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Determinants of tree distribution in tropical forests: assessing the impact of dry season intensity and soil species by species

Bettina Engelbrecht1, Benjamin Turner2, Delicia Pino1, Richard Condit2
1 Pflanzenoekologie, Uni Bayreuth
2 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

O 2.2 in Biodiversität: Verbreitung, Funktion und Erhaltung

11.10.2012, 09:45-10:00, H8

Understanding which factors shape species distributions, community composition and ecosystem function in tropical forests is one of the most pressing issues in global change vegetation modelling. There has been a long-term interest in how climate and nutrients, especially phosphorus, limit tropical forests, however, to date little robust information on the relative importance of the various factors is available.

We analysed the distribution of 556 tree species in response to dry season intensity and eight soil chemical properties based on rainfall data, extensive soil analyses, and tree inventories at 72 sites across the Isthmus of Panama, an area that exhibits a strong rainfall gradient and a high diversity of soils within about 650 km2. We show that dry season intensity and phosphorus are the strongest drivers of distribution patterns of individual species, and community-wide these two factors affected the highest percentage of species: over 50% of the species responded substantially to each. Individual species showed a wide variation of distribution patterns with respect to moisture and phosphorus. Some species responded to calcium, but other nutrients had little impact.    

 This is the first time the importance of individual edaphic factors for regional scale tree distribution patterns has been conclusively assessed both at the species level and across the entire community. The results underline the importance of incorporating both dry season intensity and phosphorus into models predicting species distribution, community composition and ecosystem function of tropical forests under global change scenarios.



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Letzte Änderung 22.09.2012