The Role of Tree Traits During Transitions from Savanna to Forest

The Role of Tree Traits During Transitions from Savanna to Forest PDF Author: Samuel Walker Flake
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book Here

Book Description

The Role of Tree Traits During Transitions from Savanna to Forest

The Role of Tree Traits During Transitions from Savanna to Forest PDF Author: Samuel Walker Flake
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book Here

Book Description


Tree Seedling Recruitment Dynamics in Forest-savanna Transitions

Tree Seedling Recruitment Dynamics in Forest-savanna Transitions PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789463953887
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the transition between tropical forests and savannas, forest may be lost to savanna-like vegetation or may occasionally encroach on savannas affecting climate and other benefits to humans. Vegetation in the forest savanna-transition of Ghana often appears stable, except in forests with significant human-induced deforestation where forests are being replaced by savanna-like vegetation. This phenomenon is still poorly understood, but may be explained by how changes in vegetation controls (e.g. fire and precipitation) affect recruitment of forest and savanna-transition tree seedlings differently. Savanna-transition species occur both in forest and humid savanna. I showed that high grass biomass in savanna both directly (via competition) and indirectly (via dry season fire) select for species which invest higher in belowground resource capture and carbohydrate storage. Lower precipitation decreases chances of tree seedling recovery from defoliation disturbance, but allocation trait differences between forest and savanna-transition tree species may explain relative stability of transition forests and the lack of success of true forest species in the forest-savanna transition.

Evolution of Tree Architecture in the Brazilian Cerrado

Evolution of Tree Architecture in the Brazilian Cerrado PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
The tropical savanna-forest boundary is commonly characterized by an abrupt transition in vegetation structure and in tree species composition. It has been hypothesized that differences in architecture between savanna and forest trees have an important role in determining the contrasting structural differences between savanna and forest ecosystems. Because of the importance the vegetation structure in determining the ecosystem properties of these systems, I performed a comparative study of tree architecture to examine differences in plant structure of savanna and forest species. To eliminate the potential bias from phylogenetic relatedness, I used congeneric species pairs containing trees of both habitat types that occur sympatrically in savannas of the Brazilian cerrado habitat at IBGE Ecological Reserve (RECOR). I found that relative to savanna species, forest species have larger crown volumes with more apical meristems and greater height for a given stem diameter. Other traits that influence patterns of light interception also differed, with savanna species exhibiting more convoluted leaf blades and shorter petioles. There was evidence that allometry and other traits are convergent in savanna and forest tree species across lineages, providing strong support for adaptive functions of these traits. Furthermore, the larger canopies of forest species imply that they play a role in reduced light in the understory and the exclusion of grasses, which potentially facilitates further expansion of forest tree species in the absence of fire.

Only in Africa

Only in Africa PDF Author: Norman Owen-Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108832598
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 379

Get Book Here

Book Description
Demonstrates how Africa's physical features, savannas and abundant grazers enabled frugivorous apes to become savanna-living hunters.

Tropical Forests in Transition

Tropical Forests in Transition PDF Author: J. Goldammer
Publisher: Birkhäuser
ISBN: 3034872569
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
In evolutionary time scales natural disturbances have affected the vegetation on Earth. During the Quaternary the forest biomes of the tropics were subjected to manifold disturbances. Climate changes and climate oscillations were associated with changing precipitation and drought regimes, flooding, siltation, landslides, etc. The prehistorical forest was also influenced by the effects of large wildlife populations. Large-scale catastrophies in the forest biomes were mainly caused by abiotic environmental alterations, the small-scale disturbances were and still are related to both biotic and abiotic processes. Both the large-and the small-scale disturbances have played a significant role in shaping distribution, dynamics, structure and composition of the paleoforest. After the expansion of hominids and early humans, and later, by modern humans, the anthropogenic influences on the tropical forest began to overlap natural disturbances. Today's anthropogenic impacts on the tropical forests differ qualitatively and quanitatively from the natural disturbances. The speed of tropical deforestation and savannization is dramatically increasing. The physical and chemical impacts of forest conversion and biomass burning add to other anthropogenic influences on the atmosphere and climate. The expected anthropogenic climate change will also have considerable impacts on the tropical flora and fauna. The book on "Tropical Forests in Transition" synthesizes information on changing environmental conditions and human impacts on the tropical forest by looking back to the paleoecology, analyzing the impact of modern human populations and modeling the future of the tropical forest in a changing environment. The aim of the book is to strengthen multidisciplinary thinking in disturbance ecology.

Handbook of Functional Plant Ecology

Handbook of Functional Plant Ecology PDF Author: Francisco Pugnaire
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9780849390418
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 928

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Offers the latest findings and research breakthroughs in plant ecology, as well as consideration of classic topics in environmental science and ecology. This wide-ranging compendium serves as an extremely accessible and useful resource for relative newcomers to the field as well as seasoned experts. Investigates plant structure and behavior across the ecological spectrum, from the leaf to the ecosystem levels."

Neotropical Savannas and Seasonally Dry Forests

Neotropical Savannas and Seasonally Dry Forests PDF Author: R. Toby Pennington
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420004492
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 509

Get Book Here

Book Description
More often than not, when people think of a neotropical forest, what comes to mind is a rain forest, rather than a dry forest. Just as typically, when they imagine a savanna, they visualize the African plains, rather than those dry woodlands and grasslands found in the Neotropics. These same preconceptions can be found among scientists, as these ne

Trophic Ecology

Trophic Ecology PDF Author: Torrance C. Hanley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110707732X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Get Book Here

Book Description
Examining the interaction of bottom-up and top-down forces, it presents a unique synthesis of trophic interactions within and across ecosystems.

Revisiting the Biome Concept with a Functional Lens

Revisiting the Biome Concept with a Functional Lens PDF Author: Daniel M. Griffith
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889459306
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 112

Get Book Here

Book Description
Early biogeographers such as Alexander von Humboldt recognized the broad-scale coupling of vegetation and climate. This observation shaped the modern biome concept which organizes ecosystems by assumed relationships to environmental controls. This approach has been criticized for missing key impacts on the distribution and functioning of biomes like historical contingency, biogeographic history, disturbance ecology, and evolution. Are biomes still a convenient framework for organizing our understanding of biodiversity? What factors determine the functional differences among and within biomes, and at what spatial, temporal, and phylogenetic scales are those drivers most important? How can we better represent the functional characteristics and dynamics of ecosystems? This Research Topic highlights the latest discussions and research on biomes, drawing from a wide range of approaches spanning from macroecology and phylogeography to remote sensing and modelling ecosystem responses to global change.

Open Ecosystems

Open Ecosystems PDF Author: William J. Bond
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198812450
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Get Book Here

Book Description
Explores the geography, ecology, and antiquity of 'open ecosystems' which include grasslands, savannas, and shrublands.