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Variation in liana abundance and biomass along an elevational gradient in the tropical Atlantic Forest (Brazil)

  • Original Article
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Ecological Research

Abstract

Lianas play a key role in forest structure, species diversity, as well as functional aspects of tropical forests. Although the study of lianas in the tropics has increased dramatically in recent years, basic information on liana communities for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest is still scarce. To understand general patterns of liana abundance and biomass along an elevational gradient (0–1,100 m asl) of coastal Atlantic Forest, we carried out a standard census for lianas ≥1 cm in five 1-ha plots distributed across different forest sites. On average, we found a twofold variation in liana abundance and biomass between lowland and other forest types. Large lianas (≥10 cm) accounted for 26–35% of total liana biomass at lower elevations, but they were not recorded in montane forests. Although the abundance of lianas displayed strong spatial structure at short distances, the present local forest structure played a minor role structuring liana communities at the scale of 0.01 ha. Compared to similar moist and wet Neotropical forests, lianas are slightly less abundant in the Atlantic Forest, but the total biomass is similar. Our study highlights two important points: (1) despite some studies have shown the importance of small-scale canopy disturbance and support availability, the spatial scale of the relationships between lianas and forest structure can vary greatly among tropical forests; (2) our results add to the evidence that past canopy disturbance levels and minimum temperature variation exert influence on the structure of liana communities in tropical moist forests, particularly along short and steep elevational gradients.

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Abbreviations

AGB:

Aboveground biomass

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the field assistance of V.F. Silva, V.A. Kamimura, W.T. Kakuno, O.A. Santos, S. Santos, A.L.C. Rochelle, B.A. Aranha, and E. A. Manzi. We are indebted with Instituto Florestal de São Paulo and Fazenda Capricornio staff for their logistic support during the fieldwork. This research was supported by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) as part of the Thematic Project Functional Gradient (FAPESP 03/12595-7 to C.A. Joly and L.A. Martinelli), within the BIOTA/FAPESP Program 74—The Biodiversity Virtual Institute (http://www.biota.org.br), by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq 476131/2006-5 to M.A. Assis), and by CAPES (scholarship to J. van Melis). COTEC/IF 41.065/2005 and IBAMA/CGEN 093/2005 permit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSTAAR, University of Colorado, Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Luciana F. Alves

  2. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Luciana F. Alves

  3. Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luciana F. Alves

  4. Depto. de Botânica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, CP 199, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil

    Marco A. Assis & Ana L. S. Barros

  5. Depto de Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CP 6109, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    Juliano van Melis, Fernando R. Martins & Carlos A. Joly

  6. NEPAM, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CP 6109, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    Simone A. Vieira

  7. CENA/Esalq, Universidade de São Paulo, CP 96, Piracicaba, SP, 13400-970, Brazil

    Luiz A. Martinelli

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  1. Luciana F. Alves
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Correspondence to Luciana F. Alves.

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Alves, L.F., Assis, M.A., van Melis, J. et al. Variation in liana abundance and biomass along an elevational gradient in the tropical Atlantic Forest (Brazil). Ecol Res 27, 323–332 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-011-0902-8

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