Loss of a single tree species will lead to an overall decline in plant diversity: Effect of Dracaena cinnabari Balf. f. on the vegetation of Socotra Island

2016 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 165-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Rejžek ◽  
Martin Svátek ◽  
Jan Šebesta ◽  
Radim Adolt ◽  
Petr Maděra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Socotra Island ◽  
Diversity Effect ◽  
Dracaena Cinnabari

scholarly journals Exploring the historical distribution of Dracaena cinnabari using ethnobotanical knowledge on Socotra Island, Yemen

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulraqeb Al-Okaishi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Dragon’S Blood ◽  
The Past ◽  
Unesco World Heritage Site ◽  
Socotra Island ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Socotra Archipelago ◽  
Dracaena Cinnabari

Abstract Background In this study, we present and analyze toponyms referring to Socotra Island’s endemic dragon’s blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari) in four areas on the Socotra Archipelago UNESCO World Heritage site (Republic of Yemen). The motivation is the understanding of the past distribution of D. cinnabari trees which is an important part of conservation efforts by using ethnobotanical data. We assumed that dragon’s blood trees had a wider distribution on Socotra Island in the past. Methods This research was based on field surveys and interviews with the indigenous people. The place names (toponyms) were recorded in both Arabic and the indigenous Socotri language. We grouped all toponyms into five different categories according to the main descriptor: terrain, human, plant, water, and NA (unknown). Also, this study identified current and historical Arabic names of dragon’s blood trees of the genus Dracaena through literature review. Results A total of 301 toponyms were recorded from the four study areas in Socotra Island. Among names related to plants, we could attribute toponyms to nine different plants species, of which six toponyms referred to the D. cinnabari tree, representing 14.63% of the total phytotoponyms in the category. Three historical naming periods prior to 2000 could be identified. The most commonly used name for dragon’s blood trees (D. cinnabari, D. serrulata, D. ombet) appears to be “ahrieb” “إعريهب” and its resin “dum al-akhawin” “دم الأخوين,” while derived (mixed-cooked) products are called “eda’a” “إيدع,” while regionally different names can be found. Conclusion The place names that refer to D. cinnabari are herein suggested to represent remnant areas of once large populations. Therefore, the toponyms may support known hypotheses based on climate models that D. cinnabari had a wider distribution on Socotra Island in the past. This study also confirmed the historical importance of dragon’s blood.

Restoration of floral diversity through plantations on abandoned agricultural land

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1218-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven G Newmaster ◽  
F Wayne Bell ◽  
Christopher R Roosenboom ◽  
Heather A Cole ◽  
William D Towill
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Community Interactions ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Floral Diversity ◽  
The Impact

Plantations have been claimed to be "monocultures", or "biological deserts". We investigated these claims in the context of a long-term study on plant diversity within plantations with different indigenous tree species, spacings, and soil types that were compared with 410 native stands. Soil type had no influence on plantation species diversity or abundance, and wider spacing resulted in higher richness, lower woody plant abundance, slightly higher cover of herbaceous plants, and large increases in cryptogam cover. We also found a canopy species × spacing interaction effect, where the impact of increased spacing on understory vegetation was more pronounced in spruce than in pine plantations. The dynamic community interactions among species of feathermoss appear to be in response to the physical impediment from varying amounts of needle rain from the different tree species. High light interception and needle fall were negatively correlated with understory plant diversity, as was lack of structural diversity. This study indicates that through afforestation efforts agricultural lands can be restored to productive forests that can harbour nearly one-half of the plant species found in equivalent natural forests within the same geographic region in as little as 50 years. We recommend applying afforestation using indigenous conifer species as a first step towards rehabilitating conifer forests that have been converted to agriculture and subsequently abandoned.

scholarly journals Mapping Regional Distribution of a Single Tree Species: Whitebark Pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Sensors ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 4983-4994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Landenburger ◽  
Rick Lawrence ◽  
Shannon Podruzny ◽  
Charles Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Greater Yellowstone

scholarly journals Plant Diversity, Ethnobotany and Conservation Issues at Swoyambhu World Heritage, Kathmandu, Nepal

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keshab Shrestha
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Exotic Species ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Northern Slope ◽  
Pinus Roxburghii ◽  
Total Plant ◽  
Pristine Forest

Lying at western corner of the Kathmandu city, the Swoyambhu hillock (1403.76m) represents a surviving pristine forest in the metropolitan capital of Nepal. Once an extension of Jamaca (2096m) with luxuriant sub-tropical forest is now invaded by dense human population and other developmental activities. This hillock is still rich with a total plant species of 319. Of them, 65 are trees, 43 shrubs, 194 herbs and 17 climbers. Northern slope of the hillock is rich in tree species with scattered patches of under-growing bushes and ferns, whereas southern, western and eastern slopes are much disturbed with exotic species of plants, creating challenges to the norms of the heritage standard. Domination by Pinus roxburghii (chire pine) and Eucalyptus, Jacaranda and Callistemon, etc are altering the indigenous nature of the hillock. And also the forested hillock has been randomly utilized for refreshment, yoga, ayurbedic remedy and food. Due to growing constructions and exploitations, the forested hillock is now facing a threat to maintain its pristine ecosystem. <i>Nepal Journal of Science and Technology</i> Vol. 7, 2006

scholarly journals Plant, fungal, bacterial, and nitrogen interactions in the litter layer of a native Patagonian forest

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía Vivanco ◽  
Nicolás Rascovan ◽  
Amy T. Austin
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Microbial Interactions ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Litter Layer ◽  
Species Identity ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Stimulation Of

Plant–microbial interactions in the litter layer represent one of the most relevant interactions for biogeochemical cycling as litter decomposition is a key first step in carbon and nitrogen turnover. However, our understanding of these interactions in the litter layer remains elusive. In an old-growth mixed Nothofagus forest in Patagonia, we studied the effects of single tree species identity and the mixture of three tree species on the fungal and bacterial composition in the litter layer. We also evaluated the effects of nitrogen (N) addition on these plant–microbial interactions. In addition, we compared the magnitude of stimulation of litter decomposition due to home field advantage (HFA, decomposition occurs more rapidly when litter is placed beneath the plant species from which it had been derived than beneath a different plant species) and N addition that we previously demonstrated in this same forest, and used microbial information to interpret these results. Tree species identity had a strong and significant effect on the composition of fungal communities but not on the bacterial community of the litter layer. The microbial composition of the litter layer under the tree species mixture show an averaged contribution of each single tree species. N addition did not erase the plant species footprint on the fungal community, and neither altered the bacterial community. N addition stimulated litter decomposition as much as HFA for certain tree species, but the mechanisms behind N and HFA stimulation may have differed. Our results suggest that stimulation of decomposition from N addition might have occurred due to increased microbial activity without large changes in microbial community composition, while HFA may have resulted principally from plant species’ effects on the litter fungal community. Together, our results suggest that plant–microbial interactions can be an unconsidered driver of litter decomposition in temperate forests.

Single tree species classification from Terrestrial Laser Scanning data for forest inventory

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (16) ◽  
pp. 2144-2150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahlem Othmani ◽  
Lew F.C. Lew Yan Voon ◽  
Christophe Stolz ◽  
Alexandre Piboule
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽  
Species Classification ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Tree Species Classification

scholarly journals Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans ter Steege ◽  
Terry W. Henkel ◽  
Nora Helal ◽  
Beatriz S. Marimon ◽  
Ben Hur Marimon-Junior ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Amazonian Forests ◽  
High Diversity

Abstract Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such “monodominant” forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors.

Hybridization among dominant tree species correlates positively with understory plant diversity

2011 ◽  
Vol 98 (10) ◽  
pp. 1623-1632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel I. Adams ◽  
Shaunna Goldberry ◽  
Thomas G. Whitham ◽  
Matthew S. Zinkgraf ◽  
Rodolfo Dirzo
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Understory Plant

Understorey–canopy affinities in boreal forest vegetation

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (9) ◽  
pp. 1709-1716 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Carleton ◽  
P. F. Maycock
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Relative Density ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
James Bay ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Stem Size ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Natural Combination

One hundred and ninety-seven boreal forest stands, in a region of Ontario and Quebec south of James Bay, were examined. Tree species were summarized as relative density of each of five stem size classes. These data formed the basis for an exclusive polythetic divisive stand classification into 10 groups. Most of these groups were characterized by a single tree species. The affinity of each of 410 understorey taxa was assessed with respect to each canopy stand group or natural combination of groups. Only 121 understorey taxa showed specificity to the canopy classes identified. This apparent lack of tight overstorey–understorey affinity is discussed in relation to site nutrient status and regeneration following forest fire.

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