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Forest structure drives changes in light heterogeneity during tropical secondary forest succession.

ABSTRACT: Light is a key resource for tree performance and hence, tree species partition spatial and temporal gradients in light availability. Although light distribution drives tree performance and species replacement during secondary forest succession, we yet lack understanding how light distribution changes with tropical forest development.This study aims to evaluate how changes in forest structure lead to changes in vertical and horizontal light heterogeneity during tropical forest succession.We described successional patterns in light using a chronosequence approach in which we compared 14 Mexican secondary forest stands that differ in age (8-32 years) since agricultural abandonment. For each stand, we measured vertical light profiles in 16 grid cells, and structural parameters (diameter at breast height, height and crown dimensions) for each tree.During succession, we found a rapid increase in stand size (basal area, crown area and length) and stand differentiation (i.e. a gradual leaf distribution along the forest profile), which leads to fast changes in light conditions and more light heterogeneity. The inflection points of the vertical light gradient (i.e. the absolute height at which 50% relative light intensity is attained) rapidly moved towards higher heights in the first 20 years, indicating that larger amounts of light are intercepted by canopy trees. Light attenuation rate (i.e. the rate of light extinction) decreased during succession due to slower accumulation of the crown area with height. Understorey light intensity and heterogeneity slightly decreased during succession because of an increase in crown size and a decrease in lateral gap frequency. Understorey relative light intensity was 1.56% at 32 years after abandonment.Synthesis. During succession, light conditions changed linearly, which should lead to a continuous and constant replacement of species. Especially in later successional stages, stronger vertical light gradients can limit the regeneration of light-demanding pioneer species and increase the proportion of shade-tolerant late-successional species under the canopy. These changes in light conditions were largely driven by the successional changes in forest structure, as basal area strongly determined the height where most light is absorbed, whereas crown area, and to a lesser extent crown length, determined light distribution.

SUBMITTER: Matsuo T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8453511 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Forest succession is important for sustainable forest management in terrestrial ecosystems. However, knowledge about the response of soil microbes to forest disease-driven succession is limited. In this study, we investigated the soil fungal biomass, soil enzyme activity, and fungal community structure and function in forests suffering succession processes produced by pine wilt disease from conifer to broadleaved forests using Illumina Miseq sequencing coupled with FUNGuild analysis. The results showed that the broadleaved forest had the highest fungal biomass and soil enzyme activities in C, N, and S cycles, whereas the conifer forest had the highest enzyme activity in the P cycle. Along the succession, the fungal diversity and richness significantly increased (P < 0.05). The fungal communities were dominated by Ascomycota (42.0%), Basidiomycota (38.0%), and Mortierellomycota (9.5%), among which the abundance of Ascomycota significantly increased (P < 0.05), whereas that of Basidiomycota and Mortierellomycota decreased (P < 0.05). The abundance of species Mortierella humilis, Lactarius salmonicolor, and Russula sanguinea decreased, whereas that of Mortierella minutissima increased (P < 0.05). The forests in different succession stages formed distinct fungal communities and functional structures (P < 0.05). Functionally, the saprotrophs, symbiotrophs, and pathotrophs were the dominant groups in the conifer, mixed, and broadleaved forests, respectively. Soil pH and soil organic carbon were the key factors influencing the fungal community and functional structures during the succession. These findings provide useful information for better understanding the plant-microbe interaction during forest succession caused by forest disease. IMPORTANCE The studies on soil fungal communities in disease-driven forest succession are rare. This study showed that during the disease-driven forest succession, the soil enzyme activity, soil fungal diversity, and biomass increased along succession. The disease-driven forest succession changed the soil fungal community structure and function, in which the symbiotrophs were the most dominant group along the succession. These findings provide useful information for better understanding the plant-microbe interaction during forest succession caused by forest disease.

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Forest structure drives changes in light heterogeneity during tropical secondary forest succession.

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