Effects of lianas and Hurricane Wilma on tree damage in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Climate change may increase the intensity of hurricanes (Emanuel 1987, 2003), and thus the size of disturbance in tropical forests. As a consequence, disturbance-specialist plants, such as lianas, may increase in abundance there (Phillips & Gentry 1994). Putz (1984) hypothesized that lianas crea...

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Published in:Journal of tropical ecology 2008-09, Vol.24 (5), p.559-562
Main Authors: Garrido-Pérez, Edgardo I., Dupuy, Juan Manuel, Durán-García, Rafael, Ucan-May, Mario, Schnitzer, Stefan A., Gerold, Gerhard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
canopy stability
Climate change
Dry forests
Ecological succession
Forest ecology
Forest management. Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration
Forest stands
Forest succession
Forestry
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hurricanes
liana cutting
secondary succession
Short Communications
Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration
Storm damage
Tree felling
tree-fall gaps
Treefall
Trees
tropical dry forest
Tropical forests
tropical storms
Woody vines
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Summary:Climate change may increase the intensity of hurricanes (Emanuel 1987, 2003), and thus the size of disturbance in tropical forests. As a consequence, disturbance-specialist plants, such as lianas, may increase in abundance there (Phillips & Gentry 1994). Putz (1984) hypothesized that lianas create larger treefall gaps by connecting trees together and pulling down multiple trees during storms. This positive-feedback cycle may increase the prevalence of lianas in disturbed tropical forests (Schnitzer & Bongers 2002, Schnitzer & Carson 2001). Alternatively, Putz (1984) proposed that lianas tie and stabilize canopies together, resulting in less disturbance. Forest age may determine the role of lianas during disturbance because liana abundance and composition vary through secondary succession (De Walt et al. 2000, Schnitzer et al. 2000). To test the two hypotheses of Putz (1984), we evaluated the effect of liana cutting between forests of different successional ages on tree damage by hurricane Wilma.
ISSN:0266-4674
1469-7831
DOI:10.1017/S0266467408005221