Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana Prevalence
ABSTRACT Lianas (woody vines and climbing monocots) are increasing in abundance in many tropical forests with uncertain consequences for forest functioning and recovery following disturbances. At a global scale, these increases are likely driven by disturbances and climate change. Yet, our understan...
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Wiley
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70374 |
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| author | Emma J. Mackintosh Catherine E. Waite Francis E. Putz Marion Pfeifer Chengrong Chen Zhongming Lan Sophie Brennan Andrew R. Marshall |
| author_facet | Emma J. Mackintosh Catherine E. Waite Francis E. Putz Marion Pfeifer Chengrong Chen Zhongming Lan Sophie Brennan Andrew R. Marshall |
| author_sort | Emma J. Mackintosh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Lianas (woody vines and climbing monocots) are increasing in abundance in many tropical forests with uncertain consequences for forest functioning and recovery following disturbances. At a global scale, these increases are likely driven by disturbances and climate change. Yet, our understanding of the environmental variables that drive liana prevalence at regional scales is incomplete and geographically biased towards Latin America. To address this gap, we present a comprehensive study evaluating the combined effects of climate, soil, disturbance and topography on liana prevalence in the Australian Wet Tropics. We established 31 20 × 20 m vegetation plots along an elevation gradient in low disturbance (canopy closure ≥ 75%) and high disturbance (canopy closure ≤ 25%) forest stands. In these plots, all tree and liana (defined as all woody dicot vines and climbing monocots, i.e., rattans) stems ≥ 1 cm DBH were measured and environmental data were collected on climate, soil and topography. Generalised linear models were used with multi‐model averaging to quantify the relative effects of the environmental variables on measures of liana prevalence (liana–tree basal area ratio, woody vine basal area and stem density and rattan stem density). Liana prevalence decreased with elevation but increased with disturbance and mean annual precipitation. The increase in the liana–tree ratio with precipitation was more pronounced for highly disturbed sites. Like other tropical regions, disturbance is an important driver of liana prevalence in Australian rainforests and appears to interact with climate to increase liana–tree ratios. The observed increase in liana–tree ratio with precipitation contrasts findings from elsewhere but is confounded by correlated changes in elevation and temperature, which highlights the importance of regional studies. Our findings show that forests with high disturbance and climatic conditions favourable to lianas are where lianas most likely to outcompete trees and impede forest recovery. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e984314295164967bc0d6f5b5f0bddbc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-e984314295164967bc0d6f5b5f0bddbc2025-08-20T02:52:37ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-10-011410n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70374Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana PrevalenceEmma J. Mackintosh0Catherine E. Waite1Francis E. Putz2Marion Pfeifer3Chengrong Chen4Zhongming Lan5Sophie Brennan6Andrew R. Marshall7Forest Research Institute University of the Sunshine Coast Sippy Downs Queensland AustraliaForest Research Institute University of the Sunshine Coast Sippy Downs Queensland AustraliaForest Research Institute University of the Sunshine Coast Sippy Downs Queensland AustraliaModelling, Evidence and Policy Research Group, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne UKSchool of Environment and Science Griffith University Brisbane Queensland AustraliaSchool of Environment and Science Griffith University Brisbane Queensland AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Conservation Sciences Murdoch University Perth Western Australia AustraliaForest Research Institute University of the Sunshine Coast Sippy Downs Queensland AustraliaABSTRACT Lianas (woody vines and climbing monocots) are increasing in abundance in many tropical forests with uncertain consequences for forest functioning and recovery following disturbances. At a global scale, these increases are likely driven by disturbances and climate change. Yet, our understanding of the environmental variables that drive liana prevalence at regional scales is incomplete and geographically biased towards Latin America. To address this gap, we present a comprehensive study evaluating the combined effects of climate, soil, disturbance and topography on liana prevalence in the Australian Wet Tropics. We established 31 20 × 20 m vegetation plots along an elevation gradient in low disturbance (canopy closure ≥ 75%) and high disturbance (canopy closure ≤ 25%) forest stands. In these plots, all tree and liana (defined as all woody dicot vines and climbing monocots, i.e., rattans) stems ≥ 1 cm DBH were measured and environmental data were collected on climate, soil and topography. Generalised linear models were used with multi‐model averaging to quantify the relative effects of the environmental variables on measures of liana prevalence (liana–tree basal area ratio, woody vine basal area and stem density and rattan stem density). Liana prevalence decreased with elevation but increased with disturbance and mean annual precipitation. The increase in the liana–tree ratio with precipitation was more pronounced for highly disturbed sites. Like other tropical regions, disturbance is an important driver of liana prevalence in Australian rainforests and appears to interact with climate to increase liana–tree ratios. The observed increase in liana–tree ratio with precipitation contrasts findings from elsewhere but is confounded by correlated changes in elevation and temperature, which highlights the importance of regional studies. Our findings show that forests with high disturbance and climatic conditions favourable to lianas are where lianas most likely to outcompete trees and impede forest recovery.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70374Australian wet tropicsenvironmental driversrainforestrattansrecoveryvines |
| spellingShingle | Emma J. Mackintosh Catherine E. Waite Francis E. Putz Marion Pfeifer Chengrong Chen Zhongming Lan Sophie Brennan Andrew R. Marshall Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana Prevalence Ecology and Evolution Australian wet tropics environmental drivers rainforest rattans recovery vines |
| title | Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana Prevalence |
| title_full | Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana Prevalence |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana Prevalence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana Prevalence |
| title_short | Effects of Climate, Soil, Topography and Disturbance on Liana Prevalence |
| title_sort | effects of climate soil topography and disturbance on liana prevalence |
| topic | Australian wet tropics environmental drivers rainforest rattans recovery vines |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70374 |
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