van der Meer Peter J PJ Killeen Timothy J TJ Marimon Junior Ben-Hur BH Poorter Lourens L Boot Rene G A RG Stergios Basil B Torre Emilio Vilanova EV Costa Flávia R C FR Levis Carolina C Schietti Juliana J Souza Priscila P Groot Nikée N Arets Eric E Moscoso Victor Chama VC Castro Wendeson W Coronado Euridice N Honorio EN Peña-Claros Marielos M Stahl Clement C Barroso Jorcely J Talbot Joey J Vieira Ima Célia Guimarães IC van der Heijden Geertje G Thomas Raquel R Vos Vincent A VA Almeida Everton C EC Davila Esteban Álvarez EÁ Aragão Luiz E O C LE Erwin Terry L TL Morandi Paulo S PS de Oliveira Edmar Almeida EA Valadão Marco B X MB Zagt Roderick J RJ van der Hout Peter P Loayza Patricia Alvarez PA Pipoly John J JJ Wang Ophelia O Alexiades Miguel M Cerón Carlos E CE Huamantupa-Chuquimaco Isau I Di Fiore Anthony A Peacock Julie J Camacho Nadir C Pallqui NC Umetsu Ricardo K RK de Camargo Plínio Barbosa PB Burnham Robyn J RJ Herrera Rafael R Quesada Carlos A CA Stropp Juliana J Vieira Simone A SA Steininger Marc M Rodríguez Carlos Reynel CR Restrepo Zorayda Z Muelbert Adriane Esquivel AE Lewis Simon L SL Pickavance Georgia C GC Phillips Oliver L OL

Nature communications 20150428

While Amazonian forests are extraordinarily diverse, the abundance of trees is skewed strongly towards relatively few 'hyperdominant' species. In addition to their diversity, Amazonian trees are a key component of the global carbon cycle, assimilating and storing more carbon than any other ecosystem on Earth. Here we ask, using a unique data set of 530 forest plots, if the functions of storing and producing woody carbon are concentrated in a small number of tree species, whether the most abundan ...[more]

PMID: 25919449

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Project description:Drought-induced wildfires have increased in frequency and extent over the tropics. Yet, the long-term (greater than 10 years) responses of Amazonian lowland forests to fire disturbance are poorly known. To understand post-fire forest biomass dynamics, and to assess the time required for fire-affected forests to recover to pre-disturbance levels, we combined 16 single with 182 multiple forest census into a unique large-scale and long-term dataset across the Brazilian Amazonia. We quantified biomass, mortality and wood productivity of burned plots along a chronosequence of up to 31 years post-fire and compared to surrounding unburned plots measured simultaneously. Stem mortality and growth were assessed among functional groups. At the plot level, we found that fire-affected forests have biomass levels 24.8 ± 6.9% below the biomass value of unburned control plots after 31 years. This lower biomass state results from the elevated levels of biomass loss through mortality, which is not sufficiently compensated for by wood productivity (incremental growth + recruitment). At the stem level, we found major changes in mortality and growth rates up to 11 years post-fire. The post-fire stem mortality rates exceeded unburned control plots by 680% (i.e. greater than 40 cm diameter at breast height (DBH); 5-8 years since last fire) and 315% (i.e. greater than 0.7 g cm-3 wood density; 0.75-4 years since last fire). Our findings indicate that wildfires in humid tropical forests can significantly reduce forest biomass for decades by enhancing mortality rates of all trees, including large and high wood density trees, which store the largest amount of biomass in old-growth forests. This assessment of stem dynamics, therefore, demonstrates that wildfires slow down or stall the post-fire recovery of Amazonian forests.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial tropical carbon cycle: patterns, mechanisms and implications'.

Dataset Information

Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling.

Publications

Hyperdominance in Amazonian forest carbon cycling.

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