Abstract
Bamboos have been consistently excluded from ecological studies and monitoring efforts, particularly in the Neotropics. However, the extreme abundance, diversity and unique physiology of bamboos make them strong competitors, with potential to influence the structure and functioning of surrounding trees and forests. In my dissertation, I combined multiple approaches to increase our understanding of bamboo-tree interaction. I did this across a range of critical ecosystems from the Amazon to the high elevation puna in the Peruvian Andes.
I first developed a monitoring protocol with guidelines to facilitate and promote bamboo data collection. I used this protocol to carry out a bamboo census in seven permanent plots in the Andes. I found a negative association between bamboo abundance and tree basal area, driven by reduced tree density. To study the effect of bamboo on forest functioning along an entire bamboo lifecycle, I used remote sensing proxies of productivity and water content from a time-series of Landsat images (1989-2017). I found a strong influence of bamboo phenology and life-stage in the long-term and seasonal functioning of Amazonian bamboo-dominated forests. In particular, bamboo exerts strong control over local water availability.
To further understand bamboo physiology, I collected data on leaf functional traits and climatic tolerances of 22 woody bamboo species along the Amazon-Andes transect. I found that bamboos maintain an acquisitive strategy throughout the gradient. Low elevation species show low tolerance to drought and high tolerance to temperature, and the opposite in high elevation species. Climatic tolerances are better predicted by climate than by the combination of leaf traits. Finally, I described two new species of Chusquea.