Dataset Information

Clusters of high abundance of plants detected from local indicators of spatial association (LISA) in a semi-deciduous tropical forest.

ABSTRACT: Plants are rarely randomly distributed across communities, and patchiness is a common spatial pattern in most tropical forests. Clusters of high density of plant individuals are related to internal and external forces, as well as to historical events. The detection of aggregated patterns of plant individuals allows for a better understanding of the internal and external factors that guide the distribution of species. The aim of this research was to detect and characterize clusters of high abundance of plants and species richness in semi-deciduous forests in the Dominican Republic. For this, we collected vegetation data from 575 quadrats in 23 transects (2300 m2 in total) within the Ocoa river basin. Using local Moran's I statistics, we isolated 18 quadrats of high density of individuals. We show that density of individuals can be 2.5 times larger on average than in non-aggregated quadrats, and can reach higher values for shrubs species as well as for palms and vines species. In addition, we found that shrub species are the most abundant group in aggregated quadrats, and density of tree species is significantly smaller than that of shrub species. High density quadrats are predominantly occupied by shrubs, palms and vines, following patterns of species composition and lithology. Detecting clusters of high density of individuals could help in the efficient assessment of richness in semi-deciduous tropical forests, and may support new conservation practices for this valuable but threatened ecosystem.

SUBMITTER: Martinez Batlle JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6292623 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Clusters of high abundance of plants detected from local indicators of spatial association (LISA) in a semi-deciduous tropical forest.

Martínez Batlle José Ramón JR van der Hoek Yntze Y

PloS one 20181213 12

Plants are rarely randomly distributed across communities, and patchiness is a common spatial pattern in most tropical forests. Clusters of high density of plant individuals are related to internal and external forces, as well as to historical events. The detection of aggregated patterns of plant individuals allows for a better understanding of the internal and external factors that guide the distribution of species. The aim of this research was to detect and characterize clusters of high abunda ...[more]

PMID: 30543650

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Project description:In the southern mountain ranges of Yunnan province, China, deep valleys of several large rivers create rain shadows with hot dry summers, and are locally designated tropical; towards the north, notably in the Lancang (Upper Mekong) valley, these regions may experience frost during winter. The woody forest canopy of these valleys is predominantly deciduous, with evergreen elements in the north, where the canopy is open and the forest savanna-like. However, we here present tall forest with a closed deciduous canopy and semi-evergreen subcanopy observed in hot dry valleys of these rivers and their tributaries in the tropical south. The structure and physiognomy of these forests resemble the tall (moist) deciduous forest formation widespread in South Asia and Indo-Burma. Furthermore, these forests are largely composed of tropical elements at both the generic (80%) and the species level (>70%), indicating that these forests are indeed tropical. We originally hypothesized that these isolated forests represent refugia of a pre-Holocene extension of tall (moist) deciduous forest formation of South Asia and Indo-Burma. The sample plot we established to test this hypothesis confirmed that these forests share the structure and physiognomy of the tall (moist) deciduous forest formation; however, the plots also showed that these forests lack the characteristic and dominant species of the formation's Indo-Burmese range. The tree flora, in particular, indicates that both deciduous and evergreen elements are instead mostly derived from the adjacent tropical semi-evergreen forests of tropical southern China; yet they also include an important endemic element, which implies that these forests have survived as refuges possibly since the Pliocene. The exceptional representation of evergreen elements in these forests indicates that they have rarely been subject to hot fires or domestic cattle browsing, adding to the unique nature of the forests and further justifying their strict conservation.

Project description:Two main theories have attempted to explain variation in plant species composition (?-diversity). Niche theory proposes that most of the variation is related to environment (environmental filtering), whereas neutral theory posits that dispersal limitation is the main driver of ?-diversity. In this study, we first explored how ?- and ?-diversity of plant functional groups defined by growth form (trees, shrubs and lianas, which represent different strategies of resource partitioning), and dispersal syndrome (autochory, anemochory and zoochory, which represent differences in dispersal limitation) vary with successional age and topographic position in a tropical dry forest. Second, we examined the effects of environmental, spatial, and spatially-structured environmental factors on ?-diversity of functional groups; we used the spatial structure of sampling sites as a proxy for dispersal limitation, and elevation, soil properties and forest stand age as indicators of environmental filtering. We recorded 200 species and 22,245 individuals in 276 plots; 120 species were trees, 41 shrubs and 39 lianas. We found that ?-diversity was highest for shrubs, intermediate for lianas and lowest for trees, and was slightly higher for zoochorous than for autochorous and anemochorous species. All three dispersal syndromes, trees and shrubs varied in composition among vegetation classes (successional age and topographic position), whilst lianas did not. ?-diversity was influenced mostly by proxies of environmental filtering, except for shrubs, for which the influence of dispersal limitation was more important. Stand age and topography significantly influenced ?-diversity across functional groups, but showed a low influence on ?-diversity -possibly due to the counterbalancing effect of resprouting on plant distribution and composition. Our results show that considering different plant functional groups reveals important differences in both ?- and ?-diversity patterns and correlates that are not apparent when focusing on overall woody plant diversity, and that have important implications for ecological theory and biodiversity conservation.

Dataset Information

Clusters of high abundance of plants detected from local indicators of spatial association (LISA) in a semi-deciduous tropical forest.

Publications

Clusters of high abundance of plants detected from local indicators of spatial association (LISA) in a semi-deciduous tropical forest.

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