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Abstract Species composition and community structure in Neotropical forests have been severely affected by increases in climate change and disturbance. Among the most conspicuous changes is the proliferation of lianas. These increases have affected not only the carbon storage capacity of forests but also tree dynamics by reducing tree growth and increasing mortality. Despite the importance of lianas in Neotropical forests, most of the studies on lianas have focused on adult stages, ignoring dynamics at the seedlings stage. Here, we asked whether observed increases in liana abundance are associated with a demographic advantage that emerges early in liana ontogeny and with decreased precipitation and increased disturbance. To test this, we compared patterns of growth and survival between liana seedlings and tree seedlings using a long‐term data set of seedling plots from a subtropical wet forest in Puerto Rico, USA. Then, we examined the effect of precipitation and land use history on these demographic variables. We found evidence for liana seedling survival advantage over trees, but no growth advantages. This survival advantage exhibited significant temporal variation linked with patterns of rainfall, as well as differences associated with land‐use history in the study area. Furthermore, we found that neighborhood density has a negative effect on liana survival and growth. Our results indicate that liana proliferation is likely related to a survival advantage that emerges in early stages and is influenced by climatic conditions and past disturbance. Predicted climatic changes in rainfall patterns, including more frequent and severe droughts, together with increases in disturbance, could have a significant effect on seedling tropical communities by favoring lianas.
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Liana versus tree seedling responses to spatial and temporal variation in dry season severity
Abstract Lianas are key components of tropical forests, particularly at sites with more severe dry seasons. In contrast, trees are more abundant and speciose in wetter areas. The seasonal growth advantage (SGA) hypothesis postulates that such contrasting distributions are produced by higher liana growth relative to trees during seasonal droughts. The SGA has been investigated for larger size classes (e.g., ≥5 cm diameter at 1.3 m, dbh), but rarely for seedlings. Using eight annual censuses of >12,000 seedlings of 483 tree and liana species conducted at eight 1‐ha plots spanning a strong rainfall gradient in central Panama, we evaluated whether liana seedlings had higher growth and/or survival rates than tree seedlings at sites with stronger droughts. We also tested whether an extreme El Niño drought during the study period had a more negative effect on tree compared to liana seedlings. The absolute density of liana seedlings was similar across the rainfall gradient, ranging from 0.32 individuals/m2(0.20–0.49, 95% credible interval [CI]) at the driest end of the gradient and 0.27 individuals/m2(0.13–0.51 95% CI) at the wettest end of the gradient. The relative density of liana seedlings compared to tree seedlings was higher at sites with stronger dry seasons (0.27, 0.21–0.33, 95% CI), compared to wetter sites (0.12, 0.04–0.20 95% CI), due to lower tree seedling densities at drier sites. However, liana seedlings did not grow or survive better than tree seedlings in drier sites compared to wetter sites. Tree seedlings were more negatively impacted in terms of mortality by the extreme El Niño drought than liana seedlings, with an increase in annual mortality rate of 0.013 (0.003–0.025 95% CI) compared to lianas of −0.009 (−0.028 to 0.008 95% CI), but not growth. Our results indicate that lianas do not have a SGA over trees at the seedling stage. Instead, higher survival of liana versus tree seedlings during severe droughts or differences in liana versus tree fecundity or germination across the rainfall gradient likely explain why liana seedlings have higher relative densities at drier sites.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1845403
- PAR ID:
- 10598459
- Publisher / Repository:
- Ecological Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ecosphere
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 2150-8925
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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