LTREB: Plot recensus in Tropical Forests of Asia, to Generate Data on Dynamics and Species Demographies

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

0075334 Ashton The Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) is an organ of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, established to foster research collaboration between universities and research institutions in the US and the humid tropics. A focus of CTFS is to document the abiotic and historical biogeographic correlates of tree species diversity in biodiverse lowland tropical forests, consistently expressed on the three tropical continents. The patterns revealed will facilitate formulation of explanatory hypotheses for the maintenance of biodiversity, testable by experiment. Aided by computer simulations , the impact of timber harvesting and other human interventions on tree species diversity is being predicted, and will be tested in associated research including logging experiments. There are six core study plots in Asian tropical forests and this proposal seeks funding to re-census these plots. Dynamic data forthcoming from four already established plots will enable the investigators to document changes in forest dynamics along abiotic gradients of regional scale, notably rainfall seasonality, for the first time. Two of these four plots experienced unprecedented droughts since their previous census; analysis will here yield base-line data on the impact of climate change on biodiverse tropical ecosystems.