Species assemblages and their drivers differ between trees and lianas in a seasonal evergreen forest in Thailand
Issued Date
2024-08-01
Resource Type
eISSN
21508925
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85200869174
Journal Title
Ecosphere
Volume
15
Issue
8
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Ecosphere Vol.15 No.8 (2024)
Suggested Citation
Chanthorn W., Wiegand T., Nathalang A., Kanagaraj R., Davies S., Sun Z., Tripathi N.K., Réjou-Méchain M., Brockelman W.Y. Species assemblages and their drivers differ between trees and lianas in a seasonal evergreen forest in Thailand. Ecosphere Vol.15 No.8 (2024). doi:10.1002/ecs2.4942 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/100516
Title
Species assemblages and their drivers differ between trees and lianas in a seasonal evergreen forest in Thailand
Author's Affiliation
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Botanique & Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Kasetsart University
Institut Francais de Pondichery
Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences
Asian Institute of Technology Thailand
Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University
Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency
Botanique & Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Kasetsart University
Institut Francais de Pondichery
Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences
Asian Institute of Technology Thailand
Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University
Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency
Corresponding Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Despite a long tradition in ecology of studying tree species assembly and its potential drivers in tropical forest communities, little information exists with respect to lianas (woody climbers), the second most abundant life form of woody plants in tropical forests. Lianas influence forest diversity and stability and provide critical resources for forest fauna. Using a unique dataset of a 30-ha plot in Thailand, where tree and liana individuals were fully mapped, we investigated the degree to which local species assemblages of trees and lianas of different size classes (i.e., seedlings, established individuals, and large individuals) are related to local environmental conditions. We asked (1) What are the spatial patterns and environmental drivers of local tree and liana species assemblages? (2) How do such patterns and drivers differ among size classes? (3) Which species associate with these assemblages? Local assemblages of established trees showed substantial structuring by environmental variables, whereas we found only weakly structured assemblages of tree seedlings, large trees, and lianas of all size classes. Our results indicated that the biotic and abiotic drivers of local species assemblages differed strongly between tree and liana communities and across size classes. Species assemblages of trees were mainly driven by soil nutrients, leading to patchy assemblages associated with high base saturation (Alfisols) and assemblages associated with lower levels of base saturation and higher aluminum (Ultisols), whereas tree seedling assemblages were only weakly structured by riparian zones. In contrast, species assemblages of established and large lianas were primarily associated with forest canopy structure, separating low-canopy forests from high-canopy forests, whereas soil nutrients were the only factors associated with liana seedling assemblages. The weak environmental structuring of tree seedlings and large trees suggests that other mechanisms, such as stochastic disturbances, competition for space, or animal seed dispersal, may play an important role in structuring tree communities in this seasonal tropical forest. The weak patterns observed in liana communities across all life stages raise questions about the underlying mechanisms of liana community assembly, and further research should focus on liana niches, their dispersal mechanisms, and host tree relations.