10.5061/DRYAD.GF1VHHMSP
Yanoviak, Stephen P.
0000-0001-6425-1413
University of Louisville
Richards, Jeannine
University of Louisville
Gora, Evan
University of Louisville
Gutierrez, Cesar
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Burchfield, Jeffrey
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Bitzer, Phillip
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Tropical tree species differ in damage and mortality from lightning
Dryad
dataset
2022
FOS: Biological sciences
disturbance
Lightning
tropical forest
Panama
species composition.
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1354060
National Geographic Society
https://ror.org/04bqh5m06
9703-15
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
GRF-2015188266
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1354510
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1655554
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1655346
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
2022-08-25T00:00:00Z
2022-08-25T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01230-x
766311 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Lightning is an important agent of mortality for large tropical trees with
implications for tree demography and forest carbon budgets. We evaluated
interspecific differences in susceptibility to lightning damage using a
unique dataset of systematically located lightning strikes on Barro
Colorado Island, Panama. We measured differences in mortality among trees
damaged by lightning and related those to damage frequency and tree
functional traits. Eighteen of 30 focal species had lightning mortality
rates that deviated from null expectations. Several species showed little
damage and 3 species had no mortality from lightning, whereas palms were
especially likely to die from strikes. Species that were most likely to be
struck also showed the highest survival. Interspecific differences in tree
tolerance to lightning suggest that lightning-caused mortality shapes
compositional dynamics over time and space. Shifts in lightning frequency
due to climatic change are likely to alter species composition and carbon
cycling in tropical forests.