Role of topography, soil and climate on forest species composition and diversity in the West Usambara Montane Forests of Tanzania
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2023-0010Keywords:
beta diversity, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), indicator species, species richness, tropical mountainsAbstract
Understanding the variables that determine the variation in forest species composition and diversity in tropical montane systems remains a topic for discussion in plant ecology. This is especially true in areas where the topography is complex and forests are vulnerable to human activity. In this study, a set of topographic, soil, and climatic variables were used to determine their effects on the composition and diversity patterns of two forests in the West Usambara Mountains (Tanzania). Two-phase systematic sampling was used to collect vegetation data from 159 sample plots distributed across the forests. An agglomerative hierarchical clustering method was used for forest community classification, and indicator species analysis was used to determine the species significantly associated with forest communities. The influence of environmental variables on forest communities was analysed using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Finally, we evaluated diversity patterns by comparing diversity indices (Shannon-Wiener diversity index, evenness, and richness) and beta diversity processes. In total, 7,767 individual trees belonged to 183 species, 132 genera, and 66 families were quantified. We found that (i) the forests of West Usambara can be divided into three different forest communities; (ii) each forest community has a specific set of topographical, soil, and climate variables; (iii) there are significant differences in Shannon diversity and richness indices among communities; and (iv) community composition is mostly influenced by species turnover than by species nestedness. Our study revealed the importance of considering a set of environmental variables related to climate, soil, and topography to understand the variation in the composition and diversity of forest communities in tropical montane forests.
References
Báez, S., Fadrique, B., Feeley, K., Homeier, J., 2022. Changes in tree functional composition across topographic gradients and through time in a tropical montane forest. PLoS One, 17 (4): e0263508. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263508
Baldeck, C.A., Tupayachi, R., Sinca, F., Jaramillo, N., Asner, G.P., 2016. Environmental drivers of tree community turnover in western Amazonian forests. Ecography, 39 (11): 1089–1099. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.01575
Barczyk, M.K., Acosta-Rojas, D.C., Espinosa, C.I., Schleuning, M., Neuschulz, E.L., 2023. Biotic pressures and environmental heterogeneity shape beta-diversity of seedling communities in tropical montane forests. Ecography, 2023 (6): e06538.
Baselga, A., 2013. Separating the two components of abundance-based dissimilarity: balanced changes in abundance vs. abundance gradients. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 4 (6): 552–557. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12029
Baselga, A., Orme, C.D.L., 2012. betapart: an R package for the study of beta diversity. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 3 (5): 808–812. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2012.00224.x
Bhatta, K.P., Aryal, A., Baral, H., Khanal, S., Acharya, A.K., Phomphakdy, C., Dorji, R., 2021. Forest structure and composition under contrasting precipitation regimes in the high mountains, western Nepal. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13 (13): 7510. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137510
Blanchard, G., Munoz, F., Ibanez, T., Hequet, V., Vandrot, H., Girardi, J., Birnbaum, P., 2019. Regional rainfall and local topography jointly drive tree community assembly in lowland tropical forests of New Caledonia. Journal of Vegetation Science, 30 (5): 845–856. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12781
Boyle, M.J.W., Bishop, T.R., Luke, S.H., van Breugel, M., Evans, T.A., Pfeifer, M., Fayle, T.M., Hardwick, S.R., Lane-Shaw, R.I., Yusah, K.M., Ashford, I.C.R., Ashford, O.S., Garnett, E., Turner, E.C., Wilkinson, C.L., Chung, A.Y.C., Ewers, R.M., 2021. Localised climate change defines ant communities in human-modified tropical landscapes. Functional Ecology, 35 (5): 1094–1108. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13737
Braganza, K., Karoly, D.J., Arblaster, J.M., 2004. Diurnal temperature range as an index of global climate change during the twentieth century. Geophysical Research Letters, 31 (13): 2–5. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL019998
Brambach, F., Leuschner, C., Tjoa, A., Culmsee, H., 2017. Diversity, endemism, and composition of tropical mountain forest communities in Sulawesi, Indonesia, in relation to elevation and soil properties. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 27: 68–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2017.06.003
Bunyan, M., Bardhan, S., Singh, A., Jose, S., 2015. Effect of topography on the distribution of tropical montane forest fragments: a predictive modelling approach. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 27 (1): 30–38.
Dantas de Paula, M., Forrest, M., Langan, L., Bendix, J., Homeier, J., Velescu, A., Wilcke, W., Hickler, T., 2021. Nutrient cycling drives plant community trait assembly and ecosystem functioning in a tropical mountain biodiversity hotspot. New Phytologist, 232 (2): 551–566. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17600
De Caceres, M., Jansen, F., De Caceres, M.M., 2014. Package “indicspecies.” Indicators, 8 (1): 1–31.
Dimitrov, D., Nogués-Bravo, D., Scharff, N., 2012. Why do tropical mountains support exceptionally high biodiversity? The Eastern Arc Mountains and the drivers of Saintpaulia diversity. PLoS One, 7 (11): e48908. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048908
Diogo, I.J.S., dos Santos, K., da Costa, I.R., dos Santos, F.A.M., 2021. Effects of topography and climate on Neotropical mountain forests structure in the semiarid region. Applied Vegetation Science, 24 (1): e12527. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12527
Fahey, T.J., Sherman, R.E., Tanner, E.V.J., 2016. Tropical montane cloud forest: environmental drivers of vegetation structure and ecosystem function. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 32 (5): 355–367. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467415000176
Hai, N.H., Erfanifard, Y., Bui, V.B., Mai, T.H., Petritan, A.M., Petritan, I.C., 2021. Topographic effects on the spatial species associations in diverse heterogeneous tropical evergreen forests. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13 (5): 2468. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052468
Haq, S.M., Calixto, E.S., Kumar, M., 2021. Assessing biodiversity and productivity over a small-scale gradient in the protected forests of Indian Western Himalayas. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 40 (7): 675–694. https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2020.1803918
Hofhansl, F., Chacón-Madrigal, E., Fuchslueger, L., Jenking, D., Morera-Beita, A., Plutzar, C., Silla, F., Andersen, K.M., Buchs, D.M., Dullinger, S., Fiedler, K., Franklin, O., Hietz, P., Huber, W., Quesada, C.A., Rammig, A., Schrodt, F., Vincent, A.G., Weissenhofer, A., Wanek, W., 2020. Climatic and edaphic controls over tropical forest diversity and vegetation carbon storage. Scientific Reports, 10 (1): 5066. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61868-5
Homeier, J., 2010. The influence of topography on forest structure and regeneration dynamics in an Ecuadorian montane forest. In The tropical mountain forest: patterns and processes in a biodiversity hotspot. Biodiversity and Ecology Series. Akron, Ohio: University of Akron, p. 97–107.
Homeier, J., Leuschner, C., 2021. Factors controlling the productivity of tropical Andean forests: climate and soil are more important than tree diversity. Biogeosciences, 18 (4): 1525–1541. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1525-2021
Huang, W., Pohjonen, V., Johansson, S., Nashanda, M., Katigula, M.I.L., Luukkanen, O., 2003. Species diversity, forest structure and species composition in Tanzanian tropical forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 173 (1–3): 11–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(01
Iwashita, D.K., Litton, C.M., Giardina, C.P., 2013. Coarse woody debris carbon storage across a mean annual temperature gradient in tropical montane wet forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 291: 336–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2012.11.043
Jiang, M., Kong, J., Zhang, Z., Hu, J., Qin, Y., Shang, K., Zhao, M., Zhang, J., 2023. Seeing trees from drones: the role of leaf phenology transition in mapping species distribution in species-rich montane forests. Forests, 14 (5): 908. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14050908
Kindt, R., Kindt, M.R., 2023. Package “BiodiversityR”. Package for community ecology and suitability analysis. The R Journal, 2: 1–12. https://doi.org/http://www.worldagroforestry.org/output/tree-diversity-analysis
Kopecký, M., Čížková, Š., 2010. Using topographic wetness index in vegetation ecology: Does the algorithm matter? Applied Vegetation Science, 13 (4): 450–459. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-109X.2010.01083.x
Lakkana, T., Ashton, M.S., Hooper, E.R., Perera, A., Ediriweera, S., 2002. Tropical montane forest in South Asia: composition, structure, and dieback in relation to soils and topography. Ecosphere, 13 (5): 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4049
Latt, M.M., Park, B.B., 2022. Tree species composition and forest community types along environmental gradients in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar: implications for action prioritization in conservation. Plants, 11 (16): 2180. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11162180
Lenth, R., Singmann, H., Love, J., Buerkner, P., Herve, M., 2018. emmeans: estimated marginal means, aka least-squares means. R package version 1.8.6. https://cran.r-project.org/package=emmeans [cited 2023-04-10]
Li, G., Du, S., Wen, Z., 2016. Mapping the climatic suitable habitat of oriental arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis) for introduction and cultivation at a global scale. Scientific Reports, 6 (July): 30009. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep30009
Li, T., Xiong, Q., Luo, P., Zhang, Y., Gu, X., Lin, B., 2020. Direct and indirect effects of environmental factors, spatial constraints, and functional traits on shaping the plant di versity of montane forests. Ecology and Evolution, 10 (1): 557–568. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5931
Lippok, D., Beck, S.G., Renison, D., Hensen, I., Apaza, A.E., Schleuning, M., 2014. Topography and edge effects are more important than elevation as drivers of vegetation patterns in a neotropical montane forest. Journal of Vegetation Science, 25 (3): 724–733. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12132
Lolila, N.J., Shirima, D.D., Mauya, E.W., 2023. Tree species composition along environmental and disturbance gradients in tropical sub-montane forests, Tanzania. PLoS One, 18 (3): e0282528. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282528
Lovett, J.C., 1996. Elevational and latitudinal changes in tree associations and diversity in the Eastern Arc mountains of Tanzania. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 12 (5): 629–650. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467400009846
Lüdecke, D., Ben-Shachar, M.S., PATIL, I., Makowski, D., 2023. Extracting, computing and exploring the parameters of statistical models using R. Journal of Open Source Software, 5 (53): 2445. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.02445
Macek, M., Kopecký, M., Wild, J., 2019. Maximum air temperature controlled by landscape topography affects plant species composition in temperate forests. Landscape Ecology, 34 (11): 2541–2556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00903-x
Mata-Guel, E.O., Soh, M.C.K., Butler, C.W., Morris, R.J., Razgour, O., Peh, K.S.H., 2023. Impacts of anthropogenic climate change on tropical montane forests: an appraisal of the evidence. Biological Reviews, Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12950
Murphy, S.J., Audino, L.D., Whitacre, J., Eck, J.L., Wenzel, J.W., Queenborough, S.A., Comita, L.S., 2015. Species associations structured by environment and land-use history promote beta-diversity in a temperate forest. Ecology, 96 (3): 705–715. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-0695.1
Murphy, S.J., Salpeter, K., Comita, L.S., 2016. Higher β-diversity observed for herbs over woody plants is driven by stronger habitat filtering in a tropical understory. Ecology, 97 (8): 2074–2084. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-1801.1
Muscarella, R., Kolyaie, S., Morton, D.C., Zimmerman, J.K., Uriarte, M., 2020. Effects of topography on tropical forest structure depend on climate context. Journal of Ecology, 108 (1): 145–159. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13261
Nery, E.K., Caddah, M.K., Santos, M.F., Nogueira, A., 2023. The evolution of ecological specialization underlies plant endemism in the Atlantic Forest. Annals of Botany, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcad029
Nettesheim, F.C., Garbin, M.L., Rajão, P.H.M., Araujo, D.S.D., Grelle, C.E.V., 2018. Environment is more relevant than spatial structure as a driver of regional variation in tropical tree community richness and composition. Plant Ecology and Diversity, 11 (1): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2018.1473520
Noguerales, V., Meramveliotakis, E., Castro-Insua, A., Andújar, C., Arribas, P., Creedy, T.J., Overcast, I., Morlon, H., Emerson, B.C., Vogler, A.P., Papadopoulou, A., 2021. Community metabarcoding reveals the relative role of environmental filtering and spatial processes in metacommunity dynamics of soil microarthropods across a mosaic of montane forests. Molecular Ecology, 2: 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16275
Ntirugulirwa, B., Manishimwe, A., Uddling, J., Wallin, G., 2023. Contrasting growth and mortality responses of different species lead to shifts in tropical montane tree community composition in a warmer climate. Biogeosciences, March, 1–39. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-42
Oksanen, J., Kindt, R., Legendre, P., O’Hara, B., Simpson, G.L., Solymos, P., Henry, M., Stevens, H., Wagner, H., 2008. The vegan package. Community Ecology Package, 2 (9): 1–295.
Oldfather, M.F., Ackerly, D.D., 2019. Microclimate and demography interact to shape stable population dynamics across the range of an alpine plant. New Phytologist, 222 (1): 193–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15565
Pielou, E.C., 1966. The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 13 (C): 131–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5193(66)90013-0
Preston, F.W., 1962. The canonical distribution of commonness and rarity : Part I. Ecology, 43 (2): 185–215.
Punyasena, S.W., Eshel, G., McElwain, J.C., 2008. The influence of climate on the spatial patterning of Neotropical plant families. Journal of Biogeography, 35 (1): 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01773.x
R Core Team, 2022. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://doi.org/http://www.R-project.org/
Rahman, I.U., Hart, R.E., Ijaz, F., Afzal, A., Iqbal, Z., Calixto, E.S., Abd-Allah, E.F., Alqarawi, A.A., Hashem, A., Al-Arjani, A.B.F., Kausar, R., Haq, S.M., 2022. Environmental variables drive plant species composition and distribution in the moist temperate forests of North- western Himalaya, Pakistan. PLoS One, 17 (2): e0260687. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260687
Rawat, B., Negi, A.S., 2021. Plant diversity patterns along environmental gradients in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, West Himalaya. Tropical Ecology, 62 (1): 61–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965-020-00122-5
Rawat, D.S., Tiwari, P., Das, S.K., Tiwari, J.K., 2020. Tree species composition and diversity in montane forests of Garhwal Himalaya in relation to environmental and soil properties. Journal of Mountain Science, 17 (12): 3097–3111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5761-8
Rodgers, W.A., Homewood, K.M., 1982. Species richness and endemism in the Usambara mountain forests, Tanzania. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 18 (3): 197–242. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1982.tb02037.x
Rubio, A., Gavilán, R.G., Montes, F., Gutiérrez-Girón, A., Díaz-Pines, E., Mezquida, E.T., 2011. Biodiversity measures applied to stand-level management: Can they really be useful? Ecological Indicators, 11 (2): 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.07.011
Sagar, R., Raghubanshi, A.S., Singh, J.S., 2003. Tree species composition, dispersion and diversity along a disturbance gradient in a dry tropical forest region of India. Forest Ecology and Management, 186 (1–3): 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(03)00235-4
Salinas, N., Cosio, E.G., Silman, M., Meir, P., Nottingham, A.T., Roman-Cuesta, R.M., Malhi, Y., 2021. Editorial: tropical montane forests in a changing environment. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12 (August): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.712748
Shannon, C.E., Weaver, W., 1964. Mathematical theory of communication. International Business, 131. [cited 2023-01-17]. https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2383164_3/component/file_2383163/content
Sharma, C.M., Mishra, A.K., Tiwari, O.P., Krishan, R., Rana, Y.S., 2017. Effect of altitudinal gradients on forest structure and composition on ridge tops in Garhwal Himalaya. Energy, Ecology and Environment, 2 (6): 404–417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-017-0067-6
Spracklen, D.V., Righelato, R., 2014. Tropical montane forests are a larger than expected global carbon store. Biogeosciences, 11 (10): 2741–2754. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2741-2014
Takyu, M., Aiba, S.-I., Kitayama, K., 2002. Effects of topography on tropical lower montane on Mount Kinabulu, Borneo. Plant Ecology, 159 (1): 35–49. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023/A:1015512400074.pdf
Tallents, L.A., Lovett, J.C., Hall, J.B., Hamilton, A.C., 2005. Phylogenetic diversity of forest trees in the Usambara mountains of Tanzania: correlations with altitude. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 149 (2): 217–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2005.00431.x
Thakur, S., Negi, V.S., Dhyani, R., Bhatt, I.D., Yadava, A.K., 2022. Influence of environmental factors on tree species diversity and composition in the Indian western Himalaya. Forest Ecology and Management, 503: 119746. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119746
Tietje, M., Antonelli, A., Baker, W.J., Govaerts, R., Smith, S.A., Eiserhardt, W.L., 2022. Global variation in diversification rate and species richness are unlinked in plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (27): e2120662119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2120662119
Trew, B.T., Maclean, I.M.D., 2021. Vulnerability of global biodiversity hotspots to climate change. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 30 (4): 768–783. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13272
Vasconcelos, T., O’Meara, B.C., Beaulieu, J.M., 2022. Retiring “cradles” and “museums” of biodiversity. The American Naturalist, 199 (2):194–205. https://doi.org/10.1086/717412
Veintimilla, D., Ngo Bieng, M.A., Delgado, D., Vilchez-Mendoza, S., Zamora, N., Finegan, B., 2019. Drivers of tropical rainforest composition and alpha diversity patterns over a 2,520 m altitudinal gradient. Ecology and Evolution, 9 (10): 5720–5730. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5155
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
Wiegand, T., May, F., Kazmierczak, M., Huth, A., 2017. What drives the spatial distribution and dynamics of local species richness in tropical forest? Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences, 284 (1863): article ID 20171503. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1503
Yessoufou, K., Daru, B.H., Davies, T.J., 2012. Phylogenetic patterns of extinction risk in the eastern arc ecosystems, an African biodiversity hotspot. PLoS One, 7 (10): e47082. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047082
Zhang, C., Li, X., Chen, L., Xie, G., Liu, C., Pei, S., 2016. Effects of topographical and edaphic factors on tree community structure and diversity of subtropical mountain forests in the Lower Lancang River Basin. Forests, 7 (10): 222. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7100222
Zhang, W., Huang, D., Wang, R., Liu, J., Du, N., 2016. Altitudinal patterns of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity across temperate mountain forests of northern China. PLoS One, 11 (7): e0159995. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159995
Zhao, Z., Hui, G., Yang, A., Zhang, G., Hu, Y., 2022. Assessing tree species diversity in forest ecosystems: a new approach. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10: 971585. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.971585
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This journal provides immediate open access to its content under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Authors who publish with this journal retain all copyrights except for commercial rights (transfer of commercial rights) and agree to the terms of the above-mentioned CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
