OOS 30 - Examining Species Interactions with Long-term Tree Plots

Organizer(s)

• DB

  David Bell

  USDA Forest Service, United States

Co-Organizer(s)

• JL

  Joseph LaManna

  Marquette University, United States

Changing climate may expose forests to increased stress, potentially leading to major mortality events, tree recruitment failures, and loss of ecosystem function or biodiversity. Tree population and forest ecosystem dynamics likely depend on interactions among and within species, such as competition, facilitation, antagonism, etc., which may alter their sensitivity to environmental stress. Those interactions not only include trees, but also other taxa including herbaceous, vertebrate, microbial, and invertebrate species. Therefore, understanding species interactions and their role in forest ecosystem responses to climate change is essential. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites provide a unique setting for examining species interactions among multiple taxa that unfold over years to decades. Forest-focused LTER sites may provide not only long-term monitoring of tree populations, but also co-occurring climate, hydrology, biogeochemical, and organismal studies. However, long-term measurements, and thus the available data, differ by LTER site due to differences in questions and ecosystems being studied.
In this session, we propose a series of talks that provide a discussion of the opportunities and challenges related to using long-term plot data at LTER sites to address questions related to species interactions and their ecosystem consequences. We include five presentations describing important species interactions across several LTER and other long-term measurement sites in North America, including tropical, temperate deciduous, and temperate coniferous forest ecosystems. We also include a presentation summarizing key opportunities and challenges in using these long-term studies.

Presentations:

• 3:30 PM – 3:45 PM PDT

  Using networks of long-term tree plot measurements to understand species interactions: Opportunities and challenges.
  

  Presenting Author: David M. Bell – USDA Forest Service

  Co-author: Joseph A. LaManna – Marquette University
• 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM PDT

  Phylogenetic and spectral similarity predict redundancy in biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in two long-term forest diversity experiments
  

  Presenting Author: Jeannine M. Cavender-Bares, Ph.D. – Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Laura Williams – Western Sydney University

  Co-author: Jesús N. Pinto-Ledezma, Ph.D. – Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Raimundo Bermudez – University of Minnesota

  Co-author: J. Antonio Guzman Q. – University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Sarah E. Hobbie, Ph.D. – University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Cathleen N. Lapadat, B.S. – University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Rebecca A. Montgomery – University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Maria H. Park – University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Peter B. Reich, Ph.D. – University of Minnesota; Institute for Global Change Biology, University of Michigan

  Co-author: Artur Stefanski, Ph.D. – University of Minnesota

  Co-author: Phil PA Townsend, Ph.D. – University of Wisconsin - Madison
• 4:00 PM – 4:15 PM PDT

  The role of fungal communities in mediating elevational gradients of tree diversity
  

  Presenting Author: Cole Doolittle – Marquette University

  Co-author: Camille Suzanne Delavaux – ETH Zurich

  Co-author: Joseph A. LaManna – Marquette University
• 4:15 PM – 4:30 PM PDT

  An overview of the influences of biotic and abiotic factors on the tree species community of the Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot in Puerto Rico
  

  Presenting Author: Christopher Nytch – University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras

  Co-author: Jess K. Zimmerman – University of Puerto Rico

  Co-author: María Uriarte – Columbia University

  Co-author: Jill Thompson – UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
• 4:30 PM – 4:45 PM PDT

  The influence of microclimate on avian antagonistic interactions in forest ecosystems
  

  Presenting Author: Madison O. Sutton – Marquette University

  Co-author: Matthew G. Betts – Oregon State University

  Co-author: Joseph A. LaManna – Marquette University
• 4:45 PM – 5:00 PM PDT

  Insights into drivers of tree species coexistence from Harvard Forest
  

  Presenting Author: J. Marcos Rodriguez – University of Maine

  Co-author: Fiona Jevon – Yale University

  Co-author: John M. Grady – Washington University St. louis

  Co-author: Jonathan A. Knott – USDA Forest Service

  Co-author: Sydne Record – Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine