Browsing by Author "Carilla, Julieta"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in andean forests: results from a large-scale plot network
(2020) Malizia, Agustina; Blundo, Cecilia; Carilla, Julieta; Cuesta, Francisco; Duque, Alvaro; Aguirre Mendoza, Nikolay Arturo; Aguirre Mendoza, Zhofre Huberto; Calderón Loor, Marco Rodrigo; Ataroff, Michele; Ceballos, Sergio Javier; Cedillo Tapia, Hugo Alberto; Grau, Ricardo; Osinaga Acosta, Oriana; Jadán Maza, Ángel Oswaldo; Baez, Selene; Cayuela, Luis; Feeley, Kenneth J.; Fernando Fuentes, Alfredo; Gámez Alvarez, Luis E.; Homeier, Juergen; Llambi, Luis Daniel; Loza Rivera, María Isabel; Young, Kenneth R.
Our knowledge about the structure and function of Andean forests at regional scales remains limited. Current initiatives to study forests over continental or global scales still have important geographical gaps, particularly in regions such as the tropical and subtropical Andes. In this study, we assessed patterns of structure and tree species diversity along ~ 4000 km of latitude and ~ 4000 m of elevation range in Andean forests. We used the Andean Forest Network (Red de Bosques Andinos, https://redbosques.condesan.org/) database which, at present, includes 491 forest plots (totaling 156.3 ha, ranging from 0.01 to 6 ha) representing a total of 86,964 identified tree stems ≥ 10 cm diameter at breast height belonging to 2341 identified species, 584 genera and 133 botanical families. Tree stem density and basal area increases with elevation while species richness decreases. Stem density and species richness both decrease with latitude. Subtropical forests have distinct tree species composition compared to those in the tropical region. In addition, floristic similarity of subtropical plots is between 13 to 16% while similarity between tropical forest plots is between 3% to 9%. Overall, plots ~ 0.5-ha or larger may be preferred for describing patterns at regional scales in order to avoid plot size effects. We highlight the need to promote collaboration and capacity building among researchers in the Andean region (i.e., South-South cooperation) in order to generate and synthesize information at regional scale. © 2020 Malizia et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Widespread but heterogeneous responses of Andean forests to climate change
(2018) Jadán Maza, Ángel Oswaldo; Carilla, Julieta; Feeley, Kenneth James; Yadvinder, Malhi; Young, Kenneth R.; Cuesta C, Francisco; Aguirre Mendoza, Zhofre; Homeier, Jurgen
Global warming is forcing many species to shift their distributions upward, causing consequent changes in the compositions of species that occur at specific locations. This prediction remains largely untested for tropical trees. Here we show, using a database of nearly 200 Andean forest plot inventories spread across more than 33.5° latitude (from 26.8° S to 7.1° N) and 3,000-m elevation (from 360 to 3,360 m above sea level), that tropical and subtropical tree communities are experiencing directional shifts in composition towards having greater relative abundances of species from lower, warmer elevations. Although this phenomenon of ‘thermophilization’ is widespread throughout the Andes, the rates of compositional change are not uniform across elevations. The observed heterogeneity in thermophilization rates is probably because of different warming rates and/or the presence of specialized tree communities at ecotones (that is, at the transitions between distinct habitats, such as at the timberline or at the base of the cloud forest). Understanding the factors that determine the directions and rates of compositional changes will enable us to better predict, and potentially mitigate, the effects of climate change on tropical forests.