• Energy Research

AbstractGlobal change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long‐term forest dynamics research sites (CTFS‐ForestGEO) useful for characterizing forest responses to global change. Within very large plots (median size 25 ha), all stems ≥1 cm diameter are identified to species, mapped, and regularly recensused according to standardized protocols. CTFS‐ForestGEO spans 25°S–61°N latitude, is generally representative of the range of bioclimatic, edaphic, and topographic conditions experienced by forests worldwide, and is the only forest monitoring network that applies a standardized protocol to each of the world's major forest biomes. Supplementary standardized measurements at subsets of the sites provide additional information on plants, animals, and ecosystem and environmental variables. CTFS‐ForestGEO sites are experiencing multifaceted anthropogenic global change pressures including warming (average 0.61 °C), changes in precipitation (up to ±30% change), atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur compounds (up to 3.8 g N m−2 yr−1 and 3.1 g S m−2 yr−1), and forest fragmentation in the surrounding landscape (up to 88% reduced tree cover within 5 km). The broad suite of measurements made at CTFS‐ForestGEO sites makes it possible to investigate the complex ways in which global change is impacting forest dynamics. Ongoing research across the CTFS‐ForestGEO network is yielding insights into how and why the forests are changing, and continued monitoring will provide vital contributions to understanding worldwide forest diversity and dynamics in an era of global change.

Models reveal the high carbon mitigation potential of tropical forest regeneration.

We develop and validate a high‐resolution three‐dimensional model of light and air temperature for a tropical forest interior in Hawaii along an elevation gradient varying greatly in structure but maintaining a consistent species composition. Our microclimate models integrate high‐resolution airborne waveform light detection and ranging data (LiDAR) and hyperspectral imagery with detailed microclimate measurements. We then use modeled microclimate and forest structural and compositional variables to explain variation in spatially explicit measurements of leaf traits, including gas exchange and structure. Our results highlight the importance of: (1) species differences in leaf traits, with species explaining up to 65% of the variation in some leaf traits; (2) differences between exotic and native species, with exotic species having greater maximum rates of assimilation and foliar δ15N values; (3) structural factors, with foliar %N and light saturation of photosynthesis decreasing in mid‐canopy locations; (4) microclimate factors, with foliar %N and light saturation increasing with growth environment illumination; and (5) decreases in mean annual temperature with elevation resulting in closure of the nitrogen cycle, as indicated through decreases in foliar δ15N values. The dominant overstory species (Metrosideros polymorpha) did not show plasticity in photosynthetic capacity, whereas the dominant understory species (Cibotium glaucum) had higher maximum rates of assimilation in more illuminated growth environments. The approach developed in this study highlights the potential of new airborne sensors to quantify forest productivity at spatial and temporal scales not previously possible. Our results provide insight into the function of a Hawaiian forest dominated by native species undergoing simultaneous biological invasion and climatic change.

Secondary forests cover large areas of the tropics and play an important role in the global carbon cycle. During secondary forest succession, simultaneous changes occur among stand structural attributes, soil properties, and species composition. Most studies classify tree species into categories based on their regeneration requirements. We use a high-resolution secondary forest chronosequence to assign trees to a continuous gradient in species successional status assigned according to their distribution across the chronosequence. Species successional status, not stand age or differences in stand structure or soil properties, was found to be the best predictor of leaf trait variation. Foliar δ(13)C had a significant positive relationship with species successional status, indicating changes in foliar physiology related to growth and competitive strategy, but was not correlated with stand age, whereas soil δ(13)C dynamics were largely constrained by plant species composition. Foliar δ(15)N had a significant negative correlation with both stand age and species successional status, - most likely resulting from a large initial biomass-burning enrichment in soil (15)N and (13)C and not closure of the nitrogen cycle. Foliar %C was neither correlated with stand age nor species successional status but was found to display significant phylogenetic signal. Results from this study are relevant to understanding the dynamics of tree species growth and competition during forest succession and highlight possibilities of, and potentially confounding signals affecting, the utility of leaf traits to understand community and species dynamics during secondary forest succession.