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Unique competitive effects of lianas and trees in a tropical forest understory

  • Community ecology – original research
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Abstract

Lianas are an important component of tropical forests, contributing up to 25 % of the woody stems and 35 % of woody species diversity. Lianas invest less in structural support but more in leaves compared to trees of similar biomass. These physiological and morphological differences suggest that lianas may interact with neighboring plants in ways that are different from similarly sized trees. However, the vast majority of past liana competition studies have failed to identify the unique competitive effects of lianas by controlling for the amount of biomass removed. We assessed liana competition in the forest understory over the course of 3 years by removing liana biomass and an equal amount of tree biomass in 40 plots at 10 sites in a secondary tropical moist forest in central Panama. We found that growth of understory trees and lianas, as well as planted seedlings, was limited due to competitive effects from both lianas and trees, though the competitive impacts varied by species, season, and size of neighbors. The removal of trees resulted in greater survival of planted seedlings compared to the removal of lianas, apparently related to a greater release from competition for light. In contrast, lianas had a species-specific negative effect on drought-tolerant Dipteryx oleifera seedlings during the dry season, potentially due to competition for water. We conclude that, at local scales, lianas and trees have unique and differential effects on understory dynamics, with lianas potentially competing more strongly during the dry season, and trees competing more strongly for light.

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Acknowledgments

The experiment presented here complies with the current laws of Panama where the experiment was performed. This research was made possible through support from the National Science Foundation (grants NSF-DEB 0613666, NSF-DEB 0845071, and NSF-DEB 1019436 to SAS), a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Advanced Opportunity Fellowship, the UWM Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the UWM graduate school and scholarship funds from the UWM Department of Biological Sciences. We thank G. Rutten, A. Katherina, A. Domeyko, E. Sanchez, S. Yorke, and J. Mascaro for support and feedback on these ideas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Alexandra Wright, Mike Tobin, Scott Mangan & Stefan A. Schnitzer

  2. Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 12504, USA

    Alexandra Wright

  3. Department of Natural Sciences, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX, USA

    Mike Tobin

  4. Department of Biology, Washington University St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Scott Mangan

  5. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado Postal 0843-03092, Ancon, Panama, Republic of Panama

    Stefan A. Schnitzer

Authors
  1. Alexandra Wright
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  2. Mike Tobin
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  3. Scott Mangan
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  4. Stefan A. Schnitzer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Wright.

Additional information

Communicated by Daniel Laughlin.

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Wright, A., Tobin, M., Mangan, S. et al. Unique competitive effects of lianas and trees in a tropical forest understory. Oecologia 177, 561–569 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3179-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3179-0

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