Long‐term ecological responses of a lowland dipterocarp forest to climate changes and nutrient availability

Prohaska, Ana; Seddon, Alistair W.R.; Rach, Oliver; Smith, Andrew; Sachse, Dirk; Willis, Katherine J.. 2023 Long‐term ecological responses of a lowland dipterocarp forest to climate changes and nutrient availability. New Phytologist, 240 (6). 2513-2529. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19169

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.

Preview

Text (Open Access Paper)
New Phytologist - 2023 - Prohaska - Long‐term ecological responses of a lowland dipterocarp forest to climate changes and.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Download (5MB) | Preview

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nph.19169

Abstract/Summary

Understanding the long-term impact of projected climate change on tropical rainforests is critical given their central role in the Earth's system. Palaeoecological records can provide a valuable perspective on this problem. Here, we examine the effects of past climatic changes on the dominant forest type of Southeast Asia – lowland dipterocarp forest. We use a range of proxies extracted from a 1400-yr-old lacustrine sedimentary sequence from north-eastern Philippines to determine long-term vegetation responses of lowland dipterocarp forest, including its dominant tree group dipterocarps, to changes in precipitation, fire and nutrient availability over time. Our results show a positive relationship between dipterocarp pollen accumulation rates (PARs) and leaf wax hydrogen isotope values, which suggests a negative effect of drier conditions on dipterocarp abundance. Furthermore, we find a positive relationship between dipterocarp PARs and the proxy for phosphorus availability, which suggests phosphorus controls the productivity of these keystone trees on longer time scales. Other pollen taxa show widely varying relationships with the abiotic factors, demonstrating a high diversity of plant functional responses. Our findings provide novel insights into lowland dipterocarp forest responses to changing climatic conditions in the past and highlight potential impacts of future climate change on this globally important ecosystem.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19169
ISSN:	0028-646X
Date made live:	17 Nov 2023 16:51 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536266

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19169

ISSN:

0028-646X

Date made live:

17 Nov 2023 16:51 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536266