ATBC 2008 - Chave
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Symposium
Diversity and Distributions of Tropical Forest Trees: Insights from Networks of Permanent Plots
Organizer : Jérôme Chave (chave -at- cict.fr) and Christopher Baraloto (baraloto baraloto.c -at- kourou.cirad.fr), Sandra Patiño and Tim Baker.
Developing satisfying explanations of why there are so many coexisting species of tropical trees, or how species functional traits influence species distributions, depends on our ability to develop consistent and testable theories and large, empirical datasets to test them. For example, from a theoretical perspective, niche theory predicts that each species in a local community possesses a unique combination of traits that enables it to avoid competition with other species. In contrast, neutral theories ascribe no role to competition and niches for local species coexistence. From an empirical perspective, over the past two decades, several networks of long-term inventory plots have been initiated within tropical forests to monitor forest structure, composition and dynamics, These plots have been the main testing grounds for theories of species coexistence and also offer the chance to understand how differing physiological characteristics of different species influence where they are able to grow and succeed. The goal of this symposium is to present the recent achievements of these plot networks and to confront theoretical and empirical advances. We will specifically focus on advances in measuring functional traits and their relevance in measuring niche overlap; on insights to species identification gained from molecular genetics; and on improvements in modelling techniques.
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Forest in the Central Suriname Nature Reserve. (c) P.-M. Forget.