Structural and floristic diversity of mixed tropical rain forest in New Caledonia: new data from the New Caledonian Plant Inventory and Permanent Plot Network (NC-PIPPN)

• Published in: Applied vegetation science 2014-07, Vol.17 (3), p.386-397
• Main Authors: Ibanez, Thomas, Munzinger, Jérôme, Dagostini, Gilles, Hequet, Vanessa, Rigault, Frédéric, Jaffré, Tanguy, Birnbaum, Philippe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alpha and beta diversity; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Basal area; Biodiversity; Biodiversity and Ecology; Biodiversity conservation; Biological and medical sciences; Botanics; Ecology, environment; Ecosystems; Environmental gradients; Environmental Sciences; Floristic dissimilarity; Forest ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Inventory; Life Sciences; Plants; Rain; Rain forests; Rainfall; Rainforests; Serpentine; Species diversity; Species richness; Stem density; Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Topographical elevation; Tropical forests; Tropical rain forests; Ultramafic substrates; Vegetal Biology; Vegetation
• ISSN: 1402-2001; 1654-109X
• DOI: 10.1111/avsc.12070

Aims: To describe the structural and floristic diversity of New Caledonian mixed tropical rain forest and investigate its encironmental determinants. Location: New Caledonia (SW Pacific), a biodiversity hotspot. Methods: Structural (stem density, basal area) and floristic characteristics (composition, species richness and dissimilarity) were investigated along environmental gradients (elevation, rainfall and slope) on different substrates (ultramafic and non-ultramafic) through the New Caledonian Plant Inventory and Permanent Plots Network (NC-PIPPN, 201 plots each measuring 20 m × 20 m). Results: A total of 28,640 trees (DBH≥5 cm) belonging to 749 species, 240 genera and 92 families were inventoried in the NC-PIPPN. The New Caledonian mixed rain forest studied was characterized as having high stem density, basal area and species richness, and many small stems (60% of the trees 0.70). The presence of ultramafic (UM) and non- ultramafic substrates (non-UM) combined with altitudinal and rainfall gradients were the main drivers of floristic dissimilarity, whereas the effect of geographic distance between the plots was surprisingly low. Floristic dissimilarity was very high between UM and non-UM substrates from species up to family level. About 75% of the species occurred on a single substrate type. The mixed rain forest on UM and non-UM substrates differed in floristic composition but not in structure. Conclusions: NC-PIPPN proved to be an effective tool for investigating the woody species richness of New Caledonia as containing ca. 46% of its non-herbaceous species. However, the network's design, and more specifically its small plots, restricts its capacity to capture beta diversity and forest structure. High species richness and floristic dissimilarity confirm that New Caledonian mixed rain forest is exceptionally rich.