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  1. Traits and Resource Use of Co-Occurring Introduced and Native Trees in a Tropical Novel Forest

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    Author(s): Jéssica Fonseca da Silva; Ernesto Medina; Ariel Lugo
    Date: 2017
    Source: Forests
    Publication Series: Scientific Journal (JRNL)
    Station: International Institute of Tropical Forestry
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f8090339
    PDF: View PDF  (4.0 MB)

    Description

    Novel forests are naturally regenerating forests that have established on degraded lands and have a species composition strongly influenced by introduced species. We studied ecophysiological traits of an introduced species (Castilla elastica Sessé) and several native species growing side by side in novel forests dominated by C. elastica in Puerto Rico. We hypothesized that C. elastica has higher photosynthetic capacity and makes more efficient use of resources than co-occurring native species. Using light response curves, we found that the photosynthetic capacity of C. elastica is similar to that of native species, and that different parameters of the curves reflected mostly sun light variation across the forest strata. However, photosynthetic nitrogen use-efficiency as well as leaf area/mass ratios were higher for C. elastica, and both the amount of C and N per unit area were lower, highlighting the different ecological strategies of the introduced and native plants. Presumably, those traits support C. elastica’s dominance over native plants in the study area. We provide empirical data on the ecophysiology of co-occurring plants in a novel forest, and show evidence that different resource-investment strategies co-occur in this type of ecosystem

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    Citation

    Fonseca da Silva, Jéssica; Medina, Ernesto; Lugo, Ariel. 2017.Traits and Resource Use of Co-Occurring Introduced and Native Trees in a Tropical Novel Forest. Forests. 8(9): 339-. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8090339.

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    Keywords

    introduced species, leaf C and N densities, novel forests, photosynthetic nitrogen use-efficiency, leaf mass per area

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