Search

Foliar properties play a crucial role in local and global biochemical cycles. Systematic variation in key leaf traits has been reported both between and within species. Intraspecific variation in leaf traits is controlled by micro-environmental conditions and follows seasonal patterns. In this study we examine the seasonal patterns of six foliar traits including leaf area (LA), leaf thickness (Lth), leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf area to sapwood area ratio (LA/SA) and branch wood density (WD) in addition to the associated parameters of the Michaelis-Menten light response curve (i.e. light saturated net photosynthetic rate (Asat), half saturation coefficient (Km) and dark respiration rate (Rd)). We measured on a monthly basis the foliar traits and developed light response curves in four Pinus brutia dominated stands along a post-fire chronosequence (15, 40, 70 and 90 years) from sunlit branches. Significant differences in the interannual trait variability were found between stands for LDMC, WD and Asat, with the highest variability identified in the younger plot. LA/SA, Rd and Km also showed strong interannual variability although not statistically different between plots. A mixed effect model analysis revealed high intraclass correlation coefficients for Km and Asat suggesting that net photosynthesis is following systematic seasonal patterns. Overall LA was higher and LDMC was lower in the oldest plot and WD was higher in the denser (40 years) plot. Interestingly gas exchange parameters did not show differences in their overall mean values. Across plots, Asat was strongly positively related to Km, and LMA was positively related to LDMC and Lth. LDMC was also positively related with Asat and negatively with Lth. A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed two major dimensions of intraspecific trait variability within our plots. The first PCA axis was positively related to Asat, Km, LDMC and LMA suggesting that regardless of the stand age needles are placed along a fast-slow carbon gain dimension with denser needles illustrating faster area-based photosynthesis. The second PCA axis was positively related to LA and Lth suggesting that bigger needles are also thicker. A subsequent permutational multivariate analysis of variance revealed that the centroids and the dispersion of the trait syndromes differed between stands, with the youngest plot illustrating higher trait dispersion and the oldest plot characterized by bigger and thicker needles. Thus, in older stands were competition for light is higher, needles are deployed to be bigger and thicker to optimize light capture, while in younger stands they are optimized along a leaf density - photosynthetic capacity spectrum depending on (more heterogeneous) microenvironmental conditions. Our findings illustrate that intraspecific variation can be attributed to either seasonal (abiotic) light availability or to (biotic) heterogeneity related to stand structure, and have important implications for local scale forest dynamics models.«This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) through the Operational Programme «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014-2020» in the context of the project “Carbon fluxes across a post-fire chronosequence in Pinus brutia Ten forests.” (MIS 5049513)».

Through interpretations of remote-sensing data and/or theoretical propositions, the idea that forest and savanna represent "alternative stable states" is gaining increasing acceptance. Filling an observational gap, we present detailed stratified floristic and structural analyses for forest and savanna stands located mostly within zones of transition (where both vegetation types occur in close proximity) in Africa, South America and Australia. Woody plant leaf area index variation was related to tree canopy cover in a similar way for both savanna and forest with substantial overlap between the two vegetation types. As total woody plant canopy cover increased, so did the relative contribution of middle and lower strata of woody vegetation. Herbaceous layer cover declined as woody cover increased. This pattern of understorey grasses and herbs progressively replaced by shrubs as the canopy closes over was found for both savanna and forests and on all continents. Thus, once subordinate woody canopy layers are taken into account, a less marked transition in woody plant cover across the savanna–forest-species discontinuum is observed compared to that inferred when trees of a basal diameter > 0.1 m are considered in isolation. This is especially the case for shrub-dominated savannas and in taller savannas approaching canopy closure. An increased contribution of forest species to the total subordinate cover is also observed as savanna stand canopy closure occurs. Despite similarities in canopy-cover characteristics, woody vegetation in Africa and Australia attained greater heights and stored a greater amount of above-ground biomass than in South America. Up to three times as much above-ground biomass is stored in forests compared to savannas under equivalent climatic conditions. Savanna–forest transition zones were also found to typically occur at higher precipitation regimes for South America than for Africa. Nevertheless, consistent across all three continents coexistence was found to be confined to a well-defined edaphic–climate envelope with soil and climate the key determinants of the relative location of forest and savanna stands. Moreover, when considered in conjunction with the appropriate water availability metrics, it emerges that soil exchangeable cations exert considerable control on woody canopy-cover extent as measured in our pan-continental (forest + savanna) data set. Taken together these observations do not lend support to the notion of alternate stable states mediated through fire feedbacks as the prime force shaping the distribution of the two dominant vegetation types of the tropical lands.

Soil samples were collected in six South American countries in a total of 71 different 1 ha forest plots across the Amazon Basin as part of the RAINFOR project. They were analysed for total and exchangeable cations, C, N, pH with various P fractions also determined. Physical properties were also examined and an index of soil physical quality proposed. A diverse range of soils was found. For the western areas near the Andean cordillera and the southern and northern fringes, soils tend to be distributed among the lower pedogenetic levels, while the central and eastern areas of Amazonia have more intensely weathered soils. This gives rise to a large variation of soil chemical and physical properties across the Basin, with soil properties varying predictably along a gradient of pedogenic development. Nutrient pools generally increased slightly in concentration from the youngest to the intermediate aged soils after which a gradual decline was observed with the lowest values found in the most weathered soils. Soil physical properties were strongly correlated with soil fertility, with favourable physical properties occurring in highly weathered and nutrient depleted soils and with the least weathered, more fertile soils having higher incidence of limiting physical properties. Soil phosphorus concentrations varied markedly in accordance with weathering extent and appear to exert an important influence on the nitrogen cycle of Amazon forest soils.