Riley Fortier et al. (2024 - Global Change Biology)

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Abstract:

Rapid warming and high temperatures are an immediate threat to global ecosystems, but the threat may be especially pro- nounced in the tropics. Although low-latitude tree species are widely predicted to be vulnerable to warming, information about how tropical tree diversity and community composition respond to elevated temperatures remains sparse. Here, we study long- term responses of tree diversity and composition to increased soil and air temperatures at the Boiling River—an exceptional and unique “natural warming experiment” in the central Peruvian Amazon. Along the Boiling River's course, geothermally heated water joins the river, gradually increasing water temperature and subsequently warming the surrounding forest. In the riparian forests along the Boiling River, mean annual and maximum air temperatures span gradients of 4°C and 11°C, respectively, over extremely short distances (< 1 km), with the hottest temperatures matching those predicted for much of the Amazon under future global warming scenarios. Using a new network of 70 woody plant inventory plots situated along the Boiling River's thermal gra- dient, we observed a ca. 11% decline in tree α-diversity per 1°C increase in mean annual temperature. We also found that the tree communities growing under elevated temperatures were generally more thermophilic (i.e., included greater relative abundances of species from hotter parts of the Amazon) than the communities in cooler parts of the gradient. Based on patterns at the Boiling River, we hypothesize that global warming will lead to dramatic shifts in tree diversity and composition in the lowland Amazon, including local extinctions and biotic attrition.

Nigel Pitman, Riley Fortier, et al. (2022 - PhytoKeys)

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Abstract: We report the rediscovery of the Critically Endangered cloud forest herb Gasteranthus extinctus, not seen since 1985. In 2019 and 2021, G. extinctus was recorded at five sites in the western foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes, 4–25 km from the type locality at the celebrated Centinela ridge. We describe the species’ distribution, abundance, habitat and conservation status and offer recommendations for further research and conservation efforts focused on G. extinctus and the small, disjunct forest remnants it occupies.

Jan Hinkelman, Geoff Gallice, et al. (2020 - The Science of Nature)

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Abstract: Eusociality in its various degrees represents an animal social system characterised by cooperative brood care, differentiation into castes and generational overlap. The fossil record indicates that eusociality is likely to have originated in hymenopterans and blattodeans during the Cretaceous. In this study, we present findings from surveys in Peruvian (Villa Carmen) and Ecuadorian (Rio Bigal, El Reventador) cloud forests revealing the first extant cockroach species living in complex, structured groups (n = 90–200 individuals, ˃ 20 adults). We observed and described behaviours that suggest the existence of cooperative care, nest guarding, nest chamber preparation within hardwood Casearia sp. (Salicaceae) and bamboo (Bambusoideae), multiple overlapping generations (‘different stages of’ instars), colony translocation, possibly a sole reproductive female (1.25 times larger white ‘queen’, but no potential ‘king’ observed), and morphologically diversified immature stages. In order to define the lineage where this type of sociality originated and occurs, the forms of Melyroidea magnifica Shelford, 1912, M. ecuadoriana sp. n., M. mimetica Shelford, 1912 and an undescribed species from Peru are also described in a separate section of this study. Blattoid morphological characteristics such as typical styli suggest categorisation within distinct Oulopterygidae (Rehn, 1951), outside Corydiidae Saussure 1864. Transitional advanced sociality or semisociality in related Aclavoidea socialis gen. et sp. n. is documented in a rotting stump (n = 80 individuals, few adults). Close phylogenetic relation between the genera, conserved morphology of numerous characters and their diverse feeding strategies generally lacking specialisation suggests a rather recent origin of a social way of life in this group. Eusociality in invertebrates and vertebrates can thus originate in various phylogenetical and ecological trajectories including predation, parasitism, care for herbs and the new one, documented through diet shift from detritivory to fungivory and algaevory. Interdisciplinary approaches reveal the low degree of knowledge of rainforest ecosystems, with fundamental groups remaining still systematically and also behaviourally undescribed.

D.H. Klinges & B.R. Scheffers (2021 - The American Naturalist)

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Abstract: An extension of the climate variability hypothesis is that relatively stable climate, such as that of the tropics, induces distinct thermal bands across elevation that render dispersal over tropical moun- tains difficult compared with temperate mountains. Yet ecosystems are not thermally static in space-time, especially at small scales, which might render some mountains greater thermal isolators than others. Here we provide an extensive investigation of temperature drivers from fine to coarse scales, and we demonstrate that the degree of sim- ilarity in temperatures at high and low elevations on mountains is driven by more than just absolute mountain height and latitude. We compiled a database of 29 mountains spanning six continents to char- acterize thermal overlap by vertically stratified microhabitats and bi- omes and owing to seasonal changes in foliage, demonstrating via mixed effects modeling that micro- and mesogeography more strongly in- fluence thermal overlap than macrogeography. Impressively, an in- crease of 1 m of vertical microhabitat height generates an increase in overlap equivalent to a 5.267 change in latitude. In addition, forested mountains have reduced thermal overlap—149% lower—relative to nonforested mountains. We provide evidence in support of a climate hypothesis that emphasizes microgeography as a determinant of dis- persal, demographics, and behavior, thereby refining the classical the- ory of macroclimate variability as a prominent driver of biogeography.

Tim Perez et al. (2020 - Functional Ecology)

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Abstract: PREMISE: The use of functional traits has surged in recent decades, providing new
insights ranging from individual plant fitness to ecosystem processes. Global plant trait databases have advanced our understanding of plant functional diversity, but they remain incomplete because of geographic and taxonomic biases. Herbarium specimens may help fill these gaps by providing trait information across space and time. We tested whether
herbarium specimen-derived measurements are reliable estimates of three important, commonly measured functional traits—specific leaf area (SLA), branch wood specific gravity, and leaf thickness.
METHODS: Leaves and branches were collected from species cultivated at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and Florida International University in Miami, FL, USA. Fresh components of SLA (area), branch wood specific gravity (volume), and leaf thickness were measured
following standard trait measurement protocols. We compared these trait values to corresponding measurements using plant tissues dried in a plant press following standard herbarium plant collecting protocols.
RESULTS: Herbarium-derived trait measurements (dried tissues) were highly correlated with those measured using fresh tissues following standard protocols (SLA: R2 = 0.72–0.97, p < 0.01; wood specific gravity: R2 = 0.74–0.75, p < 0.01; leaf thickness: R2 = 0.96, p < 0.01). However, except for leaf thickness, linear model slope or intercept coefficients differed from 1, indicating herbarium-derived trait measurements may provide biased estimates of fresh traits without the use of correction factors.
CONCLUSIONS: Herbarium-derived traits cannot always be used interchangeably with those measured from fresh tissues because of tissue shrinkage. However, herbarium-derived trait data still have the potential to drastically expand the temporal, geographic, and taxonomic scope of global trait databases.

Geoff Gallice, Gustavo Larrea-Gallegos, & Ian Vázquez-Rowe (2019 - Oryx)

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Abstract: The construction of roads and other large-scale infrastructure projects, and the secondary impacts they pre- cipitate, are among the key drivers of change in tropical for- ests. The proposed expansion of a road in the buffer zones of Peru’s Manu National Park and Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, in the country’s Amazon region, threatens bio- diversity and indigenous communities in one of the world’s most species-rich and environmentally sensitive rainforest areas. In particular, road expansion is likely to result in un- controlled colonization, deforestation, and the illicit extrac- tion of timber and other natural resources, as well as an increase in social conflict between resource extractors and indigenous communities. Furthermore, the development of infrastructure in the Manu region puts at risk Peru’s international commitments regarding climate change by promoting, rather than avoiding, forest loss. A number of viable alternatives to further road expansion are available to achieve economic development and improved mobility in Manu, including agricultural intensification, improved land-use planning, and a less invasive transportation infra- structure. Given the growth in the global road network ex- pected in the coming decades, as well as the common factors underlying the expansion of such infrastructure across tropical, developing countries, the issues surrounding road expansion in Manu and the compromise solutions that we propose are broadly applicable to efforts to achieve sustainable development in other remote, tropical regions.

Gustavo Larrea-Gallegos, Ian Vázquez-Rowe, & Geoff Gallice (2017 - Int J Life Cycle Assess)

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Abstract:

Purpose The main goal of this study is to provide a thorough environmental sustainability analysis of the construction, traf- fic, and maintenance of a 45.6-km section of the ‘Manu Road’, an unpaved tropical road that is currently being built in the vicinity of Manu National Park, in the region of Madre de Dios, Peru.

Methods Life cycle assessment (LCA) using a set of 18 dif- ferent impact categories was selected to conduct the environ- mental analysis. Modelling of machinery and vehicle emis- sions, as well as dust emissions, was performed to account for site-specific characteristics in terms of road construction and traffic. Similarly, direct land use changes were modelled with a particular emphasis on the decay of deforested biomass during construction. A set of different scenarios for the pro- duction system were considered to account for uncertainty regarding vehicle transit, amount of deforested biomass, and emission standards.

Results and discussion Construction, maintenance, and traffic of the Manu Road varied considerably depending on methodo- logical assumptions. Deforestation due to direct land use changes appears to be the main environmental hotspot in terms of climate change, whereas in the remaining impact categories, traffic was the main carrier of environmental burdens. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first LCA that focuses on the construction, maintenance, and traffic in a tropical rainforest environment. Despite the low requirements in terms of materials and technology to build this road, its derived environmental impacts are relevant in terms of climate change and particulate matter formation due to deforestation and dust emissions, respectively. Unpaved roads represent a relevant proportion of the entire road net- work worldwide, especially in developing tropical countries, playing a crucial role in the transportation of raw materials. Furthermore, road infrastructure is expected to expand explo- sively in the decades to come. Therefore, we suggest that LCA studies can and should improve the planning of road infra- structure in terms of life cycle inventories.

Yulisa Sari Soto-Quispe, Julián Clavijo-Bustos, & Geoffrey Gallice (2023 - Specimen)

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Abstract:

The subfamily Rutelinae (Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae) is highly diverse, particularly in the Neotropics, where about 1,350 of the subfamily’s approximately 4,900 total species are known to occur (Roskov et al., 2019; Puker et al., 2020). Of the Rutelinae taxa known to occur in the Neotropics, around 270 species contained within 52 genera are found in Perú (Ratcliffe et al., 2015). These beetles are commonly known as leaf chafer beetles, due to the fact that many have metallic coloration on the body. Many species have strong legs of variable sizes, and the overall size ranges from small to large (Jameson, 1997).

The genus Macraspis MacLeay, 1819 belongs to the tribe Rutelini and occurs from Mexico to Argentina, and includes 71 described species (Soula, 1998; Roskov et al., 2019; Bento et al., 2022). Adults feed on flowers and larvae are saprophagous (Medeiros et al., 2019; Neita-Moreno, 2014). Macraspis phallocardia was described by Bento et al. (2022) based on 18 specimens from the Amazonian state of Rondônia, Brazil. In this paper we record M. phallocardia for the first time in Peru.

Riley Fortier & S. Joseph Wright (2021 - Ecology)

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Abstract: Nutrient addition experiments indicate that nitrogen and phosphorus limit plant processes in many tropical forests. However, the long-term consequences for forest structure and species composition remain unexplored. We are positioned to evaluate potential long-term consequences of nutrient addition in central Panama where we have maintained a factorial nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium fertilization experiment for 21 yr and an independent study quantified the species-specific nutrient requirements of 550 local tree species. Here, we ask whether nutrients limit reproduction at the species and community levels. We also ask whether species-specific reproductive responses to nutrient addition are stronger among species associ- ated with naturally fertile soils, which could contribute to a shift in species composition. We quantified species-level reproductive responses for 38 focal species in the 21st year of the exper- iment and community-level reproductive litter production for the first 20 yr. Species-level reproductive responses to nitrogen and potassium addition were weak, inconsistent across spe- cies, and insignificant across the 38 focal species. In contrast, species-level responses to phos- phorus addition were consistently and significantly positive across the 38 focal species but were unrelated to species-specific phosphorus requirements documented independently for the same species. Community-level reproductive litter production was unaffected by nutrient addition, possibly because spatial and temporal variation is large. We conclude that phosphorus limits reproduction by trees in our experiment but find no evidence that reproductive responses to phosphorus addition favor species associated with naturally phosphorus-rich soils.

Erik Iverson et al. (2020 - Integrative & Comparative Biology)

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Abstract: Temperature is one of the most important environmental factors driving the genome-to-phenome relation- ship. Metabolic rates and related biological processes are predicted to increase with temperature due to the biophysical laws of chemical reactions. However, selection can also act on these processes across scales of biological organization, from individual enzymes to whole organisms. Although some studies have examined thermal responses across multiple scales, there is no general consensus on how these responses vary depending on the level of organization, or whether rates actually follow predicted theoretical patterns such as Arrhenius-like exponential responses or thermal performance curves (TPCs) that show peak responses. Here, we performed a meta-analysis on studies of ectotherms where biological rates were measured across the same set of temperatures, but at multiple levels of biological organization: enzyme activities, mitochondrial respiration, and/or whole-animal metabolic rates. Our final dataset consisted of 235 pairwise comparisons between levels of organization from 13 publications. Thermal responses differed drastically across levels of biological organization, sometimes showing completely opposite patterns. We developed a new effect size metric, “organizational disagreement” (OD) to quantify the difference in responses among levels of biological organization. Overall, rates at higher levels of biological organization (e.g., whole animal metabolic rates) increased more quickly with temperature than rates at lower levels, contrary to our predictions. Responses may differ across levels due to differing consequences of biochemical laws with increasing organization or due to selection for different responses. However, taxa and tissues examined generally did not affect OD...

Tim Perez & Ken Feeley (2020)

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Abstract:
1. Photosynthetic heat tolerances (PHTs) have several potential applications including predicting which species will be most vulnerable to climate change. Given that plants exhibit unique thermoregulatory traits that influence leaf temperatures and decouple them from ambient air temperatures, we hypothesized that PHTs should be correlated with extreme leaf temperatures as opposed to air temperatures.
2. We measured leaf thermoregulatory traits, maximum leaf temperatures (TMO) and two metrics of PHT (Tcrit and T50) quantified using the quantum yield of photosystem II for 19 plant species growing in Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Coral Gables, FL, USA). Thermoregulatory traits measured at the Garden and microenvironmental variables were used to parameterize a leaf energy balance model that estimated maximum in situ leaf temperatures (TMIS) across the geographic distributions of 13 species.
3. TMO and TMIS were positively correlated with T50 but were not correlated with Tcrit. The breadth of species' thermal safety margins (the difference between T50 and TMO) was negatively correlated with T50.
4. Our results provide observational and theoretical support based on a first principles
approach for the hypothesis that PHTs may be adaptations to extreme leaf temperature, but refute the assumption that species with higher PHTs are less susceptible to thermal damage. Our study also introduces a novel method for studying plant ecophysiology by incorporating biophysical and species distribution models,
and highlights how the use of air temperature versus leaf temperature can lead to conflicting conclusions about species vulnerability to thermal damage.

Tim Perez et al. (2018 - Philosophical Transactions B)

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Abstract: Functional traits are increasingly used to understand the ecology of plants and to predict their responses to global changes. Unfortunately, trait data are unavailable for the majority of plant species. The lack of trait data is especially prevalent for hard-to-measure traits and for tropical plant species, potentially owing to the many inherent difficulties of working with species in remote, hyperdiverse rainforest systems. The living collections of botanic gardens provide convenient access to large numbers of tropical plant species and can potentially be used to quickly augment trait databases and advance our understanding of species’ responses to climate change. In this review, we quantitatively assess the availability of trait data for tropical versus temperate species, the diversity of species available for sampling in several exemplar tro- pical botanic gardens and the validity of garden-based leaf and root trait measurements. Our analyses support the contention that the living collec- tions of botanic gardens are a valuable scientific resource that can contribute significantly to research on plant functional ecology and conservation.

Tim Perez & J. Aaron Hogan (2018 - Biotropica)

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Abstract: Collaboration can improve conservation initiatives through increases in article impact and by building scientific understating required for conservation practice. We investigated temporal trends in collaboration in the tropical ecology and conservation literature by examining patterns of authorship for 2271 articles published from 2000 to 2016 in Biotropica and the Journal of Tropical Ecology. Consistent with trends in other studies and scientific disciplines, we found that the number of authors per article increased from 2.6 in 2000 to 4.2 in
2015 using a generalized linear model (glm). We modeled changes in multinational collaboration in articles using a glm and found that the mean number of author-affiliated countries increased from 1.3 (0.6 SD) to 1.7 (0.8 SD) over time and that increases were best explained by the number of authors per article. The proportion of authors based in tropical countries increased, but the probability of tropical–extratropical collaboration did not and was best explained solely by the number of authors per article. Overall, our analyses suggest that only certain types of collaboration are increasing and that these increases coincide with a general increase in the number of authors per article. Such changes in author numbers and collaboration could be the result of increased data sharing, changes in the scope of research questions, changes in authorship criteria, or scientific migration. We encourage tropical conservation scientists continue to build collaborative ties, particularly with researchers based in underrepresented tropical countries, to ensure that tropical ecology and conservation remains inclusive and effective.

Erik Iverson & Jordan Karubian (2017 - The Auk)

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Abstract:

Avian plumage has captivated scientists and the public alike for generations and has been a fundamental study system for research into signal evolution. By contrast, relatively little attention has been paid to avian bare parts such as exposed skin, bills, feet, and combs, despite considerable variation in structure and coloration within and between species. To better understand the potential signaling role of bare parts, we conducted a comprehensive literature search that returned 321 published studies. In reviewing these studies, we found that (1) bare-part color is widely distributed taxonomically and is produced by diverse mechanisms; (2) many bare parts are likely to be dynamic, honest signals of current condition or status and can also reflect genetic makeup and early developmental conditions; and (3) bare parts can function as pluripotent social signals, mediating interactions between competitors, mates, and kin. Differences between bare parts and plumage in phenology and information content support a multiple-messages interpretation of their respective signaling roles, in that bare parts may contain information that is complementary to, but distinctive from, information conveyed by plumage-based signals. We consider it likely that a great deal of bare- part variation is ‘‘hidden in plain sight,’’ in that meaningful variation may not be recorded by many current studies. We urge more careful and extensive characterization of bare-part coloration in a wider range of species because of its potential to advance our understanding of signal function and constraints, with particular reference to the role of dynamic color signals and the evolution of multiple ornamentation.