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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2012

  • Title: The kinetics of biodiversity in woody plants
  • Primary Author: Brian Enquist (University of Arizona)
  • Additional Authors: Benjamin Blonder (University of Arizona); Jame Brown (University of New Mexico - Main Campus); Vanessa Buzzard (University of Arizona); Amanda Henderson (Kenyon College); Michael Kaspari (Not Specified); Julie Messier (University of Arizona); Lindsey Sloat (University of Arizona); Jizhong Zhou (University of Oklahoma)
  • Abstract:

    Patterns of biodiversity, such as the increase toward the tropics and the peaked curve during ecological succession, are fundamental phenomena for ecology. It is widely acknowledged that such patterns have multiple, interacting causes, but temperature emerges again and again as a dominant factor across organisms from microbes to trees and mammals, and across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments. There is little consensus on the underlying mechanisms, even as global temperatures increase and the need to predict their effects becomes more pressing. By focusing on temperature, we aim to better understand its role in generating and maintaining biodiversity and to more accurately forecast the impacts of global warming. This study focuses on the dynamics of forest communities along a temperature gradient. We use standardized surveys in the field to measure tree diversity in six forests distributed along a geographic gradient of increasing temperature from cold temperate to warm tropical: the LTER network’s Niwot Ridge, Harvard Forest, H. J. Andrews, Coweeta, and Luquillo sites in the U. S., and the Smithsonian’s Barro Colorado Island station in Panama. Forest measurements include annual plant growth as well as leaf and stem functional traits. The aim of this work is to develop a rigorous theoretical framework linking temperature and various forms of biodiversity (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic) using analytical mathematical modeling, as well as field and laboratory experiments.

  • Research Category: Biodiversity Studies
    Large Experiments and Permanent Plot Studies