Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam
Degradation of tropical forests is a major driver of the global extinction crisis. A key question is understanding the role of evolution history during forest succession in the context of forest restoration for maintaining ecosystem function and stability. This study was conducted in a fragmented fo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-12-01
|
| Series: | Forests |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/12/1358 |
| _version_ | 1797544276131840000 |
|---|---|
| author | Nguyen Hong Hai Nguyen Thanh Tan Tran Quang Bao Any Mary Petritan Trinh Hien Mai Cao Thi Thu Hien Pham The Anh Vu Tien Hung Ion Catalin Petritan |
| author_facet | Nguyen Hong Hai Nguyen Thanh Tan Tran Quang Bao Any Mary Petritan Trinh Hien Mai Cao Thi Thu Hien Pham The Anh Vu Tien Hung Ion Catalin Petritan |
| author_sort | Nguyen Hong Hai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Degradation of tropical forests is a major driver of the global extinction crisis. A key question is understanding the role of evolution history during forest succession in the context of forest restoration for maintaining ecosystem function and stability. This study was conducted in a fragmented forest landscape in the central highlands of Vietnam. We sampled living trees with diameters at breast height of ≥6.0 cm in nineteen 0.25 ha plots to evaluate forest community structure changes over two early successional stages (<10 years and 10–20 years old) after abandonment and old-growth. We used both statistically metric and nonmetric analyses to examine correlations of community composition during successional stages and along elevational gradients. We found that (i) significant differences existed in the structural compositions between early successional forests and old-growth forests, but did not exist within early successional forests; (ii) the phylogenetic structure shifted from overdispersion to clustering with increasing successional ages; and (iii) above-ground biomass (AGB), representing ecosystem functioning, significantly increased from early-to-late successional stages, but did not correlate with phylogenetic diversity or elevation. Our results revealed that the forest community structure was strongly affected by degradation, particularly AGB and phylogenetic structure. These findings have clear implications for sustaining biodiversity persistence and ecosystem functioning in human-modified landscapes in the study region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:58:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f206e5072160436d9079c6aca80d87e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:58:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-f206e5072160436d9079c6aca80d87e12023-11-21T01:28:03ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072020-12-011112135810.3390/f11121358Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of VietnamNguyen Hong Hai0Nguyen Thanh Tan1Tran Quang Bao2Any Mary Petritan3Trinh Hien Mai4Cao Thi Thu Hien5Pham The Anh6Vu Tien Hung7Ion Catalin Petritan8Department of Forest Inventory and Planning, Faculty of Silviculture, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Hanoi 08424, VietnamFaculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Tay Nguyen University, Daklak 084262, VietnamFaculty of Forest Resources & Environmental Management, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Hanoi 08424, VietnamNational Institute for Research-Development in Forestry ‘Marin Dracea’, Eroilor 128, 077190 Voluntari, RomaniaCollege of Wood Industry and Interior Design, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Hanoi 08424, VietnamDepartment of Forest Inventory and Planning, Faculty of Silviculture, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Hanoi 08424, VietnamDepartment of Forest Inventory and Planning, Faculty of Silviculture, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Hanoi 08424, VietnamDepartment of Forest Inventory and Planning, Faculty of Silviculture, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Hanoi 08424, VietnamFaculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Brașov, Sirul Beethoven 1, 500123 Brasov, RomaniaDegradation of tropical forests is a major driver of the global extinction crisis. A key question is understanding the role of evolution history during forest succession in the context of forest restoration for maintaining ecosystem function and stability. This study was conducted in a fragmented forest landscape in the central highlands of Vietnam. We sampled living trees with diameters at breast height of ≥6.0 cm in nineteen 0.25 ha plots to evaluate forest community structure changes over two early successional stages (<10 years and 10–20 years old) after abandonment and old-growth. We used both statistically metric and nonmetric analyses to examine correlations of community composition during successional stages and along elevational gradients. We found that (i) significant differences existed in the structural compositions between early successional forests and old-growth forests, but did not exist within early successional forests; (ii) the phylogenetic structure shifted from overdispersion to clustering with increasing successional ages; and (iii) above-ground biomass (AGB), representing ecosystem functioning, significantly increased from early-to-late successional stages, but did not correlate with phylogenetic diversity or elevation. Our results revealed that the forest community structure was strongly affected by degradation, particularly AGB and phylogenetic structure. These findings have clear implications for sustaining biodiversity persistence and ecosystem functioning in human-modified landscapes in the study region.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/12/1358above-ground biomassbiodiversityphylogenetic diversitycommunity assemblytropical rain forest |
| spellingShingle | Nguyen Hong Hai Nguyen Thanh Tan Tran Quang Bao Any Mary Petritan Trinh Hien Mai Cao Thi Thu Hien Pham The Anh Vu Tien Hung Ion Catalin Petritan Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam Forests above-ground biomass biodiversity phylogenetic diversity community assembly tropical rain forest |
| title | Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam |
| title_full | Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam |
| title_fullStr | Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam |
| title_full_unstemmed | Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam |
| title_short | Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam |
| title_sort | changes in community composition of tropical evergreen forests during succession in ta dung national park central highlands of vietnam |
| topic | above-ground biomass biodiversity phylogenetic diversity community assembly tropical rain forest |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/12/1358 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nguyenhonghai changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT nguyenthanhtan changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT tranquangbao changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT anymarypetritan changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT trinhhienmai changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT caothithuhien changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT phamtheanh changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT vutienhung changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam AT ioncatalinpetritan changesincommunitycompositionoftropicalevergreenforestsduringsuccessionintadungnationalparkcentralhighlandsofvietnam |