10.5061/DRYAD.G4F4QRFR1
Gora, Evan
University of Louisville
Bitzer, Phillip
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Burchfield, Jeffrey
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Gutierrez, Cesar
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Yanoviak, Stephen
University of Louisville
The contributions of lightning to biomass turnover, gap formation, and
plant mortality in a tropical forest
Dryad
dataset
2021
2021-09-09T00:00:00Z
2021-09-09T00:00:00Z
en
987759 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Lightning is a common source of disturbance, but its ecological effects in
tropical forests are largely undescribed. Here we quantify the
contributions of lightning strikes to forest turnover and plant mortality
in a lowland Panamanian forest using a real-time lightning monitoring
system. We examined 2195 lightning-damaged trees distributed among 93
different strikes. None exhibited scars or fires. On average, each strike
disturbed 451 m2 (95% CI: 365-545 m2), created canopy gaps of 304 m2 (95%
CI 198-454 m2), and caused 7.36 Mg of woody biomass turnover (CI:
5.36-9.65 Mg). Cumulatively, we estimate that lightning strikes in this
forest create canopy gaps equaling 0.39% of forest canopy area,
representing 20.1% of annual gap area formation, and are responsible for
16.1% of total woody biomass turnover. Trees, lianas, herbaceous climbers,
and epiphytes were killed by lightning at rates 8-29 times greater than
their baseline mortality rates in undamaged control sites. The likelihood
of lightning-caused death was higher for trees, lianas, and herbaceous
climbers than for epiphytes, and high liana mortality suggests that
lightning is an important driver of liana turnover. These results indicate
that lightning influences gap dynamics, plant community composition, and
carbon storage capacity in some tropical forests.