Shade tolerance within the context of the successional process in tropical rain forests

dc.creatorÁvalos Rodríguez, Gerardo
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-29T19:57:45Z
dc.date.available2020-10-29T19:57:45Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractAbstract: Shade tolerance (the capacity to survive and grow over long periods under shade) is a key component of plant fitness and the foundation of current theories of forest succession in tropical rain forests. It serves as a paradigm to understand the optimal allocation of limited resources under dynamic light regimes. I analyze how tropical rain forest succession influences the expression of ecophysiological mechanisms leading to shade tolerance, and identify future areas that will increase our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of this phenomenon. Shade tolerance is a multivariate, continuous functional trait reflecting the growth/mortality trade-off of investing resources under limited light vs. exploiting high light conditions. I propose the life cycle successional trajectory model of Gómez-Pompa & Vázquez-Yanes as an integrative tool to understand tropical rain forest succession. This model shows how species distribute along the successional environmental gradient based on their degree of shade tolerance and represents a more integrative paradigm to understand the interface between different aspects of species diversity (ontogenetic variation and functional diversity) throughout succession. It proposes that different trait combinations determining shade tolerance are expressed at different stages of the life cycle, which affects how and when plants enter the successional trajectory. Models explaining the expression of shade tolerance (resource availability, carbon gain, CSR, resource competition) are based on whole-plant economics and are not mutually exclusive. The analysis of shade tolerance is biased towards tree seedlings in the understory of mature forests. Other life stages (juvenile and adult trees), life forms, and microhabitats throughout the forest profile are almost always excluded from these analyses. More integrative explanations based on the distribution of functional traits among species, ontogenetic stages, and the nature of the environmental gradient are being developed based on long-term data and chronosequence comparisons. In summary, shade-tolerance is a complex phenomenon, is determined by multiple characters that change ontogenetically over space and time and entails considerable plasticity. Current methods do not account for this plasticity. Understanding the nature of shade tolerance and its functional basis is critical to comprehending plant performance and improving the management, restoration and conservation of tropical rain forests given the combined threats of global warming and habitat loss.es_ES
dc.description.procedenceUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologíaes_ES
dc.identifier.citationhttps://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/37206/37778
dc.identifier.doi10.15517/RBT.V67I2SUPL.37206
dc.identifier.issn0034-7744
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10669/81775
dc.language.isoen_USes_ES
dc.rightsacceso abierto
dc.sourceRevista de Biología Tropical. 67(2) Suplemento, S53-S77. 2019.es_ES
dc.subjectenvironmental filteringes_ES
dc.subjectfunctional traitses_ES
dc.subjectgap phasees_ES
dc.subjectleaf-economics spectrumes_ES
dc.subjectniche differentiationes_ES
dc.subjectontogenetic niche shiftses_ES
dc.subjectplant-economics spectrumes_ES
dc.subjectregeneration nichees_ES
dc.titleShade tolerance within the context of the successional process in tropical rain forestses_ES
dc.title.alternativeTolerancia a la sombra en el contexto del proceso de sucesión en los bosques tropicales lluviososes_ES
dc.typeartículo original

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