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opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

2015/16 El Niño increased water demand and pushed plants from a Mesic tropical montane grassland beyond their hydraulic safety limits

In 2015/16, a strong El Niño event caused anomalously high temperatures and reduced precipitation resulting in Pantropical drought‐induced diebacks and wildfires. Although many studies have documented the El Niño impacts on tropical forests, little we know about its effects on tropical grasslands. Here, we investigated plant drought responses during and after the 2015/16 El Niño event (Jun 2016 to Aug 2017) in 12 species with contrasting drought strategies (tolerance, avoidance and escape) in a Brazilian tropical montane grassland. We tested if (1) the El Niño event induced meteorological drought anomalies, (2) the atmospheric and/or soil drought led to plant water stress and (3) plants showed signs of drought recovery. In contrast to other tropical areas, we found that the 2015/16 El Niño event did not strongly affect precipitation in our study site. However, it increased air temperature and vapour pressure deficit, thus pushing all grassland species, even the most drought‐tolerant ones, beyond their hydraulic safety margins during the dry season. Most species showed signs of drought recovery, returning to positive hydraulic margins in the wet season after the El Niño. However, the finding that all evaluated species, regardless of their drought‐response strategy, are already operating close to their hydraulic safe thresholds for stomatal closure and turgor loss suggests that this cool–humid tropical montane grassland is especially vulnerable to meteorological extremes exacerbated by the additive effects of El Niño and climate change.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Multiple dimensions of biodiversity mediate effects of temperature on invertebrate herbivory in a montane grassland

Invertebrate herbivores are important and diverse, and their abundance and impacts will likely shift under climate change. Yet, past studies of invertebrate herbivory have documented highly variable responses to changing temperature, making it challenging to predict the direction and magnitude of these shifts. One explanation for these responses is that changing environmental conditions drive concurrent changes in plant communities and herbivore traits. The impacts of changing temperature on herbivory might therefore depend on how temperature combines and interacts with characteristics of plant and herbivore communities. To test this, we surveyed damage to leaves by invertebrate herbivores on 4400 plant individuals in 220 sampling plots along a 1101-meter elevational gradient. Increasing temperature drove community-level herbivory via at least three overlapping mechanisms: increasing temperature directly reduced herbivory, indirectly affected herbivory by reducing plant-community phylogenetic diversity, and indirectly affected herbivory by altering the effects of plant-community functional and phylogenetic diversity on herbivory. Consequently, increasing plant functional diversity reduced herbivory in colder environments while increasing plant phylogenetic diversity increased herbivory in warmer environments. Moreover, different herbivore feeding guilds varied in their response to temperature and plant community composition. These results indicate that, even along a single elevation gradient in a single year, a variety of mechanisms can concurrently drive herbivory, thereby supporting the hypothesis that a universal response of herbivory to changing environmental conditions is unlikely to exist. Instead, our results highlight the importance of considering both plant and herbivore community context to predict how climate change will alter invertebrate herbivory.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

Data from: Decadienal afforestation and risks to montane grassland amphibians in the Udzungwa Plateau, Tanzania

Human modification of the environment has drastically changed ecosystems around the globe. While forest-loss (deforestation) has been well studied for its effects on ecosystems, afforestation also has major impacts on ecosystems. The Udzungwa Plateau in Tanzania is naturally a mix of forests and grasslands. However, non-native pine plantations have recently increased in the area displacing the native grasslands of the montane plateau. In this study, we explored the effects of land use change on amphibian communities by comparing amphibian surveys before non-native plantations were introduced (~ 2000) and after (2017-2019). To put these amphibian surveys into wider context across the plateau, to distinguish local population loss compared to plateau-wide extinctions, we compared new sampling locations and broader surveys and assessed landscape change through remotely sensed data. Amphibian encounter surveys found approximately the same species diversity across all sampling locations, but local extinctions appear likely. Remaining amphibians appear to be limited to small refugia in non-pine wetlands. Approximately half (45%) of the species found have limited distributional ranges (<72,000 km2) and are described as habitat specialists by the IUCN Red List. Monitoring pine plantation growth using remote sensing techniques suggested only limited extensions of plantations between 2000 through to 2013-2016, but ground-surveys found small pines (<3 years old) throughout almost all areas identified as grasslands on satellite imagery. Our study highlights the plight of this narrowing biome on the African continent and calls for more intensive research on the impact of non-native plantations on natural communities.

publicJul 2023View details →

Data from: Decadienal afforestation and risks to montane grassland amphibians in the Udzungwa Plateau, Tanzania

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publicMay 2023View details →

2015/16 El Niño increased water demand and pushed plants from a Mesic tropical montane grassland beyond their hydraulic safety limits

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publicJul 2023View details →

Multiple dimensions of biodiversity mediate effects of temperature on invertebrate herbivory in a montane grassland

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opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Three eco-physiological strategies of response to drought maintain the form and function of a tropical montane grassland

1. Ecologists seek a general scheme to classify the diversity of plant responses to environmental factors into a few strategies (e.g. competitor -C, stress-tolerant -S, ruderal-R), while plant physiologists seek a mechanistic scheme to explain such different responses (e.g. tolerance, escape, avoidance). So far, few attempts have been made to combine both perspectives into plant eco-physiological strategies. Moreover, the relative contribution of different strategies to maintain both community structure and ecosystem functioning during drought has rarely been assessed. This limits our capacity to predict how extreme events caused by climate change will affect plant communities. 2. Here, we present an integrated framework to identify plant eco-physiological strategies and to estimate their contribution to community originality (diversity of trait-combinations), dominance (species relative frequency), and ecosystem functioning (productivity and evapotranspiration). 3. We applied this framework in a tropical montane grassland and found three co-occurring eco-physiological strategies in this community (S-tolerance/avoidance, CS-escape/tolerance and CR-escape/avoidance). While CS-species contributed more to dominance and functionality, CR- and S-species contributed more to originality. Therefore, all three strategies were important to support the grassland form and function. Synthesis: Plants exhibit different strategies, as well as different contributions to community and ecosystem attributes. We developed an integrated approach to both identify strategies and estimate their relative contribution. Thereby, as droughts intensify, we can better predict which plants are more likely to be lost and how their loss will impact the communities and ecosystem where they occur. This knowledge is necessary for specifying conservation priorities and for developing more efficient conservation practices.

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Elevation and landscape change drive the distribution of a montane, endemic grassland bird

This dataset documents the presence and abundance of the Nilgiri pipit (Anthus nilghiriensis) in 170 survey sites across most of its global range. Between one and four surveys were carried out at each site between November 2017 and May 2018 by experienced observers. Survey duration was proportional to site area. A wide range of habitat characteristics were also surveyed, and additional habitat characteristics for each site were gathered from remotely sensed data.

opencc-zeroJul 2019View details →

Data from: Frost maintains forests and grasslands as alternate states in a montane tropical forest-grassland mosaic; but alien tree invasion and warming can disrupt this balance

1. Forest-grassland mosaics, with abrupt boundaries between the two vegetation types, occur across the globe. Fire and herbivory are widely considered primary drivers that maintain these mosaics by limiting tree establishment in grasslands, while edaphic factors and frosts are generally considered to be secondary factors that reinforce these effects. However, the relative importance of these drivers likely varies across systems. In particular, although frost is known to occur in many montane tropical mosaics, experimental evidence for its role as a driving factor is limited. 2. We used replicated in-situ transplant and warming experiments to examine the role of microclimate (frost and freezing temperatures) and soil in influencing germination and seedling survival of both native forest trees and alien invasive Acacia trees in grasslands of a tropical montane forest-grassland mosaic in the Western Ghats of southern India. 3. Seed germination of both native and alien tree species was higher in grasslands regard-less of soil type, indicating that germination was not the limiting stage to tree establishment. However, irrespective of soil type, native seedlings in grasslands incurred high mortality fol-lowing winter frosts and freezing temperatures relative to native seedlings in adjoining forests where freezing temperatures did not occur. Seedling survival through the tropical winter was thus a primary limitation to native tree establishment in grasslands. In contrast, alien Acacia seedlings in grasslands incurred much lower levels of winter mortality. Experimental night-time warming in grasslands significantly enhanced over-winter survival of all tree seedlings, but increases in recruitment were much greater for alien Acacia than for native tree seedlings. 4. Synthesis: Our results provide evidence for a primary role for frost and freezing temperatures in limiting tree establishment in grasslands of this tropical forest-grassland mosaic. Future increases in temperature are likely to release trees from this limitation and favour tree expansion into grasslands, with rates of expansion of non-native Acacia likely to be much greater than that of native trees. We suggest that studies of frost limitation to plant establishment are needed across a range of tropical ecosystems to re-evaluate the general importance of frost as a driver of vegetation transitions in the tropics.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Not seeing the grass for the trees: timber plantations and agriculture shrink tropical montane grassland by two-thirds over four decades in the Palani Hills, a Western Ghats Sky Island

Tropical montane habitats, grasslands, in particular, merit urgent conservation attention owing to the disproportionate levels of endemic biodiversity they harbour, the ecosystem services they provide, and the fact that they are among the most threatened habitats globally. The Shola Sky Islands in the Western Ghats host a matrix of native forest-grassland matrix that has been planted over the last century, with exotic timber plantations. The popular discourse on the landscape change is that mainly forests have been lost to the timber plantations and recent court directives are to restore Shola forest trees. In this study, we examine spatiotemporal patterns of landscape change over the last 40 years in the Palani Hills, a significant part of the montane habitat in the Western Ghats. Using satellite imagery and field surveys, we find that 66% of native grasslands and 31% of native forests have been lost over the last 40 years. Grasslands have gone from being the dominant, most contiguous land cover to one of the rarest and most fragmented. They have been replaced by timber plantations and, to a lesser extent, expanding agriculture. We find that the spatial pattern of grassland loss to plantations differs from the loss to agriculture, likely driven by the invasion of plantation species into grasslands. We identify remnant grasslands that should be prioritised for conservation and make specific recommendations for conservation and restoration of grasslands in light of current management policy in the Palani Hills, which favours large-scale removal of plantations and emphasises the restoration of native forests.

FIGURE 15 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 15. Variation of selected female paratypes of Pristimantis puipui sp. nov. in dorsolateral, dorsal, and ventral views. A–C (NMP6V 75541, SVL 22.4 mm), D–F (NMP6V 75542, SVL 21.3 mm), G–I (NMP6V 75056, SVL 20.8 mm). Photos by E. Lehr.

FIGURE 16 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 16. Type localities and habitats of Pristimantis bounides sp. nov. (A–C), P. humboldti sp. nov. (D, E), and P. puipui sp. nov. (F–H). A: Satipo-Toldopampa Road at km 134 on left side of street coming from Satipo, 3350 m a.s.l., 23 June 2013; B: type locality Quebrada Tasta, "Runda", 3463 m a.s.l., 19 May 2012; C: female P. bounides sp. nov. (NMP6V 75540) guarding 20 eggs inside a moss pad at Satipo-Toldopampa Road at km 134, in the early afternoon on 23 June 2013; D, E: type locality Pui Pui Protected Forest, Quebrada Tarhuish, left bank of Antuyo River, "Shiusha", 3318 m a.s.l., 14 May 2012; F, G: type locality Pui Pui Protected Forest, Laguna Sinchon, 3890 m a.s.l., 30 June 2013; H: female P. puipui sp. nov. (NMP6V 75542) guarding eggs inside a moss pad (G). Photos by E. Lehr, J. C. Cusi (G), and R. von May (B).

FIGURE 14 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 14. Variation of male paratypes of Pristimantis puipui sp. nov. in dorsolateral, dorsal, and ventral views. A–C (MUSM 31983, SVL 17.0 mm), D–F (NMP6V 75057, SVL 17.1 mm). Photos by E. Lehr.

FIGURE 3 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 3. Bayesian maximum clade-credibility tree for species included in this study based on a 2181-bp concatenated partitioned dataset (16S, 12S, COI, RAG1) analyzed in MrBayes (posterior probabilities are indicated at each node). Photographed frogs (from top to bottom): Pristimantis puipui sp nov., P. attenboroughi, P. humboldti sp. nov., and P. bounides sp. nov.

FIGURE 7 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 7. Variation of female paratypes of Pristimantis bounides sp. nov. in dorsolateral, dorsal, and ventral views. A–C (MUSM 31198, SVL 23.9 mm), D–F (NMP6V 75540, SVL 21.7 mm), G–I (MUSM 31971, SVL 21.6 mm). Photos by E. Lehr.

FIGURE 10 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 10. Variation of male paratypes of Pristimantis humboldti sp. nov. in dorsolateral, dorsal, and ventral views. A–D (NMP6V 75096, SVL 17.2 mm), E, F (NMP6V 75539, SVL 20.6 mm). Blue arrows indicate mite infestations. Photos by E. Lehr.

FIGURE 12 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 12. Life male holotype (MUSM 31982, SVL 16.1 mm) of Pristimantis puipui sp. nov. in dorsolateral view (A), dorsal view (B), lateral view (C), and ventral view (D). Blue arrows indicate mite infestations. Photos by E. Lehr (A, C, D), and by J. C. Cusi (B).

FIGURE 13 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 13. Ventral views of right hand (A) of paratype (NMP6V 75057) and right foot (B) of holotype (MUSM 31982) of Pristimantis puipui sp. nov. Drawings by E. Lehr.

FIGURE 9 in Three new species of Pristimantis (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from upper montane forests and high Andean grasslands of the Pui Pui Protected Forest in central Peru

FIGURE 9. Ventral views of right hand (A) and right foot (B) of holotype of Pristimantis humboldti sp. nov. (MUSM 31190). Drawings by E. Lehr.