Buttress trees elevate soil heterogeneity and regulate seedling diversity in a tropical rainforest

Yong Tang; Xiaofei Yang; Min Cao; Carol C. Baskin; Jerry M. Baskin

doi:10.1007/s11104-010-0546-4

Buttress trees elevate soil heterogeneity and regulate seedling diversity in a tropical rainforest

Yong Tang, Xiaofei Yang, Min Cao, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Buttress trees are prominent in tropical rainforests, providing mechanical support for canopy trees. Other ecological functions of these structures remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that buttresses are physical structures that regulate soil moisture, soil nutrient status and seedling diversity near tree trunks. We monitored soil moisture over a year in plots on the uphill, downhill and lateral sides of buttresses on a tropical seasonal rainforest slope in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China. Soil nutrient status was examined in dry and rainy season and seedlings were identified and counted in the plots. Leaf litter accumulation was sampled at the end of the study. Higher levels of soil moisture were maintained uphill of the buttresses throughout the year and leaf litter accumulation was also much higher. Total soil carbon, total N, and hydrolysable N were much higher on the uphill side but other nutrient concentrations did not differ significantly. Seedling species composition varied significantly among different locations with the densest and most diverse seedling assemblages on the uphill side. This study illustrates an important function of buttress trees in providing soil heterogeneity and promoting seedling diversity in rainforests.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	301-309
Number of pages	9
Journal	Plant and Soil
Volume	338
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0546-4
State	Published - 2011

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We thank the Xishuangbanna Station for Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem Studies, the Chinese Academy of Science for providing research facilities and rainfall data; Pierre Legendre for his help with data analysis and John Kanowski, Douglas Schaefer and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by a Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Science (KZCX2-YW-430), a grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China (31070411) and a National Science & Technology Pillar Program from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of P.R. China (2008BAC39B02).

Funding

Acknowledgements We thank the Xishuangbanna Station for Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem Studies, the Chinese Academy of Science for providing research facilities and rainfall data; Pierre Legendre for his help with data analysis and John Kanowski, Douglas Schaefer and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by a Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Science (KZCX2-YW-430), a grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China (31070411) and a National Science & Technology Pillar Program from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of P.R. China (2008BAC39B02).

Funders	Funder number
Chinese Academy of Science	KZCX2-YW-430
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)	31070411
Israel Ministry of the Environmental Protection	2008BAC39B02

Keywords

Buttress tree
Soil heterogeneity
Soil moisture
Soil nutrient
Xishuangbanna

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Soil Science
Plant Science

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10.1007/s11104-010-0546-4

Cite this

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title = "Buttress trees elevate soil heterogeneity and regulate seedling diversity in a tropical rainforest",

abstract = "Buttress trees are prominent in tropical rainforests, providing mechanical support for canopy trees. Other ecological functions of these structures remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that buttresses are physical structures that regulate soil moisture, soil nutrient status and seedling diversity near tree trunks. We monitored soil moisture over a year in plots on the uphill, downhill and lateral sides of buttresses on a tropical seasonal rainforest slope in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China. Soil nutrient status was examined in dry and rainy season and seedlings were identified and counted in the plots. Leaf litter accumulation was sampled at the end of the study. Higher levels of soil moisture were maintained uphill of the buttresses throughout the year and leaf litter accumulation was also much higher. Total soil carbon, total N, and hydrolysable N were much higher on the uphill side but other nutrient concentrations did not differ significantly. Seedling species composition varied significantly among different locations with the densest and most diverse seedling assemblages on the uphill side. This study illustrates an important function of buttress trees in providing soil heterogeneity and promoting seedling diversity in rainforests.",

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Buttress trees elevate soil heterogeneity and regulate seedling diversity in a tropical rainforest

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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