Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest

Soil properties have been shown to partially explain tree species distribution in tropical forests. Locally, species turnover across space can result not only from edaphic heterogeneities but also from limited seed dispersal. To characterize the contribution of each process, contact areas between co...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vleminckx, J., Drouet, T., Amani, C., Lisingo, J., Lejoly, J., Hardy, Olivier J.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95432
_version_ 1855523752012414976
author Vleminckx, J.
Drouet, T.
Amani, C.
Lisingo, J.
Lejoly, J.
Hardy, Olivier J.
author_browse Amani, C.
Drouet, T.
Hardy, Olivier J.
Lejoly, J.
Lisingo, J.
Vleminckx, J.
author_facet Vleminckx, J.
Drouet, T.
Amani, C.
Lisingo, J.
Lejoly, J.
Hardy, Olivier J.
author_sort Vleminckx, J.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Soil properties have been shown to partially explain tree species distribution in tropical forests. Locally, species turnover across space can result not only from edaphic heterogeneities but also from limited seed dispersal. To characterize the contribution of each process, contact areas between contrasted soil types offer ideal settings. In the present study, we aimed to test species and species assemblage responses to a sharp edaphic discontinuity in a tropical forest tree community.Yoko forest reserve (6975 ha), Democratic Republic of the Congo.We set up four 500–600‐m long parallel transects crossing two contrasted edaphic habitats, one lying on clayey soil and the other on sandy soil. The canopy and subcanopy trees were identified and geo‐referenced along the transects over a width of 50 m and 5 m, respectively, and soil samples were collected every 50 m to characterize each habitat.Correspondence analyses indicated a clear differentiation of tree communities between sandy and clayey soils. Using a torus‐translation method combined with Chi‐squared non‐parametric tests, we observed that ca. 40% and 18% of the species represented by at least 12 individuals displayed significant density differences according to habitat in the canopy and subcanopy, respectively, although very few species displayed significant differences in their relative abundance. Nevertheless, whole community tests of differentiation (in species relative abundances) between soil types were significant in both strata, even after removing individual species or families displaying a significant habitat preference.While only a minority of species displayed a clear habitat preference, we still observed a community‐wide impact of the edaphic discontinuity on species assemblages at a local scale. Our results provide further evidence for the major contribution of environmental heterogeneity in maintaining biodiversity in tropical forests.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace95432
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Wiley
publisherStr Wiley
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace954322025-06-17T08:23:38Z Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest Vleminckx, J. Drouet, T. Amani, C. Lisingo, J. Lejoly, J. Hardy, Olivier J. canopy species diversity species richness Soil properties have been shown to partially explain tree species distribution in tropical forests. Locally, species turnover across space can result not only from edaphic heterogeneities but also from limited seed dispersal. To characterize the contribution of each process, contact areas between contrasted soil types offer ideal settings. In the present study, we aimed to test species and species assemblage responses to a sharp edaphic discontinuity in a tropical forest tree community.Yoko forest reserve (6975 ha), Democratic Republic of the Congo.We set up four 500–600‐m long parallel transects crossing two contrasted edaphic habitats, one lying on clayey soil and the other on sandy soil. The canopy and subcanopy trees were identified and geo‐referenced along the transects over a width of 50 m and 5 m, respectively, and soil samples were collected every 50 m to characterize each habitat.Correspondence analyses indicated a clear differentiation of tree communities between sandy and clayey soils. Using a torus‐translation method combined with Chi‐squared non‐parametric tests, we observed that ca. 40% and 18% of the species represented by at least 12 individuals displayed significant density differences according to habitat in the canopy and subcanopy, respectively, although very few species displayed significant differences in their relative abundance. Nevertheless, whole community tests of differentiation (in species relative abundances) between soil types were significant in both strata, even after removing individual species or families displaying a significant habitat preference.While only a minority of species displayed a clear habitat preference, we still observed a community‐wide impact of the edaphic discontinuity on species assemblages at a local scale. Our results provide further evidence for the major contribution of environmental heterogeneity in maintaining biodiversity in tropical forests. 2015-01 2018-07-03T11:02:58Z 2018-07-03T11:02:58Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95432 en Limited Access Wiley Vleminckx, J, Drouet, T., Amani, C., Lisingo, J., Lejoly, J., Hardy, O.J.. 2015. Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest Journal of Vegetation Science, 26 (1) : 134-144. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12209
spellingShingle canopy
species diversity
species richness
Vleminckx, J.
Drouet, T.
Amani, C.
Lisingo, J.
Lejoly, J.
Hardy, Olivier J.
Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest
title Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest
title_full Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest
title_fullStr Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest
title_full_unstemmed Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest
title_short Impact of fine-scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central African rainforest
title_sort impact of fine scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species assembly in a central african rainforest
topic canopy
species diversity
species richness
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95432
work_keys_str_mv AT vleminckxj impactoffinescaleedaphicheterogeneityontreespeciesassemblyinacentralafricanrainforest
AT drouett impactoffinescaleedaphicheterogeneityontreespeciesassemblyinacentralafricanrainforest
AT amanic impactoffinescaleedaphicheterogeneityontreespeciesassemblyinacentralafricanrainforest
AT lisingoj impactoffinescaleedaphicheterogeneityontreespeciesassemblyinacentralafricanrainforest
AT lejolyj impactoffinescaleedaphicheterogeneityontreespeciesassemblyinacentralafricanrainforest
AT hardyolivierj impactoffinescaleedaphicheterogeneityontreespeciesassemblyinacentralafricanrainforest