Consistent, small effects of treefall disturbances on the composition and diversity of four Amazonian forests.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the resilience of moist tropical forests to treefall disturbance events is important for understanding the mechanisms that underlie species coexistence and for predicting the future composition of these ecosystems. Here, we test whether variation in the functional composition of Amazonian forests determines their resilience to disturbance.We studied the legacy of natural treefall disturbance events in four forests across Amazonia that differ substantially in functional composition. We compared the composition and diversity of all free-standing woody stems 2-10 cm diameter in previously disturbed and undisturbed 20 × 20 m subplots within 55, one-hectare, long-term forest inventory plots.Overall, stem number increased following disturbance, and species and functional compositio

SUBMITTER: Baker TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4991291 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature