Skip to main content
PMC home page
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):421–436. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1431

Concerted changes in tropical forest structure and dynamics: evidence from 50 South American long-term plots.

S L Lewis 1, O L Phillips 1, T R Baker 1, J Lloyd 1, Y Malhi 1, S Almeida 1, N Higuchi 1, W F Laurance 1, D A Neill 1, J N M Silva 1, J Terborgh 1, A Torres Lezama 1, R Vásquez Martínez 1, S Brown 1, J Chave 1, C Kuebler 1, P Núñez Vargas 1, B Vinceti 1
PMCID: PMC1693337  PMID: 15212094

Abstract

Several widespread changes in the ecology of old-growth tropical forests have recently been documented for the late twentieth century, in particular an increase in stem turnover (pan-tropical), and an increase in above-ground biomass (neotropical). Whether these changes are synchronous and whether changes in growth are also occurring is not known. We analysed stand-level changes within 50 long-term monitoring plots from across South America spanning 1971-2002. We show that: (i) basal area (BA: sum of the cross-sectional areas of all trees in a plot) increased significantly over time (by 0.10 +/- 0.04 m2 ha(-1) yr(-1), mean +/- 95% CI); as did both (ii) stand-level BA growth rates (sum of the increments of BA of surviving trees and BA of new trees that recruited into a plot); and (iii) stand-level BA mortality rates (sum of the cross-sectional areas of all trees that died in a plot). Similar patterns were observed on a per-stem basis: (i) stem density (number of stems per hectare; 1 hectare is 10(4) m2) increased significantly over time (0.94 +/- 0.63 stems ha(-1) yr(-1)); as did both (ii) stem recruitment rates; and (iii) stem mortality rates. In relative terms, the pools of BA and stem density increased by 0.38 +/- 0.15% and 0.18 +/- 0.12% yr(-1), respectively. The fluxes into and out of these pools-stand-level BA growth, stand-level BA mortality, stem recruitment and stem mortality rates-increased, in relative terms, by an order of magnitude more. The gain terms (BA growth, stem recruitment) consistently exceeded the loss terms (BA loss, stem mortality) throughout the period, suggesting that whatever process is driving these changes was already acting before the plot network was established. Large long-term increases in stand-level BA growth and simultaneous increases in stand BA and stem density imply a continent-wide increase in resource availability which is increasing net primary productivity and altering forest dynamics. Continent-wide changes in incoming solar radiation, and increases in atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and air temperatures may have increased resource supply over recent decades, thus causing accelerated growth and increased dynamism across the world's largest tract of tropical forest.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (221.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baker Timothy R., Phillips Oliver L., Malhi Yadvinder, Almeida Samuel, Arroyo Luzmila, Di Fiore Anthony, Erwin Terry, Higuchi Niro, Killeen Timothy J., Laurance Susan G. Increasing biomass in Amazonian forest plots. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):353–365. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1422. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barlow Jos, Peres Carlos A. Ecological responses to el Niño-induced surface fires in central Brazilian Amazonia: management implications for flammable tropical forests. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):367–380. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1423. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chambers J. Q., Higuchi N., Tribuzy E. S., Trumbore S. E. Carbon sink for a century. Nature. 2001 Mar 22;410(6827):429–429. doi: 10.1038/35068624. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chambers Jeffrey Q., Silver Whendee L. Some aspects of ecophysiological and biogeochemical responses of tropical forests to atmospheric change. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):463–476. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1424. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Clark Deborah A. Sources or sinks? The responses of tropical forests to current and future climate and atmospheric composition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):477–491. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1426. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Drake Bert G., Gonzalez-Meler Miquel A., Long Steve P. MORE EFFICIENT PLANTS: A Consequence of Rising Atmospheric CO2? Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 1997 Jun;48(NaN):609–639. doi: 10.1146/annurev.arplant.48.1.609. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Enquist B. J., Niklas K. J. Invariant scaling relations across tree-dominated communities. Nature. 2001 Apr 5;410(6829):655–660. doi: 10.1038/35070500. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Galloway James N., Cowling Ellis B., Seitzinger Sybil P., Socolow Robert H. Reactive nitrogen: too much of a good thing? Ambio. 2002 Mar;31(2):60–63. doi: 10.1579/0044-7447-31.2.60. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gu Lianhong, Baldocchi Dennis D., Wofsy Steve C., Munger J. William, Michalsky Joseph J., Urbanski Shawn P., Boden Thomas A. Response of a deciduous forest to the Mount Pinatubo eruption: enhanced photosynthesis. Science. 2003 Mar 28;299(5615):2035–2038. doi: 10.1126/science.1078366. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Korner Christian. Atmospheric science. Slow in, rapid out--carbon flux studies and Kyoto targets. Science. 2003 May 23;300(5623):1242–1243. doi: 10.1126/science.1084460. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Körner Christian. Through enhanced tree dynamics carbon dioxide enrichment may cause tropical forests to lose carbon. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):493–498. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1429. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Laurance William F. Forest-climate interactions in fragmented tropical landscapes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):345–352. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1430. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lewis Simon L., Malhi Yadvinder, Phillips Oliver L. Fingerprinting the impacts of global change on tropical forests. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):437–462. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1432. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Malhi Y, Grace J. Tropical forests and atmospheric carbon dioxide. Trends Ecol Evol. 2000 Aug;15(8):332–337. doi: 10.1016/s0169-5347(00)01906-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Malhi Yadvinder, Wright James. Spatial patterns and recent trends in the climate of tropical rainforest regions. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):311–329. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1433. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Nemani Ramakrishna R., Keeling Charles D., Hashimoto Hirofumi, Jolly William M., Piper Stephen C., Tucker Compton J., Myneni Ranga B., Running Steven W. Climate-driven increases in global terrestrial net primary production from 1982 to 1999. Science. 2003 Jun 6;300(5625):1560–1563. doi: 10.1126/science.1082750. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Parmesan Camille, Yohe Gary. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature. 2003 Jan 2;421(6918):37–42. doi: 10.1038/nature01286. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Phillips O. L., Baker T. R., Arroyo L., Higuchi N., Killeen T. J., Laurance W. F., Lewis S. L., Lloyd J., Malhi Y., Monteagudo A. Pattern and process in Amazon tree turnover, 1976-2001. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 29;359(1443):381–407. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2003.1438. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Phillips O. L., Gentry A. H. Increasing turnover through time in tropical forests. Science. 1994 Feb 18;263(5149):954–958. doi: 10.1126/science.263.5149.954. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Phillips O. Response. Science. 1995 May 12;268(5212):894–895. doi: 10.1126/science.268.5212.894-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Phillips OL, Malhi Y, Higuchi N, Laurance WF, Nunez PV, Vasquez RM, Laurance SG, Ferreira LV, Stern M, Brown S. Changes in the carbon balance of tropical forests: evidence from long-term plots . Science. 1998 Oct 16;282(5388):439–442. doi: 10.1126/science.282.5388.439. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Phillips Oliver L., Vásquez Martínez Rodolfo, Arroyo Luzmila, Baker Timothy R., Killeen Timothy, Lewis Simon L., Malhi Yadvinder, Monteagudo Mendoza Abel, Neill David, Núez Vargas Percy. Increasing dominance of large lianas in Amazonian forests. Nature. 2002 Aug 15;418(6899):770–774. doi: 10.1038/nature00926. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Sheil D. Evaluating turnover in tropical forests. Science. 1995 May 12;268(5212):894–894. doi: 10.1126/science.268.5212.894. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wielicki Bruce A., Wong Takmeng, Allan Richard P., Slingo Anthony, Kiehl Jeffrey T., Soden Brian J., Gordon C. T., Miller Alvin J., Yang Shi-Keng, Randall David A. Evidence for large decadal variability in the tropical mean radiative energy budget. Science. 2002 Feb 1;295(5556):841–844. doi: 10.1126/science.1065837. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are provided here courtesy of The Royal Society

RESOURCES