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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Marion PfeiferORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. Lianas, or woody vines, are key components of many tropical forests and can have substantial impacts on the dynamics and functioning of these important ecosystems. Their competition with trees for resources, in particular light, can hamper the recovery of forests from disturbances. Yet, it is unclear how forest disturbance interacts with liana–tree ratio (LTR), topography and soil properties to shape tree dynamics and the trajectories of forest succession. Using temporal data from the Kilombero Valley and the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, we demonstrate how the dynamics of tree stems and biomass vary between secondary and old-growth forests with changes in the dominance of lianas and environmental gradients. Greater tree recruitment and mortality in secondary forests compared with old-growth forests suggested rapid regeneration processes and faster turnover. However, no significant differences were found in the net annual changes in the number or biomass of trees between secondary and old-growth forests. Our findings also showed that higher LTRs were positively associated with stem mortality but also with tree biomass growth, indicating a nuanced ecological role of lianas in forest ecosystems, which warrants further investigation to fully understand the causal factors at play. Net changes in tree stem numbers decreased significantly with elevation, implying climatic constraints on forest regeneration at higher elevations. Soil cation exchange capacity and organic carbon were found to significantly influence tree stem recruitment and net change in abundance, although their effects on biomass remained unclear. Synthesis: Our findings indicate that the recovery of tropical forests from disturbance in terms of the number and biomass of tree stems may be predictable along environmental gradients. These insights have the potential to broaden our capacity to develop more nuanced strategies that identify when and where tropical forests may require restoration interventions, with a focus on structural recovery.
Author(s): Ngute ASK, Pfeifer M, Schoeman DS, Gereau RE, Mnendendo HR, Lyatuu HM, Seki HA, Shirima DD, Marshall AR
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Ecology
Year: 2024
Pages: ePub ahead of Print
Online publication date: 13/06/2024
Acceptance date: 13/05/2024
Date deposited: 21/06/2024
ISSN (print): 0022-0477
ISSN (electronic): 1365-2745
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14347
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.14347
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