High tree diversity enhances light interception in tropical forests

Author(s)

Duarte, Marina Melo ^[1] ; Moral, Rafael de Andrade ^[2] ; Guillemot, Joannes ^{[3, 4, 5]} ; Zuim, Caroline Isaac Ferreira ^[5] ; Potvin, Catherine ^[6] ; Bonat, Wagner Hugo ^[7] ; Stape, Jose Luiz ^[8] ; Brancalion, Pedro H. S. ^[5]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo ESALQ USP, Dept Biol Sci, Luiz de Queiroz Coll Agr, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Maynooth Univ, Dept Math & Stat, Maynooth, Kildare - Ireland

^[3] CIRAD, UMR Eco & Sols, Montpellier - France

^[4] Univ Montpellier, Eco & Sols, CIRAD, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier - France

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo ESALQ USP, Dept Forest Sci, Luiz de Queiroz Coll Agr, Piracicaba - Brazil

^[6] McGill Univ, Dept Biol, Montreal, PQ - Canada

^[7] Univ Fed Parana, Dept Stat, Curitiba, Parana - Brazil

^[8] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Dept Forest Sci, Botucatu, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY; v. 109, n. 7, p. 2597-2611, JUL 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Understanding the processes that underlie the effects of tree diversity on primary production is of foremost importance to enhance climate change mitigation by tropical forests. Here, we investigated the effects of tree diversity on light interception over space and time in two tropical tree experiments, located in Panama-Sardinilla site (monocultures to 18-species mixtures), and in Brazil-Anhembi site (20- to 114-species mixtures). We assessed intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (iPAR) over horizontal grids and vertical transects (up to 5 m high in Sardinilla and up to 4 m high in Anhembi), in plots containing different richness levels and combinations of species. Light interception increased from monocultures to 5-species mixtures in Sardinilla and from 20- to 114-species mixtures in Anhembi (during the dry season). At the Sardinilla site, five-species mixtures showed iPAR comparable to the best performing monocultures, despite substantial differences observed among monocultures. Diversity-iPAR relationships changed seasonally and were more pronounced during the dry season. Tree richness promoted a less variable temporal and spatial (i.e. both horizontal and vertical) distribution of light interception. Synthesis. High tree diversity (i.e. over a hundred species in mixture) maximizes the amount of light intercepted by the canopy in restored tropical forests through more even capture in space and time. Diversity-light interception relationships should be critically considered for designing cost-efficient large-scale tropical forest restoration programs. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/18416-2 - Understanding restored forests for benefiting people and nature - NewFor
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/50718-5 - Ecological restoration of riparian forests, native forest of economic production and of degraded forest fragments (in APP and RL) based on restoration ecology of reference ecosystems in order to scientifically test the precepts of the New Brazilian Forest Code
• Grantee: Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants