10.5061/DRYAD.11Q00N4
Meyer, Leila
Universidade Federal de Goiás
Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre F.
Universidade Federal de Goiás
Lohmann, Lúcia G.
University of Sao Paulo
Hortal, Joaquín
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales
Barreto, Elisa
Universidade Federal de Goiás
Rangel, Thiago
Universidade Federal de Goiás
Kissling, W. Daniel
University of Amsterdam
Data from: Canopy height explains species richness in the largest clade of
Neotropical lianas
Dryad
dataset
2019
climbers
liana-tree interaction
Bignoniaceae
3D vegetation structure
2019-09-18T00:00:00Z
2019-09-18T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13004
7281497 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Aim: Tall and structurally complex forests can provide ample habitat and
niche space for climbing plants, supporting high liana species richness.
We test to what extent canopy height (as proxy of 3D habitat structure),
climate and soil interact to determine species richness in the largest
clade of Neotropical lianas. We expect that the effect of canopy height on
species richness is higher for lianas from closed tropical rainforests
compared to riparian and savanna habitats. Location: Neotropics Time
period: PresentMajor taxa studied: Tribe Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae)
Methods: We used structural equation models to evaluate direct and
indirect effects of canopy height, climate (temperature, precipitation and
precipitation seasonality), and soil (cation exchange capacity and soil
types) on overall Bignonieae species richness (339 liana species), as well
as on species richness of lianas from forest, riparian and savanna
habitats, respectively. We further performed multiple regression models
with Moran’s eigenvector maps to account for spatial autocorrelation.
Results: Canopy height was a key driver of liana species richness, in
addition to climate and soil. Species richness of forest lianas showed a
strong positive relationship with canopy height whereas the relationship
was less pronounced for riparian species. Richness of savanna species
decreased with increasing canopy height. Climate also explained a
substantial proportion of variation in liana species richness whereas soil
variables showed little explanatory power.Main conclusions: The
relationship between canopy height and liana species richness differs
among habitats. While forest and riparian lianas benefit from tall and
complex habitats that provide physical support to reach the canopy to
escape low light availability in the understory, a high light availability
in open habitats and an increased risk of embolism of conductive vessels
for lianas with long stems living in areas with high seasonality might
explain the inverse relationship between species richness and canopy
height in savannas.
Species and environmental variables database. Database.xlsx
Neotropics