Liana abundance tracks the supply of trellises that treefall gaps provide
Evidence
The first significant growth of perhaps most lianas occurs in gaps (Whitmore, 1978). Beneath a closed canopy, liana growth is limited not only by low resource levels but also by lack of suitable natural trellises for climbing (Putz, 1980). The sides of gaps and the small-diameter trees within them provide such trellises. Also, shoots from mature lianas, having fallen with trees from the canopy, reascend via gaps, leaving great climber coils in the understory. Hence, the distribution and abundance of lianas are linked to the availability of trellises furnished by treefalls (Putz, 1984), and lianas are particularly characteristic of heavily disturbed forest (Wyatt-Smith, 1954; Webb, 1958; Leigh, 1975). — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 448
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Topography-driven wind patterns skew treefall frequency and thus species abundance locally — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 472
Broader Connections
- Topography-driven wind patterns skew treefall frequency and thus species abundance locally
#expands(0.70) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 472