Community and Functional Ecology of Lianas in the Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot, Amazonian

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University of Miami
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2011-05-06
Community and Functional Ecology of Lianas in
the Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot, Amazonian
Ecuador
Hugo G. Romero-Saltos
University of Miami, [email protected]
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Romero-Saltos, Hugo G., "Community and Functional Ecology of Lianas in the Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot, Amazonian Ecuador"
(2011).Open Access Dissertations. 529.
https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/529
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UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

COMMUNITY AND FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY OF LIANAS
IN THE YASUNÍ FOREST DYNAMICS PLOT, AMAZONIAN ECUADOR

By

Hugo Geovanny Romero-Saltos

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty
of the University of Miami
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Coral Gables, Florida

May 2011
©2011
Hugo Romero-Saltos
All Rights Reserved
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

COMMUNITY AND FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY OF LIANAS
IN THE YASUNÍ FOREST DYNAMICS PLOT, AMAZONIAN ECUADOR

Hugo G. Romero-Saltos

Approved:

_________________________ _________________________
Leonel da S.L. Sternberg, Ph.D. Terri A. Scandura, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology Dean of the Graduate School

_________________________ _________________________
David P. Janos, Ph.D. Donald L. DeAngelis, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology Professor of Biology

_________________________
Jack B. Fisher, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
ROMERO-SALTOS, HUGO G. (Ph.D., Biology)
Community and Functional Ecology of Lianas (May 2011)
in the Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot, Amazonian Ecuador

Abstract of a dissertation at the University of Miami.

Dissertation supervised by Professor Leonel da S.L. Sternberg.
No. of pages in text: (216)

I studied the community of lianas in the Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot (YFDP), in
Amazonian Ecuador. I found that species diversity of lianas in valley habitat was higher
than in ridge habitat, but liana abundance was similar. I also found that community
structure (species composition and their abundances) of lianas in ridge was distinct from
that in valley because of the differential distribution and abundance of certain species
along the topographic gradient. In an attempt to explain this phenomenon
deterministically, I took two approaches: (1) to explore if trait expression of leaf-based
traits, wood specific gravity and stem growth rate was different among species with ridge
habitat association, species with valley habitat association, and generalist species; and (2)
to explore if frequencies of different whole-plant growth strategies in the forest
understory—defined by whether a liana was free-standing or already climbing, by its
climbing mechanism, and by its understory appearance—were different between ridge
and valley. My underlying rationale was that if certain trait expression or understory
growth strategy can be associated to a given species, or group of species, and such
species also drive the community structure difference between ridge and valley, then
ecological insight on the biological deterministic mechanisms driving the difference can
be gained. I end this one-page dissertation abstract right here and purposely leave you,
the reader, perplexed—I invite you to seek answers to the liana distribution conundrum in
the YFDP by perusing this dissertation.
I dedicate this work
to my loved children and wife

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Acknowledgements
After almost eight years, my Ph.D. program at the University of Miami came to a
good end only because many people and institutions dedicated many hours and much
money on a young Ecuadorian scientist (well, not too young anymore). I remember the
faces of most people who helped me and thank them all, but the problem is that I have
never been good with names! My friends at UM and abroad already know how close they
are to my heart and so does my family, so I will not name them here, except when they
were also scientists whose input for this dissertation was valuable. Often during this
journey, I felt the emotional support from friends and family was more important than
any academic support, although certainly some people generously gave me both.
For the sake of formality, I ought to mention the names of a few key people and
institutions:
• I am deeply grateful to Leo Sternberg, my academic advisor at UM, for his trust
and friendship. I also thank the members of my Dissertation Committee: Dave
Janos, Jack Fisher and Don DeAngelis—for me, they are all excellent scientists
and very special teachers. Needless to say, I am also very grateful to the Biology
faculty at UM from whom I learned the many nuts-and-bolts of being a scientist.
• This work would not have been possible without the help of my long-time
colleague, collaborator and friend: Esteban Gortaire. I also thank my field and lab
assistants, in particular (and in alphabetic order): Carolina Altamirano, Nataly
Charpentier, Luis Espinoza, Ronald Grefa, Carlos Padilla, Laura Salazar, and the
innumerable Waorani indians from Yasuní National Park. Pablo Loaiza, Mariana
Mites, Verónica Sáenz and Diego Torres also helped me with various tasks. I am
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also grateful to the personnel affiliated to the 50-ha Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot
project: Renato Valencia, Consuelo Hernández, Álvaro Pérez, and the whole team
of mappers. A special appreciation goes to Carmen Ulloa who hosted me during
my visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden.
• The following people, which include a number of international specialists, helped
me with the plant taxonomy (listed in alphabetical order): Pedro Acevedo-
Rodríguez, Pablo Alvia, Gerardo Aymard, Robyn Burnham, Peter Jörgensen, Ron
Liesner, Lúcia Lohmann, Rosa Ortiz, Álvaro Pérez, Charlotte Taylor, Hyo Won,
and Milton Zambrano. In addition, this dissertation obtained academic input from
the following people (listed in alphabetical order): Robyn Burnham, Robert
Colwell, John Cozza, Patrick and Patricia Ellsworth, Guangyou Hao, Kyle Harms,
Nathan Kraft, Eric Manzané, Nathan Muchhala, Amartya Saha, Stefan Schnitzer,
Renato Valencia, and Xin Wang.
• Funding for this dissertation and other related studies (not presented in this
dissertation) was obtained from the Center for Tropical Forest Science
(Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), the University of Miami, the
UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Program, and “The Romero Foundation”. The
Yasuní Research Station and the Herbarium QCA at the Pontificia Universidad
Católica del Ecuador kindly provided logistic support during field seasons.
• Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment supported this scientific study by issuing
research permits 002-IC-FL-PNY-RSO and 005-IC-FA-PNY-RSO.
Thank you all
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xiv
CHAPTER 1: Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
Trapped between reality and myth: a prolegomenon about Yasuní ....................... 1
Plant ecology in Yasuní .......................................................................................... 4
This dissertation: The lianas in the Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot ....................... 12
CHAPTER 2: Liana communities in ridge and valley topographic habitats of the
Yasuní Forest Dynamics Plot, Amazonian Ecuador .................................................... 16
SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 16
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS ............................................................... 17
METHODS ........................................................................................................... 20
Study area........................................................................................................ 20
Research design .............................................................................................. 23
Data analyses .................................................................................................. 27
RESULTS ............................................................................................................. 36
Diversity and floristics .................................................................................... 36
Abundance (liana density) and frequency ....................................................... 38
Basal area and size distribution....................................................................... 40
Multivariate analyses ...................................................................................... 41
DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................... 43
Across Yasuní comparisons ............................................................................ 43
Ridge vs. valley: a conundrum within YFDP’s terra firme forest .................. 48
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 56
TABLES ............................................................................................................... 58
FIGURES .............................................................................................................. 63
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CHAPTER 3: On the relation between plant functional traits and topographic
habitat associations of lianas in a terra firme tropical rainforest, Yasuní, Amazonian
Ecuador ............................................................................................................................ 69
SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 69
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES .............................................................. 70
METHODS ........................................................................................................... 74
Study area........................................................................................................ 74
Defining species guilds of habitat association ................................................ 75
Sampling quantitative functional traits ........................................................... 77
Comparing among species guilds of habitat association ................................ 90
Correlations among traits ................................................................................ 92
RESULTS ............................................................................................................. 92
Species guilds of habitat association ............................................................... 92
Question 1: Do species guilds differ in their trait values? .............................. 94
Question 2: Do species guilds differ in their intra-specific (between
individuals) trait variation (phenotypic plasticity)? ........................................ 95
Correlations among traits ................................................................................ 96
DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................... 97
Association (or non-association) of liana species to topographic habitats ..... 97
Traits vs. topographic habitat association: did hypotheses hold? ................. 102
Traits vs. topographic habitat association: barely any pattern? .................... 104
Conclusion .................................................................................................... 113
TABLES ............................................................................................................. 114
FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 117

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