Seasonal, El Niño and longer term changes in flower and seed production in a moist tropical forest.
Seasonal, El Niño and longer term changes in flower and seed production in a moist tropical forest.
复制标题
潮湿热带森林中花卉和种子产量的季节性、厄尔尼诺现象和长期变化。
作者：
S. Wright;O. Calderón
最近有报告说，潮湿的热带森林正在迅速变化，以应对全球人为的变化，这些森林的树木死亡率更高，甚至在与厄尔尼诺现象有关的干旱期间发生火灾。前一份报告之所以有争议，主要是因为使用了一种单一的方法--对树木地块进行重复普查。后两份报告着重于最近的极端厄尔尼诺现象。在这里，我们表明，在厄尔尼诺事件期间，巴拿马古老的热带森林的花朵和种子产量都有所增加。过去18年来，花卉生产也有所增加，但种子生产没有增加。33种藤本植物的持续增花量大于48种乔木。这些结果表明，中度厄尔尼诺事件有利于种子生产，首次记录了花卉生产的长期增长，并证实了使用独立方法的藤本植物重要性的长期增长。太阳辐照度水平的变化可能有助于所有三种模式。
It has recently been reported that humid tropical forests are changing rapidly in response to global anthropogenic change and that these forests experience greater tree mortality and even fire during droughts associated with El Niño events. The former reports are controversial largely because a single method has been used - repeated censuses of tree plots. The latter reports focus on recent extreme El Niño events. Here, we show that flower and seed production both increase during El Niño events in an old-growth tropical forest in Panama. Flower production, but not seed production, has also increased over the past 18 years. The sustained increase in flower production was greater for 33 liana species than for 48 tree species. These results indicate that moderate El Niño events favour seed production, document long-term increases in flower production for the first time, and corroborate long-term increases in the importance of lianas using independent methods. Changes in levels of solar irradiance might contribute to all three patterns.