Ecosystem structure and productivity of tropical rain forests along altitudinal gradients with contrasting soil phosphorus pools on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo

Interactions among nitrogen fixation and soil phosphorus acquisition strategies in lowland tropical rain forests.

Paradoxically, symbiotic dinitrogen (N2 ) fixers are abundant in nitrogen (N)-rich, phosphorus (P)-poor lowland tropical rain forests. One hypothesis to explain this pattern states that N2 fixers have an advantage in acquiring soil P by producing more N-rich enzymes (phosphatases) that mineralise organic P than non-N2 fixers. We assessed soil and root phosphatase activity between fixers and non...

Soil carbon stabilization along climate and stand productivity gradients in black spruce forests of interior Alaska1

The amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) in stable, slow-turnover pools is likely to change in response to climate warming because processes mediating soil C balance (net primary production and decomposition) vary with environmental conditions. This is important to consider in boreal forests, which constitute one of the world’s largest stocks of SOC. We investigated changes in soil C stabilizati...

Canopy structure of tropical and sub-tropical rain forests in relation to conifer dominance analysed with a portable LIDAR system

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Globally, conifer dominance is restricted to nutient-poor habitats in colder, drier or waterlogged environments, probably due to competition with angiosperms. Analysis of canopy structure is important for understanding the mechanism of plant coexistence in relation to competition for light. Most conifers are shade intolerant, and often have narrow, deep, conical crowns. In t...

Contrasting structure and composition of the understory in species-rich tropical rain forests.

In large samples of trees > or = 1 cm dbh (more than 1 million trees and 3000 species), in six lowland tropical forests on three continents, we assigned species with >30 individuals to one of six classes of stature at maturity (SAM). We then compared the proportional representation of understory trees (1-2 cm dbh) among these classes. The understory of the three Asian sites was predominantly co...

Tropical Rain Forests