Individual tree damage dominates mortality risk factors across six tropical forests

Zuleta, Daniel; Arellano, Gabriel; Muller‐Landau, Helene C.; McMahon, Sean M.; Aguilar, Salomón; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Cárdenas, Dairon; Chang‐Yang, Chia‐Hao; Duque, Alvaro; Mitre, David; Nasardin, Musalmah; Pérez, Rolando; Sun, I‐Fang; Yao, Tze Leong; Davies, Stuart J.

doi:10.1111/nph.17832

Individual tree damage dominates mortality risk factors across six tropical forests

Journal Article · Sat Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2021 · New Phytologist

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17832· OSTI ID:1832036

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[4]; Aguilar, Salomón ^[3]; ^[5]; Cárdenas, Dairon ^[6]; ^[7]; ^[8]; Mitre, David ^[3]; Nasardin, Musalmah ^[9]; Pérez, Rolando ^[3]; ^[10]; Yao, Tze Leong ^[9]; ^[1]

Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Washington DC 20560 USA
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI 48109 USA, Oikobit LLC Albuquerque NM 87120 USA
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Apartado Balboa 0843‐03092 República de Panamá
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Edgewater MD 21037 USA
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Forest Research Office Bangkok 10900 Thailand
Herbario Amazónico Colombiano Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas Sinchi Bogotá 110311 Colombia
Department of Biological Sciences National Sun Yat‐sen University Kaohsiung 80424 Taiwan
Departamento de Ciencias Forestales Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín Medellín 050034 Colombia
Forestry and Environment Division Forest Research Institute Malaysia Kepong Selangor 52109 Malaysia
Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Ecology and Sustainability National Dong Hwa University Hualien 94701 Taiwan

Summary

The relative importance of tree mortality risk factors remains unknown, especially in diverse tropical forests where species may vary widely in their responses to particular conditions.

We present a new framework for quantifying the importance of mortality risk factors and apply it to compare 19 risks on 31 203 trees (1977 species) in 14 one‐year periods in six tropical forests. We defined a condition as a risk factor for a species if it was associated with at least a doubling of mortality rate in univariate analyses. For each risk, we estimated prevalence (frequency), lethality (difference in mortality between trees with and without the risk) and impact (‘excess mortality’ associated with the risk, relative to stand‐level mortality).

The most impactful risk factors were light limitation and crown/trunk loss; the most prevalent were light limitation and small size; the most lethal were leaf damage and wounds. Modes of death (standing, broken and uprooted) had limited links with previous conditions and mortality risk factors.

We provide the first ranking of importance of tree‐level mortality risk factors in tropical forests. Future research should focus on the links between these risks, their climatic drivers and the physiological processes to enable mechanistic predictions of future tree mortality.

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 1832036

Journal Information:: New Phytologist, Journal Name: New Phytologist Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 233; ISSN 0028-646X

Publisher:: Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

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