Local canopy disturbance as an explanation for long?term increases in liana abundance

Canopy disturbance explains liana abundance and distribution within tropical forests thus may also explain the widespread pattern of increasing abundance; however, this hypothesis remains untested. We used a 10-year study (2007–2017) 117,100 rooted lianas in an old-growth Panamanian forest to test whether local canopy abundance. found that density increased 29.2% basal area 12.5%. The vast majority these increases were associated with clonal stem proliferation following disturbance, particularly liana-dense, low-canopy gaps, which had far greater than did undisturbed forest. Lianas be ecological niche constructors, arresting tree regeneration gaps creating high-light environment favours sustained proliferation. Our findings demonstrate is rapidly their ability proliferate via copious production much increase possibly other forests.