Center for Tropical Forest Science

CTFS-SIGEO Celebrates 20 Years of Service from Suzanne Lao

2011-12-15T13:21:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Lao, CTFS-SIGEO data manager, began her career at the Smithsonian in Panama as a statistician for the Galeta Oil Spill Project in Naos, and then quickly shifted to CTFS, where she has stayed for almost two decades. Managing the data from the BCI 50 hectare plot has been Suzanne's main responsibility during her many years with CTFS. She recently mentioned that the high quality of the BCI data has also benefited from the great working relationship that she has with colleagues Rolando Pérez and Salomón Aguilar. Suzanne has taken experiences learned from BCI data management and used them to help other sites manage their data. Suzanne has also played a key role in training workshops for the network. Most recently, she has worked to migrate plot data into a modern web-accessible database system, helping transform the way CTFS partners manage and use their data.

Suzanne recently said that the best part of working for CTFS-SIGEO has been getting to know collaborators from different sites, first via email, and then through workshops. She calls the CTFS-SIGEO network a "family," despite differences in language, culture, and scientific approaches. Suzanne is proud of all she has achieved during her years with STRI, and is grateful for her colleagues, particularly Rick Condit, who supports her in learning new database and analytical tools. She looks forward to meeting new people and continuing to advance her knowledge as STRI and CTFS-SIGEO grow and change. The entire CTFS-SIGEO community thanks Suzanne for her commitment, expertise, and dedication to the global network.

California Temperate Forest Plot Joins CTFS-SIGEO Network

2011-12-14T10:07:00.000-05:00

The University of California Santa Cruz Forest Ecology Research Plot (UCSC-FERP), located in the UCSC Campus Natural Reserve, will expand from its original size of 6 ha to 16 ha as it joins the CTFS-SIGEO network. This Mediterranean climate, mixed evergreen coastal forest plot was originally established in 2007 by PI Gregory Gilbert and colleagues, and contains 8,180 tagged stems from 31 species and 18 families. The four dominant species are Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), Shreve's Oak (Quercus parvula var. shrevei) and Tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus); Fagaceae and Pinaceae together comprise three-fourths of all stems. Additional studies at the site investigate soil nutrients, texture, and moisture, as well as understory light conditions. There is also ongoing monitoring of phenology, micrometeorology, small terrestrial mammals, bats, fungi, and arthropods.

Plot expansion will bring several new aspects to the site, such as the ability to follow population dynamics, an expansion into different soil types, and the inclusion of an area that has undergone significant canopy mortality in the last two decades for unknown reasons. The expanded plot will also include a significant area of redwood-dominated forest. Over 100 students have already been involved in plot studies through undergraduate courses, senior theses, and internships, and this plot expansion promises expanded research and educational opportunities.

Dr. Gregory Gilbert in the UCSC forest dynamics plot

African Savanna Plot Joins the CTFS-SIGEO Network

2011-11-10T10:25:00.001-05:00

On August 14^th,2011, tree mapping and tagging began at the Mpala forest dynamics plot inKenya. The new plot is within the MpalaResearch Centre and Wildlife Foundation. The 150-hectare plot is the first CTFS-SIGEOplot in Savanna vegetation, with an open tree canopy and grassy and herbaceousunderstory. The plot traverses two distinct soil types: black cotton soils athigher elevations, which are dominated by the “whistling thorn” acacia (A. drepanolobium),and red clay soils in lower terrain, with a diverse flora of including several otheracacia species.

Mpala plot researchers with CTFS Africa Program Coordinator David Kenfack (far right)

Despite being almost onthe equator, the plot is 1,660 m above sea level and is consequently not asbotanically diverse as many CTFS-SIGEO tropical forest plots. The tree species diversity is estimated to bearound 100 species. Somecommon species include: Acacia mellifera,Acacia nilotica, Acacia brevispica, Acacia xanthophloea, Acacia etbaica, Bosciaangustifolia, Balanites aegyptiaca, Balanites glabra, Maerua sp.,Combretum molle, Mystroxylon sp., andScutia myritina.

Although of moderatebotanical diversity, the savanna has an exceptional diversity of wildlife,including: elephants, giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, hippos, lions, leopards,cheetahs, hyena, wild dogs, and many species of antelope. The herbivorousspecies have a huge impact on the plant community.

Before the commencementof the work at Mpala, twelve staff took part in a one-week training session wherethey learned CTFS standard field protocols and data management techniques. Theteam has already encountered several new challenges associated with the Savannaecosystem: many individual plants have multiple stems with low branching heights,many species have large, sharp thorns, and staff have to be alert, having toplay hide and seek with the elephants and other wildlife during fieldwork! As ofOctober 29, 2011, an area covering 13 ha had been mapped and tagged, andincluded seven species. As expected, tree density is low, with an average of792 trees per hectare.

Staline Kibet and David Kenfack contributed to this post.

Plot Census Finished in Pacific Northwest Temperate Forest of the U.S.

2011-11-01T15:07:00.005-04:00

Fieldwork for the establishment of the Wind River Forest Dynamics (WFDP) plot finished in early October. Located in southwest Washington State, the plot extends 800 m east-west and 320 m north-south, for a total area of 25.6 ha. This configuration matches the Yosemite Forest Dynamics Plot in California and the Wabikon Forest Dynamics Plot in Wisconsin. The WFDP has approximately 35,000 trees (data entry not yet complete). In addition to tagging all woody stems according to the CTFS protocol, the project has mapped snags ≥10 cm dbh, continuous patches of shrub cover ≥2 m², and large woody debris ≥50 cm diameter. Snags remain standing for decades in the Pacific Northwest, and constitute important habitat for vertebrates. Snag height and decomposition class will be measured as part of the 5-year measurements to track snag devolution over time. The project team measures shrubs because they form dense patches that inhibit tree regeneration, and woody debris because it can remain an important part of the ecosystem for centuries.


From left, Sean McMahon(SIGEO), Andy Jones (Oregon State), Stuart Davies (SIGEO), and Jim Lutz (WFDP PrincipalInvestigator) in front of a typical Douglas-fir, 72 meters tall.

Wind RiverForest Dynamics Plot 2011 volunteers, Rachel Mickey,

Cassie Gamm, Dani Lange, SeanJeronimo, and James Freund,

demonstrate their techniques on the last dayof nailing.

The WFDP was established by the PIs (Jim Lutz and Andrew Larson), their students, a dedicated and waterproof field crew, and a large cadre of volunteers. The grid survey was conducted by surveying professionals and instructors and students from University of Washington, University of Montana, and Clark College.

More information about the Wind River Forest Dynamics Plot can be found at http://depts.washington.edu/wfdp.

Publications: July-September 2011

2011-10-18T16:08:00.000-04:00

Arias García, J.C., Duque Montoya,A.J., Cárdenas López, D., 2009. Crecimiento diamétrico de un bosque delNoroccidente amazónico. Revista Colombia Amazónica Nueva Época Vol. 2, 57-64.

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Barreto Silva, J.S., Duque Montoya,A.J., Cárdenas López, D., Moreno Hurtado, F.H., 2010. Variación florística deespecies arbóreas a escala local en un bosque de tierra firme en la Amazoniacolombiana. Revista Acta Amazónica, 40(1): 179-188.

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Calle Rendón, B.R., Moreno Hurtado,F.H., Cárdenas López, D, 2011. Relación entre suelos y estructura del bosque enla Amazonía colombiana, Biología Tropical Vol. 59 (3): 1307-1322.

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Cárdenas López, D., Cordero Parada,Z., Salinas Nelson, R., Suárez Suárez, S., Zuluaga Trochez, A., Barreto Silva,J.S., Arias García, J.C.,, Castaño Arboleda, N., Duque Montoya,Á.J., Sua Tunjano, S., 2010. Composición florística de diez hectáreas de laParcela Permanente Amacayacu, Amazonia colombiana, Revista Colombia AmazónicaNueva Época Vol. 3: 141-177.

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Martin,A.R., and Thomas, S.C., 2011. A Reassessment of Carbon Content in TropicalTrees. PlosOne 6(8), e23533.

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McEwan,R.W., Lin, Y.-C., Sun, I.-F., Hsieh,C.-F., Su, S.H., Chang, L.-W., Song, G.-Z.M., Wang, H.-H., Hwong, J.-L., Lin,K.-C., Yang, K.-C., Chiang, J.-M., 2011. Topographic and bioticregulation of aboveground carbon storage in subtropical broad-leaved forests ofTaiwan. Forest Ecology and Management 262, 1817–1825.

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Peña, M.A.,Cárdenas López, D., Duque Montoya, A.J., 2010. Distribución de especies y su relación con lavariación ambiental y espacial a escala local en un bosque de tierra firme enla Amazonía colombiana. Revista Actualidades Biológicas, 32(92): 41-51.

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Rüger, N.,Berger, U., Hubbell, S.P., Vieilledent, G., Condit, R., 2011. Growth strategiesof tropical tree species: Disentangling light and size effects. PLoS ONE,6:e25330.

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Rüger, N.,Huth, A., Hubbell, S.P., Condit, R., 2011. Determinants of mortality across atropical lowland rainforest community. Oikos, 120:1047–1056.

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Van Breugel,M., J. Ransijn, D. Craven, F. Bongers, J. S. Hall, 2011. Estimating carbonstock in secondary forests: Decisions and uncertainties associated withallometric biomass models. Forest Ecology and Management 262, 1648–1657.

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Regional Meetings Promote Collaboration Between South American CTFS-SIGEO Plots

2011-10-14T13:20:00.000-04:00

From 19-24 September 2011, scientists from several Neotropicalforest plots met in Brazil to outline research goals and identify opportunitiesfor increased regional collaboration. Participants also presented their work atthe 10^th Brazilian Congress of Ecology symposium, which focused oncurrent research in large-scale plot networks such as CTFS-SIGEO, the São Paulo Permanent Plot network (PPP) and the Bolivian Forest Research Institute (IBIF).Meeting and symposium participants included Alvaro Duque from the National University of Colombia- Sede Medellin and PI for the Amacayacu plot, Alberto Vicentini from the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) and PI for the Manaus plot, Renato Valencia from the Papal Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE) and PI for the Yasuni plot, Alexandre deOliveira, from the University of São Paulo and PI for the Manaus and Ilha do Cardoso plots, and Tania Brenes,Neotropical Coordinator for CTFS-SIGEO. Researchers also had the uniqueopportunity to visit the Ilha do Cardoso plot, pictured below. This first-of-its-kind regional meeting was agreat success and will lead to expanded regional research collaborations.

Ilha do Cardoso forest plot

CTFS-SIGEO Grant Recipient Faith Inman-Narahari Investigates Seedling Dynamics in Hawai’i

2011-09-08T14:35:00.001-04:00

Doctoral candidate FaithInman-Narahari recently established 64 census stations to measure seed rain andseedling distribution, abundance, survival and growth within the mapped LaupāhoehoeForest Dynamics Plot, part of the Hawaiian Permanent Plot Network (HIPPNET). Supported by a CTFS-SIGEO research grant,Faith has applied ecological theory and studied forest plot dynamics patternsin the unique testing ground of the Hawaiian Islands. The most remotearchipelago in the world, Hawai’i contains 25 of the 35 global life zones andis known for relatively low levels of tree diversity and high levels ofendemism.

The results of the study provide a comparisonbetween the Hawaiian forests and other mainland and island forests.Interestingly, based on comparisons of published data from five other CTFS-SIGEOplot studies, Inman-Narahari has found that dispersal and habitat limitationand the proportion of species with significant habitat associations does notshow a clear relationship with global diversity patterns. The project willcontinue with support from the USDA Forest Service Institute of Pacific IslandsForestry (IPIF), the University of Hawai’i, the University of California LosAngeles, and the Garden Club of America. Future publications will include testsof the effects of habitat and negative density dependence on growth andsurvival in both wet and dry Hawaiian forest. More information about Faith’sresearch is available through UCLA and onher blog.

Faith Inman-Narahari records data in Hawaiian forest plot

NSF-Supported Scientific Exchange Fellow Erin Kurten Expands CTFS-SIGEO Partnerships in China

2011-08-11T09:20:00.000-04:00

The National Science Foundation grant to CTFS-SIGEO (DEB-1046113), in addition to supporting the recent workshop and symposium, provides support for a program of scientific exchange between the US and China. Young US-based researchers are spending periods of one to three months in collaborating labs in China to pursue studies on the dimensions of biological diversity in the world’s forests. Dr. Erin Kurten, post-doctoral fellow with CTFS at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, is the first of these fellows and will spend one month in Shenyang, home of the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute for Applied Ecology.

While in Shenyang, Erin is working directly with Dr. Zhanqing Hao (Professor and Head of the Research Center of Forest Ecology and Forestry Eco-Engineering at CAS) and his research group. Erin is helping develop of a set of guidelines for focal tree-based monitoring of tree phenology in CForBio forest plots. Additionally, she is collaborating with group members Dr. Xugao Wang and graduate student Yuqiang Zhao on a project to understand the mechanisms underlying a set of previously described positive and negative tree species associations.

Dr. Erin Kurten of CTFS- SIGEO works with Dr. Xugao Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Erin has been warmly welcomed by Dr. Hao’s group; they have helped her settle into Shenyang and are introducing her to the culinary diversity of Northeastern China. With more intellectual and culinary collaborations to come, Erin’s month in Shenyang promises to be a good one!

NSF-US and NSF-China Build Foundation for Bilateral Science Collaboration through support of CTFS-SIGEO and CForBio Science and Training Partnership

2011-08-05T10:01:00.000-04:00

A delegation from the US National Science Foundation met with counterparts from NSF-China in Beijing, China, on 27-28 July 2011, at a Biodiversity Symposium organized by CTFS-SIGEO and the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network (CForBio).

Representatives of both NSF and NSF-C spoke of the importance of their jointly funded program, “Dimensions of Biodiversity”, for building partnerships and strengthening capacity in biodiversity science between the US and China. The joint funding provides five years of support for workshops, scientific exchange visits, and the enhancement of bioinformatics tools for biodiversity research.

The goal of the program is to advance understanding of the multiple dimensions of biodiversity and how those dimensions relate to the resilience of forest communities. The long-term sustainability of forests and the services they provide depend on our ability to predict forest responses to changes in climate and land-use at a global scale.

Dimensions of Biodiversity Symposium, Beijing, China.

The NSF delegation included Penelope Firth, Deputy Director, Division of Environmental Biology; William Chang, Head of the East Asia and Pacific Program and Interim Executive Officer of International Science and Engineering; Emily Ashworth, Director of NSF China Office; and Program Officers James Wang, Sarah Mathews and Alan Tessier.

The NSF-China delegation included Zhenliang Yu, Ecology Division Director; Yinghui Liu, Ecology Program Director; Huai Chen, Director Division of American, Oceanian and Eastern European Programs; and Xiuping Liu, Program Manager, Division of American, Oceanian and Eastern European Programs.

CTFS-SIGEO/CForBio Analytical Workshop and Symposium in China Underway

2011-07-19T08:57:00.002-04:00

Working group participants in Changbaishan Station.

by Tania Brenes

Between the 13th and 29th of July, 2011 CTFS-SIGEO scientists are participating in an Analytical Workshop and Symposium in China. We are currently staying at the Changbaishan Field Station in the province of Jilin in Northeast China doing analytical work. There are over 60 participants from 16 different countries and regions. For two weeks, different work groups will be focused on analyzing CTFS-SIGEO data to answer questions about long term changes in forest dynamics, phylogenetics and diversity, functional traits, spatial patterns, carbon and biomass and seedling recruitment. Our analytical work is complemented by informal talks and the exciting cultural diversity of the group.

The workshop will end with a two day symposium in Beijing on “Diversity and Forest Change”. This is the first of a series of five workshops funded by NSF-US and NSF-China, and was organized by CTFS-SIGEO and CforBio.

Participants walk to the field station.

Hong Kong Global Forest Observatory Plot Launches with Workshop and Ceremony

2011-07-06T11:52:00.000-04:00

On June 25, the Kadoorie Institute of Hong Kong University celebrated the opening of a new forest dynamics plot in Hong Kong. HSBC’s Hong Kong Bank Foundation donated more than USD 700,000 over three years for the plot, which will enable scientific research on forest dynamics in relation to climate change while providing opportunities for public to engagement in citizen science.

CTFS Director Stuart Davies and Principal Investigator Billy Hau of Hong Kong University (HKU) led a one-day workshop on June 24, training twenty-five participants in plot establishment following the standard CTFS protocols. Participants came from the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, and Hong Kong University’s School of Biological Sciences and Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre.

An official launch of the Global Forest Observatory was held on June 25 at the Kadoorie Institute Shek Kong Centre (KISK) where a 1-hectare training plot is also being established. The opening was presided over by Teresa Au (Head of Corporate Sustainability, Asia Pacific Region, HSBC), Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui (Vice Chancellor and President, Hong Kong University) and Joseph Sham Chun-hung (Assistant Director, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department). The event received attention in the local media, with several news broadcasts and write-ups expressing excitement about the significance of the new research site.

The 20-ha plot is located in a forest ecosystem that has been impacted by humans for over 4,000 years. The initiative will provide valuable insight into the ecology of a regenerating forest at the margin of the tropics, and will provide training opportunities for over 2,000 citizen scientists.

Publications: April – June 2011

2011-06-30T09:21:00.001-04:00

Heineman, K.D., E. Jensen, A. Shapland, B. Bogenrief, S. Tan, R. Rebarber, S. E. Russo. The effects of belowground resources on aboveground allometric growth in Bornean tree species. Forest Ecology and Management 261 (2011) 1820–1832.
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He, F and S.P. Hubbell. Species-area relationships always overestimate extinction rates from habitat loss. Nature 473 (2011) 368–371.
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Feeley, K. J., S.J. Davies, R. Perez, S. P. Hubbell, and R.B. Foster. Directional changes in the species composition of a tropical forest. Ecology, 92(4), 2011, 871–882.
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McMahon, S. M., Harrison, S. P., Armbruster, W. S., Bartlein, P.J., Beale, C, Edwards, M. E., Kattge, J, Midgley, G, Morin, X, and Prentice, I C. Improving assessments of climate-change impacts on global biodiversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 2011. Vol. 26, No. 5.
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Meegaskumbura, M., S. Meegaskumbura, G. Bowatte, K. Manamendra-Arachchi, R. Pethiyagoda, J. Hanken and C.J. Schneider. Taruga (ANURA: RHACOPHORIDAE), a new genus of foam-nesting tree frogs endemic to Sri Lanka. Cey. J. Sci. (Bio. Sci.) 39 (2): 75-94, 2010
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Norghauer, J.M., A. R. Martin, E. E. Mycroft, A. James, S. C. Thomas. Island Invasion by a Threatened Tree Species: Evidence for Natural Enemy Release of Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) on Dominica, Lesser Antilles. PLoS ONE 6(4): e18790.
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Pringle, E.G., R.I. Adams, E. Broadbent, P. E. Busby, C. I. Donatti, E. L. Kurten, K. Renton and R. Dirzo. Distinct Leaf-trait Syndromes of Evergreen and Deciduous Trees in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest. 2011. Biotropica 43(3): 299–308.
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Rahbek, C. and R.K. Colwell. Species loss revisited. Nature 473 (2011) 288–289.
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Schnitzer, S.A., J.N. Klironomos, J. HilleRisLambers, L. L. Kinkel, P. B. Reich, K. Xiao, M. C. Rillig, B.A. Sikes, R.M. Callaway, S. A. Mangan, E.H. van Nes, and M. Scheffer. Soil microbes drive the classic plant diversity–productivity pattern. Ecology, 92(2), 2011, pp. 296–303.
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Uriarte, M., M. Anciaes, M.T.B. da Silva, P. Rubim, E. Johnson, and E.M. Bruna. Disentangling the drivers of reduced long-distance seed dispersal by birds in an experimentally fragmented landscape. Ecology, 92(4), 2011, 924–937.
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Visser, Marco D., E. Jongejans, M. van Breugel, P. A. Zuidema, Y. Chen, A. Rahman K. and H. de Kroon. Strict mast fruiting for a tropical dipterocarp tree: a demographic cost–benefit analysis of delayed reproduction and seed predation. Journal of Ecology, published online 23 Mar 2011.
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CTFS-SIGEO Colleagues Work Towards Real-time Automated Monitoring of Forests and Environmental Change

2011-06-24T11:29:00.002-04:00

Workshop participants, back row: Ned Friedman (Arnold Arboretum), Jon Chappell (SAO), Carlos Corrada (UPR), Stuart Davies (CTFS-SIGEO), Christopher Thomas (Oregon State), Biff Bermingham (STRI), Cassidy Rankine (UAlberta), Jess Parker (SERC), Matteo Detto (CTFS-SIGEO), Bill Munger (Harvard), Evan DeLucia (UIllinois), Michael Schindlinger (Leslie), Frank Levinson, Rich Camili (WHOI), Larry Madin (WHOI); front row: David Kenfack (CTFS-SIGEO), Lewis Girod (MIT), Erin Kurten (CTFS-AA), Helene Muller-Landau, Lucy Hutyra (BU), Charlie Harvey (MIT), Scott Gallagher (WHOI).

On June 13-14, twenty-three engineers, environmental scientists and ecologists met at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University to discuss the potential for a standardized instrumentation platform for CTFS-SIGEO sites around the world. The proposed instrumentation platform would provide real-time data on tree growth and health, animal sounds and movements, and climatic and other environmental fluctuations. Real-time data of this sort will provide a powerful addition to how CTFS attempts to link fluctuations in physical and environmental conditions with forest change.

Frank Levinson opened the meeting with his vision for developing a forest ecology “tailplate” – a standardized infrastructure that individual investigators could depend on to easily replicate studies across sites.

Participants gave presentations on a wide variety of potential platform components (including meteorological sensors, automated dendrometer bands, eddy flux systems, cameras and hyperspectral sensors, sound recording equipment and associated analysis programs) and the scientific questions these would address. Participants from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) presented on similar instrumentation initiatives for oceanographic measurements, and relevant lessons for developing a terrestrial platform.

There was wide agreement that with recent technological advances, the time is right to develop and deploy such a standardized instrumentation platform for CTFS-SIGEO sites. Standardized, long-term measurements across CTFS-SIGEO sites would enable robust comparisons among sites, quantification of interannual variation, and better detection of any long-term change.

CTFS-SIGEO Program Manager Appointed: Liz Delaney

2011-06-21T10:02:00.000-04:00

We are pleased to announce that Liz Delaney has joined the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-SIGEO) as Program Manager for the network.

Liz joins CTFS after working at Earthwatch Institute as the Interim Director of Field Centers, and before that as Program Manager for Regional Climate Centers (part of the HSBC Climate Partnership). Before joining Earthwatch, Liz lived for five years in rural Costa Rica where she worked as a science teacher and curriculum developer at a bilingual environmental education center, and has previously worked as an environmental consultant for the EPA. Liz got her Master’s in Science Education from The George Washington University, and her undergraduate degree in Biology from Boston College. Liz is fluent in Spanish and enjoys traveling, running, spending time with her husband and daughter, and the outdoors. She will be based at the CTFS office at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

Workshop on Plot Taxonomic Comparison in Manaus, Brazil

2011-05-19T10:46:00.002-04:00

by Tania Brenes

On April 10, 2011, the CTFS Neotropical Program organized the first Workshop on Taxonomic Comparison Among Amazonian CTFS Plots, hosted in Manaus, Brazil. This workshop had the participation of botanists and ecologists from three CTFS plots in the Amazon: the Amacayacu plot in Colombia, the Manaus plot in Brazil, and the Yasuni plot in Ecuador. In the workshop, botanists worked with interns and students on the problem of standardizing a methodology and a philosophy of taxonomic delimitation in these hyper-diverse plots. This work will serve as the basis for a developing collaborative research project on taxonomy between the three scientific groups.

Workshop participants in the top photo from left to right (institution): Alvaro Perez (4), Juan Sebastian Barreto (5), Alberto Vicentini (1), Ana Carla Gómez (1), Ana Segalin (1), Rolando Pérez (2), Alexandre de Oliviera (3), Dairon Cárdenas (5), Carla Lang (1), Jose Luis Camargo (1), Marcel Caritá (3), Tania Brenes (2), Juliana Vendrami (3), Adriane Pantoja (1).

Institutions: (1) PDBFF, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Amazonicas; (2) STRI; (3) Universidad de São Paulo; (4) Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador; (5) Instituto de Investigaciones Amazónicas Sinchi.

Botanists discuss complex plant specimens in the field (left) and at the comparative collection at the BDFFP (right).

HSBC Singapore Collaboration with CTFS-NIE Moves to Phase II

2011-05-17T09:22:00.002-04:00

HSBC volunteers with CTFS Research Assistant Ngo Kang Min (right).

by Ngo Kang Min

HSBC Singapore volunteers, in collaboration with CTFS and the National Institute of Education (NIE), have completed the first phase of a forest carbon survey.

The project, a long-term study of the accumulation of carbon in forest trees, will continue in 2011 with the second phase moving to the MacRitchie Reservoir, a primary forest adjacent to the secondary forest in which the first phase was conducted.

HSBC Singapore has donated S$45,000 for the second phase of the carbon survey, which will monitor more than 500 trees in the designated plots. HSBC Climate Champions and staff will continue to be engaged in the field, from putting dendrometer bands on trees to collecting leaf samples.

An HSBC volunteer tags a tree.

This project complements the global HSBC Climate Partnership, where dendrometer bands have been installed in more than 10 sites in the CTFS network, including Bukit Timah in Singapore. This study will enable comparisons between the coastal hill forest of Bukit Timah and the lowland forest of MacRitchie. Carbon stock differences in primary and secondary forests at the two sites will also be examined for a better understanding of carbon sequestration in a matrix of multiple forest communities.

BCI 2010 Census Data Online

2011-04-29T13:55:00.000-04:00

We are pleased to announce that the data from the 7^th census of the 50-hectare plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, are now available. The data can be downloaded at: http://ctfs.arnarb.harvard.edu/webatlas/datasets/bci/.

The 7^th BCI census was supported by National Science Foundation grant DEB-0948585 to Stephen Hubbell and the Center for Tropical Forest Science of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Rolando Pérez and Salomón Aguilar led the fieldwork for the recensus. Suzanne Lao coordinated the entry, checking and management of the data. Rick Condit oversaw the implementation of the census.

The massive task of recensusing the plot would not have been possible without the efforts of many people who have worked on the BCI 2010 census as well as prior censuses. Thanks and congratulations to all involved!

For more information, please contact Dr. Richard Condit at conditr@gmail.com

CTFS-SIGEO Forest Dynamics Symposium Talks Released

2011-04-29T10:33:00.002-04:00

Symposium participants at STRI, Panama.

On February 22nd, 2011, CTFS-SIGEO hosted a forest research symposium at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. The symposium talks focused on new research directions being addressed by the CTFS network in both tropical and temperate forests. Talks were diverse, spanning mathematical modeling of diversity, life history of trees, DNA bar-coding, herbivory, vertebrates, disease ecology, and land use change projections. The symposium was held in the Tupper auditorium at STRI and was broadcast live on the web. Video recordings of the talks are now available at http://www.stri.si.edu/english/webcast/recent_webcasts.php.

New Book from the CTFS-SIGEO Network: The Ecology and Conservation of Seasonally Dry Forests in Asia

2011-04-22T13:26:00.000-04:00

CTFS is pleased to announce the publication of The Ecology and Conservation of Seasonally Dry Forests in Asia, edited by William J. McShea, Stuart J. Davies and Naris Bhumpakphan. William McShea is a research ecologist at the Conservation Ecology Center in the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian Institution. Stuart Davies is Director of the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory Program of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Naris Bhumpakphan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Forest Biology at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Seasonally dry forests are the most widespread forest type remaining in South and Southeast Asia. For many endangered species, such as tigers, elephants, deer, and primates, this unique habitat is central to their survival. The forests are also intimately linked to humans in the region, who have lived in and relied on them for centuries. Despite the importance of seasonally dry forests, little is known of their ecology. The chapters in this volume draw connections between forests, endangered species, and agricultural communities in the region. The contributors, many of whom are in-country researchers and managers who have spent years studying this ecosystem, provide an overview of the ecology and conservation of seasonally dry forests in Asia. The book also includes case studies for the conservation of species dependent on these ecosystems, such as tigers, elephants, deer, banteng, and gibbons, and discussions of effective management and conservation of seasonally dry forests.

The Ecology and Conservation of Seasonally Dry Forests in Asia is published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, and can be purchased here or at http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/Flyer2.shtml?SKU=1935623028.

Publications: Jan - Mar 2011

2011-03-31T10:28:00.000-04:00

Brenes-Arguedas, T., A. B. Roddy, P. D. Coley, T. A. Kursar. 2010. Do differences in understory light contribute to species distributions along a tropical rainfall gradient? Oecologia. Published online 1 Dec 2010.

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Goldsmith, G. R., L. S. Comita, and Siew Chin Chua. 2011. Evidence for arrested succession within a tropical forest fragment in Singapore. Journal of Tropical Ecology 27:323–326.

Abstract

Heckel C. D., N. A. Bourg, W. J. McShea, and S. Kalisz. 2011. Nonconsumptive effects of a generalist ungulate herbivore drive decline of unpalatable forest herbs. Ecology, 91(2), 319–326.

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Kress WJ, Erickson DL, Swenson NG, Thompson J, Uriarte M, et al. 2011. Advances in the Use of DNA Barcodes to Build a Community Phylogeny for Tropical Trees in a Puerto Rican Forest Dynamics Plot. PLoS ONE 5(11): e15409.

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Meegaskumbura, M. and K. Manamendra-Arachchi. 2011. Two new species of shrub frogs (Rhacophoridae: Pseudophilautus) from Sri Lanka. Zootaxa 2747: 1–18 (2011)

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Metz, Margaret, Wayne Sousa, and Renato Valencia. 2010. Widespread density-dependent seedling mortality promotes species coexistence in a highly diverse Amazonian rain forest. Ecology, 91(12),3675-3685

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Mohandass, D.and P. Davidar. 2011. The relationship between area, and vegetation structure and diversity in montane forest (shola) patches in southern India. Plant Ecology & Diversity, 3: 1, 67-76

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Nock, C.A., P.J. Baker, W. Wanek, A. Leis, M. Grabner, S. Bunyavejchewin and P. Hietz. 2011. Long-term increases in intrinsic water-use efficiency do not lead to increased stem growth in a tropical monsoon forest in western Thailand. Global Change Biology 17, 1049–1063.

Abstract

Norden, N., R. C. G. Mesquita, T. V. Bentos, R. L. Chazdon & G. B. Williamson. 2011. Contrasting community compensatory trends in alternative successional pathways in central Amazonia. Oikos 120(1), 143-151.

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Novotny, V., S. E. Miller, L. Baje, S. Balagawi, Y. Basset, et al. 2010. Guild-specific patterns of species richness and host specialization in plant–herbivore food webs from a tropical forest.

Journal of Animal Ecology, 79, 1193–1203

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Wright, S. J., K. Kitajima, N. J. B. Kraft, P. B. Reich, I. J. Wright, D. E. Bubker, R. Condit, J. W. Dalling, S. J. Davies, S. Diaz, B. M. J. Engelbrecht, K. E. Harms, S. P. Hubbell, et al. 2010. Functional traits and the growth–mortality trade-off in tropical trees. Ecology, 91(12), 2010, pp. 3664–3674

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Zimmermann, A., B. Zimmermann, and H. Elsenbeer. 2010. Comment on ‘‘Spatial throughfall heterogeneity in a montane rain forest in Ecuador: Extent, temporal stability and drivers” by Wullaert et al. [J. Hydrol. 377 (2009) 71–79]. Journal of Hydrology 395,133–136.

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New Book from the CTFS-SIGEO Network

2011-02-15T10:34:00.002-05:00

We are pleased to announce the publication of Trees of Panama and Costa Rica by Richard Condit, Rolando Pérez and Nefertaris Daguerre. Richard Condit is a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. Rolando Pérez is chief botanist and Nefertaris Daguerre is a forest specialist with the Center for Tropical Forest Science at the STRI.

L-to-R: Richard Condit, Rolando Pérez , and Nefertaris Daguerre.

This is the first field guide dedicated to the diverse tree species of Panama and Costa Rica. Covering almost 500 tropical tree species, Trees of Panama and Costa Rica includes 438 high-resolution color photos, 480 color distribution maps, and concise descriptions of key characteristics for every species. Family and species accounts are treated alphabetically and describe family size, number of genera and species, floral characteristics, and relative abundance. Color distribution maps supplement the species descriptions, and facing-page photographic plates detail bark, leaf, flower, or fruit of the species featured. Helpful appendices contain a full glossary, a comprehensive guide to leaf forms, and a list of families not covered.

Trees of Panama and Costa Rica is published by Princeton University Press and can be purchased here: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9289.html or at Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Trees-Panama-Costa-Princeton-Guides/dp/0691147108

Plot Census Finished in the Atlantic Coastal Forest of Brazil

2011-01-28T09:59:00.003-05:00

A new CTFS-SIGEO plot located in high conservation value forest in Ilha do Cardoso State Conservation Park, in the Atlantic Coastal Forests of São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, has now been finished. Located on a pristine island, this 10.48 ha plot was established in 2004 as part of a four-plot network funded by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation. The plot is in coastal ‘restinga’ forest, a form of coastal heath forest, which is particularly rich in endemic species.

Before 2006, only trees larger than 5 cm DBH had been censused. In 2009, Dr. Alexandre Oliveira from the University of São Paulo conducted a recensus to incorporate trees down to 1 cm. Now, two years and almost 50,000 trees later, the data are entered in the CTFS-SIGEO database, and researchers have started analyses. Ilha do Cardoso Plot researchers welcome collaborative work using the plot. Please contact Dr. Oliveira for further information or see: http://ecologia.ib.usp.br/labtrop/doku.php?id=labtrop:labtrop:eng

CTFS-SIGEO Temperate Forest Ecologist and Plot Coordinator Appointed: Dr. Sean McMahon

2011-01-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Sean McMahon has joined the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-SIGEO) to coordinate research and training activities for the Temperate Forest plots of the CTFS-SIGEO network.

Sean joins CTFS-SIGEO following a post-doctoral fellowship with the Smithsonian Institution where he worked with the Smithsonian’s Environmental Research Center (SERC) and Tropical Research Institute (STRI) to investigate the dynamics of temperate forests. Originally from Philadelphia, Sean earned his BA degree at the University of Texas, Austin, and his PhD at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he focused on plant demography. He then did postdoctoral research in forest demography at Duke University before beginning his fellowship at SI.

Sean's experience will greatly enhance the expanding CTFS-SIGEO program in temperate forests. He will be based at the CTFS-SIGEO office at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD.

Publications, Oct - Dec 2010

2010-12-23T08:09:00.003-05:00

Eastwood, R., P. Kongnoo, and M. Reinkaw. Collecting and eating Liphyra brassolis (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in southern Thailand. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera (2010) 43: 51-61.
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Kraft, N. J. B., M. R. Metz, R. S. Condit, and J. Chave. 2010. The relationship between wood density and mortality in a global tropical forest data set. New Phytologist, 188: 1124–1136.
Abstract

Kress, W. J., D. L. Erickson, N. G. Swenson, J. Thompson, M. Uriarte, J. K. Zimmerman. 2010. Advances in the Use of DNA Barcodes to Build a Community Phylogeny for Tropical Trees in a Puerto Rican Forest Dynamics Plot. PLoS ONE 5(11): e15409.
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Prasad, Soumya and R. Sukumar. 2010. Context-dependency of a complex fruit–frugivore mutualism: temporal variation in crop size and neighborhood effects.Oikos 119: 514–523.
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Prasad, S., A. Pittet, R. Sukumar. 2010. Who really ate the fruit? A novel approach to camera trapping for quantifying frugivory by ruminants. Ecological Research 25(1): 225-231.
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Uriarte, M., N. Swenson, R. Chazdon, L.S. Comita, D. L. Erickson, W.J. Kress, J. Thompson, and J.K. Zimmerman. 2010. Trait similarity, shared ancestry and the structure of neighbourhood interactions in a subtropical wet forest: implications for community assembly. Ecology Letters 13(12):1503-1514.
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HSBC Volunteers Working with CTFS in Singapore on Climate Change

2010-12-21T09:35:00.007-05:00

Non-scientists actively contributing to science—that is what Climate Champions from HSBC are doing in Singapore. This 10-week program is a collaboration between CTFS and HSBC-Singapore. More than 100 HSBC staff are tagging trees, putting dendrometer bands on trees to measure growth, and collecting leaf samples for species identification. The work is being done in forests surrounding MacRitchie Reservoir in Singapore. The program started with just 9 volunteers in the first session and has grown to 23 at the latest session on 11 November 2010.

This study complements the ongoing research done in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR), where CTFS researchers have installed 1500 dendrometers as a part of their study to understand the response of forests to climate change. BTNR has mostly hilly terrain, while the MacRitchie site is flat, and each site has a different suite of species. The main objectives of this program are to compare carbon stock differences between the two reserves, and also to create greater awareness within HSBC about climate change issues.

Loss of Two Philippine Friends

2010-12-15T18:45:00.006-05:00

CTFS and the scientific community lost two friends and colleagues on 15 and 16 November 2010. Leonardo Co was shot and killed by the Philippine army while doing field work on Leyte Island, Philippines, and Dr. Daniel Lagunzad died of liver cancer, which he had been nursing quietly for some time. Leonardo was a long-time employee of Conservation International Philippines and Daniel was on the Biology faculty at the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus. The two men were prominent leaders of plant biology and biodiversity science in the Philippines.

Leonardo Co and Daniel Lagunzad.

For the past 17 years, CTFS has been working with Leonardo and Daniel and other colleagues in the Philippines to manage a 16-ha forest dynamics plot in the Palanan area of northeastern Luzon. As the lead field botanist on the project, Leonardo identified all trees in the 16-ha plot, and Daniel led the local plot administration. Together they trained many of the students and interns involved in the Palanan field work. They were the plot’s two Principal Investigators.

Their deaths are great losses not only to the Philippines and to CTFS, but also to the worldwide botanical community. All at CTFS pass on their deepest condolences to Leonardo’s and Daniel’s families and friends.

25 Years of Research at Pasoh

2010-12-03T14:59:00.005-05:00

Researchers from around the world assembled at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in early November for a symposium to celebrate 25 years of research on the Pasoh Forest Reserve in Peninsular Malaysia. The 50-ha Pasoh plot was the second in the CTFS network. It was established in 1985 under the leadership of Dr. Wan Razali Wan Mohd (FRIM), Dr. Peter Ashton (Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University), and Dr. Stephen Hubbell (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute). Since then, Pasoh has become the best-studied rainforest in Southeast Asia.

The CTFS-Arnold Arboretum Asia Program plays a key role in working with FRIM to develop Pasoh’s scientific programs and conduct leading forest research. The plot contains 814 species and represents 25% of the tree species of Peninsular Malaysia. The 6th census is underway.

Large-Scale Throughfall Measurement System Installed at Agua Salud

2010-11-30T15:38:00.003-05:00

by Frank Base

Following the long-term approach of the Agua Salud Project, researchers recently installed three automatic-logging trough systems to measure throughfall in a 5-year-old secondary succession forest at Agua Salud. The purpose of the permanent trough system is to document the temporal changes in throughfall as the secondary forest grows and develops.

Juan Carlos Briseño, technical assistant, finishing one of the new trough systems. Photo by Frank Base.

The trough systems consist of 32 three-meter open tubes (troughs) connected like feathers on the wings of a bird. One wing spreads over an area of 9 m x 3 m. The system in total has an opening of about 12 m². At the center of the construction, a logging tipping bucket catches all drained water and has a capacity of 3 L per tip. Within one hour, 2160 L can be measured. This capacity equals a rain intensity of 195 mm/h, which is sufficient for the strongest rain events in the Agua Salud area based on data from 2008-2010.

Before installing the system, Agua Salud researchers had been using 100 funnels to measure throughfall manually since 2008. The new automatic system now provides continuous measurement of throughfall over the course of the year, enabling us to characterize variations over time and correlate them with rainfall intensity.

Measuring throughfall with trough systems is not new, however. Cuartas et al. (2007) used a trough system covering 1.8 m² with 6-m troughs and a tipping bucket capacity of 125 ml per tip in central Amazonia, Brazil. And McJannet et al. (2007) used 6-m long troughs in a star formation covering an area of 2.4 m² - 3.6 m² in an Australian tropical rainforest. Their tipping buckets had a capacity of 1.8 L - 2.1 L per tip.

Scale is the main difference between the systems used in Brazil and Australia and the one at Agua Salud. We have built, as far as we know, one of the biggest trough systems in the world. Such a large measuring system is necessary to reduce the effect of throughfall on spatial variability caused by extreme structural differences in the canopy of secondary forests. By sampling such a large area, we hope to smooth out the variation caused by canopy structure.

Literature
Cuartas, LA, J Tomasella, AD Nobre, MG Hodnett, MJ Waterloo, and JC Munera. 2007. Interception water-partitioning dynamics for a pristine rainforest in Central Amazonia: Marked differencesbetween normal and dry years. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 145: 69-83.

McJannet, D, J Wallace, and P Reddell. 2007. Precipitation interception in Australian tropical rainforests: I. Measurement of stemflow, throughfall and cloud Interception. Hydrological Processes 21: 1692–1702.

Seven Censuses over 30 years on BCI

2010-11-15T09:57:00.008-05:00

Three decades after Stephen Hubbell and Robin Foster established the first plot in what would become the CTFS-SIGEO network, researchers and field technicians recently completed the seventh census of the 50-ha plot on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. The 1980 census on BCI marked the beginning of CTFS-SIGEO, pioneering the use of long-term large-scale tree-censusing techniques that researchers have replicated in forests across the globe. Today, CTFS-SIGEO comprises a network of 40 plots in 21 countries in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. The network involves hundreds of scientists and dozens of institutions around the world working together to study the growth and survival of 4.5 million trees of 8,500 species.

The following figures based on seven censuses (1980-2010) at BCI illustrate the extraordinary scale and intensity of CTFS-SIGEO’s research program.

1,836,533 diameter measurements of stems ≥1 cm

391,278 individual trees counted

174,435 tree deaths

155,955 trees recruited

17,500 person-days of fieldwork

85 person-years of fieldwork

130 people involved in the 7 censuses

This enormous undertaking could not have been possible without the hard work of the many people who have worked at BCI over the past 30 years. Congratulations to all involved!

Publications: Aug – Oct 2010

2010-11-09T16:16:00.012-05:00

Baltzer, JL, and SC Thomas. 2010. A second dimension to the leaf economics spectrum predicts edaphic habitat association in a tropical forest. 2010. PloS ONE 5(10): e13163.
Full Text

Jones, FA, and LS Comita. 2010. Density-dependent pre-dispersal seed predation and fruit set in a tropical tree. Oikos 119(11): 1841-1847.
Abstract

Malhado, ACM, GF Pires, and MH Costa. Cerrado conservation is essential to protect the Amazon rainforest. 2010. AMBIO 39(8): 580-584.
Abstract

Ogden, FL, RF Stallard, H Elsenbeer, and J Hall. 2010. Panama Canal Watershed Experiment—Agua Salud Project. AWRA Summer Specialty Conference Proceedings, 30 Aug - 1 Sep.
Full Proceedings

Stallard, RF, FL Ogden, H Elsenbeer, and J Hall. 2010. Panama Canal Watershed Experiment—Agua Salud Project. Water Resources IMPACT 12(4): 17-20.

Weerasinghe, SM, C Chandrasekara, G Seneviratne, CVS Gunatilleke, and IAUN Gunatilleke. 2010. Growth variations of edaphic specialist species in a reciprocal pot experiment in Sri Lanka. Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka 38(3): 171-179.
Abstract

Students Study Secondary Forest Succession in Panama Canal Watershed

2010-11-03T11:43:00.009-04:00

by Dylan Craven

Enmeshed in a mosaic of land uses, young secondary forests provide vital ecosystem services to the cities of Panama City, San Miguelito, and Colón, as well as to the Panama Canal. Under the auspices of the Agua Salud Project, a collaborative research project of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute sponsored by the HSBC Climate Partnership, a group of students from Yale and Harvard spent the summer investigating plant functional traits, functional diversity, and community assembly processes in the young secondary forests of the Panama Canal Watershed.

An extensive series of 0.10 ha transects (10 ha in total) has been established across this human-dominated landscape, where all trees, lianas, and palms have been inventoried yearly since 2008 (~450 tree species, ~150 liana species). Using demographic information from these transects, Dylan Craven (Yale F&ES), Grant Tolley (Yale F&ES), and Julian Moll-Rocek (Harvard) identified and sampled 56 of the most abundant tree species, which represent approximately 75% of basal area of transects between 0 and 20 years old. By looking at varying aspects of species-specific plant function – leaf morphology, physiology, and nutrient content – in combination with abundance and mortality data, these students hope to gain insights about how habitat filtering, niche differentiation, and functional diversity vary with secondary succession.

For more information, please contact Dylan Craven at dylan.craven@yale.edu.

CTFS Awarded NSF Grant to Study Diversity and Forest Change

2010-10-21T15:58:00.012-04:00

The US National Science Foundation’s Dimensions of Biodiversity initiative has awarded CTFS $631,640 over five years to study the taxonomic, genetic, and functional dimensions of tree diversity and their impact on forest structure and function. The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University will manage the grant, and the Chinese National Science Foundation will provide matching funds.

The research will combine long-term temperate and tropical forest studies across entire tree communities to parameterize models that incorporate functional and genetic variation among species to test predictions about current and future changes in forests. Integration of multiple dimensions of biodiversity will significantly increase understanding of how forests are structured‹a critical and necessary step toward predicting how these systems will respond to global change.

The project will involve many partners sites of the global CTFS-SIGEO network.

_________________________________________________________

Dimensions IRCN: Diversity and Forest Change: Characterizing functional, phylogenetic, and genetic contributions to diversity gradients and dynamics in tree communities

Project Summary

Understanding diversity’s impact on forest structure and function: The project will bring together two existing forest research networks in the US and China to advance understanding of how taxonomic, functional, and genetic dimensions of diversity structure tree communities and affect their resilience to global change. Together these networks maintain 24 large-scale forest plots in tropical and temperate forests in Asia and the Americas, providing data on the demography, functional traits, phylogenetic relatedness, and environmental preferences of thousands of species. Through a series of symposia, analytical workshops, and international scientific exchanges, these data will be used to ask: (i) what functional traits underlie species demographics and distributions across environmental gradients, (ii) how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness of communities link to forest function; and (iii) how functional traits and environmental tolerances vary among individuals within species.; and (iv) how gene flow contributes to genetic diversity at local and regional scales. By combining long-term temperate and tropical forest studies across entire tree communities, we will be able to parameterize models that incorporate knowledge about functional and genetic variation among species to test predictions about current and future changes in the forests.

Building capacity in biodiversity research: The project will be implemented through a series of capacity-building and training initiatives that will expand science and enhance collaboration between the US and China. The strengthening of the network of forest research plots in Asia and the Americas will have long-term benefits for American and Chinese researchers examining the role of forests in a changing global environment. Through workshops and symposia focused on the relationships between taxonomic, functional, and genetic dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem processes, we will engage approximately 100 students and early-career scientists over five years. An international scientific exchange program will enable 10 US students and early-career researchers to spend 3 months in collaborating institutions in China. Chinese scientists will have similar opportunities in the US through a parallel proposal to NSF-China. These scientists will be drawn from the US, China, and other developing countries in Asia and the Americas. In addition, the scientific workshops will result in the development of new analytical tools and data compilations that will be made openly available through the web.

Enumeration Progress at Harvard Forest

2010-10-18T14:48:00.006-04:00

The census of woody stems within the 35-ha Harvard Forest plot began on 1 June 2010. Using standardized CTFS-SIGEO methodology, Dave Orwig and three 2-person crews measured, tagged, painted, and mapped every stem greater than 1 cm in diameter at 1.3 m. By 27 August, when vegetation sampling for the year ended, 29,908 stems had been tagged, mapped, and measured, representing approximately 13 hectares.

The 3 western columns were particularly dense, containing dense thickets of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Stem densities averaged 2,301/ha and ranged from 1,756 to 3,071/ha. All stems were entered twice into the temporary database during the summer, and Dave Orwig will continue to screen and edit all data for uploading to the database during autumn 2010. In addition, work will proceed with digitally mapping all stems contained on the 1,300 10 x 10 maps produced from the 13 ha of forest.

2010 Research Grants Program Recipients

2010-10-07T12:16:00.015-04:00

CTFS is pleased to announce the 2010 Research Grants Program recipients. This year’s cycle attracted 58 proposals requesting more than USD $1,000,000. Out of this pool, 11 proposals were selected for full or partial funding. Thank you to all applicants for your interest in the CTFS network. The deadline for the next grant cycle is 1 April 2011. See our website for application details.

Click here to view the names of the recipients and their proposal titles.

2010 CTFS Research Grants Program Recipients

Lei Chen, “The role of density dependence in community assembly: Implications from adult tree pattern and seedling dynamics in both subtropical and tropical forest.” Gutianshan, China; BCI, Panama.

Neal Enrigh, “Understanding the population dynamics of Nageia motleyi (Podocarpaceae) in lowland tropical rainforests of South-east Asia.” Pasoh, Malaysia.

Gonçalo Ferraz and Cintia Cornelius, “Predicting occurrence of cavity-nesting birds from tree demographic data.” Manaus, Brazil.

David L. Gorchov, Melissa K. McCormick, Dennis F. Whigham, “Exotic Plant Invasion in Temperate Deciduous Forest: Patterns and Processes.” SERC, USA.

Steven W. Kembel, Jessica L. Green, “Quantifying the scaling of bacterial phyllosphere diversity: The role of space, environment, and host plant attributes.”
BCI, Panama.

Madhava Meegaskumbura and Suyama Meegaskumbura, “Determining microclimatic envelopes and monitoring populations of Sri Lankan Shrub-Frogs in Sinharaja 25 ha. plot to understand finer scale determinants of their distribution, reproduction and survival.” Sinharaja, Sri Lanka.

Eadaoin M.I. Quinn, “Does age-related crown thinning occur in canopy-dominant tropical trees?” BCI, Panama.

Siewe Siewe Siewe and Jacqueline Vadjunec, “Degradation and carbon stocks dynamics: An analysis of the anthropogenic impact on deforestation and degradation in the Korup National Park.” Korup, Cameroon.

Erin Spear, “Agents of change: Identifying phytopathogens and their contributions to tree diversity.” BCI, Panama.

Pimonrat Tiansawat, “Ecological significance of seed traits in the genus Macaranga.” Lambir, Malaysia.

CTFS-AA Program Assistant Appointed: Sara Lischynsky

2010-10-01T13:55:00.005-04:00

We are pleased to announce that Sara Lischynsky has joined the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Arnold Arboretum (CTFS-AA) Asia Program to serve as Program Assistant.

Sara joins CTFS-AA following a position as Assistant to the Deans of Suffolk University’s College of Arts & Sciences, where she also pursued studies in graphic design. Originally from New York State, Sara earned her BA degree at Emerson College in Boston, studying publishing and communication.

She will be based at the CTFS office at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

Pasoh Celebrates 25 Years of Research: 10-11 Nov 2010

2010-09-26T21:17:00.011-04:00

2010 marks the 25th anniversary of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) and the Pasoh 50-ha plot, a partnership between the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Arnold Arboretum Asia Program and FRIM. In commemoration of the anniversary, FRIM will host a symposium on 10-11 November 2010, highlighting the scientific findings that have resulted from 25 years of collaborative research at Pasoh.

For more information, please see the flier at:
http://www.frim.gov.my/seminar/pasoh-symposium.pdf

Community Phylogenetics Workshop Held in Beijing

2010-09-22T07:47:00.008-04:00

by Yanjun Du

The Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS) hosted CTFS-SIGEO partners in Beijing on 31 July - 6 August for a workshop on community phylogenetics. Nathan Swenson from Michigan State University gave a series of seminars on phylogenetic approaches to diversity, dispersion, and trait evolution. Xiangcheng Mi, Haibao Ren, Jiangshan Lai, Qiong Ding, and Jinlong Zhang led workshops on the application of R and Phylocom to phylogenetic research.

Fifty-five participants from 8 forest dynamics plots in the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network attended the workshop, representing IBCAS, the Institute of Microbiology CAS, South China Botanical Garden CAS, the Institute of Applied Ecology CAS, Wuhan Botanical Garden CAS, and Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden CAS.

University of Wyoming Ecosystem Services Field Course at Agua Salud

2010-09-16T19:16:00.009-04:00

by Trey Crouch

A group of students and professors from the University of Wyoming’s Environmental and Natural Resources Department traveled to Panama at the end of July for a four-week ecosystem services field course. The group included seven students and professors Scott Miller and Fred Ogden, the latter one of four principal investigators on the Agua Salud Project. The course took advantage of the Agua Salud experimental landscape and study sites to provide the students with field and laboratory experience related to tropical forestry and hydrology and involve them in research on the connections between hydrology, geochemistry, and land cover.

PHOTO: (l-r) Brie Richardson, Nathalie Macsalka, Nibret Abebe, Aaron Rutledge, Bob Stallard, Ryan Anderson, Nathaniel Hadley Dike, and Scott Miller. By Trey Crouch.

The students participated in various hydrological activities, including two geophysical electrical tomography experiments, installation of shallow groundwater-monitoring wells, and collection and lab analysis of water samples taken from the various Agua Salud stream networks. They also participated in forestry fieldwork by taking crown and DBH measurements in the teak and secondary-growth catchments.

PHOTO: (l-r) Conducting the geophysical tomography tracer experiment in the native species plantation. By Trey Crouch.

Mapping Underway at Rabi, Gabon

2010-09-01T15:18:00.017-04:00

Enumeration of the 25-ha Rabi plot in the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in Southwest Gabon started in mid June 2010 under the direction of Gorky Villa. David Kenfack, CTFS-SIGEO Africa Program Coordinator, visited the plot in July and August to continue training and supervision of the two field teams, each of which consists of six dedicated Gabonese men who work in rotation to ensure continual mapping and tagging.

PHOTO: Left to right: Landry Tchignoumba, Arnaud Mboumba, Pierre Nicaise Guissouegou, Mourel Mouloungui, David Kenfack, Gauthier Moussavou, and Joel Mpira.

More than 1.5 hectares have been tagged and mapped, with an average of 314 trees (dbh ≥ 1 cm) per 20 x 20 m quadrat and 7,800 trees per hectare. Forty-six species and 288 individuals were recorded in the first 20 x 20 m quadrat, with Dichostemma glaucesens (Euphorbiaceae) comprising 29% of the stems. The plot includes several large individuals of the remarkable canopy tree Eurypetalum tesmannii (Fabaceae), which has a shruby habit and can have up to 74 stems.

PHOTO: Eurypetalum tesmannii. By Gorky Villa.

Click here for more photos from the Rabi plot.

Publications: Apr - Jul 2010

2010-08-25T11:27:00.008-04:00

Bastien-Henri, S, A Park, M Ashton, and C Messier. 2010. Biomass distribution among tropical tree species grown under differing regional climates. Forest Ecology and Management 260(3): 403-410.
Abstract

Chen, L, X Mi, LS Comita, L Zhang, H Ren, and K Ma. 2010. Community-level consequences of density dependence and habitat association in a subtropical broad-leaved forest. Ecology Letters 13(6): 695-704.
Abstract

Comita, LS, HC Muller-Landau, S Aguilar, and SP Hubbell. 2010. Asymmetric density dependence shapes species abundances in a tropical tree community. Science 329: 330-332.
Abstract & PDF

DeFries, RS, T Rudel, M Uriarte, and M Hansen. 2010. Deforestation driven by urban population growth and agricultural trade in the twenty-first century. Nature Geoscience 3: 178-181.
Abstract

DeWalt, SJ, SA Schnitzer, J Chave, F Bongers, RJ Burnham, Z Cai, G Chuyong, DB Clark, CEN Ewango, JJ Gerwing, E Gortaire, T Hart, G Ibarra-Manriquez, K Ickes, D Kenfack, MJ Macia, JR Makana, M Martinez-Ramos, Jo Mascaro, S Moses, HC Muller-Landau, MPE Parren, N Parthasarathy, DR Perez-Salicrup, FE Putz, H Romero-Saltos, and D Thomas. 2010. Annual rainfall and seasonality predict pan-tropical patterns of liana density and basal area. Biotropica 42(3): 309-317.
Abstract

Eichhorn, MP, R Nilus, SG Compton, SE Hartley, and DFRP Burslem. 2010. Herbivory of tropical rain forest tree seedlings correlates with future mortality. Ecology 91(4): 1092-1101.
Abstract

Ingwell, LL, SJ Wright, KK Becklund, SP Hubbell, and SA Schnitzer. 2010. The impact of lianas on 10 years of tree growth and mortality on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Journal of Ecology 98(4): 879-887.
Abstract

Kraft, NJB and DD Ackerly. 2010. Functional trait and phylogenetic tests of community assembly across spatial scales in an Amazonian forest. Ecological Monographs 80(3): 401-422.
Abstract

Larjavaara, M. 2010. Maintenance cost, toppling risk and size of trees in a self-thinning stand. Journal of Theoretical Biology 265: 63-67.
Abstract & PDF

Larjavaara, M and HC Muller-Landau. 2010. Rethinking the value of high wood density. Functional Ecology 24(4): 701-705.
Abstract

Noumi, VN, L Zapfack, B Sonke, G Achoundong, and OC Kengne. 2010. Distribution et richesse taxonomiques des épiphytes de quelques phorophytes au Parc national de Korup (Cameroun). International Journal of Environmental Studies 67:1: 51-61.
Abstract

Park, A, M van Breugel, MS Ashton, M Wishnie, E Mariscal, J Deago, D Ibarra, N Cedeno, JS Hall. 2010. Local and regional environmental variation influences the growth of tropical trees in selection trials in the Republic of Panama. Forest Ecology and Management 260(1): 12-21.
Abstract

Russo, SE, WL Cannon, C Elowsky, S Tan, and SJ Davies. 2010. Variation in leaf stomatal traits of 28 tree species in relation to gas exchange along an edaphic gradient in a Bornean rain forest. American Journal of Botany 97(7): 1109-1120.
Abstract

Schnitzer, SA and WP Carson. 2010. Lianas suppress tree regeneration and diversity in treefall gaps. Ecology Letters 13(7): 849-857.
Abstract

Uriarte, M, EM Bruna, P Rubim, M Anciaes, and I Jonckheere. 2010. Effects of forest fragmentation on the seedling recruitment of a tropical herb: assessing seed vs. safe-site limitation. Ecology 91(5): 1317-1328.
Abstract

Wang, X, T Wiegand, Z Hao, B Li, J Ye, and F Lin. 2010. Species associations in an old-growth temperate forest in north-eastern China. Journal of Ecology 98(3): 674-686.
Abstract

Wright, SJ. 2010. The future of tropical forests. 2010. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1195: 1–27.
Abstract

Zuidema, PA, T Yamada, HJ During, A Itoh, T Yamakura, T Ohkubo, M Kanzaki, S Tan, and PS Ashton. 2010. Recruitment subsidies support tree subpopulations in non-preferred tropical forest habitats. Journal of Ecology 98(3): 636-644.
Abstract

Videos of Harvard Talks Now Online

2010-08-05T16:23:00.015-04:00

Videos of the presentations at the Arnold Arboretum-CTFS Harvard Plant Biology Symposium in April are now available online for viewing at
http://arboretum.harvard.edu/research/center-for-tropical-forest-science-arnold-arboretum-asia-program/pbi/.

Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) in partnership with the CTFS-Arnold Arboretum (CTFS-AA) program hosted the 6th Annual Harvard Plant Biology Symposium. This year's theme was "Trees and the Global Environment." The symposium was supported by CTFS-AA, OEB, and the HSBC Climate Partnership.

The talks represented both empirical and modeling/theory perspectives from diverse disciplines in plant science and resource economics. Presentations ranged from the functional responses of individual trees to changing environmental conditions all the way up to ecosystem and landscape-scale responses. For more information, please visit: http://www.pbi.fas.harvard.edu/events.htm.

Harvard Forest Plot Underway

2010-07-20T11:54:00.011-04:00

by David A. Orwig

Harvard Forest researchers, with the assistance of scientists from CTFS-SIGEO, began the census of woody stems on June 1, 2010. The 35-ha plot is dominated by eastern hemlock and northern hardwood species and will make an excellent comparison with several other hardwood plots in North America and China at similar latitudes.

To date, over 13,000 stems have been tagged, mapped, and measured, representing approximately 4.5 hectares. Some of the quadrats were particularly dense, containing dense thickets of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Over the course of the summer, Forest Ecologist David Orwig and six crew members will continue sampling in the western portion of the plot.

The Harvard Forest plot forms part of a global array of large-scale plots established by CTFS-SIGEO, which recently expanded sampling efforts into temperate forests to explore ecosystem processes beyond population dynamics and biodiversity. The geography and size of the plot (500 m x 700 m) was designed to include a continuous, expansive, and varied natural forest landscape that will yield opportunities for the study of forest dynamics and demography while capturing a large amount of existing science infrastructure (e.g., eddy flux towers, gauged sections of a small watershed, existing smaller permanent plots) that will enable the integrated study of ecosystem processes (e.g., biogeochemistry, hydrology, carbon dynamics) and forest dynamics. Thus the resulting data will integrate well with ongoing NSF-funded LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) and NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network) studies.

First census of Yosemite 25-ha plot completed

2010-07-13T17:14:00.008-04:00

On Friday July 9, 2010, CTFS-SIGEO partners finished the first census of the 25-ha plot located in Yosemite National Park. Seven temperate plots, at varying stages of enumeration, are now in place in North America.

Field work started last year during the last two weeks of June, when more than 13,000 individual trees in approximately 10 ha were censused. The census of the second half of the plot required about the same number of fieldwork hours as the first.

The Yosemite Forest Dynamics Plot is located near Crane Flat in Yosemite National Park, with white fir (Abies concolor), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), and Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) making up most of the species. The principal investigators are Drs. James Lutz and Andrew Larson.

PHOTOS: By Jim Lutz

Ceremony Opens PNG Research Station

2010-06-26T12:49:00.009-04:00

On 24 May 2010, CTFS joined partners to celebrate the opening of the Swire Research Station, which supports field activities related to the 50-ha CTFS plot underway in Wanang, Papua New Guinea.

Bill Rothery, Chairman of John Swire & Sons Pty Steamships, which has contributed USD 250,000 to the project, participated in the celebration along with partners from the New Guinea Binatang Research Center, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Minnesota, and PNG officials.

Download clippings of local PNG newspaper coverage of the event.

Planting Trees to Celebrate World Environment Day 2010

2010-06-10T10:54:00.006-04:00

by Jefferson Hall

The headlines are not good. A massive oil spill continues to foul the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and negotiations to curb the increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere are in disarray. However, on World Environment Day 2010, we remembered the old environmental movement call to action “Think Globally, Act Locally.”

Photo: HSBC volunteers in Panama joined STRI and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) on World Environment Day (5 June) to plant 2,500 trees over 2 hectares of land in Soberania National Park, Panama. HSBC-Panama CEO Ernesto Fernandes (center) and Arturo Cerezo (green shirt) from ACP were among the volunteers. Photo by Gian Montufar, STRI.

Despite the headlines and daunting environmental challenges the world faces, we need to remember that global action to address environmental problems starts with individuals and local groups. So on World Environment Day, we chose to do our part for the environment by planting trees. Our partners in the effort were 125 HSBC Bank employees in Panama.

As part of the Agua Salud Project—an ecosystem services research partnership between the Panama Canal Authority, the National Environmental Authority of Panama, HSBC Bank, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)—we enjoyed a day outdoors, doing something positive for the environment. To help control the spread of aggressive invasive canal grass (Saccharum spontaneum) and restore tropical forest within the boundaries of Soberania National Park, we planted 2,500 trees of native species over 2 hectares of land.

Will it work? No one can tell for sure, but in a six-year-old forest planted by STRI’s PRORENA project, we’ve seen the return of countless species of birds, species of primates, and even footprints of a very large cat believed to be a Jaguar—none of which would be there without the forest.

Coordinator of Neotropical Program Appointed: Dr. Tania Brenes Arguedas

2010-05-17T10:13:00.011-04:00

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Tania Brenes Arguedas has joined the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-SIGEO) to coordinate research and training activities for the Neotropical Program.

Tania joins CTFS-SIGEO following a post-doctoral fellowship at STRI, where she investigated the effects of herbivores, pathogens, drought, and light on tree distributions across the Isthmus of Panama. Tania is originally from Costa Rica. She did her BSc degree at the University of Costa Rica and her PhD at the University of Utah, where she focused on the role of biotic and abiotic factors in shaping the defensive adaptations of the genus Inga.

Tania's experience working in Latin America and studying neotropical forests will help enhance the expanding CTFS-SIGEO program in the region. She is based at the CTFS-SIGEO office in Panama.

HIPPNET: CTFS Partner in Hawai‘i

2010-05-11T15:19:00.017-04:00

In a recent article for UCLA’s Center for Tropical Research, Lawren Sack describes the establishment of the Hawai‘i Permanent Plot Network (HIPPNET) and discusses the kinds of critical forest research the project facilitates.

Click here to read Lawren's article and learn about the important work that CTFS partners are doing in Hawai‘i.

Photo by Susan Cordell: Metrosideros polymorpha, Laupahoehoe.

Photo by Susan Cordell: Diospyros sandwicensism, Palamanui.

Harvard Symposium Focuses on Trees and the Global Environment

2010-05-07T08:52:00.007-04:00

Last week, the 6th Annual Harvard Plant Biology Symposium drew a crowd of several hundred people to hear (in Cambridge and via the Web) a multidisciplinary group of researchers present some of today’s most advanced science and social science related to trees and the global environment.

The symposium was co-organized and hosted by the Harvard University Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and CTFS-Arnold Arboretum with support from the HSBC Climate Partnership. See Alvin Powell’s article in the Harvard Gazette for a summary of the symposium. Videos of the talks are available online for viewing at http://arboretum.harvard.edu/research/pbi.html.

CTFS-Arnold Arboretum Co-Hosts 6th Annual Harvard Plant Biology Symposium on 29-30 April

2010-04-14T20:12:00.011-04:00

Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) in partnership with the CTFS-Arnold Arboretum Program will host the 6th Annual Harvard Plant Biology Symposium. This year’s theme is "Trees and the Global Environment.” The symposium is supported by CTFS-AA, OEB, and the HSBC Climate Partnership.

Live Webcast of Harvard PBI Symposium: 29 & 30 April

Speakers represent both empirical and modeling/theory perspectives and come from diverse disciplines in plant science and resource economics. Presentations will range from the functional responses of individual trees to changing environmental conditions all the way up to ecosystem and landscape-scale responses. Poster presentations will showcase important research being done on plants at the Arnold Arboretum and at Harvard more broadly. For more information, visit: http://www.pbi.fas.harvard.edu/events.htm.

Program: Trees and the Global Environment

THUR, 29 APRIL

Eva Pell, Smithsonian Institution
Introductory Comments

Stephen Pacala, Princeton University
Scaling from physiology to the globe in models of forest dynamics

Deborah Clark, University of Missouri-St. Louis / OTS
Tropical forests in a changing world: Profound global implications and the evolving evidence

Steven Wofsy, Harvard University
Do forests really sequester carbon: A critical reassessment based on case studies spanning the climate spectrum

Peter Reich, University of Minnesota
Linking plant traits, community dynamics, and ecosystems processes across scales: Why might this matter in a changing world?

Tom Bruns, University of California, Berkeley
Dispersal of ectomycorrhizal fungi through space and time during post-fire regeneration of pine forests

David Neale, University of California, Davis
Development and application of genomic-based tools to nanage forest tree populations in response to climate change

Anna Sala, University of Montana
Physiological mechanisms of drought-induced tree mortality: There is much to learn

FRI, 30 APRIL

Jeffrey Vincent, Duke University
Valuing changes in tropical rainforests

Gregory Asner, Carnegie Institution for Science / Stanford University
Chemical phylogeny and remote sensing of tropical canopies

Jason McLachlan, University of Notre Dame
Anticipating the combined impact of forest fragmentation and climate-driven range shifts on forest genetics

Helene Muller-Landau, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
The tolerance-fecundity tradeoff and the maintenance of seed size diversity in variable and changing environments

Richard Condit, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Impact of environment and species input on diversity in stochastic community models and Center for Tropical Forest Science plots

Yadvinder Malhi, Oxford University
The productivity and carbon cycle of lowland and montane tropical forests in Amazonia

Daniel Nepstad, Woods Hole Research Center
Managing the Amazon forest dieback

Publications: Jan - Mar 2010

2010-04-12T16:32:00.009-04:00

Craft, KJ, SU Pauls, K Darrow, SE Miller, PDN Hebert, LE Helgen, V Novotny, and GD Weiblen. 2010. Population genetics of ecological communities with DNA barcodes: An example from New Guinea Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107(11): 5041-5046.
Abstract

Itoh, A, T Ohkubo, S Nanami, S Tan, T Yamakura. 2010. Comparison of statistical tests for habitat associations in tropical forests: A case study of sympatric dipterocarp trees in a Bornean forest. Forest Ecology and Management 259: 323–332.
Abstract

McMahon, SM, GG Parker, and DR Miller. 2010. Evidence for a recent increase in forest growth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107(8): 3611-3615.
Abstract & PDF

Muller-Landau, HC. The tolerance-fecundity trade-off and the maintenance of diversity in seed size. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107(9): 4242-4247.
Abstract

Zimmermann, A, B Zimmermann, and H Elsenbeer. 2009. Rainfall redistribution in a tropical forest: Spatial and temporal patterns. Water Resources Research 45, W11413, doi:10.1029/2008WR007470.
Abstract

Zimmermann, B, A Zimmermann, RM Lark, and H Elsenbeer. 2010. Sampling procedures for throughfall monitoring: A simulation study. Water Resources Research 46, W01503, doi:10.1029/2009WR007776.
Abstract

Coordinator of CTFS/SIGEO-TEAM Initiative Appointed: Dr. Patrick Jansen

2010-03-26T14:55:00.009-04:00

We are very pleased to announce that Dr. Patrick Jansen has recently joined the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-SIGEO) to coordinate research activities for the CTFS-SIGEO collaboration with Conservation International’s Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network (TEAM). The partnership between CTFS-SIGEO and TEAM will expand the long-term monitoring of biodiverse tropical forests by implementing a program of vertebrate and climate monitoring.

Patrick comes to CTFS-SIGEO from a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He received his BSc and MSc from Wageningen Agricultural University and his PhD from Wageningen University. His expertise in the study of plant-animal interactions, particularly seed dispersal and seed predation, and his experience with camera trapping of terrestrial vertebrates will complement and enhance the growing CTFS-SIGEO research program.

HSBC Climate Partnership yields initial research findings

2010-03-17T18:00:00.048-04:00

Researchers from around the world met last week at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama to present mid-term research results from the HSBC Climate Partnership, a five-year initiative to identify and respond to the impacts of climate change. The program is supported financially by HSBC and involves a global team of bank employees—“climate champions”—in vital forest research.

The following content from the conference is available online:

Videos of conference presentations
Conference program
The video Forests and Climate Change: A Global Investigation

The first-ever research program of its kind has so far:
• Found rapid increases in tree growth in the forest around the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Maryland, USA, a finding that corresponds to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and longer growing seasons, published in PNAS.
• Proposed a novel biodiversity theory relating stress and seed-size published in PNAS.
• Examined the effects a changing climate in forests is having on white-tailed deer, mice and even mosquitoes.
• Addressed the lack of a reliable method for estimating the carbon storage capability of secondary forests on a landscape scale by assessing how measurements from airborne LiDAR and other remote sensing technologies relate to ground-based measurements.
• Reviewed how human disturbance changes the way forests take up carbon in diverse environments.

Researchers working in broadleaf-forest plots near Oxford, UK, Atlantic rainforests in southern Brazil, and warm-temperate forests near Gutianshan Nature Reserve in China, as well as the SERC site in Maryland, have been putting HSBC employees to work. At Oxford, for example, data collected indicates that changes in forest structure have impacted moth populations.
Stuart Davies, director of the Smithsonian and Harvard’s Center for Tropical Forest Science, says, “We know that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has shot up from 280 to 385 parts per million since the 1850s as a result of human activities like the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The degree to which atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to increase depends, in part, on how trees respond to climate and atmospheric change—whether forests end up storing more or less carbon. This is what the HSBC Climate Partnership research is trying to establish.”

Dan Bebber, head of climate change research at Earthwatch Institute, says, “Human activities are undeniably changing the world’s climate, but the effects of that change on forest ecosystems and the role that forests play in providing ecosystem services such as carbon storage are poorly understood. The research being supported by funding and climate champions from HSBC will help to increase our knowledge of forests, and how they can be wisely managed for the future. This unique NGO-corporate partnership is an exemplary model of how individuals and businesses can make a difference.”

STRI staff scientist Helene Muller-Landau said: “The HSBC Climate Champions working with us to measure trees understand how to take stock of carbon balances. Trees take up carbon as they grow. As trees die and decompose, they release carbon. The balance of carbon flows in and out of the forest determines whether the total forest carbon stock increases or decreases over time.”

“Dangerous and irreversible changes that threaten life-support systems are likely when atmospheric carbon levels reach 550 ppm, if not sooner,” stressed Yavinder Malhi, research scientist from Oxford University. “It’s our job to engage people in science in a way that balances keeping things simple while showing that forests, as living systems, may be really complicated, taking up carbon under some conditions and giving off carbon under other conditions.”

Research in Peru reveals how forest carbon budgets change with temperature from cooler mountainous sites to warmer lowland sites. Muller-Landau and Malhi agree that because different tree species respond differently to changing temperatures and rainfall regimes, some species will thrive while others will decline, resulting in changes in forest tree-species composition and probably in carbon stocks.

Another important topic of discussion at the conference was the HSBC-sponsored Panama Canal Watershed Experiment, nicknamed the Agua Salud Project. This huge experiment aims to determine how different land uses—pasture, plantations of native trees and teak, and mature forest—affect carbon storage, water flow, and biodiversity on the narrow Isthmus of Panama, where two great biodiversity hotspots meet. STRI Director Eldredge Bermingham noted “that locating this experiment on the banks of the Panama Canal aims to focus global attention on the ecosystem services that forests provide this critical commercial waterway.”

Third African Forest Dynamics Plot Underway

2010-03-04T17:31:00.010-05:00

A new 25-ha forest dynamics plot is being established in mature forest in the Rabi Protected Area in the Gamba Complex of protected areas in southwestern Gabon. The plot follows CTFS protocols and adds a third site to the existing African plots at Ituri (Congo) and Korup (Cameroon). Studies by the Smithsonian over the last decade have shown the Gamba Complex area, which encompasses the Rabi plot, to be extremely biodiverse. The plot is representative of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest that abounds in the Rabi landscape.

The project is part of the Gabon Biodiversity Program and represents a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (SIGEO), Smithsonian National Zoological Park Conservation Biology Institute and Center for Conservation, Education and Sustainability, Shell Gabon, the Government of Gabon, CTFS and other stakeholders. The plot will provide baseline data for studies of forest regeneration, carbon dynamics, and biodiversity. In addition, the plot affords the opportunity to help build scientific and resource-management capacity in the region. Late in 2009, researchers completed surveying 25-ha of the plot. Tree tagging, mapping, and identification will begin this year. For more information, please contact Alfonso Alonso or Francisco Dallmeier.

Photo by Gorky Villa

CTFS-SIGEO Database Workshop in Peoria, Illinois

2010-02-23T16:50:00.007-05:00

Members of the North America and Africa Programs of the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) - Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (SIGEO) met at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, this past week, 15-18 February, 2010, for a workshop on database management.

The workshop was hosted by Dr. Steven Dolins, Professor of Computer Science at Bradley. In partnership with Rick and Suzanne, Steven and his students have taken a lead role in developing the CTFS-SIGEO database system. Rick Condit and Suzanne Lao (STRI) designed and led the training activities. They were ably assisted by Mark Overholt, a computer science graduate from Bradley who has recently joined CTFS-SIGEO to help develop the database programs for the network.

This workshop was the 5th in a series of CTFS-SIGEO database workshops designed to train network members in the use of a global standardized database for all 3.5 million trees, 11 million records, and 8,000 species in the 34 plots of the network. By the end of the week, all participants were feeling very "normalized."

PHOTO:
Back Row (L-R): Rick Condit, Steven Dolins, Jim Lutz (Yosemite, Wind River) Middle: Duncan Thomas (Korup), Sean McMahon (Maryland), Sean Thomas (Ontario), Daniel Johnson (Indiana), Mark Overholt Front: David Kenfack (Korup), Stuart Davies, Juniper Sundance (Wisconsin), Norm Bourg (Virginia), Suzanne Lao.

Coordinator of Africa Program Appointed: Dr. David Kenfack

2010-02-16T13:37:00.006-05:00

We are pleased to announce that Dr. David Kenfack has recently joined the Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-SIGEO) to coordinate research and training activities for the Africa program.

David is no stranger to CTFS. In 1996, he led the establishment of the Korup 50-hectare plot in Cameroon. He then went on to PhD studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, where he worked on the systematics and ecology of Carapa (Meliaceae), describing a series of species new to science. Following the completion of his PhD in 2008, he spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

In addition to taxonomic expertise on the flora of Central and West Africa, David has extensive experience in tropical forest ecology and data management. During his career, he has assembled botanical collections and carried out forest inventories in more than 10 tropical countries.

David will be based at the CTFS office at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

Arnold Arboretum’s Robert Cook retires after 21 years

2010-01-22T10:52:00.037-05:00

Last month, Robert E. Cook retired as director of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University after having led the institution for over two decades. The Arnold Arboretum’s involvement with CTFS goes back to the early 1980s when Steve Hubbell and Peter Ashton (then director of the Arboretum) agreed to replicate the BCI plot in Malaysia. Today the CTFS network comprises 34 plots around the world and represents a rich, exemplary tradition of collaborative science.

Bob Cook has played a significant role in sustaining and advancing CTFS research and training, particularly in tropical Asia. Under his directorship in 2003, the Arboretum joined the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in supporting CTFS’s core Asian research. That agreement was renewed in 2007 with the Arboretum furthering its commitment to CTFS research in Asia.

Bob has also been instrumental in involving CTFS in undergraduate and graduate education at Harvard and abroad. Through its annual Biodiversity of Borneo summer course and International Field Biology Course, CTFS exposes students to the remarkable biodiversity of the Asian tropics and introduces them to the complexities of conservation and forest management.

Plant science has benefited greatly from Bob’s long career in research and academic administration. In 1989, he came to the Arnold Arboretum from Cornell University, where he had been the director of Cornell Plantations and an associate professor of ecology and systematics. Prior to that he was an associate professor at Harvard. We appreciate his support and leadership over many years and wish him the very best in retirement.

Publications: Dec 2009

2010-01-08T08:28:00.005-05:00

To obtain a PDF of an article, please email Suzanne Lao at laoz@si.edu

Baltzer, JL, DM Gregoire, S Bunyavejchewin, NSM Noor, and SJ Davies. 2009. Coordination of foliar and wood anatomical traits contributes to tropical tree distributions and productivity along the Malay-Thai peninsula. American Journal of Botany 96(12): 2214-23.
Abstract

Dent, DH and SJ Wright. 2009. The future of tropical species in secondary forests: A quantitative review. Biological Conservation 142(12): 2833-43.
Abstract

Honorio Coronado, EN, TR Baker, OL Phillips, NCA. Pitman, RT Pennington, R Vasquez Martinez, A Monteagudo, H Mogollon, N Davila Cardozo, M Rios, R. Garcia-Villacorta, E Valderrama, M Ahuite, I Huamantupa, DA Neill, WF Laurance, HEM Nascimento, SS de Almeida, TJ Killeen, L Arroyo, P Nunez, and Freitas Alvarado. 2009. Multi-scale comparisons of tree composition in Amazonian terra firme forests. Biogeosciences 6(11): 2719-31.
Abstract

Nock, CA, D Geihofer, M Grabner, PJ Baker, S Bunyavejchewin, and Peter Hietz. 2009. Wood density and its radial variation in six canopy tree species differing in shade-tolerance in western Thailand. Annals of Botany 104: 297–306.
Abstract & PDF

Third Bornean forest dynamics plot launched

2009-12-21T21:25:00.015-05:00

A new 50 ha forest dynamics plot will be established in lowland dipterocarp forest at Danum Valley in Sabah, Malaysia. The plot, which will follow CTFS protocols, adds a third site to the existing Bornean forest dynamics plots at Lambir (Sarawak) and Belalong (Brunei). It is designed to sample the rich flora of central Borneo on relatively nutrient-rich soils. The project represents a collaboration between David Burslem (Aberdeen University, UK), Glen Reynolds (Royal Society SEARRP), Andy Hector (University of Zurich, Switzerland), Waidi Sinun (Sabah Foundation), and CTFS and is funded by HSBC Malaysia for a period of five years.

The plot is part of the Royal Society's South East Asia Rain Forest Research Programme, which has operated the Danum Valley Field Centre with local partners since 1985 (see www.searrp.org). The plot will be located in undulating landscape of the Danum Valley Conservation Area and will provide a baseline for on-going studies of forest regeneration, carbon dynamics and biodiversity in adjacent logged forest and forest fragmented by oil palm plantations. Plot establishment will start at the end of this year. For further details contact David Burslem (d.burslem@abdn.ac.uk) or Glen Reynolds (glen.searrp@me.com).

Data-analysis workshop in Beijing

2009-12-09T14:56:00.008-05:00

Text contributed by Dr. Mi Xiangcheng

To better understand the mechanisms of biodiversity maintenance in forests of the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network (CForBio), the Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and CTFS hosted a workshop on data analysis and management in Beijing on 14-24 October 2009. The workshop was led by Drs. Richard Condit, Shameema Esufali, and Yu-Yun Chen. Twenty-eight people from seven CForBio plots participated in the workshop.

Condit and Esufali used BCI plot data to demonstrate a variety of data-analysis methods, including maximum likelihood and MCMC. These demonstrations illustrated in detail the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Participants also received instruction in R and completed a series of computations.

The course on data management used the Gutianshan plot’s database for instruction in the establishment, management, and maintenance of plot data, all of which are essential to CTFS research. The intensive two-week workshop greatly enhanced participants’ ability to analyze and manage data, further strengthening by extension the entire network’s ability to investigate forest dynamics.

Publications: Nov 2009

2009-12-02T14:19:00.007-05:00

To obtain a PDF of an article, please email Suzanne Lao at laoz@si.edu

Gonzalez, MA, C Baraloto, J Engel, SA Mori, P Pétronelli, B Riéra, A Roger, C Thébaud, and J Chave. 2009. Identification of Amazonian Trees with DNA barcodes. PLoS ONE 4(10): e7483.
Abstract & PDF

Kress, JW, DL Erickson, FA Jones, NG Swenson, R Perez, O Sanjur, and E Bermingham. 2009. Plant DNA barcodes and a community phylogeny of a tropical forest dynamics plot in Panama. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 106(44): 18621-18626.
Abstract & PDF

Rüger, N, A Huth, SP Hubbell, and R Condit. 2009. Response of recruitment to light availability across a tropical lowland rain forest community. Journal of Ecology 97(6): 1360–1368.
Abstract

Tan, S, T Yamakura, M Tani, P Palmiotto, JD Mamit, CS Pin, SJ Davies, P Ashton, and I Baillie. 2009. Review of soils on the 52 ha long term ecological research plot in mixed Dipterocarp forest at Lambir, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Tropics 18(2): 61-86.
Abstract & PDF

Wan Juliana, WA, DFRP Burslem, and MD Swaine. 2009. Nutrient limitation of seedling growth on contrasting soils from Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 21(4): 316-327.
PDF

Wolf, A, S Davies, and R Condit. 2009. Report from the 2009 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting: Ecological insights from long-term research plots in tropical and temperate forests. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 90( 4): 519-525.
Abstract & PDF

Ilha do Cardoso 10-ha plot established in Brazil

2009-11-27T08:29:00.008-05:00

Text contributed by Julia Stuart and Alberto Vicentini

Under the guidance of Alexandre de Oliveira, students from the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and technicians from Cananéia, Brazil, recently completed the first CTFS census of the 10-ha Ilha do Cardoso plot in Brazil. The plot was originally established in 2000/2004-05, with a DBH minimum of 4.78 cm, as one of four 10-ha plots in the project Parcelas Permanente São Paulo (PPSP, BIOTA-FAPESP) to study the Atlantic, restinga, semideciduous, and cerradão forest types that occur in São Paulo State.

In 2008, Ilha do Cardoso joined the CTFS network with the inauguration of a census to include all trees ≥ 1 cm. The census catalogued four new species (Rubiaceae) not enumerated in 2000/2004-05, bringing the plot total to 106 species and approximately 40,000 trees.

The plot is located in restinga forest in Ilha do Cardoso State Park on the extreme south coast of São Paulo State near the city of Cananéia. The mountainous island is approximately 22,500 ha and was made a state park in 1962. Despite nutrient-poor and water-stressed sandy soils, the forest shows high diversity. At 22°S latitude, Ilha do Cardoso is the southernmost plot in the CTFS network.

Funding from the HSBC Climate Partnership supported the census, and many research projects at Ilha do Cardoso are being coordinated by the Laboratório de Ecologia de Florestas Tropicais at USP.

China climate center welcomes citizen scientists

2009-11-21T08:02:00.019-05:00

The opening of China’s Regional Climate Centre, the newest of five international sites where HSBC bank volunteers (called “Climate Champions”) work alongside scientists to study the effects of climate change on forests, was celebrated at Gutianshan Nature Reserve, China, on 22 September 2009. The HSBC Climate Partnership—a collaboration between HSBC, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Earthwatch Institute, WWF, and The Climate Group—has four other Regional Climate Centers in India, Brazil, the US, and the UK.

Earthwatch and the Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences host HSBC Climate Champions (kneeling above) at Gutianshan Nature Reserve in eastern China, where they measure tree growth and litter production using techniques developed by CTFS.

In 2005, Dr. Ma Keping (below left, with Teresa Au of HSBC) and colleagues established a long-term 24-ha forest-monitoring site in warm-temperate evergreen forest at Gutianshan as part of the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network, a partner network of the Center for Tropical Forest Science.

Harvard University & CTFS-AA offer a 2010 Field Biology Course to students from Tropical East Asia: "The Biodiversity of Borneo"

2009-11-17T11:10:00.023-05:00

In association with the Harvard University Summer School, the Arnold
Arboretum and the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS-AA) will offer a field biology course to be held in Sarawak and Sabah (East Malaysia) from 1 June to 11 July 2010. Students from Harvard University and universities in Asia will come together to study terrestrial and marine biodiversity, ecology and conservation, with instructors from Harvard University and other institutions (including Sabah Parks, Sabah Forest Dept., Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Univ. Malaysia Sabah, Yayasan Sabah).

Flyer for students applying in Asia.
Flyer for students applying in the US.

The forests and reefs of northwest and north Borneo have some of the highest levels of alpha-diversity in the world. The forests are home to orang-utans, hornbills, rhinos and as many as 5,000 tree species, and the reefs offer some of the best diving in the world. We will visit world-class parks and reserves (e.g., Lambir, Kinabalu and the Maliau Basin), to gain a thorough understanding of abiotic controls on species composition, and will contrast processes that maintain biodiversity in forests with those operating on coral reefs. Throughout Borneo, intensive logging and marine harvesting have occurred for many years. Our course will explore the complexities of conservation today, including trips to sustainably-managed, carbon-traded, and restored forests. We will also provide opportunities for the students to meet people living in and off the forest, to understand their motivations for forest conversion and conservation, and to consider the human health dimensions of forest change.

A key feature will be the development of skills in research project design, execution and analysis, based around the statistical platform `R.' The students will complete three independent projects, from conception to presentation. The students will gain database and web publishing skills by developing a community digital record of the trip.

Lead by Dr. Cam Webb, research scientist at the Arnold Arboretum, the course is aimed at advanced undergraduates, recent graduates currently active in biological research, and postgraduate entry-level students. Maximum age: 25. Travel, food, accommodation and course fees will be funded for Tropical East Asian nationals (ASEAN, PNG, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China). Students will be responsible for other costs and some students may be requested to pay their international travel. Places may be available for non-Harvard, non-Asian, paying students. Students will be
selected to provide broad international representation.

For more information on the course (including instructions for application) see:

http://phylodiversity.net/borneo-course/

Queries and completed application materials should be directed to Dr. Cam Webb (c/o bb10app@phylodiversity.net). The application deadline is 5 Feb 2010.

2009 CTFS Research Grants

2009-11-07T09:50:00.008-05:00

CTFS is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 CTFS Research Grants.

The purpose of these grants is to enhance the quality of science conducted at the plots and to broaden the use of the plots by a diversity of researchers. This year we received 47 proposals. The competition was highly competitive. The ten proposals listed below were selected for full or partial support.

For further information about the CTFS Research Grants Program, please see the website (www.ctfs.si.edu). The closing date for 2010 awards will be April 1st, 2010. To see a list of recipients and proposal titles, click

CTFS Research Grants Program - 2009 Award Recipients:

Luciana F. Alves: "Assessment of aboveground carbon pools of a tropical moist forest" (Ilha do Cardoso, Brazil)

Robyn J. Burnham: "Liana diversity and abundance in the 25-ha plot, Manaus, Brazil" (Manaus, Brazil)

Britta Denise Hardesty: "Where have all the parents gone – using inverse modeling to predict the location of unobserved parents in tropical forests" (BCI)

Faith Inman-Narahari: "Seed rain and seedling recruitment in Hawai’i" (Laupahoehoe, Hawai'i)

John D. Parker: "Impacts of alien plant invasions and overabundant deer on forest regeneration and community dynamics in a temperate deciduous forest" (SERC, Maryland)

Xiaojuan Liu: Relationships between traits and species distribution (Gutianshan, China)

Qiao Lu & Matthew Warren: "Modeling aboveground plant litter chemistry as a driver of surface soil chemical heterogeneity" (Xishuangbanna, China)

Nadja Rüger: "Parameterization of an individual-based forest model" (BCI, Panama)

Watana Sakchoowong: "Influence of leaf litter composition on selected arthropod assemblages in a lowland tropical rainforest in Thailand" (Khao Chong, Thailand)

Isabelle Witté: "Are boreal forests more structurally complex than temperate or tropical forests, and at which scales? A comparison of tropical, temperate, and boreal mixedwood systems" (SERC, Maryland).

Seacology Prize awarded to Filip Damen, CTFS partner in Papua New Guinea

2009-11-03T16:02:00.017-05:00

As the new CTFS plot in Wanang, Papua New Guinea is being established, Filip Damen is being recognized for his heroic efforts to conserve the forest of his community, thereby making the plot and other ecological research in PNG possible.

On October 8th, Filip was awarded the Seacology Prize for 2009 for his remarkable courage in protecting his community’s ancestral lands from destructive logging, and helping develop educational and economic opportunities for the eleven clans that occupy Wanang area in Madang Province, PNG. Seacology awards its prestigious international prize annually to indigenous island leaders who endanger their lives to protect their island’s environment and culture.

Click here for a video clip of Filip’s acceptance speech and the full press release.

Recognizing the threat of logging to biodiversity and the Wanang way of life, Filip led a group of Wanang clans to sign a historic conservation deed in 2000. This agreement united the Wanang clans in their resolve to limit exploitation of the lowland rainforest of their region. Since then, Filip and his community have successfully resisted the relentless pressure from logging interests to sell their land for short-term profit.

Their unique conservation strategy has been to encourage and assist with biological research in their forests. Since 2002, Filip and villagers have been working with Drs. Vojtech Novotny and George Weiblen of the New Guinea Binatang Research Center to conduct ecological research in the Wanang Conservation Area. And just last year, Filip led his community to partner with CTFS to set up the first long-term, large-scale forest dynamics plot in Oceania. This is a great achievement for Filip, for the 50-ha plot in Wanang now gives New Guinea the capacity to monitor its forests and will enable researchers to assess the response of Pacific forests to global change and understand the ecological processes that sustain healthy forest ecosystems in the Pacific region. Funding for the project is provided by John Swire & Sons (PNG) Ltd. and Steamships Trading Co.

Extending partnerships for tropical forest science in Taiwan

2009-10-28T16:23:00.016-04:00

During a recent visit to Taiwan, Stuart Davies, CTFS Director; Dr. I-Fang Sun, Tunghai University (left, seated); Dr. Yue-hsing Huang, Director of the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (center, seated); Mr. Jen-teh Yen, Director of the Taiwan Forestry Bureau (seated second from right); and Dr. Hen-Biau King (TFRI [far right, seated]) agreed to extend the successful partnership for forest research and training in Taiwan. CTFS signed an MOU with the Forestry Research Institute and Forestry Bureau on September 29 to formalize the three groups’ cooperative commitment to recensusing and managing the 25-ha Fushan and Lienhuachih plots.

A new MOU between Tunghai University and CTFS was signed on October 2 by President Hyden Chen and CTFS, reaffirming the long-standing partnership to advance tropical forest ecology, forestry science, and natural resource management in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The four Taiwanese plots managed by Tunghai, CTFS, and partners are located in Fushan, Lienhuachih, Kenting, and Nanjenshan Nature Reserves.

Data-analysis workshop in Albuquerque

2009-10-19T13:01:00.007-04:00

Immediately following the ESA annual meeting, over thirty CTFS scientists gathered to work on research projects using more than a dozen plot data sets. The workshop focused on data analysis and manuscript preparation and was held at the LTER facilities at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque from 9-18 August 2009. The collaborative work of this diverse group was very productive, and we anticipate several significant publications to result from the meeting.

Despite the grueling schedule of back-to-back long days in the lab working on data sets, participants did find time to explore the striking New Mexico landscape.

CTFS at the 94th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America

2009-10-19T13:00:00.011-04:00

by Beth King

For the first time, researchers from tropical forests in the Americas, Asia, and Africa and those from temperate forests in China, Canada, and the US met to map the future for CTFS. Network researchers presented more than 60 talks and posters at the 2009 annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, held in Albuquerque, NM, August 2-7. Click here to read an ESA Bulletin report on the CTFS talks.

The strength of the network lies in the use of a single method to track forest dynamics. Stephen P. Hubbell, who co-founded the first large-scale long-term forest dynamics monitoring plot on Barro Colorado Island in 1979, was presented with ESA’s Eminent Ecologist Award. Hubbell is best known for developing the Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, the first testable explanation for the diversity of tropical forests.

Hubbell described the Neutral Theory as “not dead yet, but definitely moribund,” and proposed a new idea —the Enemy Susceptibility Hypothesis—to explain commonness and rarity in tropical tree species.

Scott Mangan, working on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, presented information at this meeting that something in soils— perhaps fungal pathogens—mediate the distribution of forest trees.

Richard Condit, staff scientist at STRI, can accurately predict the spatial distribution of trees in the plots based on colonization and extinction information. He thinks that the high diversity of individual forests results from ongoing species arrival from a much larger community, not from local niche differences. Local patterns of diversity may be driven by niche differences across continents and long time scales.

Network researchers are focusing outward, looking for processes on large, landscape scales, something that is only possible because the plots in the network are big and comparisons between them are possible. Forest experts at each site have intimate knowledge of local on-the-ground processes and can quickly say whether global models make sense.

Long-term studies show that forests change extremely rapidly in response to factors as diverse as rainfall and wind patterns, elephant damage, and leaf-eating mites. Data from Wisconsin and Ontario show that temperate forests exhibit many of the same biological properties as tropical forests.

Forests are responsible for about half of the carbon absorbed by all land plants. It is therefore vital to know what trees do when atmospheric carbon skyrockets past levels that forests have experienced over the past 400,000 years.

STRI’s Helene Muller-Landau leads the CTFS Global Carbon Research Initiative. The project will monitor the yearly growth of more than 10,000 trees around the world. So far, it appears that measuring the size of trees is the best way to predict how much carbon is being taken up by a forest.

Gutianshan, China—one of a unique set of sites coordinated by Ma Keping and colleagues at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, that span a latitudinal gradient including temperate, subtropical, and tropical forests—will become a focus of the HSBC Climate Partnership in September. HSBC bank believes that hands-on participation will help employees connect the dots between their own lifestyles, global change, and sustainable forest management.

Looking forward, network researchers plan to survey the functional traits of all 8,000 species under the direction of S. Joseph Wright, staff scientist at STRI. They hope to barcode all of the species and create a phylogeny for species that have been barcoded. They plan to continue to census the existing plots and establish new temperate plots and will begin to more systematically quantify other organisms in the plots. The insect group will be led by Yves Basset at STRI.

Jerry Franklin, forest ecologist from the University of Washington who has studied forests of the Pacific Northwest since the late 1950s, talked about what it takes to create such a global network. Leaders mentor students from many different cultures and transfer the essential concepts to professionals who carry on when they are ready to hand off the baton. Institutions provide stability and continuity.

Stuart Davies, STRI director Eldredge Bermingham, and their staffs have taken the lead in finding long-term financial support for the network. Financial support, especially in the form of long-term endowments or government funding, is essential to CTFS efforts to monitor the health of the world’s forests and their response to climate change. As Jerry Franklin said at the meeting: “If ecologists had as much money as the people who predict the weather, think of what we could do!”

Publications: Sep - Oct 2009

2009-10-19T12:17:00.011-04:00

To obtain a PDF of an article, please email Suzanne Lao at laoz@si.edu

Comita, LS, BMJ Engelbrecht. 2009. Seasonal and spatial variation in water availability drive habitat associations in a tropical forest. Ecology 90(10): 2755-2765.
Abstract

Comita, LS, M Uriarte, J Thompson, I Jonckheere, CD Canham, and JK Zimmerman. Abiotic and biotic drivers of seedling survival in a hurricane-impacted tropical forest. 2009. Journal of Ecology 97(6): 1346-1359.
Abstract

Crk, T, M Uriarte, F Corsi, and D Flynn. 2009. Forest recovery in a tropical landscape: what is the relative importance of biophysical, socioeconomic, and landscape variables? Landscape Ecology 24: 629-642.
Abstract

Dick, CW, WJ Kress. 2009. Dissecting tropical plant diversity with forest plots and a molecular toolkit. BioScience 59: 745-755.
Abstract

Legendre, P, X Mi, H Ren, K Ma, M Yu, I-F Sun, and F He. 2009. Partitioning beta diversity in a subtropical broad-leaved forest of China. Ecology 90(3) 663-674.
Abstract

Queenborough, SA, DFRP Burslem, NC Garwood, and R Valencia. 2009. Taxonomic scale-dependence of habitat niche partitioning and biotic neighbourhood on survival of tropical tree seedlings. Proc. R. Soc. B. 276: 4197-4205.
Abstract

Queenborough, SA, SJ Mazer, SM Vamosi, NC Garwood, R Valencia, and RP Freckleton. 2009. Seed mass, abundance and breeding system among tropical forest species: do dioecious species exhibit compensatory reproduction or abundances? Journal of Ecology 97(3): 555-566.
Abstract

Swenson, NG, BJ Enquist. 2009. Opposing assembly mechanisms in a Neotropical dry forest: implications for phylogenetic and functional community ecology. Ecology 90(8): 2161-2170.
Abstract

Valencia, R, R Condit, HC Muller-Landau, C Hernandez, and H Navarrete. 2009. Dissecting biomass dynamics in a large Amazonian forest plot. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25: 473-482.
Abstract

Publications: Jul - Aug 2009

2009-10-19T12:14:00.010-04:00

To obtain a PDF of an article, please email Suzanne Lao at laoz@si.edu

Adachi, M, A Ishida, S Bunyavejchewin, T Okuda, and H Koizumi. 2009. Spatial and temporal variation in soil respiration in a seasonally dry tropical forest, Thailand. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25: 531-539.
Abstract

Brenes-Arguedas, T, PD Coley, TA Kursar. 2009. Pests vs. drought as determinants of plant distribution along a tropical rainfall gradient. Ecology 90(7): 1751-1761.
Abstract

Sungpalee, W, A Itoh, M Kanzaki, K Sri-ngernyuang, HNoguchi, T Mizuno, S Teejuntuk, M Hara, K Chai-udom, Ta Ohkubo, P Sahunalu, P Dhanmmanonda, S Nanami, T Yamakura, and A Sorn-ngai. 2009. Intra- and interspecific variation in wood density and fine-scale spatial distribution of stand-level wood density in a northern Thai tropical montane forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25: 359-370.
Abstract

Uriarte, M, CD Canham, J Thompson, J Zimmerman, L Murphy, AM Sabat, N Fetcher, and BL Haines. 2009. Natural disturbance and human land use as determinants of tropical forest dynamics: results from a forest simulator. Ecological Monographs 79(3): 423-443.
Abstract

Thanks to Adriana Sautu for her contributions to CTFS over many years

2009-10-17T09:40:00.002-04:00

As many of you may already know, Adriana Sautu has left CTFS to purse her passion for children’s science education as the Director of Education at the Museum of Biodiversity in Panama. We wish her all the best and will miss her enthusiasm and cheer.