Soils and topography control natural disturbance rates and thereby forest structure in a lowland tropical landscape

K. C. Cushman, Matteo Detto, Milton García, Helene C. Muller-Landau

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tree mortality is a major control over tropical forest carbon stocks globally but the strength of associations between abiotic drivers and tree mortality within forested landscapes is poorly understood. Here, we used repeat drone photogrammetry across 1500 ha of forest in Central Panama over 5 years to quantify spatial variation in canopy disturbance rates and its predictors. We identified 11,153 canopy disturbances greater than 25 m2 in area, including treefalls, large branchfalls and standing dead trees, affecting 1.9% of area per year. Soil type, forest age and topography explained up to 46%–67% of disturbance rate variation at spatial grains of 58–64 ha, with higher rates in older forests, steeper slopes and local depressions. Furthermore, disturbance rates predicted the proportion of low canopy area across the landscape, and mean canopy height in old growth forests. Thus abiotic factors drive variation in disturbance rates and thereby forest structure at landscape scales.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1126-1138
Number of pages13
JournalEcology letters
Volume25
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2022

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Keywords

  • canopy gaps
  • disturbance
  • drones
  • forest carbon
  • forest dynamics
  • forest structure
  • photogrammetry
  • tropical forest

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