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opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: ENSO and frost co-determine decade-long temporal variation in flower and seed production in a subtropical rain forest

Flower and seed production of plants can be greatly influenced by both natural climatic oscillations and local weather extremes. However, owing to the rarity of long-term monitoring studies conducted at a sufficient temporal scale to capture climatic oscillations and the unpredictability of extreme weather events, evidence that demonstrates how these two external forcings act in concert to drive plant reproduction remains scarce. In addition, considerable variation in species' phenological responses to the external climatic forcings was often observed. Phylogenetic relationships may mediate this inter-specific variation, but previous studies yielded inconsistent results when testing this hypothesis. We monitored the flower and seed production in a subtropical rainforest, Fushan, Taiwan (24°45'N, 121°35'E), for over ten years (since September 2002). In March 2005, a record low temperature (-1.3°C) occurred at Fushan and caused great frost damage to plants. We used weekly phenological records and long-term meteorological data to assess the effects of climatic fluctuations and extreme weather event on plant reproductive output. We show that the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices, which integrated local climatic variables at Fushan over several months, were strongly associated with flower and seed production. The 2005 spring frost also had long-lasting effects on the flower and seed production of several species. In particular, we detected phylogenetic signals in the relationships between phenological responses of flowering production and several climatic variables (maximum temperature, irradiance, and ENSO34 index). By contrast, the relationships between seed production and climatic variables, as well as phenological responses to the frost event, did not exhibit a phylogenetic signal. Synthesis: Our findings add to the growing evidence that together the natural climatic oscillation (ENSO) and the extreme weather event (frost) determined the temporal variation in flower and seed production. In addition, phylogenetically closely related species resembled each other in their flowering responses to abiotic variation in this subtropical rainforest. Improved understanding of these abiotic and biotic interactions may help predicting population- and community-level phenological responses under future climate changes.

opencc-zeroFeb 2020View details →

Evolutionary constraints and adaptation shape the size and colour of rain forest fruits and flowers at continental scale

Aim: Large-scale patterns in flower and fruit traits provide critical insights into selection processes and the evolutionary history of plant lineages. To isolate and identify the role of selective pressures including different plant-animal interactions, and the factors driving trait evolution, we investigate convergence and divergence between flower and fruit traits in shared environments. Location: Australia to Southeast Asia. Time period: Eocene (~45 My) to Present. Major taxa studied: Woody angiosperm rainforest species (2248 species, 133 families). Methods: Using a continental scale data set for all woody angiosperm species in the Australian rainforest (1816 free-standing and 432 climbing species) we compare the colour and size of fleshy fruits and flowers in relation to life form (trees/shrubs and vines), species biogeographic histories and origins (Sunda vs. Sahul), and bio-regional distributions. Results: Fleshy fruits in the Australian rainforest are mostly small, with a diversity of colours (<30mm; 81%), while flowers are mostly small (<10mm; 65%) and whitish (~80%). Compared to trees and shrubs, climbing species showed a higher proportion of red fleshy fruits, and large coloured flowers. Small whitish flowers were dominant across lineages from different biogeographic origins (Sunda-Sahul) and geographical regions, while both small and large fleshy fruits retained a range of disperser attractant colours. Main conclusions: Continental scale size and colour characteristics of flowers and fleshy fruits differed despite sharing environments with similar abiotic selective pressures through time. Plant-animal interactions including pollination and dispersal likely mediate different evolutionary outcomes for plant traits, and reflect both adaptation and evolutionary constraints.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Habitat patterns in tropical rain forests: a comparison of 105 plots in northwest Borneo

Understanding the maintenance of high tropical tree species diversity requires disentangling the effects of habitat vs. geographic distance. Using floristic, topographic, and soil nutrient data from 105 0.6-ha plots in mixed dipterocarp forest throughout Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, we explore the degree to which floristic patterns are habitat-driven from local to landscape scales. We assess how the floristic influence of geographic distance vs. abiotic factors varies from local to regional scales. We employ several multivariate analytical techniques and perform a hierarchical clustering of the research plots using the Steinhaus index of floristic dissimilarity, as well as Mantel analyses on matrices of floristic, habitat, and geographic distance. These analyses indicate that floristic variation is more strongly correlated with habitat than with geographic distance on the regional scale. On the local-landscape to community scale, we find evidence of a resource threshold above which habitat effects weaken; that is, below the resource threshold floristic similarity between sites is dominated by habitat effects, while above the threshold floristic similarity between sites is dominated by geographic-distance effects. We also find evidence that topography and soil nutrients correlate in part independently with floristics. These results, together with previous studies in the Neotropics, emphasize that tree species distribution and community composition are variously influenced by the interplay of both habitat and dispersal-driven effects.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Where did all the trees come from? A novel multispecies approach reveals the impacts of biogeographical history and functional diversity on rain forest assembly

Aim: We take advantage of next generation sequencing-based technology to assess how landscape-level dynamics, biogeographical history and functional factors shape the distribution of genetic diversity in rain forest trees. To achieve this, we explore chloroplast genomic diversity and divergence patterns across multiple, co-distributed species from three major centres of rain forest diversity. Location: Subtropical rain forests in south-eastern Australia: Nightcap–Border Ranges, Dorrigo and Washpool. Methods: We assembled chloroplast genomic data from whole-genome shotgun libraries for 71 species collected across three major centres of rain forest diversity. Chloroplast single nucleotide polymorphisms were used to measure genetic variation within and between multiple populations, species and locations, and we used this information to identify patterns related to landscape-level processes, biogeographical origins and functional characteristics. Results: We identified Nightcap–Border Ranges and Dorrigo as containing multiple refugia and Washpool as primarily a recolonized area. We found that rapidly expanding lineages of Indo-Malesian origin exhibit significantly lower levels of genetic diversity than Gondwanan lineages with longer local histories. Functional traits related to persistence and dispersal were the most important in regulating the distribution of genetic diversity. Main conclusions: The distribution and assembly of species reflect interactions and competition between different floristic elements at different stages of continental occupation. Additionally, given the multiple evolutionary origins and histories of the Australian rain forest flora, it is important to avoid treating rain forest communities as single management units.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Experimental defaunation of terrestrial mammalian herbivores alters tropical rain forest understory diversity

It has been suggested that tropical defaunation may unleash community-wide cascading effects, leading to reductions in plant diversity. However, experimental evidence establishing cause–effect relationships thereof is poor. Through a 5 year exclosure experiment, we tested the hypothesis that mammalian defaunation affects tree seedling/sapling community dynamics leading to reductions in understorey plant diversity. We established plot triplets (n = 25) representing three defaunation contexts: terrestrial-mammal exclosure (TE), medium/large mammal exclosure (PE) and open access controls (C). Seedlings/saplings 30–100 cm tall were marked and identified within each of these plots and re-censused three times to record survival and recruitment. In the periods 2010–2011 and 2011–2013, survival was greater in PE than in C plots and recruitment was higher in TE plots than in C plots. Overall, seedling density increased by 61% in TE plots and 23% in PE plots, whereas it decreased by 5% in C plots. Common species highly consumed by mammals (e.g. Brosimum alicastrum and Ampelocera hottlei) increased in their abundance in TE plots. Rarefaction curves showed that species diversity decreased in TE plots from 2008 to 2013, whereas it remained similar for C plots. Given the prevalence of tropical defaunation, we posit this is an anthropogenic effect threatening the maintenance of tropical forest diversity.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: A new species of Allophryne (Anura: Allophrynidae) from the Atlantic Rain Forest biome of eastern Brazil

A new species of the genus Allophryne is described and, in contrast to its congeners that occur in the Amazon Basin, is based on specimens obtained in Uruçuca, State of Bahia, in the Atlantic Rain Forest of eastern Brazil. Allophryne relicta sp. nov. is characterized by a medium body size for the genus (snout–vent length range 19.9–21.9 mm in males); large head (head width about 35% of SVL); large, red-orange eyes, with a large black transversal stripe on iris; dorsum covered by few tubercles and many scattered black dots; dorsolateral surfaces cream with dark brown, elongate, anastomosed spots, and venter clear gray with scattered small white tubercles; presence of a line of tubercles on the ventrolateral surface of forearm; advertisement call formed by a multi-pulsed note of 0.509 ± 0.029 s in duration and emitted at intervals of 1.287 ± 0.500 s, with notes composed of 28.58 ± 1.84 pulses at a dominant frequency of 3828 ± 82.28 Hz; call-note emission rate of 34.46 notes/min and pulse emission rate of 56.13 ± 1.25 s. The molecular phylogeny supports the placement of A. relicta sp. nov. as sister taxon of a clade formed by A. resplendens + A. ruthveni.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Resource availability and roosting ecology shape reproductive phenology of rain forest insectivorous bats

Bats in temperate and subtropical regions typically synchronize birth of a single young with peaks in resource availability driven by local climate patterns. In tropical rain forest, insects are available throughout the year, potentially allowing departures from seasonal monoestry. However, reproductive energy budgets may be constrained by the cost of commuting to foraging grounds from distant roosts. To test these hypotheses, we simultaneously tracked female reproductive activity of 11 insectivorous bat species, insect biomass, and local weather variables for 20 months in a Malaysian rain forest. Five species roost in forest structures and hence have low commuting costs, whereas six species depend on caves, which are limited in the landscape, and are presumed to incur higher commuting costs to foraging sites. Monthly insect biomass was positively correlated with monthly rainfall, and there was a significant relationship between insect biomass and lactation in cave-roosting but not forest-roosting species. Cave-roosting species were seasonally monoestrus, with parturition confined to a two-month period, whereas in forest-roosting species, pregnancy and lactation were recorded throughout the year. Our results suggest that the energetic costs of commuting from roosts to foraging grounds shape annual reproductive patterns in tropical rain forest insectivorous bats. Ongoing changes in forest landscapes are likely to increase these costs for cave-roosting bats, further restricting reproductive opportunities. Climate change is projected to influence the timing of rainfall events in many tropical habitats, which may disrupt relationships between rainfall, insect biomass, and bat reproductive timing, further compromising reproductive success.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Litter removal in a tropical rain forest reduces fine root biomass and production but litter addition has few effects

Many old-growth lowland tropical rain forests are potentially nutrient limited, and it has long been thought that many such forests maintain growth by recycling nutrients from decomposing litter. We investigated this by continuously removing (for ten years) freshly fallen litter from five (45 m x 45 m) plots, adding it to five other plots, there were five controls. From monthly measures over one year we show that litter removal caused lower: fine root (≤2 mm diameter) standing mass, fine root standing length, fine root length production and fine root length survivorship. Litter addition did not significantly change fine root mass or length or production. Nutrient concentrations in fine roots in litter removal plots were lower than those in controls for nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), concentrations in fine roots in litter addition plots were higher for N and Ca. Chronic litter removal has resulted in reduced forest growth due to lack of nutrients, probably nitrogen. Conversely, long-term litter addition has had fewer effects.

FIGURES 38–51. 38–42 in Fourteen new species of Pseudisobrachium (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Atlantic rain forest of Espírito Santo, Brazil

FIGURES 38–51. 38–42, Pseudisobrachium amplum sp. nov. 38, head, dorsal view; 39, mandible, frontal view; 40, genitalia, ventral view; 41, ventral arm of paramere, lateral view; 42, dorsal arm of paramere; 43–47, Pseudisobrachium intentum sp. nov. 43, head, dorsal view; 44, mandible, frontal view; 45, genitalia, ventral view; 46, dorsal arm of paramere, lateral view; 47, ventral arm of paramere; 48–51, Pseudisobrachium latum sp. nov. 48, head, dorsal view; 49, mandible, frontal view; 50, genitalia, ventral view; 51, paramere, lateral view. (Scale bars = 250 μm for head and mandible, = 130 μm for genitalia).

FIGURES 25–37. 25–28 in Fourteen new species of Pseudisobrachium (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Atlantic rain forest of Espírito Santo, Brazil

FIGURES 25–37. 25–28, Pseudisobrachium formosum sp. nov. 25, head, dorsal view; 26, mandible, frontal view; 27, genitalia, ventral view; 28, paramere, lateral view; 29–32, Pseudisobrachium cuspidatum sp. nov. 29, head, dorsal view; 30, mandible, frontal view; 31, genitalia, ventral view; 32, dorsal arm of paramere, lateral view; 33–37, Pseudisobrachium rotundum sp. nov. 33, head, dorsal view; 34, mandible, frontal view; 35, genitalia, ventral view; 36, ventral arm of paramere, lateral view; 37, dorsal arm of paramere, lateral view. (Scale bars = 250 μm for head and mandible, = 130 μm for genitalia).

FIGURES 12–24. 12–14 in Fourteen new species of Pseudisobrachium (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Atlantic rain forest of Espírito Santo, Brazil

FIGURES 12–24. 12–14, Pseudisobrachium apenesoides sp. nov. 12, head, dorsal view; 13, mandible, frontal view; 14, genitalia, ventral view; 15–19, Pseudisobrachium acuminatum sp. nov. 15, head, dorsal view; 16, mandible, frontal view; 17, genitalia, ventral view; 18, dorsal arm of paramere, lateral view; 19, ventral arm of paramere, lateral view; 20–24, Pseudisobrachium filum sp. nov. 20, head, dorsal view; 21, mandible, frontal view; 22, genitalia, ventral view; 23, ventral arm of paramere, lateral view; 24, dorsal arm of paramere, lateral view. (Scale bars = 250 μm for head and mandible, = 130 μm for genitalia).

FIGURES 1–11. 1–5 in Fourteen new species of Pseudisobrachium (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Atlantic rain forest of Espírito Santo, Brazil

FIGURES 1–11. 1–5, Pseudisobrachium ventriosum sp. nov. 1, head, dorsal view; 2, mandible, frontal view; 3, genitalia, ventral view; 4, aedeagus, lateral view; 5, paramere, lateral view; 6–11, Pseudisobrachium triacutum sp. nov. 6, head, dorsal view; 7, mandible, frontal view; 8, genitalia, ventral view; 9, aedeagus, lateral view; 10, ventral arm of paramere, lateral view; 11, dorsal arm of paramere, lateral view. (Scale bars = 250 μm for head and mandible, = 130 μm for genitalia).

FIGURES 52–64. 52–57 in Fourteen new species of Pseudisobrachium (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Atlantic rain forest of Espírito Santo, Brazil

FIGURES 52–64. 52–57, Pseudisobrachium opimum sp. nov. 52, head, dorsal view; 53, mandible, frontal view; 54, genitalia, ventral view; 55, paramere, lateral view; 56, dorsal arm of paramere, lateral view; 57, ventral arm of paramere, lateral view; 58–60, Pseudisobrachium capixabum sp. nov. 58, head, dorsal view; 59, mandible, frontal view; 60, genitalia, ventral view; 61–64, Pseudisobrachium magnum sp. nov. 61, head, dorsal view; 62, mandible, frontal view; 63, genitalia, ventral view; 64, paramere, lateral view. (Scale bars = 250 μm for head and mandible, = 130 μm for genitalia).

FIGURE 1 in A new species of Liotyphlops (Serpentes: Anomalepididae) from the Atlantic Rain Forest of Northeastern Brazil

FIGURE 1. Liotyphlops trefauti sp. nov. (MZUSP 12178, holotype). (A) Dorsal view of head. (B) Lateral view of head. (C) Ventral view of head. (D) Ventral view of tail. (E) Lateral view of tail. Bar = 2 mm.

FIGURE 2 in New species of toad, genus Frostius Cannatella, 1986, from the Atlantic Rain Forest of Bahia, Brazil (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae)

FIGURE 2. Frostius erythrophthalmus sp.nov. (MNRJ 27245, holotype, SVL 25.6 mm). Dorsal and lateral views of head; ventral views of hand and foot; scale bars represent 5 mm.

FIGURE 3 in New species of toad, genus Frostius Cannatella, 1986, from the Atlantic Rain Forest of Bahia, Brazil (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae)

FIGURE 3. Female paratype (MNRJ 35399) of Frostius erythrophthalmus sp.nov. from Parque Estadual Serra do Conduru, Uruçuca, State of Bahia, Brazil (left) and male F. pernambucensis from Serra da Jibóia, Municipality of Santa Terezinha, State of Bahia, Brazil (right).

FIGURE 1 in New species of toad, genus Frostius Cannatella, 1986, from the Atlantic Rain Forest of Bahia, Brazil (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae)

FIGURE 1. Frostius erythrophthalmus sp.nov. (MNRJ 27245, holotype, SVL 25.6 mm), dorsal and ventral views.

FIGURE 4 in New species of toad, genus Frostius Cannatella, 1986, from the Atlantic Rain Forest of Bahia, Brazil (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae)

FIGURE 4. Geographic distribution of Frostius erythrophthalmus sp.nov. (dots) and Frostius pernambucensis (triangles); (PB) State of Paraíba, (PE) State of Pernambuco, (AL) State of Alagoas, (SE) State of Sergipe, and (BA) State of Bahia, Brazil.

opennotspecifiedDec 2010View details →

FIGURE 1 in A new species of Dendrophidion (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Atlantic Rain Forest of Northeastern Brazil

FIGURE 1. General view in life of the holotype of Dendrophidion atlantica sp. nov. (MNRJ 17018; SVL 595 mm).