IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v221y2010i23p2784-2792.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modelling the effects of litter decomposition on tree diversity patterns

Author

Listed:
  • Mazzoleni, Stefano
  • Bonanomi, Giuliano
  • Giannino, Francesco
  • Incerti, Guido
  • Dekker, Stefan C.
  • Rietkerk, Max

Abstract

Current theories may not fully explain why latitudinal patterns of plant diversity differ between terrestrial and flooded ecosystems. Moreover, the co-occurrence of hyper diverse stands in lowland tierra firma (not inundated) forests and almost monospecific stands in mangroves and gallery riparian vegetation within the tropics remains enigmatic. Building on evidence from ecology and agriculture, we present a new model investigating the hypothesis that, besides the general positive feedback of plant growth by nutrients release, litter decomposition builds up an intra-specific negative feedback functionally linked with tree diversity. The model results were compared with extensive published data sets both across and within latitudinal zones. The model predicts correctly the biomass production and decomposition process, as well as the number of tree species, their relative abundance in all environmental conditions providing a novel, putative explanation also for the diversity variations observed within the tropics. The model demonstrates a possible mechanistic link between the carbon cycle and biodiversity patterns, which is interesting in the debate about advancing in the direction of a unifying ecosystem theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Mazzoleni, Stefano & Bonanomi, Giuliano & Giannino, Francesco & Incerti, Guido & Dekker, Stefan C. & Rietkerk, Max, 2010. "Modelling the effects of litter decomposition on tree diversity patterns," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(23), pages 2784-2792.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:221:y:2010:i:23:p:2784-2792
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.08.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380010004023
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.08.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter A. Abrams, 2001. "A world without competition," Nature, Nature, vol. 412(6850), pages 858-859, August.
    2. Vojtech Novotny & Yves Basset & Scott E. Miller & George D. Weiblen & Birgitta Bremer & Lukas Cizek & Pavel Drozd, 2002. "Low host specificity of herbivorous insects in a tropical forest," Nature, Nature, vol. 416(6883), pages 841-844, April.
    3. Alissa Packer & Keith Clay, 2000. "Soil pathogens and spatial patterns of seedling mortality in a temperate tree," Nature, Nature, vol. 404(6775), pages 278-281, March.
    4. John N. Klironomos, 2002. "Feedback with soil biota contributes to plant rarity and invasiveness in communities," Nature, Nature, vol. 417(6884), pages 67-70, May.
    5. Janneke Hille Ris Lambers & James S. Clark & Brian Beckage, 2002. "Density-dependent mortality and the latitudinal gradient in species diversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 417(6890), pages 732-735, June.
    6. Igor Volkov & Jayanth R. Banavar & Fangliang He & Stephen P. Hubbell & Amos Maritan, 2005. "Density dependence explains tree species abundance and diversity in tropical forests," Nature, Nature, vol. 438(7068), pages 658-661, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tiefeng Piao & Jung Hwa Chun & Hee Moon Yang & Kwangil Cheon, 2014. "Negative Density Dependence Regulates Two Tree Species at Later Life Stage in a Temperate Forest," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-6, July.
    2. Rampal S Etienne & James Rosindell, 2011. "The Spatial Limitations of Current Neutral Models of Biodiversity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(3), pages 1-8, March.
    3. Stephan Kambach & Ingolf Kühn & Bastien Castagneyrol & Helge Bruelheide, 2016. "The Impact of Tree Diversity on Different Aspects of Insect Herbivory along a Global Temperature Gradient - A Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-14, November.
    4. Liao, Jinbao & Li, Zhenqing & Quets, Jan J. & Nijs, Ivan, 2013. "Effects of space partitioning in a plant species diversity model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 271-278.
    5. Nzube Thaddeus Egboka & Leonard Chimaobi Agim & Michael Akaninyene Okon & Nnaemeka Henry Okoli & Akaninyene Isaiah Afangide & Philomena Nkem Okonjo, 2022. "Population Density Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Physico-Chemical Properties Of Soils As Affected By Cropping Systems," Journal Clean WAS (JCleanWAS), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 27-32, June.
    6. Christopher Wills & Kyle E Harms & Thorsten Wiegand & Ruwan Punchi-Manage & Gregory S Gilbert & David Erickson & W John Kress & Stephen P Hubbell & C V Savitri Gunatilleke & I A U Nimal Gunatilleke, 2016. "Persistence of Neighborhood Demographic Influences over Long Phylogenetic Distances May Help Drive Post-Speciation Adaptation in Tropical Forests," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-24, June.
    7. J.J. Burdon & P.H. Thrall, 2002. "Resistance variation in natural plant populations," Plant Protection Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 38(SI1-6thCo), pages 145-150.
    8. H.T. Song & S. Cheng, 2010. "Various growth strategies of yellow birch seedlings in multiple-abiotic factor changing environments," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 56(5), pages 235-243.
    9. Yan Zhu & Stephan Getzin & Thorsten Wiegand & Haibao Ren & Keping Ma, 2013. "The Relative Importance of Janzen-Connell Effects in Influencing the Spatial Patterns at the Gutianshan Subtropical Forest," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-8, September.
    10. Aguilera, Anna G., 2011. "The influence of soil community density on plant-soil feedbacks: An important unknown in plant invasion," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(18), pages 3413-3420.
    11. Beeravolu, Champak R. & Couteron, Pierre & Pélissier, Raphaël & Munoz, François, 2009. "Studying ecological communities from a neutral standpoint: A review of models’ structure and parameter estimation," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(20), pages 2603-2610.
    12. Cristina C Bastias & Claire Fortunel & Fernando Valladares & Christopher Baraloto & Raquel Benavides & William Cornwell & Lars Markesteijn & Alexandre A de Oliveira & Jeronimo B B Sansevero & Marcel C, 2017. "Intraspecific leaf trait variability along a boreal-to-tropical community diversity gradient," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, February.
    13. M. Barna, 2008. "The effects of cutting regimes on natural regeneration in submountain beech forests: species diversity and abundance," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 54(12), pages 533-544.
    14. Li, Jie & Shen, Xuzhu, 2018. "An improved neutral community model for temporal observations in microbial communities," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 388(C), pages 108-114.
    15. Guoyu Lan & Stephan Getzin & Thorsten Wiegand & Yuehua Hu & Guishui Xie & Hua Zhu & Min Cao, 2012. "Spatial Distribution and Interspecific Associations of Tree Species in a Tropical Seasonal Rain Forest of China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(9), pages 1-9, September.
    16. Ladislav Dotlačil & Iva Faberová & Zdeněk Stehno, 2008. "Plant genetic resources in the Czech Republic," Czech Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 44(4), pages 129-139.
    17. Laura Yesenia Solís-Ramos1 & Antonio Andrade-Torres2, 2020. "Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Tropical Ecosystems Towards its Management?," Agricultural Research & Technology: Open Access Journal, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 152-155, July.
    18. Fredrik Ronquist & Mattias Forshage & Sibylle Häggqvist & Dave Karlsson & Rasmus Hovmöller & Johannes Bergsten & Kevin Holston & Tom Britton & Johan Abenius & Bengt Andersson & Peter Neerup Buhl & Car, 2020. "Completing Linnaeus’s inventory of the Swedish insect fauna: Only 5,000 species left?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-30, March.
    19. Erin M. Garrett & David J. Gibson, 2020. "Identifying Sustainable Grassland Management Approaches in Response to the Invasive Legume Lespedeza cuneata : A Functional Group Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-20, July.
    20. Meiyu Jia & Jintun Zhang & Zhenhui Song & Sehrish Sadia, 2022. "Spatial Pattern and Ecological Process Difference Analyses of the Boundary Habitats of a Treeline Patch: A Case Study from the Li Mountain, North China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-18, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:221:y:2010:i:23:p:2784-2792. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.