Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in Andean forests: Results from a large-scale plot network

Agustina Malizia; Cecilia Blundo; Julieta Carilla; Oriana Osinaga Acosta; Francisco Cuesta; Alvaro Duque; Nikolay Aguirre; Zhofre Aguirre; Michele Ataroff; Selene Baez; Marco Calderón-Loor; Leslie Cayola; Luis Cayuela; Sergio Ceballos; Hugo Cedillo; William Farfán Ríos; Kenneth J Feeley; Alfredo Fernando Fuentes; Luis E Gámez Álvarez; Ricardo Grau; Juergen Homeier; Oswaldo Jadan; Luis Daniel Llambi; María Isabel Loza Rivera; Manuel J Macía; Yadvinder Malhi; Lucio Malizia; Manuel Peralvo; Esteban Pinto; Sebastián Tello; Miles Silman; Kenneth R Young

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0231553

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Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in Andean forests: Results from a large-scale plot network

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Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in Andean forests: Results from a large-scale plot network

Agustina Malizia, Cecilia Blundo, Julieta Carilla, Oriana Osinaga Acosta, Francisco Cuesta, Alvaro Duque, Nikolay Aguirre, Zhofre Aguirre, Michele Ataroff, Selene Baez, …

PloS one, Vol.15(4), pp.e0231553-e0231553

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231553

PMCID: PMC7170706

PMID: 32311701

Appears in UM Open Access Research Published in PloS

Abstract

Our knowledge about the structure and function of Andean forests at regional scales remains limited. Current initiatives to study forests over continental or global scales still have important geographical gaps, particularly in regions such as the tropical and subtropical Andes. In this study, we assessed patterns of structure and tree species diversity along ~ 4000 km of latitude and ~ 4000 m of elevation range in Andean forests. We used the Andean Forest Network (Red de Bosques Andinos, https://redbosques.condesan.org/) database which, at present, includes 491 forest plots (totaling 156.3 ha, ranging from 0.01 to 6 ha) representing a total of 86,964 identified tree stems ≥ 10 cm diameter at breast height belonging to 2341 identified species, 584 genera and 133 botanical families. Tree stem density and basal area increases with elevation while species richness decreases. Stem density and species richness both decrease with latitude. Subtropical forests have distinct tree species composition compared to those in the tropical region. In addition, floristic similarity of subtropical plots is between 13 to 16% while similarity between tropical forest plots is between 3% to 9%. Overall, plots ~ 0.5-ha or larger may be preferred for describing patterns at regional scales in order to avoid plot size effects. We highlight the need to promote collaboration and capacity building among researchers in the Andean region (i.e., South-South cooperation) in order to generate and synthesize information at regional scale.

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.40 Forestry; 3.40.195 MaxEnt
Web Of Science research areas: Ecology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology

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Title: Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in Andean forests: Results from a large-scale plot network
Creators: Agustina Malizia - Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Tucumán, Argentina
Cecilia Blundo - Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Tucumán, Argentina
Julieta Carilla - Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Tucumán, Argentina
Oriana Osinaga Acosta - Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Tucumán, Argentina
Francisco Cuesta - Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina (CONDESAN), Quito, Ecuador
Alvaro Duque - Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
Nikolay Aguirre - Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales del Ambiente y la Biodiversidad, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Loja, Ecuador
Zhofre Aguirre - Herbario Reinaldo Espinoza, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Loja, Ecuador
Michele Ataroff - Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Ecológicas (ICAE), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
Selene Baez - Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador
Marco Calderón-Loor - Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia
Leslie Cayola - Missouri Botanical Garden, St, Louis, MO, United States of America
Luis Cayuela - Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, España
Sergio Ceballos - Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Tucumán, Argentina
Hugo Cedillo - Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
William Farfán Ríos - Herbario Vargas (CUZ), Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Cusco, Perú
Kenneth J Feeley - Department of Biology, University of Miami, Florida, United States of America
Alfredo Fernando Fuentes - Missouri Botanical Garden, St, Louis, MO, United States of America
Luis E Gámez Álvarez - Laboratorio de Dendrología, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
Ricardo Grau - Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Tucumán, Argentina
Juergen Homeier - Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use (CBL), University of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany
Oswaldo Jadan - Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador
Luis Daniel Llambi - Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador
María Isabel Loza Rivera - Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, St, Louis, MO, United States of America
Manuel J Macía - Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, España
Yadvinder Malhi - Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Lucio Malizia - Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
Manuel Peralvo - Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina (CONDESAN), Quito, Ecuador
Esteban Pinto - Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina (CONDESAN), Quito, Ecuador
Sebastián Tello - Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, St, Louis, MO, United States of America
Miles Silman - Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America
Kenneth R Young - Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Austin Texas, Texas, United States of America
Publication Details: PloS one, Vol.15(4), pp.e0231553-e0231553
Publisher: United States
Academic Unit: College of A&S; A&S - Biology
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
PMID: 32311701
PMCID: PMC7170706
Record Identifier: 991031576955402976