Soil-induced impacts on forest structure drive coarse woody debris stocks across central Amazonia
Martins, DL; Schietti, J; Feldpausch, T.R.; et al.Luizão, FJ; Phillips, OL; Andrade, A; Castilho, CV; Laurance, SG; Oliveira, Á; Amaral, IL; Toledo, JJ; Lugli, LF; Veiga Pinto, JLP; Oblitas Mendoza, EM; Quesada, CA
Date: 1 January 2015
Article
Journal
Plant Ecology and Diversity
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Publisher DOI
Abstract
© 2014, © 2014 Botanical Society of Scotland and Taylor & Francis. Background: Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an essential component in tropical forest ecosystems and its quantity varies widely with forest types. Aims: Relationships among CWD, soil, forest structure and other environmental factors were analysed to understand the drivers ...
© 2014, © 2014 Botanical Society of Scotland and Taylor & Francis. Background: Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an essential component in tropical forest ecosystems and its quantity varies widely with forest types. Aims: Relationships among CWD, soil, forest structure and other environmental factors were analysed to understand the drivers of variation in CWD in forests on different soil types across central Amazonia. Methods: To estimate CWD stocks and density of dead wood debris, 75 permanent forest plots of 0.5 ha in size were assessed along a transect that spanned ca. 700 km in undisturbed forests from north of the Rio Negro to south of the Rio Amazonas. Soil physical properties were evaluated by digging 2-m-deep pits and by taking auger samples. Results: Soil physical properties were the best predictors of CWD stocks; 37% of its variation was explained by effective soil depth. CWD stocks had a two-fold variation across a gradient of physical soil constraints (i.e. effective soil depth, anoxia and soil structure). Average biomass per tree was related to physical soil constraints, which, in turn, had a strong relationship with local CWD stocks. Conclusions: Soil physical properties appear to control average biomass per tree (and through this affect forest structure and dynamics), which, in turn, is correlated with CWD production and stocks.
Geography - old structure
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