BIOmes of Brasil - Resilience, rEcovery, and Diversity: BIO-RED
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Sch of Geography
Abstract
This proposal spans the three largest biomes in Brazil, the Atlantic and Amazon Forests, and Cerrado savanna. Together these cover >85% of Brazil's territory and include many of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, but all have seen large losses in extent. While the value of their vegetation is increasingly recognized it is unclear to what extent these systems can regenerate or resist the increasing environmental stressors associated with climate change, particularly heating & drying. The motivation of BIO-RED is to understand how these changes affect the ability of intact & regenerating ecosystems to deliver societal benefits. This requires addressing these key questions:
(i) How resilient are old-growth & regenerating ecosystems to the key stressors expected from future environmental changes?
(ii) Is the destruction a reversible process on time-scales relevant to human society? Thus, will vegetation recover to a similar state as the original and provide similar services?
(iii) Will the increasingly hot climate affect the recovery of forests and will modified forests be more vulnerable to future environmental change than intact forests?
Answering these questions is only possible with a sound understanding how these systems function and what their sensitivities are. To respond to this need, BIO-RED will apply a multi-scale approach to evaluate the relationships between functions, biodiversity, resilience and regeneration potential in Brazil's three largest biomes in the face of deforestation and climate change threats. Our objectives are to:
(i) Determine the biome-wide relationships between target ecosystem functions and biodiversity based on data from the RAINFOR and associated vegetation census networks;
(ii) Obtain a detailed mechanistic understanding of the link between biogeochemical cycling, plant nutrient use and species composition and diversity in primary and regenerating systems at the local scale in 3 study landscapes;
(iii) Examine tree species' ecophysiological sensitivities to key climate-linked stressors - drought, heat & fire - via real-time monitoring of vegetation functioning and comprehensive trait assessments;
(iv) Develop and apply a UAV ("drone")-based imaging spectroscopy platform to map canopy chemistry and functional diversity at tree, plot & landscape scales, and explore the relationships between ecosystem properties & functional diversity;
(v) Establish the extent to which biome transitions are already occurring, including forest invasion into cerrado, using both permanent plots and satellite-based monitoring.
(vi) Determine the ability of recovering ecosystems and ecosystem management to protect biodiversity & provide key ecosystem services in Brazilian biomes;
BIO-RED builds on existing observational networks all led by PIs of this proposal: RAINFOR, GEM, ForestPlots.net (>500 old-growth forest plots), ECOFOR & BIOTA, and others contributed by Brazilian project partners. Most activities will be focused on 3 focal-landscapes, in W Pará (Amazon forest), E Mato Grosso (cerrado), & E São Paulo (Atlantic forest), each with a complex mosaic of old-growth & regenerating systems that is already well sampled by our plot infrastructure and so ideal for intensive work to probe processes & to scale-up via hyperspectral imaging.
BIO-RED will improve understanding of the extent to which Brazilian forest & savanna are resisting climate extremes, the extent to which destruction is reversible, & the vulnerabilities of intact & modified vegetation to climate extremes. It will identify the factors that control resilience & recovery of biodiversity & provision of key ecosystem services to people. These will be used to inform ecosystem management & policy options such as REDD+, the Brazilian Forest Code, & Brazilian ecosystem recovery plans. We therefore expect to lay a stronger scientific basis for future regeneration & protection of these systems, and so to improve benefits for human society.
(i) How resilient are old-growth & regenerating ecosystems to the key stressors expected from future environmental changes?
(ii) Is the destruction a reversible process on time-scales relevant to human society? Thus, will vegetation recover to a similar state as the original and provide similar services?
(iii) Will the increasingly hot climate affect the recovery of forests and will modified forests be more vulnerable to future environmental change than intact forests?
Answering these questions is only possible with a sound understanding how these systems function and what their sensitivities are. To respond to this need, BIO-RED will apply a multi-scale approach to evaluate the relationships between functions, biodiversity, resilience and regeneration potential in Brazil's three largest biomes in the face of deforestation and climate change threats. Our objectives are to:
(i) Determine the biome-wide relationships between target ecosystem functions and biodiversity based on data from the RAINFOR and associated vegetation census networks;
(ii) Obtain a detailed mechanistic understanding of the link between biogeochemical cycling, plant nutrient use and species composition and diversity in primary and regenerating systems at the local scale in 3 study landscapes;
(iii) Examine tree species' ecophysiological sensitivities to key climate-linked stressors - drought, heat & fire - via real-time monitoring of vegetation functioning and comprehensive trait assessments;
(iv) Develop and apply a UAV ("drone")-based imaging spectroscopy platform to map canopy chemistry and functional diversity at tree, plot & landscape scales, and explore the relationships between ecosystem properties & functional diversity;
(v) Establish the extent to which biome transitions are already occurring, including forest invasion into cerrado, using both permanent plots and satellite-based monitoring.
(vi) Determine the ability of recovering ecosystems and ecosystem management to protect biodiversity & provide key ecosystem services in Brazilian biomes;
BIO-RED builds on existing observational networks all led by PIs of this proposal: RAINFOR, GEM, ForestPlots.net (>500 old-growth forest plots), ECOFOR & BIOTA, and others contributed by Brazilian project partners. Most activities will be focused on 3 focal-landscapes, in W Pará (Amazon forest), E Mato Grosso (cerrado), & E São Paulo (Atlantic forest), each with a complex mosaic of old-growth & regenerating systems that is already well sampled by our plot infrastructure and so ideal for intensive work to probe processes & to scale-up via hyperspectral imaging.
BIO-RED will improve understanding of the extent to which Brazilian forest & savanna are resisting climate extremes, the extent to which destruction is reversible, & the vulnerabilities of intact & modified vegetation to climate extremes. It will identify the factors that control resilience & recovery of biodiversity & provision of key ecosystem services to people. These will be used to inform ecosystem management & policy options such as REDD+, the Brazilian Forest Code, & Brazilian ecosystem recovery plans. We therefore expect to lay a stronger scientific basis for future regeneration & protection of these systems, and so to improve benefits for human society.
Planned Impact
Who will benefit from this research, and how will they benefit?
The national and regional governments of tropical nations within forest and savanna biomes will benefit from greater information relating to the resistance and resilience of these ecosystems to climate change, land-use change and other forms of disturbance. In addition, this information will help them to receive payments for ecosystem services, such as REDD+, opening up new income streams. PES schemes such as REDD+ are most likely to support rural people, who are often some of the poorest members of society in developing countries.
Brazilian federal research agencies such as INPE and EMBRAPA are responsible for monitoring changes in forest cover and ecosystem services. WP4 and WP5 will provide results relevant to the monitoring of Brazilian ecosystems.
The Brazilian federal government, including the ministry of the environment (MMA) and science and technology (MCT), will benefit from WP5, which will help guide appropriate restoration and conservation policies in Brazil, and will assist Brazil if the federal government decides to engage in REDD+.
Developed nations interested in climate change mitigation. Relevant EU counties such as Norway, Germany, the UK and France, whose national governments and other institutions have contributed $1,900M, $783M, $645M and $445M to REDD+ schemes in developing countries. BIO-RED will help these countries invest in lower-risk and cost-effective REDD+ projects that maximise biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits.
Other key beneficiaries are
* International non-governmental organisations developing strategies to conserve and restore biodiversity, reduce climate change and aid sustainable development (e.g. World Wildlife Fund - WWF, The Nature Conservation - TNC, Conservation International - CI, International Union of Conservation of Nature - IUCN).
* The United Nations, most notably by producing outputs relevant for the Environment Programme (UNEP, and especially the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, WCMC), Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
* The World Bank, via the Global Agricultural Research Partnership (CGIAR), which includes the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
* National NGOs in Brazil (e.g. IIS - International Institute for Sustainability in Rio de Janiero), and those that focus on conservation issues in individual biomes (e.g. SOS Mata Atlantica).
BIO-RED will help all these international and national governmental and non-governmental organisations to develop REDD+ projects that maximise carbon assimilation as well as biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits. Improvements to monitoring will assist them in tracking changes in ecosystem health and extent. Information on species responses to extreme events, such as heat, drought and fire, will help them predict the future of tropical biomes under different scenarios of climate and land-use change. This in turn provides a powerful tool to exert pressure on governments to adapt and change their policies.
Finally, (1) several Brazilian students involved in BIO-RED will gain training from leading UK scientists, including many transferable skills relating to data management, data analysis and scientific writing, and (2) the Brazilian biome environmental science base will be further strengthened by the development of two new Young Investigators in country, each establishing their own new research team in leading research institutions and each working across the three largest Brazilian biomes.
The national and regional governments of tropical nations within forest and savanna biomes will benefit from greater information relating to the resistance and resilience of these ecosystems to climate change, land-use change and other forms of disturbance. In addition, this information will help them to receive payments for ecosystem services, such as REDD+, opening up new income streams. PES schemes such as REDD+ are most likely to support rural people, who are often some of the poorest members of society in developing countries.
Brazilian federal research agencies such as INPE and EMBRAPA are responsible for monitoring changes in forest cover and ecosystem services. WP4 and WP5 will provide results relevant to the monitoring of Brazilian ecosystems.
The Brazilian federal government, including the ministry of the environment (MMA) and science and technology (MCT), will benefit from WP5, which will help guide appropriate restoration and conservation policies in Brazil, and will assist Brazil if the federal government decides to engage in REDD+.
Developed nations interested in climate change mitigation. Relevant EU counties such as Norway, Germany, the UK and France, whose national governments and other institutions have contributed $1,900M, $783M, $645M and $445M to REDD+ schemes in developing countries. BIO-RED will help these countries invest in lower-risk and cost-effective REDD+ projects that maximise biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits.
Other key beneficiaries are
* International non-governmental organisations developing strategies to conserve and restore biodiversity, reduce climate change and aid sustainable development (e.g. World Wildlife Fund - WWF, The Nature Conservation - TNC, Conservation International - CI, International Union of Conservation of Nature - IUCN).
* The United Nations, most notably by producing outputs relevant for the Environment Programme (UNEP, and especially the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, WCMC), Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
* The World Bank, via the Global Agricultural Research Partnership (CGIAR), which includes the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
* National NGOs in Brazil (e.g. IIS - International Institute for Sustainability in Rio de Janiero), and those that focus on conservation issues in individual biomes (e.g. SOS Mata Atlantica).
BIO-RED will help all these international and national governmental and non-governmental organisations to develop REDD+ projects that maximise carbon assimilation as well as biodiversity and livelihoods co-benefits. Improvements to monitoring will assist them in tracking changes in ecosystem health and extent. Information on species responses to extreme events, such as heat, drought and fire, will help them predict the future of tropical biomes under different scenarios of climate and land-use change. This in turn provides a powerful tool to exert pressure on governments to adapt and change their policies.
Finally, (1) several Brazilian students involved in BIO-RED will gain training from leading UK scientists, including many transferable skills relating to data management, data analysis and scientific writing, and (2) the Brazilian biome environmental science base will be further strengthened by the development of two new Young Investigators in country, each establishing their own new research team in leading research institutions and each working across the three largest Brazilian biomes.
Organisations
- University of Leeds (Lead Research Organisation)
- Lancaster University (Collaboration)
- IISER Pune (Collaboration)
- Kerala Forest Research Institute (Collaboration)
- University of Plymouth (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- UNEMAT - Nova Xavantina (Collaboration)
- Universities UK International (Collaboration)
- University of Georgia (Collaboration)
- State University of Campinas (Collaboration)
- Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Collaboration)
- National Institute for Space Research (Project Partner)
- UNEMAT-Carceres (Project Partner)
- National Institute of Amazonian Research (Project Partner)
- Federal University of Lavras (Project Partner)
- Universidade de São Paulo (Project Partner)
- Federal University of Western Pará (Project Partner)
- Embrapa (Brazilian Agri Res Corp) (Project Partner)
- Universidade Federal de Viçosa (Project Partner)
- University (State) of Campinas (Unicamp) (Project Partner)
Publications
Aguirre-Gutiérrez J
(2021)
Pantropical modelling of canopy functional traits using Sentinel-2 remote sensing data
in Remote Sensing of Environment
Aguirre-Gutiérrez J
(2022)
Functional susceptibility of tropical forests to climate change.
in Nature ecology & evolution
Aguirre-Gutiérrez J
(2019)
Drier tropical forests are susceptible to functional changes in response to a long-term drought.
in Ecology letters
Aragão LEOC
(2018)
21st Century drought-related fires counteract the decline of Amazon deforestation carbon emissions.
in Nature communications
Araza A
(2022)
A comprehensive framework for assessing the accuracy and uncertainty of global above-ground biomass maps
in Remote Sensing of Environment
Araújo I
(2021)
Trees at the Amazonia-Cerrado transition are approaching high temperature thresholds
in Environmental Research Letters
Barker W
(2022)
Widespread herbivory cost in tropical nitrogen-fixing tree species.
in Nature
Batterman SA
(2018)
Fixing tropical forests.
in Nature ecology & evolution
Bauman D
(2022)
Tropical tree growth sensitivity to climate is driven by species intrinsic growth rate and leaf traits.
in Global change biology
Description | Secondary forests (SFs) regenerating on previously deforested land account for large, expanding areas of tropical forest cover. Nevertheless, their capacity to regain the biotic attributes of undisturbed primary forests (UPFs) remains poorly understood. The BIO-RED project aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of SF recovery, using extensive tropical biodiversity, biomass, and environmental datasets. We have been collecting data in 59 naturally regenerating SFs and 30 co-located UPFs in the eastern Amazon. The Secondary forests here show a high degree of biodiversity resilience, recovering, on average among taxa, 88% and 85% mean undisturbed primary forest species richness and composition, respectively. Across the first 20 years of succession, the period for which we have accurate forest age data, biomass recovered at 1.2% per year, equivalent to a carbon uptake rate of 2.25 Mg/ha per year, while, on average, species richness and composition recovered at 2.6% and 2.3% per year, respectively. For all taxonomic groups, biomass was strongly associated with SF species distributions. However, other variables describing habitat complexity-canopy cover and understory stem density-were equally important occurrence predictors for most taxa. Overall, our results show that naturally regenerating SFs can accumulate substantial amounts of carbon and support many forest species. However, given that the surveyed SFs failed to return to a typical UPF state, SFs are not substitutes for UPFs. |
Exploitation Route | These findings can help guide restoration policies in tropical forest nations, and provide insights into what determines the success of passive restoration. They also help refine estimates of carbon uptake by secondary forests, and their role as part of a broader strategy to encourage negative emissions. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink |
Description | BIO-RED project has established strong links to some of the key stakeholders and policy-makers, including the Brazilian Ministry of Environment. This includes, Joice Ferreira having been part of a working group providing the Brazilian Ministry of Environment with expert advice on natural regeneration across various Brazilian biomes. Joice Ferreira was invited to represent the Amazon region, drawing on the findings of the BIO-RED project from this area. The conclusions of this working group will be used in a planned assessment of regeneration of Brazilian biomes. Since 2016, BIO-RED partners have also been part of the Advisory committee for the Brazilian Society for Ecological Restoration (SOBRE), again representing the Amazon region. We have been also successful in building good relationships with the local stakeholders and communities, and we have presented some of our findings to the indigenous communities from Flona do Tapajos national forest. Secondary forests can play an important role in mitigating climate change by sequestering and storing carbon. The greatest opportunities for large-scale forest restoration exist in the most deforested regions of the Amazon, such as the eastern Amazonian state of Pará. Yet there are few up-to-date assessments of carbon accumulation rates in these regions. This is an important knowledge gap as previous assessments were all made at a time when conditions were more favourable: the climate was cooler and less seasonal, there was more primary forest, and land-uses prior to forest regeneration were less intense meaning soils and seed banks were in better condition. BIO-RED has reduced this uncertainty, analysing the carbon storage and accumulation rates of secondary forests at scale, and in a unique 18-year record of repeated tree censuses. This research shows that secondary forests in the eastern Amazon accumulate carbon at a rate that is as much as 11 times lower than some previous estimates, and that the slow rate of forest regrowth was in part explained by increasing drought severity. The contemporary and regionally-derived carbon accumulation rates derived from Bio-Red's research are have been used to develop the State of Pará's official plan to use reforestation as part of its aim to be carbon neutral by 2035 (see Pará State Decree no. 941 from the 3rd of August 2020, which cites research papers from BIO-RED). BIO-RED activities additionally have helped enable the participation of key BIO-RED staff in the UN Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA) process, including Brazilian colleagues as well as UK academics. For example, Dr Erika Berenguer has been a leading advocate within and for SPA, and for promoting more sustainable forest management, and BIO-RED enabled research has helped strengthen her voice. |
First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
Sector | Environment |
Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Contribution to the State of Pará's official plan to use reforestation as part of its aim to be carbon neutral by 2035 |
Geographic Reach | South America |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
Impact | The contemporary and regionally-derived carbon accumulation rates derived from Bio-Red's research have been used to develop the State of Pará's official plan to use reforestation as part of its aim to be carbon neutral by 2035 (see Pará State Decree no. 941 from the 3rd of August 2020, which cites research papers from Bio-Red) |
Description | Participation in a working group organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Impact | Joice Ferreira (ECOFOR, BIO-RED) participated in a working group meeting organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment. Joice was invited to do an assessment about the potential for natural regeneration across the Brazilian biomes, in particular those in the Brazilian Amazon. |
Description | Participation in the advisory committee for the Brazilian Society for Ecological Restoration (SOBRE) |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Impact | Joice Ferreira participated on the advisory committee for the Brazilian Society for Ecological Restoration (SOBRE). Joice was invited to provide expert advice on environmental regeneration in the the Amazon region, drawing on our findings from the ECOFOR and BIO-RED projects. |
Description | FORAMA: For a Climate-Resilient Amazon |
Amount | £225,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ICA\R1\180100 |
Organisation | The Royal Society |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2019 |
End | 03/2022 |
Description | SECO |
Amount | £3,700,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/T012722/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2021 |
End | 04/2026 |
Description | Vulnerability of Brazilian Biomes to drought and fire |
Amount | R$ 200,000 (BRL) |
Funding ID | 2017/16923-1 |
Organisation | State University of Campinas |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | Brazil |
Start | 02/2018 |
End | 01/2020 |
Title | A new way to scale symbiotic nitrogen fixation |
Description | I developed a new scaling approach to improve estimates of symbiotic nitrogen fixation |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Submission of grant proposal |
Title | Application of hyperspectral surveying at Cerrado and Amazon sites: phase 1 |
Description | Fabien Wagner and colleagues (BIORED WP4, and FAPESP Young Investigator) completed Phase 1 of the complex methodological development needed to successfully use hyperspectral canopy imagery to map species, biogeochemistry, and traits in Brazil's two biggest biomes * acquisition of geolocalisation of 350 trees, to link the crown in the hyperspectral images in long term field RAINFOR and UNEMAT field sites * acquisition of Wordview 2 high resolution images (0.5X0.5m) for all the sites * acquisition of the hyperspectral sensor in January 2016. * building of drone with INPE partners |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The method and research tool is in development, and will be periodically revised and updated during the project |
Title | Developed Method for Curating Long-Term Monitoring Plots in Complex Dry Forest Vegetation |
Description | ForestPlots.net is a tool used to archive, curate, analyse permanent plot data. Dry forests, especially the Caatinga, present a special challenge analytically because they require tracking multstemmed individuals. Thus: (1) different stems (ramets) are not necessarily different individual trees biologically (genets); and (2) each stem (ramet) needs to be measured at multiple points of measurement to enable comparisons with wetter forests (typically measured at H=1.3m) and drier systems such as savannas (often measured at eg H=0.3m); and (3) dry forests in Brazil often have trees. shrubs, and lianas with extremely complex branching patterns and topologies. All these factors complicate field work and data management. During NORDESTE the plot ecological team led by Oliver Phillips and project colleagues at Edinburgh and Leeds together with Ana Carla Aquino as the Brazilian field leader and together with our Brazilian BIO-RED partners, have developed new protocols to capture this information in the field, and new database tools to store, curate, and analyse it at ForestPlots.net. Programming for this was provided by the ForestPlots.net developer, Dr Mark Burkitt. This provides a significant step forward in our capability to monitor dry forests over long periods. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This development is being trialled in NORDESTE currently. During 2018 it will be made available to another NERC project ("SEOSAW", led by Casey Ryan at Edinburgh) to support their databasing of African miombo forests and to the Newton-NERC project partners of the BIO-RED project to support databasing of Cerrado systems, and eventually to all ForestPlots.net users as a 'dry forest' option |
URL | https://www.forestplots.net |
Title | Leaf reflection and transmission spectra under varying controlled temperatures |
Description | We have developed a chamber which combined with a Licor permits us to measure leaf reflection and absorption spectra under varying temperatures. The idea is to use changes in these spectra as finger-prints of changes in functioning of the leaves, like e.g. changes in proteins. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | We find clear signatures in spectra. Nonetheless this is work in progress and thus too early to report conclusions. |
Title | Leaf temperature measurement - for tropical trees and environments |
Description | We built logger and thermocouples / photosynthetically active radiation together which we can attach to leaves. The purpose is to enable to determine leaf temperature regulation and thresholds to functioning in tropical environments where temperature increase rapidly |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This tool has enabled us - and will help in the future - to study in depth thermo-regulation and its controls of leafs / canopies of tropical humid forests - particularly in rapidly warming environments (Brazil, India, South-east Asia). It is one of a range of tools we use to study this question. |
Title | Tree branch hydraulic conductance measurement device |
Description | A simple but very nice tool to measure branch hydraulic conductance. Costs approximately a factor 10-15 lower than commercially available tools. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Tool to investigate hydraulic properties of trees - and in particular hydraulic safety margins - to understand possible future limits of trop[ical tree functioning in a rapidly warming world. |
Title | Tree sap flow meter |
Description | We have developed a tree sap flow meter based on known principles. It includes electronics, control via micro-controller and data-logging. We are currently testing the tool in depth both in the laboratory and on living trees. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The principle is published. The tool we developed entirely ourselves. It is one of the tools which use in projects to determine limits of functioning of trees in increasingly hotter - and in some cases - drier environments. |
Title | Data and code associated with: Trees adjust nutrient acquisition strategies across tropical forest secondary succession. |
Description | Nutrient limitation may constrain the ability of recovering and mature tropical forests to serve as a carbon sink. However, it is unclear to what extent trees can utilize nutrient acquisition strategies - especially root phosphatase enzymes and mycorrhizal symbioses - to overcome low nutrient availability during succession. We use a large-scale, full factorial nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization experiment of 76 replicate plots along a tropical forest secondary succession gradient in Panama to test the extent to which trees adjust nutrient acquisition strategies. We show that tropical forests are highly dynamic in adjusting strategies - particularly root phosphatase - during forest recovery, reflecting a shift from strong nitrogen to weak phosphorus limitation over succession. We contextualize these results within a broader meta-analysis, where tree strategies also dynamically respond to nutrients and forest age. Together, our findings indicate that high functional diversity characterizes nutrient strategies in tropical forests, likely critical for alleviating nutrient limitation on the carbon sink.File list:EL_roots_README_09072023_share.pdf. Contains data dictionaries for data tables, project abstract, creators, full list of funders, methodology, citation list and additional project documentation.EL_code.R. Commented code for data transformation, statistical analyses, figures, and meta-analysis.EL_fertilization_root_data.csv. Data for mycorrhizal colonization and root phosphatase activity in response to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization across four forest age classes in Panama.EL_Plasticity_phosphatase_mycorrhizae.csv. Data for meta-analysis of root phosphatase and mycorrhizal colonization responses to nitrogen and phosphorus additions in tropical forests.EL_secondary_forest_mycorrhizal_colonization_literature_review.csv. Data for literature review on mycorrhizal colonization rates across secondary succession in tropical forests. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://caryinstitute.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_and_code_associated_with_Trees_adjust_nutri... |
Title | Data from: Rapid nitrogen fixation by canopy microbiome in tropical forest determined by both phosphorus and molybdenum |
Description | Biological nitrogen fixation is critical for the nitrogen cycle of tropical forests, yet we know little about the factors that control the microbial nitrogen-fixers that colonize the microbiome of leaves and branches that make up a forest canopy. Forest canopies are especially prone to nutrient limitation because they are (1) disconnected from soil nutrient pools, and (2) often subject to leaching. Earlier studies have suggested a role of phosphorus and molybdenum in controlling biological N-fixation rates, but experimental confirmation has hitherto been unavailable. We here present the results of a manipulation of canopy nutrient availability . Our findings demonstrate a primary role of phosphorus in constraining overall N-fixation by canopy cyanobacteria, but also a secondary role of molybdenum in determining per-cell fixation rates. A conservative evaluation suggests that canopy fixation can contribute to significant N fluxes at the ecosystem level, especially as bursts following atmospheric inputs of nutrient-rich dust. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.bt5rc79 |
Title | ForestPlots.net |
Description | It is ALL FOUR of the options given above (for which I had to choose one) ForestPlots.net provides a unique place for everyone who wants to measure, monitor, and understand the world's forests, and especially the tropical forests. Currently Forest Plots.net tracks more than 1,500 forest plots in 35 countries, recording the work of more than 1,000 people. ForestPlots.net aims to promote science synergies across countries and continents, and enable partners to access, analyse and manage the information from their long-term plots. ForestPlots.net aims to help forest scientists and forest people worldwide, especially in tropical countries. ForestPlots.net includes a web application with a modular design. The front end was developed using Microsoft.net framework and it interacts with a Microsoft SQL server database. The underlying database is a relational database which utilizes more than 50 tables to store plot and individual tree information. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2011 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | ForestPlots.net has supported more than 100 research outputs and research products http://www.forestplots.net/en/products http://www.forestplots.net/en/resources ForestPlots.net provides multiple database and analytical tools used by forest researchers and practitioners, especially in the UK and South America. With Newton support (BC Institutional Links and NERC Newton Fund) during 2016, 2017, and 2018 we are extending its use to partners in Amazonas (Brazil), Mato Grosso (Brazil) and to partners in Indonesia. As of 2018, Google Analytics shows there has already been increased uptake in Brazil, where the proportion of active users of ForestPlots has more than doubled from 7 to 15% of all users, and where the number of active sessions analysing Amazon forest data is now ca. 100 per month. |
URL | http://www.forestplots.net/ |
Title | Height-diameter input data and R-code to fit and assess height-diameter models, from 'Field methods for sampling tree height for tropical forest biomass estimation' in Methods in Ecology and Evolution |
Description | 1. Quantifying the relationship between tree diameter and height is a key component of efforts to estimate biomass and carbon stocks in tropical forests. Although substantial site-to-site variation in height-diameter allometries has been documented, the time consuming nature of measuring all tree heights in an inventory plot means that most studies do not include height, or else use generic pan-tropical or regional allometric equations to estimate height. 2. Using a pan-tropical dataset of 73 plots where at least 150 trees had in-field ground-based height measurements, we examined how the number of trees sampled affects the performance of locally-derived height-diameter allometries, and evaluated the performance of different methods for sampling trees for height measurement. 3. Using cross-validation, we found that allometries constructed with just 20 locally measured values could often predict tree height with lower error than regional or climate-based allometries (mean reduction in prediction error = 0.46 m). The predictive performance of locally-derived allometries improved with sample size, but with diminishing returns in performance gains when more than 40 trees were sampled. Estimates of stand-level biomass produced using local allometries to estimate tree height show no over- or under-estimation bias when compared with estimates using measured heights. We evaluated five strategies to sample trees for height measurement, and found that sampling strategies that included measuring the heights of the ten largest diameter trees in a plot outperformed (in terms of resulting in local height-diameter models with low height prediction error) entirely random or diameter size-class stratified approaches. 4. Our results indicate that even remarkably limited sampling of heights can be used to refine height-diameter allometries. We recommend aiming for a conservative threshold of sampling 50 trees per location for height measurement, and including the ten trees with the largest diameter in this sample. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | Recensus data of 17 * 1-ha plots |
Description | Between the start of the project and March 2018, our team completed the reensus of 18 1-ha long-term plots in forests and savannas of Mato Grosso. This dataset consists of single, pairs, or larger groups of plots in diverse localities, all recensused with RAINFOR-UNEMAT protocols that involve the collaboration of disadvantaged students we are training. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Our field data collected adds further value to these highly valuable long-term datasets and consolidates all previous forest monitoring research in the area, also bringing multiple partners together. This will facilitate a larger scale data analysis, publications, and other communications over time. Nevertheless it is already clear that a set of plots in Parque Estudal Araguaia in the north east of the state is suffering marked effects of burning on vegetation, including loss of carbon and biodiversity within what is a State Park nominally protected from burning. This is a clear area of conflict between conservation and agriuclturalists accessing the protected area. |
Title | Temperature and humidity data supporting use of an in situ passive heating method, and associated whole tree responses, Cerrado, Brazil, 2020 |
Description | The data include temperature and relative humidity (RH) values recorded every minute inside and outside whole-tree, passive heating, open top chambers. Respiration and photosynthesis rates were recorded (at incremental controlled leaf temperatures) on leaves on study individuals of Erythroxylum suberosum growing inside and outside the chambers. Temperature, RH, and solar irradiance were measured every 15 minutes by local weather station are also included for the whole testing period, June to September 2020, in an area of typical Cerrado, Bacaba Park, Nova Xavantina, Brazil. The data were collected to enable development of methodology and testing of, a novel in situ passive heating method for evaluating whole-tree responses to daytime warming in remote environments using an open top chamber. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/2dcc08e9-d8e6-4675-b78d-a318efc799d8 |
Description | Co-supervision of Masters student Akhil Javad, IISER Pune |
Organisation | IISER Pune |
Country | India |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Ongoing regular meetings and field work design and co-supervision jointly with Dr. Deepak Barua. Will result in at least one publication. |
Collaborator Contribution | Mutual contribution |
Impact | Topic is thermoregulation of tropical forest canopies. Project advances very well. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Collaboration with Ben Hur Marimon and Bia Marimon |
Organisation | UNEMAT - Nova Xavantina |
Country | Brazil |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Designed research and trained masters students. |
Collaborator Contribution | Provided facilities, collected data, analyzed data and trained masters students. |
Impact | collaboration is ongoing |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Collaboration with Joice Ferreira, Erika Berenguer, Jos Barlow, Rodrigo Oliveira |
Organisation | Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation |
Country | Brazil |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Developing project, supervision of masters student, training |
Collaborator Contribution | Data collection, analysis and synthesis |
Impact | No research outcomes yet |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Collaboration with Joice Ferreira, Erika Berenguer, Jos Barlow, Rodrigo Oliveira |
Organisation | Lancaster University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing project, supervision of masters student, training |
Collaborator Contribution | Data collection, analysis and synthesis |
Impact | No research outcomes yet |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Collaboration with Joice Ferreira, Erika Berenguer, Jos Barlow, Rodrigo Oliveira |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing project, supervision of masters student, training |
Collaborator Contribution | Data collection, analysis and synthesis |
Impact | No research outcomes yet |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Collaboration with Nina Wurzburger |
Organisation | University of Georgia |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Expertise, intellectual input, data |
Collaborator Contribution | Expertise, intellectual input, data, computing power, training of staff |
Impact | Facilitated research following training of postdoctoral researcher and PhD student; led to submission of grant proposal |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Global forest canopy temperature network NetCTF |
Organisation | University of Plymouth |
Department | Psychology Plymouth |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Involvement (Co-supervision) of PhD student who examining differences of canopy thermal regulation of high CO2 versus ambient CO2 exposure tree crowns at the BIFOR face experiment and who installed continuous measurement capability at a newly constructed tropical forest canopy overlooking tower in Ghana. Similar to other projects of ours the purpose of these measurements is to obtain a mechanistic understanding of limits of functioning of tropical forests. |
Collaborator Contribution | Measurements of canopy thermal regulation of high CO2 versus ambient CO2 exposure tree crowns at the BIFOR face experiment and installation of continuous measurement capability at a newly constructed tropical forest canopy overlooking tower in Ghana. Similar to other projects of ours the purpose of these measurements is to obtain a mechanistic understanding of limits of functioning of tropical forests. |
Impact | Work ongoing. Very interesting results with manuscripts in preparation. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Multiple collaborations enabled via ForestPlots.net |
Organisation | Universities UK International |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Via ForestPlots.net we are entering into dozens of new collaborations each year, mostly academic exchanges of data, skills, training, and with increasing research outputs as well as some support for science policy. These are detailed here where they are updated regularly http://www.forestplots.net/en/join-forestplots/research-projects ForestPlots.net is global-leading research infrastructure hosted at the University of Leeds. The partnerships are worldwide, and powering global collaborations including much support for developing country scientists. This particular NERC-funded project has contributed to the development of the shared ForestPlots.net resource and particularly to the successful networking with our many partners in South America. |
Collaborator Contribution | ForestPlots.net is led from the University of Leeds by Professor Oliver Phillips and colleagues, but it exists as a collective effort whose benefits and contributions are widely shared. Partners contribute immensely valuable field data from the tropics, and ideas for projects which they are now leading. They also contribute funded work (ie ForestPlots.net is now growing more due to NON-UK funded research than to UK-funded research). UK funding has therefore acted as a powerful multiplier. |
Impact | There are too many to list and the outputs increase month-on-month. Outputs are reported on the ForestPlots website, eg http://www.forestplots.net/en/join-forestplots/research-projects http://www.forestplots.net/en/publications |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Partnership with Unicamp and NEPAD Dr. Simone Vieira |
Organisation | State University of Campinas |
Country | Brazil |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a new grant by FAPESP to work on ecophysiological attributes in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado BIO_RED sites. The grant is led by Dr. Simone Vieira and co-led by Dr. Imma Oliveras |
Collaborator Contribution | They write |
Impact | Not yet, this collaboration started in February 2020 |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Western Ghats tropical forest observation network |
Organisation | Kerala Forest Research Institute |
Country | India |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Dr. Sreejith Kalpuza runs a network of forest sites in Western Ghats Kerala, South of the site where we study tropical forest vulnerability to heat and drought. Together with sites run by Dr. Barua a large climatic gradient is covered which opens up to generalize our results along this gradient. |
Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of relevant data. |
Impact | Too early still. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Ecophysiology workshop Sirsi, Indian Western Ghats |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Approximately 40 graduate and post-graduate students from all across India attended a 1 week tree ecophysiology workshop organised by the holder of the grant. It included theory, hands on training on instruments like LICOR, a two day project and presentation. The workshop was a success. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Invited talk Plant Ecophysiology Workshop Kerala Forestry Institute KFRI |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Invited talk |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Presentation at the ECOFOR end-of-project meeting: Oliver Phillips - The Importance of Forest Plots database |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | The ECOFOR end-of-project meeting took place in November/ December 2017. It was a great opportunity for the meeting participants to present their findings and discuss future collaborations. Oliver Phillips presented on the importance of the ForestPlots, used by the ECOFOR and BIORED researchers, for effective data storing and sharing. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://ecofor.hmtf.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/NEWSLETTER19.pdf |
Description | Presentation at the ECOFOR end-of-project meeting: Oliver Phillips - introducing BIO-RED project |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | The ECOFOR end-of-project meeting took place in November/ December 2017. It was a great opportunity for the meeting participants to present their findings and discuss future collaborations. Oliver Phillips introduced the BIO-RED project and its objective, opening the possibilities for future collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://ecofor.hmtf.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/NEWSLETTER19.pdf |
Description | Theoretical and practical training in protocols for forest monitoring |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Between 7 and 11 May 2017, the postdoctoral researcher in the PELD project, Dr. Paulo Sérgio Morandi, gave training (practical, and theoretical classes) to 12 students and professors of the campus of UNEMAT in Tangará da Serra, in western Mato Grosso. The main focus was the protocol of forest monitoring developed by RAINFOR (Rede Amazônica de Inventários Florestais), coordinated by Professor Oliver Phillips Amazon-wide, and with Profesora Beatriz Marimon in Mato Grosso. As a direct result of this workshop, progress was made in establishing a new permanent plot for monitoring forest condition and biodiversity in the remaining fragments of forest regionally. This region is one of the most ecologically impacted in Brazil, losing more than 90% of its natural vegetation over the past three decades to agricultural intensification and being vulnerable to climate change. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Tropical forests and the decline of the carbon sink talk |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | UK BEIS with many international attendees, Tropical forests and the decline of the carbon sink talk (virtual), Oliver Phillips |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |