Challenges in Tropical Ecology and Conservation - Global Perspectives

CHALLENGES IN CHALLENGES IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION - AND CONSERVATION TROPICAL ECOLOGY © Thomas VIGNAUD/CNRS Photothéque VIGNAUD/CNRS Thomas ©

gtö 2018 CHALLENGES IN TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION - GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

https://soctropecol.eu/ 978-3-00-059300-0 ISBN © Erwan AMICE LEMAR/CNRS Photothéque LEMAR/CNRS AMICE Erwan © 1

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Editors Pierre-Michel Forget – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle Catherine Reeb – Sorbonne Université Jérémy Migliore – Université Libre de Bruxelles Heike Kuhlmann – KCS Kuhlmann Convention Service

Concept, Layout and Cover [email protected]

This book is available at www.gtoe.de ISBN: 978-3-00-059300-0

The respective authors are solely responsible for the contents of their contributions in this book. Printed on 100% recycled paper

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LOCAL ORGANIZERS & SPONSORING INSTITUTIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS

The organizing committee and the Society for Tropical Ecology would like to thank the Welcome and Foreword 4 following institutions, partners and sponsors for their support: Society for Tropical Ecology (Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V., gtö) 8 Merian Awards ...... 9 Local organizers and institutions 10 Detailed conference program ...... 16 Plenary sessions – Abstracts ...... 36 Public lecture ...... 42 Scientific talk sessions – Abstracts ...... 44 Session 01 – Tropical marine ecosystems in the Anthropocene 46 Session 02 – Mangroves functioning and management 54 Session 03 – Continental wetlands 66 Session 04 – Savanna functioning and dynamics ...... 72 Session 05 – Diversification of African forests 86 Session 06 – Acoustic survey in tropical ecosystems ...... 96 Session 07 – Advances in canopy science ...... 106 Session 08 – Tropical trees ecology and evolution ...... 114 Session 09 – Free session: Tropical diversity ...... 124 Session 10 – Tropical soil ecology ...... 140 Session 11 – Molecular taxonomy and cryptic species in soils 146 Session 12 – Tropical molecular ecology ...... 152 Session 13 – Tropical tree allometry ...... 160 Session 14 – Tropical forest nutrient ecology ...... 168 Session 15 – Altitudinal gradient ...... 176 Session 16 – Ecology and taxonomy of tropical bryophytes 186 Session 17 – Manipulations of tropical food webs ...... 198 Session 18 – Tropical networks ...... 206 Session 19 – Free session: Frugivores, seed dispersal and forest regeneration 212 Session 20 – Tropical forests in space and time 218 Session 21 – Climate change 236 Session 22 – Remote sensing forest response to ENSO ...... 246 Session 23 – Rehabilitation of tropical forest landscapes 252 Session 24 – Resilient rural landscape for Rio de Janeiro 262 Session 25 – Human-modified tropical forests ...... 270 Session 26 – Impact evaluation of forest certification ...... 280 Session 27 – Future scenarios for the Congo Basin 284 Session 28 – Free session: Tropical ecology and conservation 290 Scientific poster session – Abstracts ...... 296 Information for participants 342 Tropimundo ...... 348 Side event – Miniforum COPED – Institut de France – Académie des Sciences . . . . 352 Social events ...... 364 All about Paris ...... 368 Acknowledgements ...... 376 Index of participants ...... 378

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WELCOME LOCAL ORGANIZERS WELCOME AND Dear Friends, Colleagues, Participants, We are very pleased to welcome the European Conference of Tropical Ecology to France, at FOREWORD the International Center of Conference of Sorbonne Université (CICSU), in Paris’s historic center. Until earlier this year, Sorbonne Université (SU) was better known as the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC, Paris 6). It was used to host the Laboratory of Tropical Botany successively led by Professor Raymond Schnell (1913-1999) and Professor Henri Puig (1938- ). Under their dual leadership, efforts were made to develop studies on vegetation in tropical Africa and America. These studies aimed to create new dynamic approaches in tropical botany by integrating many disciplinary fields from soil biology to ethnology, especially when it comes to study the impact of human impact on natural resources, wood, non- timber forest products, wildlife and habitats overall. Such a switch from traditional plant biology was made possible because both Pr. R. Schnell and Pr. H. Puig were field scientists, close to native people depending on tropical shelter for their livelihood. Research was enabled by the proximity of the laboratories of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) at the Jardin des Plantes across the streets Cuvier and Buffon. They are better known today as Research Mixed Units (UMR) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, ex ORSTOM), at MNHN. These laboratories enabled dozens of PhD students in tropical botany at UPMC to attend educational courses by those eminent naturalists, botanist and zoologists, plant and animal taxonomists, anthropologists, ethnologists. Additionally, these students have been trained in the field, guided, facilitated and nurtured with experiences and lessons to prepare them for the future tropical ecologists they will become. These initial students were the humus upon which has indeed grown and matured the new generation of tropical ecologists at MNHN, CNRS, IRD, and universities (SU, UPEC, UA), today associated to organize this 4th European conference of Tropical Ecology and the Annual meeting of the Society for Tropical Ecology. Meanwhile, we are also indebted to the Academicians of the Institut of France-Académie des Sciences and the Comité pour le Développement (COPED) - which have joined this conference and organized a side event (miniforum) on African tropical forests, continuing the initiative of our colleagues in Brussels last year who opened the way by having more sessions focused – but not limited – to tropical Africa.

In this 21st Century, both SU and MNHN continue to contribute to the education and evolution of tropical botany, zoology and ecology through several Masters and PhD programs. Both institutes are members of the International Master Tropimundo, with which the Society of Tropical Ecology established a partnership following our last conference in Brussels in 2017. Though Paris is not exactly tropical as a destination, the MNHN hosts one of the largest collections of tropical organisms globally, for instance at the newly renovated National Herbarium, the Zoothèque, and the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution. The MNHN is also exhibiting live plants and animals at the tropical greenhouse and the Ménagerie of the Jardin des Plantes, and throughout the biozones of the Zoological Park of Paris. They all allow the participants to experience tropical sensations, the hot, dry and wet climatic conditions of the tropics, though warmer and hotter year after year, as well

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WELCOME SOCIETY FOR TROPICAL ECOLOGY (GTÖ) as being able to meet with tropical flora and fauna of New Caledonia, Amazonia-French Guiana (Guyane), Central Africa, Madagascar, and Sahelian-Soudanian savannas. But, the Dear participants, tropical picture won’t be complete if we ignore other habitats, which are too often neglected by terrestrial-focused tropical ecologists: such as mangroves and coral reefs, two other Welcome to this European Conference of Tropical Ecology under crucial components of tropical ecosystems around the green and blue belt. These tropical the title “Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global ecosystems must also to be studied, protected and conserved in territories and overseas perspectives”. To bring together students and scientists, researchers departments of France, from the Caribbean islands, to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific of all ages interested in tropical ecology, was the idea when the Ocean. Given that, as for the rainforests, they also contribute to cool the climate and to Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie (Society for Tropical Ecology) – gtö provide services to billions of human beings, most of them leaving in as well as far from the was founded in 1987. Since then, our strong focus on ecological tropics. The Society is thus honored to have been labeled as an event of the 3rd International research has increasingly been combined with many aspects Year of Coral Reef (IYOR2018). In addition, we are also pleased that our conference has been of conservation. And today, more than ever before, we face huge chosen by the Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE) of the CNRS to officially launch challenges both in ecology and in conservation. This is what the overarching topic of our the beautifully illustrated book “Mangroves, une forêt dans la mer” published by CNRS/ 2018 conference reflects. leChercheMidi. Likewise, the Society of Tropical ecology will welcome the participants for the conference dinner at the Tropical Aquarium of the Porte Dorée, surrounded by the Challenges are there to be met, obstacles need to be overcome. So here at the Centre colored diversity of both freshwater and marine ecosystems, and all the diversity of the International de Colloques Sorbonne Université (CICSU) in Paris historic center, we will coral reefs intra-muros in Paris. hear about and discuss new data, new findings, new results, new problems and finally good solutions. As you have seen in the program, we have a wide range of scientists presenting “… One does not do all the good he could when, having the faculty, he renounces to be useful their research, and we have a wide range of students who (maybe) are presenting their to others. Is there a difference between vulgar stones and gems if we do not expose them work for the first time in front of a big, international auditory. We, as the organizers, are to the light? The same is true of science: when it is shared with others, it grows up; and if proud to have this mix and we do hope you like it too. a miserly master is satisfied with it for himself, it ends by escaping him. Be careful not to close your fountains with white water to your disciples. ...“ Said Hildebert de Lavardin, It is my duty and privilege to thank our wonderful hosts, the Muséum National d’Histoire bishop of Mans to Guillaume de Champaux master of the new Faculty in 1109, now Sorbonne Naturelle/Sorbonne Université/Académie des Sciences-COPED and the local organizing University. team under the leadership of Pierre-Michel Forget and Catherine Reeb.

Enjoy this opportunity to meet colleagues, to discover new fields, new results, through the I would also like to thank Heike Kuhlmann of KCS Kuhlmann Convention Service for her high diversity of sessions in a historical place of teaching and knowledge. enthusiasm and efficiency in preparing this conference.

Pierre-Michel Forget, Catherine Reeb, Eric Guilbert, and Elodie Boucheron-Dubuisson Dear participants, take part, become actively involved in our discussions and in the work of our Society, the gtö. On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee: Jacques Gignoux, Sébastien Barot, Virginie Roy, Sandrine Grouard, Aude Lalis, Violaine Nicolas-Colin, Jérôme Sueur, Tarik Meziane, I wish us all a stimulating, successful conference. Malika Trouillefou, Colin Fontaine. Again, welcome!

Prof. Dr. Manfred Niekisch President of gtö

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SOCIETY FOR TROPICAL ECOLOGY (GTÖ) SOCIETY FOR TROPICAL ECOLOGY (GTÖ) SOCIETY FOR TROPICAL ECOLOGY MERIAN AWARDS (GESELLSCHAFT FÜR TROPENÖKOLOGIE E.V., GTÖ) In 2001 the gtö established the Merian Awards for the best The Society for Tropical Ecology promotes and communicates new and emerging knowledge contributions given by young scientists during the annual meeting. among tropical ecologists to advance the understanding of tropical ecosystems and their There are six Merian Awards annually, three for the best oral protection. It is currently Europe’s largest scientific association in this field of research with contributions and three for the best posters. ECOTROPICA – the about 500 members. The aim of the Society for Tropical Ecology, which was founded in 1987, society’s journal – highlights these contributions by publishing the is to further improve our understanding of all the aspects of tropical ecology. A primary abstracts. means toward this scope is through the organization of annual international congresses, usually one week in February in Europe. Invited international plenary speakers contribute The gtö has selected Maria Sibylla Merian as the patron of the award papers and discussions on selected themes of either outstanding universal topicality or to commemorate her unique work as an outstanding artist and as the first female tropical of special relevance to up-to-date issues in tropical ecology in order to promote scientific naturalist who actually travelled to the tropics in order to study their fascinating diversity, exchange with the participants, many of which usually are students. The conferences in particular insects. She was the first scientist who recognized, and documented in her provide an international platform for the exchange of scientific ideas and the establishment artistic work, that insects go through various developmental stages. This is particularly of collaborations between members and their guests. The gtö is especially dedicated to remarkable as the general public in her time still believed that, for instance, mosquitoes fostering junior research and equitable cooperation projects. and caterpillars were generated in mud by the evil.

Our vision: Who is eligible and how to apply? Understanding biodiversity and functions of tropical ecosystems drives decision making Eligible candidates are students and PhDs who are members of the gtö and finished their and management on all levels. dissertation less than three years ago.

Our mission: The winners will be awarded during the closing ceremony on Thursday 29th March 2018, Promoting the conservation and rehabilitation of tropical biodiversity and ecosystems between 16:00 and 17:30 in the Auditorium. through research and its application.

More information: http://www.soctropecol.eu/

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LOCAL ORGANIZERS AND INSTITUTIONS

Virginie ROY Sandrine GROUARD Aude LALIS Associate Professor Associate Professor Associate Professor UPEC, IEES, Créteil MNHN, ARCHEO, Paris MNHN, ISYEB, Paris

Pierre-Michel FORGET Catherine REEB Elodie BOUCHERON- Violaine NICOLAS-COLIN Jérôme SUEUR Tarik MEZIANE Conference Chair Conference Chair DUBUISSON Associate Professor Associate Professor Professor Professor PRAG Sorbonne Université, Conference Co-Chair MNHN, ISYEB, Paris MNHN, ISYEB, Paris MNHN, BOREA, Paris MNHN, MECADEV, Brunoy ISYEB, Paris Associate Professor Sorbonne Université, ISYEB, Paris

Eric GUILBERT Jacques GIGNOUX Sébastien BAROT Malika TROUILLEFOU Colin FONTAINE Heike KUHLMANN Conference Co-Chair Research Director Research Director Associate Professor Researcher Professional Conference Associate Professor MNHN, CNRS, IEES, Paris IRD, IEES, Paris UA, BOREA, Pinte-à-Pitre CNRS, CESCO, Paris Organizer KCS MECADEV, Paris Kuhlmann Convention Service

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INSTITUTIONS INSTITUTIONS MUSÉUM NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE CNRS-INEE

At the crossroads between Earth, Life and Human At the interface of social, earth and life sciences, the CNRS sciences, the Muséum focuses on nature and its Institute of Ecology and Environment (INEE) has developed an relationship with the human race on a daily basis, integrative approach to environmental sciences that aims to and has done so for almost 400 years. The Muséum is promote global ecology at every scale of time and space. INEE is steeped in history, yet at the heart of current affairs, a fundamental research institute that combines research with and is also working for the future… action, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge for Environmental awareness and protecting the planet sustainable development. lie at the heart of contemporary debates. The Muséum is fully committed to these issues INEE is highly active at the international level and takes part in the European Research and occupies a position of reference thanks to its varied missions, which include basic and Area. The Institute collaborates with teams on every continent, especially in biodiversity applied research, conservation and the expansion of its collections, education, expertise hotspots in Africa, Asia and Oceania. Its commitment to research in French Guiana has and the dissemination of knowledge. enabled it to build strong relationships in South America, with Brazil in particular. The Muséum is a research centre and draws on laboratory work and worldwide expeditions, Five priority research themes: Biodiversity, evolution, adaptation; human impact on the a wide range of disciplines, outstanding collections and recognised expertise. Its mission environment: from modification to transformation; feedback of ecosystems on global is also to share knowledge, which it does through education and dissemination activities. change; coastal and marine environments: interactions and processes; functional ecology, With a clear objective - to make knowledge about the natural world accessible to everyone analysis and management of ecosystem services. and to make as many people as possible aware of the importance of protecting our planet.  Website: http://www.cnrs.fr/en/institutes/inee-ecology-environment.html  Website: http://www.mnhn.fr/en

IRD SORBONNE UNIVERSITÉ Scientific progress is necessary to further sustainable and A new university with a centuries-old tradition, human development: the IRD (French National Research through the merger of UPMC and Paris-Sorbonne on Institute for Sustainable Development) carries this conviction 1st January, 2018, bringing together Arts & Humanities, with it wherever it is present, and wherever it works with its Medicine and Science & Engineering. Sorbonne partners. The IRD is a key French player on the international University is thus a multidisciplinary and research- development agenda. It works based on an original model: intensive university with world-famous origins. equitable scientific partnership with developing countries, Continuing the humanist tradition of the Sorbonne, it is devoted to meeting the scientific primarily those in the intertropical regions and the Mediterranean area. The IRD believes challenges of the 21st century and spreading the knowledge created in its laboratories by that only this model allows us to design solutions which are adapted to the challenges that its research teams and transmitted to its students and to society as a whole. Sorbonne humans and the planet are facing: pandemics, climate change, humanitarian and political University’s three faculties in humanities, medicine and science each with the wide- crises, etc. Because development challenges are challenges for the whole planet. ranging autonomy necessary to conduct its ambitious programs in both research and The IRD is an internationally recognised multidisciplinary organisation working primarily education in partnership with Mediterranean and inter-tropical countries. Via its network and The University’s 53,500 students, 3,400 professor-researchers and 3,600 administrative and presence in fifty or so countries, it takes an original approach to research, expertise, technical staff members who help it run every day contribute to a University that is diverse, training and knowledge-sharing, to the benefit of countries and regions that make science creative, innovative, and with a global outlook. and innovation key drivers in their development.  Website: https://www.sorbonne-universite.fr/en  Website: https://en.ird.fr/ird.fr

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INSTITUTIONS COPED - INSTITUT DE FRANCE - ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES

Infused with a spirit of close partnership with Africa on its creation in 1997, the Standing Committee for Developing Countries (COPED) has gradually enlarged its scope of action to other regions of the world. Under the Presidency of Pierre Auger, Member of the Académie des Sciences, COPED embodies the determination of the Académie des Sciences to contribute through scientific development to solving major worldwide issues.  Website: http://www.academie-sciences.fr/en/Actions-targeted-towards-development/ standing-committee-for-developing-countries-coped.html

UNIVERSITÉ PARIS-EST CRÉTEIL

The largest multidisciplinary university in Ile-de-France, the Université Paris-Est Créteil may be described as a bold yet successful enterprise: in little more than 40 years since its foundation in 1970, UPEC has managed to establish itself both as a regionally grounded institution and an internationally oriented university. Only 20 minutes from the heart of Paris, UPEC stands out with its 120,000 square meter campus, its comprehensive programs and state-of-the- art research. The university houses 31 research centers, and 15 components, for a student population of 30,000.  Website: http://www.en.u-pec.fr/

UNIVERSITÉ DES ANTILLES

The Université des Antilles (UA), one of the 102 French universities, is not located on the European continent but 7000 kilometres away from France. However, UA is particularly privileged as far as the original geographical context in which it evolves is concerned: it has 5 campuses on two different territories, namely Guadeloupe and Martinique which are known as DFA‘s (Départements Français d‘Amérique)  Website: http://www.univ-ag.fr/international/bienvenue-luniversite-des-antilles

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DETAILED PROGRAM SCHEDULE MONDAY, 26 MARCH 2018 DETAILED CONFERENCE 16:00 START OF REGISTRATION International Conference Center Sorbonne Université (CICSU) at Sorbonne University PROGRAM 18:00 OPENING CEREMONY - Auditorium 18:30 PLENARY TALK 01 - Alice HUGHES - Auditorium Importance of bats in the old world tropics and the threats to their future survival 19:30 LOBBY ICE BREAKER MIXING - CICSU Talks and Posters shaded in this background color are eligible for the Merian Award

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DETAILED PROGRAM SCHEDULE 10:15 S01-O04: Nicolas S03-O04: Norbert S05-O04: Jérémy S07-O04: Marie S09-O04: Eckhard N. DUPREY JUERGENS MIGLIORE TRONE W. HEYMANN TUESDAY, 27 MARCH 2018 Coral skeletal δ15N Fairy circles and Response of Preliminary Myrmecovorie 08:30 PLENARY TALK 02 - Cécile FAUVELOT - Auditorium records reveal wetland vegeta- Afromontane results from in neotropical The world network of biosphere reserves: learning places for Sustainable development long-standing tion patches: why forests to past recording bats primates eutrophication are there similar environmental in the Peruvian 09:30 PARALLEL SESSIONS of coastal coral or even identical changes: new rainforest canopy S01: TROPICAL S03: S05: DIVER- S07: ADVANCES S09: FREE reefs regular vegetation insights from 35 meters above MARINE ECO- CONTINENTAL SIFICATION IN CANOPY SESSION: patterns in Podocarpus trees the forest floor SYSTEM IN THE WETLANDS (1/1) OF AFRICAN SCIENCE (1/2) TROPICAL deserts and using genomic ANTHROPOCENE FORESTS (1/2) DIVERSITY (1/4) wetlands? tools

Sessions (1/2) 10:30 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS Chairs Malika Hery Lisy Tiana Violaine Julian DONALD, Catherine REEB, 11:00 PARALLEL SESSIONS RENE-TROUILLE- RANARIJAONA, NICOLAS-COLIN, Louise ASHTON Eric GUILBERT FOU, Sandrine Pete B. Thomas S01: TROPICAL S04: SAVANNA S05: DIVER- S07: ADVANCES S09: FREE GROUARD, PHILLIPSON COUVREUR MARINE ECO- FUNCTIONING SIFICATION IN CANOPY SESSION: Pierre-Michel SYSTEM IN THE AND DYNAMICS OF AFRICAN SCIENCE (2/2) TROPICAL FORGET ANTHROPOCENE (1/3) FORESTS (2/2) DIVERSITY (2/4)

Sessions (2/2) Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 Chairs Malika Jacques Violaine Julian DONALD, Catherine REEB, 9:30 S01-O01: César S03-O01: Fritz S05-O01: Marie S07-O01: S09-O01: RENE-TROUILLE- GIGNOUX, NICOLAS-COLIN, Louise ASHTON Eric GUILBERT RUIZ KLEINSCHROTH Claire VERANSO- Catherine WAITE Marianne ELIAS FOU, Sandrine Sébastien BAROT Thomas LIBALAH GROUARD, COUVREUR Combining me- Tropical Multiple shifts to UAS identification The drivers of Pierre-Michel TUESDAY TUESDAY tabarcoding and ecosystems in the open habitats in of scale and diversification in FORGET metabolomics to water-energy-food Melastomateae patterns of neotropical Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 better understand nexus (Melastomata- liana infestation mimetic “clear- the ecological ceae) congruent in tropical forests, wing” butterflies 11:00 S01-O05: S04-O01: Jacques S05-O05: Arthur S07-O05: Sarab S09-O05: success of with the increase Malaysia Sandrine GIGNOUX BOOM SETHI Christoph F. J. Homoscleromor- of African GROUARD MEYER pha sponges in Neogene climatic Chronology 11 current Diversification of Automated Functional recov- underwater caves aridity of west indian issues in savanna the African genus ecosystem ery of Amazonian 9:45 S01-O02: S03-O02: Pia S05-O02: Adama S07-O02: J. S09-O02: Henry palaeofishery ecology tree Brachystegia monitoring in the Bat assemblages Malika RENE- PAROLIN FAYE Antonio GUZMÁN K. NJOVU canopy following TROUILLEFOU Q. secondary forest succession Isolation and Hydroelectric res- Phylogenetics Differences in Leaf traits characterization ervoirs influence and diversification leaf temperature mediate changes 11:15 S01-O06: Vincent S04-O02: Sarah S05-O06: Violaine S07-O06: S09-O06: Thierry of bacteria tree physiology history of between in insect herbivory VALLEE KONARÉ NICOLAS-COLIN Stephanie LAW HOUEHANOU with potential and endemism African Rattans lianas and trees along broad Assembly rules Effects of mineral Small mammal Vertical stratifi- Morphological antibacterial activ- (Calamoideae, at the canopy of environmental and long terms nitrogen partition- diversification cation of tropical traits variations ity associated to Ancistrophyllinae) a lowland tropical gradients on changes in ground ing on tree-grass in the African ant assemblages: of Afzelia africana Porites astreoides, forest Mt. Kilimanjaro, fish communities coexistence in Guineo-Congolian do ground ants SM. in relation to a dominant Tanzania functional savannas rainforest: a restrict the forag- climatic condition Caribbean coral diversity of the comparative ing distribution of and implication species continental shelf phylogeographic arboreal ants? for species 10:00 S01-O03: Lou S03-O03: Mesfin S05-O03: Josef S07-O03: Tobias S09-O03: off French Guiana survey conservation in FROTTE DAMTEW BRYJA JACKSON Clarissa MENDES Benin KNOECHELMANN 11:30 S01-O07: S04-O03: Damian S05-O07: Félicien S07-O07: Julian S09-O07: Kenneth Trophic Emergent mac- Forests of Tree architecture Impact of the Chevallier TOM-DERY TOSSO DONALD IRVINE changes during rophytes support Southern Ethiopia and wind-induced leaf-cutting ant DAMIEN diadromous zooplankton - overlooked sway Atta opaciceps on The gulf stream Gas exchange Phylogenetic The role of Conservation species migration: in a shallow and endangered plant community frontal system: and biomass patterns of Invertebrates and planning for the contributions tropical lake: a centre of African composition a key oceano allocation of Shea diversification micro-organisms tropical freshwa- of fatty acids basis for wetland endemism along a gradient graphic feature (Vitellaria paradoxa across ecological in facilitating ters through a conservation of forest cover in in the habitat c.f. Gaertn.) niches in the nutrient cycling in global alliance for the Caatinga dry selection of the seedlings under African tree genus the canopy freshwater life tropical forest leatherback turtle? increased CO2, Guibourtia competition and water availability

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11:45 S04-O04: Cyntia S05-O08: Vaclav S09-O08: John 15:15 S02-O04: Marie S04-O08: Aya S06-O04: Marie S08-O04: Myriam S09-O13: Marie SANTOS GVOZDIK GARCIA-ULLOA ARNAUD Brigitte N'DRI TRONE HEUERTZ DURY Mammalian Phylogeography Identifying global Enroot: an Seasonal changes Assessing Ama- Evolutionary Distribution herbivores along a of a leaf-litter opportunities and inexpensive, par- in fire behaviour in zon river Dolphin history of tropical of Podocarpus native vegetation frog reveals the risks for biodiver- tially 3D printed a humid savanna (Inia geoffrensis / tree species com- latifolius/milanji- loss gradient history of the sity from oil palm minirhizotron to of west africa Sotalia fluviatilis) plexes: species anus from the last in neotropical Lower Guinea and expansion study fine root populations delimitation and glacial maximum savanna Congo rainforests production in acoustically and adaptive genetic to 2100 in Africa mangrove forest visually variation in the with the dynamic 12:00 FREE LUNCH BREAK Bertholletia clade vegetation model 13:30 PLENARY TALK 03 - Alexandra MUELLNER-RIEHL - Auditorium (Lecythidaceae) CARAIB Plant radiations and floristic exchange across biodiversity hotspots in Asia 15:30 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS 14:30 PARALLEL SESSIONS 16:00 PARALLEL SESSIONS S02: MAN- S04: SAVANNA S06: ACOUSTIC S08: TROPICAL S09: FREE S02: MAN- S04: SAVANNA S06: ACOUSTIC S08: TROPICAL S09: FREE GROVES FUNCTIONING SURVEY IN TREES ECOLOGY SESSION: GROVES FUNCTIONING SURVEY IN TREES ECOLOGY SESSION: FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS TROPICAL AND EVOLUTION TROPICAL FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS TROPICAL AND EVOLUTION TROPICAL AND MANAGE- (2/3) ECOSYSTEMS (1/2) DIVERSITY (3/4) AND MANAGE- (3/3) ECOSYSTEMS (2/2) DIVERSITY (4/4)

Sessions MENT (1/2) (1/2)

Sessions MENT (2/2) (2/2) Chairs Tarik MEZIANE, Jacques Jérôme SUEUR, Joeri Sergej Catherine REEB, Chairs Tarik MEZIANE, Jacques Jérôme SUEUR, Joeri Sergej Catherine REEB, Emma MICHAUD GIGNOUX, Alice C. HUGHES, STRIJK, Damien Eric GUILBERT Emma MICHAUD GIGNOUX, Alice C. HUGHES, STRIJK, Damien Eric GUILBERT Sébastien BAROT Patrick A. Daniel HINSINGER Sébastien BAROT Patrick A. Daniel HINSINGER JANSEN JANSEN Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109

TUESDAY Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 TUESDAY 14:30 S02-O01: Anne S04-O05: Manfred S06-O01: Monika S08-O01: Juan S09-O09: Dilce 16:00 S02-O05: Farid S04-O09: Jean- S06-O05: Frédéric S08-O05: Louis S09-O14: BOUSQUET- FINCKH KOSECKA P JARAMILLO- DE FATIMA DAHDOUH- Christophe LATA BERTUCCI SANTIAGO Chunfeng CHEN MELOU CORREA ROSSETTI GUEBAS Metabolomic Frost in Afrotrop- Long-term Temperate going Unfolding long Three decades of Role of the Passive acoustics New hydraulic Spatio-temporal fingerprinting of ical mid-altitude multi-site acoustic (sub)tropical: re- term distur- planes, satellites biological control reveals vocal traits for charac- variations of eight mangroves savannas - a monitoring of ticulated adaptive bances of forest and drones in of N cycle on dynamics of coral terizing drought carbon and nitro- species from neglected environ- biodiversity in the evolution in firs communities in monitoring and grass-trees reef communities resistance in gen in biogenic Vietnam mental filter Amazon under (Abies, Pinaceae) Southwestern managing man- competition and in Moorea Neotropical structures of project providence from Central Amazonian grove forests in coexistence in island and canopy trees and fungus-growing Mexico lowlands Kenya, Sri Lanka savannas Fakarava atoll, lianas termites in the 14:45 S02-O02: S04-O06: Paulina S06-O02: Hervé S08-O02: Ricardo S09-O10: Kingsly and Malaysia French Polynesia Xishuangbanna Jean-Hude E. ZIGELSKI GLOTIN SEGOVIA CHUO BENG region MOUDINGO 16:15 S02-O06: Anne S04-O10: S06-O06: Branko S08-O06: Franck S09-O14: Nypa fruticans “Purgatories” Remote sensing Non-tropical Archives of natu- CAILLAUD Tharaniya HILJE MONTHE Gbadamassi G.O wurmb (Arecace- reveal the effects for large scale legacies on ral history; tree of SRIKANTHASAMY DOSSA ae) peatland of fire and frost on bird monitoring in South American life constructed Linking science Contrasted effects Predicting bird Phylogenetic Factors deter- characterization geoxylic suffrutic- tropical forests biogeography from a gram of to policy and of grasses and species richness relationships in mining fungal in Cameroon’s es and grasses in soil using eDNA management: the trees on microbial in tropical dry two African Cedre- diversity and mangrove savannas French tropical N-cycling in an forests using loideae genera dynamics during ecosystem wetlands network African humid acoustics (Meliaceae) reveal wood decom- 15:00 S02-O03: Jaime S04-O07: Kouamé S06-O03: Pablo S08-O03: Lars S09-O11: (pôle-relais savanna during multiple rain/dry position across POLONIA Fulgence KOFFI BOLANOS CHATROU Zolalaina ANDRI- zones humides the wet season forest transitions disturbance AMANANTENA tropicales) gradient in tropical mountainous Carbon stock Effect of fire Acoustic Parallel radiations Analysis of the forest in the Pacific regime on the monitoring of re- in neotropical potentialities of and Caribbean grass community splendent quetzal Annonaceae Ambahiviky Raffia 16:30 S02-O07: Mirco S04-O11: S06-O07: Juan S08-O07: Colombian of the humid Pharomachrus track Neogene Palm in the Boeny WÖLFELSCHNEI- Nils-Christian Sebastian ULLOA Katharina B. mangroves savanna of Lamto mocinno, a flag- upheaval of the region DER SCHUMACHER BUDDE (Ivory Coast) ship bird species South American Changes in white Ant assemblages Causes and Species delimita- of Guatemala continent mangrove leaf in a forest consequences of tion, hybridization chemistry and savannah mosaic explosive breeding and species subsequent in the Comoé Amphibian com- habitat asso- ecosystem national park munities revealed ciations in the functions upon (Ivory Coast) by remote sensors genus Symphonia logging (Clusiaceae) on Madagascar

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16:45 S02-O08: Simon S04-O12: Amah S06-O08: Karen S08-O08: Robert CRAGG AKODEWOU ROWE MUSCARELLA Lignocellulosic Effects of land Documenting spe- Global patterns in detritus in man- use pattern on cies richness and palm abundance grove ecosystems invasive plant acoustic activity is processed by diversity in patterns from a specialist guild Guinean savanna soundscapes of invertebrates ecosystems of in a tropical and associated Togodo protected biodiversity microbiota area, Togo hotspot, Sulawesi, Indonesia 17:00 S02-O09: S04-O13: Hemant S06-O09: Catherine TRIPATHI Amandine GASC FERNANDEZ Involvement Biodiversity 8-years of of water response to research on the soluble or volatile land use in the New Caledonian compounds African savanna acoustic commu- from leaves of woodlands: nities: summary two mangroves implications of and perspectives Avicennia marina heterogeneity for biological and Kandelia between land conservation obovata in crabs use activities and attraction taxonomic groups TUESDAY TUESDAY 17:15 S02-O10: Ann THORNTON Direct and indirect responses to ENSO moderate community-based fisheries in Colom- bian Caribbean mangroves 17:30 PUBLIC LECTURE - Sebastian LOTZKAT - Auditorium Species revisited – catching (up on) the cornerstones of biology

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DETAILED PROGRAM SCHEDULE 10:15 S10-O04: Pedro S13-O04: Le SE-O03: Christelle S16-O04: Anna S18-O04: Daniel Luiz SILVA DE Bienfaiteur GONMADJE MEŽAKA HUSANA WEDNESDAY, 28 MARCH 2018 MIRANDA SAGANG TAKOUGOUM 08:30 PLENARY TALK 04 - Krista MCGUIRE - Auditorium Plant-microbial assembly across human land use gradients: implications for coexistence, scaling, Environmental Volume-weighted Biodiversity and Changes in the Trophic structure and forest regeneration controls of biome average conservation composition in a tropical distribution in wood specific value of an of epiphyllous cave ecosystem: 09:30 PARALLEL SESSIONS Bolivia and gravity improves Atlantic central communities surface-subsur- S10: TROPICAL S13: TROPICAL SIDE EVENT: S16: ECOLOGY S18: TROPICAL Brazil - dissecting aboveground African forest: the with leaf age, face ecosystem SOIL ECOLOGY TREE MINIFORUM AND TAXONOMY NETWORKS (1/1) the importance biomass Ngovayang mas- host species and interaction and (1/1) ALLOMETRY COPED (1/2) OF TROPICAL of soils, climate predictions in a sif (Cameroon) microclimate in a implications for (1/2) BRYOPHYTES and fire semi-deciduous tropical lowland conservation forest of Eastern forest Sessions (1/3) Cameroon Chairs Jean-Christophe Adeline FAYOLLE, Pierre-Michel Catherine Colin FONTAINE LATA, Luc Moses LIBALAH, FORGET, Philippe REEB, Sanna 10:30 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS ABBADIE Vincent MEDJIBE TAQUET HUTTUNEN 11:00 PARALLEL SESSIONS Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 S11: MOLECULAR S13: TROPICAL SIDE EVENT: S16: ECOLOGY S19: 9:30 S10-O01: Margot S13-O01: Adeline SE-O00: Pierre S16-O01: Robbert S18-O01: TAXONOMY TREE MINIFORUM AND TAXONOMY FRUGIVORES, NEYRET FAYOLLE AUGER, Pierre- GRADSTEIN Eike Lena AND CRYPTIC ALLOMETRY COPED (2/2) OF TROPICAL SEED DISPERSAL Michel FORGET, NEUSCHULZ SPECIES IN (2/2) BRYOPHYTES AND FOREST Philippe TAQUET SOILS (1/1) (2/3) REGENERATION

Sessions (1/1) Soil, landscape State of the art Welcome and The tropical Mobility of avian and land-use on tropical tree introduction to the lowland cloud frugivores deter- Chairs Virginie ROY, Lise Adeline FAYOLLE, Pierre-Michel Catherine Pierre-Michel itinerary effects allometry: practi- miniforum COPED forest - an mines their ability DUPONT Moses LIBALAH, FORGET, Philippe REEB, Sanna FORGET on non-cul- cal implications epiphyte hotspot to switch to other Vincent MEDJIBE TAQUET HUTTUNEN tivated plant for biomass/ plant resources Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 communities and carbon monitoring in fragmented associated servic- and ecological forests 11:00 S11-O01: Micah S13-O05: SE-O04: Stephan S16-O05: S19-O01: Omer es in croplands of significance DUNTHORN Gauthier LIGOT NTIE Nicholas NEVO Northern Thailand WILDING 9:45 S10-O02: S13-O02: Moses SE-O01: Pulcherie S16-O02: Maaike S18-O02: Ulmar A large view of The limited con- Patterns of Taxonomy, Is fruit odor an Johanna LIBALAH BISSIENGOU Y. BADER GRAFE the small Protists tribution of large evolutionary diver- systematics and adaptation for ROMERO ARIAS in Neotropical trees to biomass sification among biogeography Lemur seed rainforests dynamics in central African of African dispersal? Diet composition Integrating eco- Biogeography of Responses of Specialization an old-growth duikers (subfamily Entosthodon analysis of trop- logical predictors Campylospermum tropical lowland in antagonistic tropical forest Cephalophinae) (Funariaceae) ical soil-feeding in a regional tree Tiegh. and its bryophytes to interaction net- termites: African height-diameter center of diversity experimental works: selective 11:15 S11-O02: Clément S13-O06: Jean SE-O05: Brigitte S16-O06: Tinja S19-O02: Natalia SCHNEIDER Francois BASTIN NYIRAMBAN- PITKÄMÄKI OCAMPO- Apicotermitinae model for Central in tropical Africa warming and co2 pressures on fertilization anuran calling in GUTSE PEÑUELA

WEDNESDAY Africa WEDNESDAY the presence of Megalothorax Variations of Canopy nutrient Cloud water Four decades frog-biting midges diversity: account carbon stocks in cycling in Afrom- interception of ep- of forest loss in 10:00 S10-O03: Louise S13-O03: Roman SE-O02: Alain S16-O03: Sylvia S18-O03: Yannick of a neglected tropical forest; ontane tropical iphytic bryophytes Borneo and its ASHTON Mathias LINK Didier MISSOUP MOTA DE KLOMBERG springtail widely combining views forests at different in a Peruvian lasting effects on OLIVEIRA distributed in the from the field successional upper montane forest frugivores intertropical zone and from remote stages cloud forest: an and seed Termites increase Structural, func- Systematics and Habitat The importance sensing experimental dispersal ecosystem tional and wood biogeography of specialization of of seasonality approach resilience to anatomical traits Rodents from Lejeuneaceae in organising an drought in tropical predict drought Afrotropical in the Amazon upper montane 11:30 S11-O03: S13-O07: Sruthi SE-O06: David S16-O07: Eyvar S19-O03: Olivier rainforest responses of forests forest: the role forest pollination Shabnam TAHERI MOORTHY KENFACK Elias RODRIGUEZ BOISSIER Costa Rican of morphological network on Mt. QUIE tropical forest tree and reproductive Cameroon Complex taxon- Comparison of CTFS-forestgeo Biomass and Large tropical species traits omy and global LIDAR-derived Africa program: an water-holding avian frugivores: phylogeography liana biomass initiative towards capacity of a pantropical of the well-known estimates with the long-term bryophytes along comparison of tropical earth- allometric monitoring of an elevational their diversity, worm Pontoscolex estimates African forests gradient on Baru seed dispersal corethrurus volcano, Panama and conservation status

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11:45 S11-O04: Chantal SE-O07: Katharine S16-O08: Eka A.P. S19-O04: Boris B. 14:00 S12-O03: Heike S14-O03: S15-O03: Antonia S17-O01: Vojtech POTEAUX ABERNETHY ISKANDAR DEMENOU PRÖHL Daisy CÁRATE MAYR NOVOTNY TANDALLA A multidisciplinary Scientific capacity Climbing Mt. Gede Gene dispersal approach to building and the up and down and history of Red versus blue Ontogenic and Macro-ecological Experimental MINIFORUM disentangle the evidence base for - insights into the colonization versus green: trait-based determinants disruption of food COPED - cryptic diversity change in Central species richness of the Dahomey molecular aspects responses of of Halictine webs in tropical DISCUSSION in ants of the African forests and composition Gap from the of color polytypy common tree Bee-microbiomes rain forests MEETING Neoponera apicalis of epiphytic Cameroon in a poison frog species to species complex bryophytes Volcanic line by altered nutrient Guineo-Congolian availability in a flora tropical montane forest 12:00 FREE LUNCH BREAK 14:15 S12-O04: S14-O04: Selene S15-O04: William S17-O02: Elina 13:30 PARALLEL SESSIONS Mohamed NEJI BÁEZ Douglas DE MÄNTYLÄ S12: TROPICAL S14: TROPICAL S15: ALTITUDI- S16: ECOLOGY SIDE EVENT: CARVALHO MOLECULAR FOREST NAL GRADIENT AND TAXONOMY MINIFORUM De novo transcrip- Tree functional Traits that help What to measure MINIFORUM ECOLOGY (1/1) NUTRIENT (1/1) OF TROPICAL COPED - tome sequencing traits and nutrient bats conquering from plants in COPED - ECOLOGY (1/1) BRYOPHYTES DISCUSSION and comparative limitation in an Neotropical moun- predator exclosure DISCUSSION (3/3) + MEETING (1/3) analysis of Andean elevation tains: lessons for studies? MEETING S17: differentially gradient the conservation MANIPULATIONS expressed genes of tropical forest OF TROPICAL in Erythrophleum animal diversity

Sessions FOOD WEBS (1/1) species under Chairs Pablo OROZ- Jürgen HOMEIER, Eric GUILBERT, Catherine Pierre-Michel drought stress CO-TERWENGEL, Selene BAEZ Marianne ELIAS REEB, Sanna FORGET, Philippe 14:30 S12-O05: Simone S14-O05: Tobias S15-O05: Laura S17-O03: Chris Ute RADESPIEL HUTTUNEN + TAQUET SOMMER FABIAN SALAZAR DAHL Katerina SAM, Elina MÄNTYLÄ, Immunological Sodium retention Fern ecology A cross-continen- MINIFORUM Piotr SZEFER MHC supertypes in the canopy of a along a tropical al- tal comparison COPED - and allelic expres- tropical montane titudinal gradient of fruit-seed DISCUSSION Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 sion: how low is forest in South in Ecuador syndromes in MEETING 13:30 S12-O01: Filippo S14-O01: Andre S15-O01: Yvonne S16-O09: the functional Ecuador the tropical BISCARINI VELESCU TIEDE Catherine REEB MHC variability in rainforests of wild endangered Panama, Thailand Biostatistics Biological vs. Beyond body The MADBRYO MINIFORUM Namibian and Papua New applications for abiotic control of size: consistent project, a COPED - cheetahs? Guinea tropical (and base metal budg- decrease of traits collaborative DISCUSSION non) plant and ets in a tropical within Orthopter- effort to enhance MEETING 14:45 S12-O06: Ute S14-O06: Kerstin S15-O06: Paul S17-O04: Kirstie animal biology: a montane forest in an assemblages Malagasy RADESPIEL PIERICK CHATELAIN HAZELWOOD (meta)genomics South Ecuador with elevation Bryophytes Phylogeog- Long-term litterfall Altitudinal filtering Comparing the MINIFORUM perspective knowledge raphy and dynamics in and the evolution mechanisms that COPED - WEDNESDAY 13:45 S12-O02: Pablo S14-O02: Juan F. S15-O02: Agnes S16-O10: Sanna heterogeneous tropical montane of Planthoppers generate seedling DISCUSSION WEDNESDAY OROZCO- DUEÑAS DELLINGER HUTTUNEN selection shape forests in Ecua- (Hemiptera, community MEETING TERWENGEL vomeronasal dor: the impact of Auchenorrhyncha) composition in a receptor diversity climate, altitude, on Mount Wilhelm Population Nutrient inputs Impact of polli- Evolution of hab- MINIFORUM diverse tropical in mouse lemurs and fertilization (Papua New genomics of alter arbuscular nator shifts on itat preferences COPED - ecosystem (Microcebus spp.) Guinea) wild Chinese mycorrhizal mating systems among Mosses DISCUSSION rhesus macaques fungal assemblag- and population (Bryophyta) MEETING 15:00 S12-O07: S14-O07: Jürgen S15-O07: Valeria S17-O05: Katerina reveals dynamic es in montane genetic diversity Brandet-Junior HOMEIER GUZMAN-JACOB SAM demographic tropical forests of in a Neotropical LISSAMBOU histories and local Southern Ecuador plant group Species Variation of tree Diversity Elevational MINIFORUM adaptation delimitation in the leaf properties of vascular patterns in pre- COPED - genus Greenway- and folivory after epiphytes along dation, herbivore DISCUSSION odendron based continued nutrient an altitudinal performance MEETING on morphological addition in tropical gradient in and herbivory in and genetic montane forest of Veracruz, Mexico hostile and enemy markers reveal S. Ecuador free space new species

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15:15 S15-O08: S17-O06: Piotr S11 MOLECULAR TAXONOMY AND CRYPTIC SPECIES IN SOILS Friederike SZEFER P01 Kenzy PEÑA-CARRILLO Use of acoustics for species delimitation in a Neotropical ant species GEBERT complex Predictors of Fungi, herbivores MINIFORUM S12 TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY species richness and predators COPED - DISCUS- and community can change SION MEETING P01 Matin MIRYEGANEH Transcriptomic responses of mangrove trees to different stressful biomass of large the community environments mammals along structure of P02 Thierry HOUEHANOU Genetic diversity and population structure of the threatened tree species elevational and early successional Afzelia africana SM. and implication for the species conservation in Benin land use gradients stage of tropical on Mt. Kilimanjaro forest P03 Natalia SEVANE Evidence for rapid adaptation to the tropics in Creole cattle genomes 15:30 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS S13 TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY 16:00 ASSEMBLY OF MEMBERS GTÖ - AUDITORIUM / POSTER SESSIONS - CICSU P01 Adeline FAYOLLE The importance of tree allometry for local-scale variation in aboveground biomass S02 MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT P02 Tian LI E volution of aboveground biomass of dry tropical forest in the North-west coast of Madagascar in relation with human activities P01 Maki THOMAS Landscape genetic method to explain intra- and inter-island propagule transport of mangrove species S14 TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY S03 CONTINENTAL WETLANDS P01 Susanne SPANNL Effects of moderate nutrient addition on tree physiological processes. The example of Alchornea lojaensis in Southern Ecuador P01 Georges Simon ANDRIANASETRA Evolution of references about the knowledge of the ecology of tropical wetlands in the Indian Ocean P02 Tobias FABIAN Sodium in a tropical montane forest in South Ecuador: demand of phyllosphere microorganisms and effects on decomposition P02 Zolalaina ANDRIAMANANTENA Contribution to the study of the Raffia areas in the Boeny region for sustainable management and enhancement S15 ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT S04 SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS P01 Katerina SAM E cology of bird communities along an elevational tropical gradient in Papua New Guinea P01 Anu VALTONEN Where do the Nsenene swarms come from? P02 Sébastien ALBERT Woody plants are fleshy-fruited in the lowlands: strong environmental gradients P02 Rogerio GRIBEL Factors controlling long-term savanna dynamics in the Campos de Humaitá, middle control fruit types on a high-elevation oceanic island Madeira river region, Southwestern Brazilian Amazonia S16 ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES P03 Paula NIETO-QUINTANO Biomass stocks, spatial structure and floristic composition of savannas in the Bateke plateau P01 Tinja PITKÄMÄKI Epiphytic bryophytes respond to changes in forest structure P04 Olivier PAYS An experimental design to investigate the role of mammal community on forest S17 MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS dynamics in the Cerrado biome (Brazil) P01 Elaine CORREA E ffects of macroconsumers on invertebrate feeding groups across a gradient of S05 DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS vegetation loss in tropical karst streams P01 Hippolyte NSHIMBA SEYA WA MALALE Structure and composition of forest of Brachystegia S18 TROPICAL NETWORKS laurentii (De Wild.) Louis ex J. Léon. in the MAB Yangambi, in DRC P01 Yannick KLOMBERG The role of UV reflectance in the pollination system of Hypoxis camerooniana S06 AUDIO AND VIDEO MONITORING on Mt. Cameroon P01 David C. SIDDONS E coacoustic surveys predict alpha and beta diversity in Southern Ecuadorian S20 TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY montane forest P01 E-Ping RAU Dynamics and diversity of a subtropical forest in Fushan, Taiwan: simulation approach P02 Lefteris FANIOUDAKIS Deep networks tag the location of bird vocalisations on audio spectrograms via the individual-based troll model S07 ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE P02 Marie DURY Simulating seed dispersal to reproduce past dynamics and distribution of African tropical trees P01 Chris CHANDLER Spatial patterns of liana success in Malaysia S22 REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO S08 TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION P01 Doreen BOYD T owards landscape scale metrics of ENSO-induced tree mortality in primary and P01 Robert MUSCARELLA Habitat-specific edaphic controls on palm community phylogenetic structure disturbed tropical forests via remote sensing in the Western Amazon P02 Edwin ZARATE Species distribution model for a micro-endemic Hummingbird with vegetation P02 Volker RAFFELSBAUER T ree reaction to drought in a montane rainforest in Southern Ecuador indices as a predictor of habitat structure P03 Sylvain SCHMITT E cological genomics of niche exploitation and individual performance in tropical S23 REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES forest trees P01 Casimir NEBESSE Challenges and risks of bushmeat exploitation at Kisangani region (DRC) S10 TROPICAL SOIL ECOLOGY P02 Martha LEDGER Wher e has the peat gone? Determining regional-scale carbon losses using INSAR P01 Sandrine SALMON Communities of Collembola on Réunion island: recolonization of habitats from tropical peatlands destroyed by lava flows and impact of exotic plant species S25 HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS P02 Ivete MAQUIA Bacterial diversity in three different fire incidence area in Mopane woodland of Limpopo national park P01 Samuel ROBINSON Impacts of logging gaps on soil microbial diversity and function in Borneo

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S28 FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION P01 Nina FARWIG Supplementar y food enhances the number of breeding pairs in a Cape Vulture colony P02 Clarissa ARAÚJO MARTINS Multiple-taxa responses to land use changes in a Brazilian savanna landscape P03 Nicholas WILDING De veloping long-term monitoring of natural areas for a UNESCO world heritage site: study case of La Réunion P04 Nicolas TEXIER A new tool for the conservation of the Gabonese flora: the threatened plant species of Gabon website P05 Prescott MUSABA Bat hunting bodes human and forest health threat in Congo basin rainforest P06 Dana VI HUSANA Ecological modelling of aggregation of parasite Acanthogyrus sp. in wild Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) P07 Samendra SHERCHAN Quantitative assessment of Naegleria fowleri under climate change in lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana 18:30 CONFERENCE DINNER - Aquarium Porte Dorée WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY

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DETAILED PROGRAM SCHEDULE 10:30 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS THURSDAY, 29 MARCH 2018 11:00 PARALLEL SESSIONS S20: TROPICAL S21: CLIMATE S23: REHABILI- S25: HUMAN- SIDE EVENT: 08:30 PLENARY TALK 05 - Tuyeni Heita MWAMPAMBA - Auditorium FORESTS IN CHANGE (2/2) TATION OF TROP- MODIFIED MINIFORUM The story of charcoal: its effects on forests and its contribution to livelihoods in Mexico and Tanzania SPACE AND TIME ICAL FOREST TROPICAL COPED - 09:30 PARALLEL SESSIONS (2/3) LANDSCAPES FORESTS (2/2) DISCUSSION

Sessions (2/3) MEETING (3/3) S20: TROPICAL S21: CLIMATE S23: REHABILI- S25: HUMAN- SIDE EVENT: FORESTS IN CHANGE (1/2) TATION OF TROP- MODIFIED MINIFORUM Chairs Andreas HUTH, Eric GUILBERT Sven GÜNTER, Yit Arn TEH Pierre-Michel SPACE AND TIME ICAL FOREST TROPICAL COPED - Franziska Rizza Karen FORGET, Philippe (1/3) LANDSCAPES FORESTS (1/2) DISCUSSION TAUBERT, Rico VERIDIANO, TAQUET FISCHER Nikolay AGUIRRE Sessions (1/3) MEETING (2/3) Chairs Andreas HUTH, Eric GUILBERT Sven GÜNTER, Yit Arn TEH Pierre-Michel Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 Franziska Rizza Karen FORGET, Philippe 11:00 S20-O05: Rico S21-O05: S23-O05 Junen S25-O05: Julia TAUBERT, Rico VERIDIANO, TAQUET FISCHER Elizabeth WU SFAIR FISCHER Nikolay AGUIRRE KEARSLEY Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 High resolution Assessing the Can intercropping Land-use change MINIFORUM 9:30 S20-O01: Hans S21-O01: S23-O01: S25-O01: Terhi analysis of impact of lianas with the world’s affects plant trait COPED - VERBEECK Jean-François Fatima C.M. RIUTTA tropical forest on tree growth in three major distribution in a DISCUSSION EXBRAYAT PIÑA-RODRIGUES fragmentation tropical forests beverage plants seasonally dry MEETING and its impact on help improve tropical forest Simulating the Climate change Does diversity Complete MINIFORUM the global carbon the water use of impact of lianas impact on really matter for carbon budget in COPED - cycle rubber trees? on the carbon carbon-seques- the accumulation selectively logged DISCUSSION cycle of tropical tration potential of above-ground and old-growth MEETING 11:15 S20-O06: S21-O06: S23-O06: S25-O06: Dafydd forests of tropical biomass in tropical forests in Franziska Alexandra-Jane Darshanaa ELIAS rainforests dry forest Borneo TAUBERT HENROT CHELLAIAH rehabilitation? Global patterns Simulating Impacts of oil The impacts of MINIFORUM 9:45 S20-O02: Félicien S21-O02: S23-O02: Paul S25-O02: Yit Arn of tropical forest present-day palm plantation logging on soil COPED - MEUNIER Matthias EGUIGUREN TEH fragmentation distribution of and riparian buffer microbial diversity DISCUSSION SCHLEUNING Podocarpus lati- quality on stream in tropical forests MEETING folius/milanjianus litter decomposi- of Borneo Impact of Should I stay Carbon sequestra- Human modi- MINIFORUM in Afromontane tion and bacterial hydraulic traits or should I tion potential of fication alters COPED - forests of colonization in of lianas on their go? Projected secondary forest the greenhouse DISCUSSION Cameroon with Borneo abundance: changes in avian for landscape gas balance of MEETING the dynamic predictions from functional diver- restoration at managed tropical vegetation model the vegetation sity on tropical the Ecuadorian peatlands in CARAIB model ED2 mountains under Amazon region Northern Borneo climate change 11:30 S20-O07: Mateus S21-O07: Stefan S23-O07: Catarina S25-O07: Michael DANTAS DE JOZEFOWICZ JAKOVAC BOYLE 10:00 S20-O03: Stephan S21-O03: S23-O03: Marion S25-O03: Isabel PAULA A. PIETSCH Gwendolyn RENNER JONES PEYRE Effects of Analysing the Ecosystem Disturbance-in- MINIFORUM fragmented forest position of the services from duced micro COPED - Rain forest Plant diversity Natural forest Where can MINIFORUM degradation on Eastern Andean large-scale climate change DISCUSSION dynamics under hotspots and regeneration at we store COPED - the water cycle - tree line with a restoration drives community MEETING different exploita- refuges in the Mt. Kilimanjaro most carbon? DISCUSSION insights from a mass transect shifts in rainforest tion regimes tropical Andes Using an 80-year MEETING forest simulation sampling of ants after logging chronosequence model satellite imagery and conversion to to identify drivers oil palm of carbon uptake in secondary 11:45 S20-O08: Marco S21-O08: S23-O08: Maholy S25-O09: Philip forests VISSER Kiswanto RAVALOHA- CHAPMAN KISWANTO RIMANITRA 10:15 S20-O04: Andreas S21-O04: James S23-O04: S25-O04: Ulrike HUTH MOLONEY Alexandra MOREL HILTNER Density-depend- Deforestation and Restoring Inter-annual MINIFORUM ent regulation forest degradation rainforest in dynamics and COPED - THURSDAY Productivity of the Cyclones, Quantifying Effects of MINIFORUM and density-in- trends in tropical Madagascar: persistence of DISCUSSION THURSDAY Amazon rainforest fragmentation and net primary selective logging COPED - dependent rainforest are we planting small mammal MEETING and the role of bird assemblages: productivity, on a production DISCUSSION limitation together enough trees communities in a forest structure natural and hu- potential poverty forest’s MEETING determine the for people and selectively logged man disturbances alleviation and succession of abundance of lemurs? tropical forest in in a changing forest conserva- the Amazon: a common tree Borneo climate tion in an African a simulation species forest-cocoa experiment landscape

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12:00 FREE LUNCH BREAK 14:15 S20-O12: Olga S22-O04: Chris S24-O04: Lorena S27-O01: Jean S28-O04: James TURKOVSKA CHANDLER Valeria GUZMÁN François BASTIN MOLONEY 13:30 PARALLEL SESSIONS WOLFHARD S20: TROPICAL S22: REMOTE S24: RESILIENT S26: IMPACT S28: FREE Forest age struc- Spatial patterns of Promoting Functional shifts Land-use change FORESTS IN SENSING RURAL EVALUATION SESSION: ture assumptions liana success in connectivity in within Central and conservation SPACE AND TIME FOREST LANDSCAPE FOR OF FOREST TROPICAL within global Malaysia Rio de Janeiro African rainforests in North-east (3/3) RESPONSE TO RIO DE JANEIRO CERTIFICATION ECOLOGY AND forest model. state: corridors Thailand ENSO (1/1) (1/1) (1/1) + S27: CONSERVATION Brazil case study for linking private FUTURE (1/1) protected areas SCENARIOS FOR THE CONGO 14:30 S20-O13: James S22-O05: Patrick S24-O05: Dietmar S27-O02: Claude S28-O05: Nicole

Sessions BASIN (1/1) MARGROVE JANSEN SATTLER GARCIA PONTA Chairs Andreas HUTH, Mark CUTLER Claudia RAEDIG, Marion Pierre-Michel Elevation Responses of Bioengineered Playing the game: Hunting in times Franziska Udo NEHREN KARMANN, FORGET, gradients shape Neotropical forest rehabilitation of defining indicators of change: indig- TAUBERT, Rico Franck TROLLIET Catherine REEB tree distributions mammals to an degraded land for intact forest enous strategies FISCHER + Claude GARCIA, in tropical forests extreme El Niño using native landscapes in the in the Colombian Jean-François event plant species - a Congo basin Amazon BASTIN, Fabien case study from QUETIER Southeast Brazil Room Auditorium 106 108 107 109 14:45 S20-O14: Yunxia S24-O06: Silke S27-O03: Stephan WANG LICHTENBERG A. PIETSCH 13:30 S20-O09: S22-O01: Mark S24-O01: Claudia S26-O01: Marion S28-O01: Ángela Jean-François CUTLER RAEDIG KARMANN ARISTIZÁBAL- Mapping tropical Potentials for the Critical cycles of EXBRAYAT BOTERO disturbed forests conservation and resilience for land in Mato Grosso the economic use use in the Congo Model-data fusion Monitoring An introduction Need, challenges Using UAVs and through Landsat of the threatened basin to retrieve terres- tropical forest to INTECRAL and opportunities photogrammetry surface reflec- Brazilian national trial ecosystem resilience: the (integrated eco to evaluate the for ecological tance time-series tree Paubrasilia functional proper- potential of EO to technologies and impact of forest analysis in tempo- analysis echinata Lam. ties from satellite monitor long-term services for a management rary rock pools of within Rio de observations change across sustainable rural certification: the Colombian Guiana Janeiro state forest landscapes Rio de Janeiro) case of the forest shield project stewardship 15:00 S20-O15: S27-O04: Claude council Christopher GARCIA PHILIPSON 13:45 S20-O10: Fabian S22-O02: Geertje S24-O02: Augusto S26-O02: Alain S28-O02: Melanie Jörg Fischer VAN DER PIRATELLI KARSENTY DAMMHAHN Carbon recovery What will happen HEIJDEN of logged forests to the forests of the Congo basin, Above, around Do extreme Agroecosystem Certification of What makes how and why and among weather management in tropical forests: rats successful trees: integrating events cause Rio de Janeiro from impact invaders on 15:15 S20-O16: Maurice individual-based liana proliferation? (Brazil): reconcil- assessment to po- Madagascar? LEPONCE modelling and Using UAVs to ing agricultural litical economy? Variation in space remote sensing track changes production and and time of data for ecological in tropical bird conservation ant distribution inference about forest canopy among ground tropical composition over layers in an rainforests time Ecuadorian 14:00 S20-O11: Matteo S22-O03: Marion S24-O03: Carl- S26-O03: Davy S28-O03: Jo premontane PARDINI PFEIFER Friedrich GAESE FONTEYN KINGSBURY forest Describing 3-D From remotely Saving small A biodiversity Threatened birds, 15:30 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS structure of sensing tropical scale sugarcane assessment dynamic habitats 16:00 CLOSING CEREMONY, MERIAN AWARDS AND FAREWELL - AUDITORIUM tropical forests human-modified farmers in the between and disturbance from radar acqui- landscapes state of Rio de protected and processes - sitions: potentials, to monitoring Janeiro: a devel- managed forests conservation challenges, and progress towards opment study in Southeastern ecology in one links to ground AICHI and SDG of a harvesting Cameroon of the worlds THURSDAY and LIDAR targets technology most under- THURSDAY measurements studied savanna ecosystems

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PLENARY TALK 01

Monday 26th March PLENARY SESSIONS Plenary talk 01 - 18:30 - Auditorium IMPORTANCE OF BATS IN THE OLD WORLD TROPICS AND ABSTRACTS THE THREATS TO THEIR FUTURE SURVIVAL MONDAY

Alice Hughes1

1Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, CN, [email protected]

With over 1320 described species bats make up around ¼ of known mammal species, and often exceed 50% of mammal species in tropical ecosystems. However, the challenges associated with bat research have hindered our understanding of even basic information of the distribution and ecology of many species.

Furthermore the role of bats in terms of ecosystem service provision both in maintaining ecosystems and in providing economically valuable services has never been approached systematically and we have little appreciation of the true value of these services and the roles these species play in some systems.

Here we assay and map the distribution and diversity patterns of bats across the old world, and review the roles and contributions of bats ecologically and economically. We present the state of knowledge, discuss the novel methodologies being used to quantitatively and qualitatively understand these systems and interactions, and highlight the work of researchers across the Old-world tropics. We also review the threats and challenges to bats across the tropics, and the implications of species loss as well as discussing ongoing priorities for bat research and conservation.

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PLENARY TALK 02 PLENARY TALK 03

Tuesday 27th March Tuesday 27th March Plenary talk 02 - 8:30 - Auditorium Plenary talk 03 - 13:30 - Auditorium

SPATIAL SCALES OF DISPERSAL IN THE TROPICS: WHY AND PLANT RADIATIONS AND FLORISTIC EXCHANGE ACROSS WHEN DO THEY MATTER? BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN ASIA

Cécile Fauvelot1,2 Alexandra Muellner-Riehl1,2

1UMR ENTROPIE, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Nouméa, NC, [email protected] 1Leipzig University, Leipzig, DE, [email protected] 2Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, Sorbonne Université, Villefranche-sur-mer, FR 2German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, DE

The effect of habitat disturbance on genetic and demographic In my talk, I will focus on two fundamental aspects of plant viability of species has become an important issue over recent biodiversity patterns in Asia: plant radiations and floristic exchange decades. The fragmentation of continuous suitable habitat, often - and their underlying causes. I will concentrate on two geographic related to disturbance, leads to patchily distributed populations regions of high global conservation priority. First, the Tibeto‐ that can be both demographically and genetically modified. Small Himalayan region (THR), including the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, the

TUESDAY and geographically isolated habitat patches, for example, contain Himalaya, and the biodiversity hotspot known as the “Mountains of TUESDAY small populations and communities so that both alleles and species Southwest China”; and second, Southeast Asia (SE Asia), including are expected to be lost due to the effect of drift. Immigration may the biodiversity hotspots of Indo-Burma, Sundaland, the Philippines, counter this effect and introduce new genes and/or species. Dispersal among habitat and Wallacea. patches is therefore one of the key factor for population recoveries following disturbance. Hotspots of biodiversity are often associated with areas that have undergone recent More generally, dispersal is a crucial process that counterbalances independent evolutions tectonic/orogenic activity. Yet, the origin and evolution of these hotspots remain poorly of local populations and/or population size reductions observed in metapopulations. understood. Until recently, for regions like the THR, most studies invoked orogenesis as the Population connectivity refers to the extent of connection among local populations of a main driving force for the radiation of plants in mountains. The role of climate oscillations species. Population connectivity comes in two forms: evolutionary (genetical) connectivity and key opportunities as well as key innovations as contributors to the establishment of and demographic (ecological) connectivity. The first is concerned with genetic variations high levels of mountain biodiversity was often neglected. By providing a review of recent among different populations. This can be informative when considering long-term studies conducted by my working group as well as other authors, I will conclude that the (evolutionary) and large-scale biogeographic dispersal patterns of organisms and can underlying causes for plant radiations in mountains are likely to be multi-faceted. Rather be useful to assess the genetic uniqueness of populations in the context of biodiversity than geomorphological processes themselves, the interaction of lineage-specific traits, conservation. In contrast, demographic connectivity involves the extent of linkage that complex geological settings and/or climatic modifications providing key opportunities occurs among nearby local populations due to the exchange of individuals. In the marine are drivers of mountain biodiversity. More generally, the new “mountain-geobiodiversity environment, this connectivity occurs primarily through the dispersal of larvae. The hypothesis” proposes that three boundary conditions are required to maximize the theoretical framework of population genetics offers the possibility to infer population impact of mountain formation and surface uplift on regional biodiversity patterns in connectivity and estimate the spatial extent of larval dispersal, above all for sessile mountainous regions and are key for the origination of mountain biodiversity hotspots. organisms. Identifying sources of propagules to be protected are critical needs for managers For Southeast Asia, I will likewise summarize insights gained from recent work, and who are increasingly operating under the implicit assumption that climate change and show how the geological and biological evolution of this large and biodiverse region were other human-related disturbances are unlikely to improve in the short term. closely interlinked, resulting in the Malesian floristic interchange with strong dispersal asymmetries among differently adapted lineages.

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PLENARY TALK 04 PLENARY TALK 05

Wednesday 28th March Thursday 29th March Plenary talk 04 - 8:30 - Auditorium Plenary talk 05 - 8:30 - Auditorium

PLANT-MICROBIAL ASSEMBLY ACROSS HUMAN LAND USE THE STORY OF CHARCOAL: ITS EFFECTS ON FORESTS GRADIENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR COEXISTENCE, SCALING, AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO LIVELIHOODS IN MEXICO AND AND FOREST REGENERATION TANZANIA

Krista McGuire1 Tuyeni Heita Mwampamba1

1University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, US, [email protected] 1Institute of Ecosystems and Sustainability Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Morelia, MX, [email protected] Plant-microbial interactions are frequently implicated in the maintenance of plant diversity patterns. However, we still lack Charcoal production is a grossly misunderstood driver of ecosystem a predictive understanding of the mechanisms by which plant- change in the tropics whose story is both intriguing and complex. microbial communities are assembled across multiple spatial As the primary cooking energy for millions of urban and peri-urban scales, the extent to which they function in the coexistence of households and food vendors in sub-Sahara Africa, but also in diverse tropical tree communities, and how they respond and Southeast Asia, Central and South America, charcoal consumption recover from human disturbance. is predicted to grow in response to growing population and increasing rates of rural-to-urban migration in these regions. In this talk I will highlight several ongoing studies from my lab in the Neotropics and Produced primarily from natural forests by small-scale producers Southeast Asia evaluating plant-microbial assembly across human land use gradients. usually operating illegally, charcoal is often reported as the direct driver of deforestation In particular, I will focus on work testing the following hypotheses: (1) Individual tree and forest degradation. Policy measures to curb production and interventions to reduce its species have distinctive physical, chemical, phenological, and biological properties that consumption (e.g. efficient cookstove programs) have, for the most part, failed. A dive into create unique zones of influence, which result in distinct microbial signatures, (2) putative the socio-political, cultural and socio-ecological contexts in which charcoal is produced differences in microbial communities across tree species’ zones of influence result in and consumed reveals a messy knot of high economic stakes, multiple and conflicting different functional potentials for microbially-mediated biogeochemical cycling processes, stakeholder objectives, complex ecological interactions, and, highly variable outcomes for and (3) historical land use is a strong modifier of microbial signatures which has the forests and forest-dependent livelihoods. potential to modify microbially-mediated coexistence mechanisms. Together, results from WEDNESDAY our various projects demonstrate that soil disturbance from human land use can have rapid Using social and ecological data and experiences obtained primarily from Mexico and and persistent impacts on soil microbial communities with important implications for tree Tanzania, I will unravel this knot to show how the outcomes for forests and forest-related coexistence and forest regeneration trajectories. ecosystems services, and charcoal’s contribution to livelihoods, shift and change depending on the context. Cultural preferences, concepts of modernity, and forest management logic are extremely influential processes that have previously been overlooked. Depending on how they play out, charcoal production is sometimes the best option there is for maintaining and protecting forests and securing rural livelihoods. Understanding the context can help with designing the most suitable interventions not only for charcoal, but for similar challenges facing tropical ecosystems today, such as bushmeat consumption and trade in endangered species. THURSDAY

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PUBLIC LECTURE

Tuesday 27th March PUBLIC LECTURE Elisabeth Kalko Memorial Public lecture - 17:30 - Auditorium SPECIES REVISITED – CATCHING (UP ON) THE CORNERSTONES OF BIOLOGY

Sebastian Lotzkat1

1Senckenberg Research Institute Frankfurt, DE, [email protected]

The age of discoveries is not over – quite the contrary, when talking about biological species one may say that it has only just begun! New species are discovered day by day, and never before have so many species been described each year. TUESDAY

Using the example of Central American amphibians and reptiles, this colourful talk will take us through the adventure of species exploration: from the founding fathers of past centuries to today’s students, from muddy camps in moisture-dripping rainforests to dusty collections in honourable institutions, from really-never-seen to just-never-recognized species.

And while we’re at it, we will take this opportunity to simply celebrate the astonishing diversity and breathtaking beauty of Neotropical salamanders, lizards, frogs, and snakes!

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SCIENTIFIC TALK SESSIONS ABSTRACTS

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S01-O01 – TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE SESSION 01 COMBINING METABARCODING AND METABOLOMICS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ECOLOGICAL SUCCESS OF TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM ADAPTATION AND HOMOSCLEROMORPHA SPONGES IN UNDERWATER CAVES EVOLUTION TO ANTHROPISATION: FROM FISHERIES TO HOLOBIONT PERSPECTIVES César Ruiz1, Thierry Perez1, Olivier Thomas2

Chairs: Malika RENE-TROUILLEFOU, Sandrine GROUARD, Pierre-Michel FORGET 1Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale, Marseille, FR, Contact: [email protected] [email protected] 2National University of Ireland Galway, Marine Biodiscovery, School of Chemistry, University Road, Tropical ecosystems are not only terrestrial, but also marine: estuaries, mangroves, Galway, IE coral reefs, seagrasses, underwater caves, deep benthic bottoms, etc. At the scale of the intertropical belt, these ecosystems are characterized by their great fragmentation, Underwater caves are original habitats of ecological interest. especially in oceanic archipelagic environments. Moreover, the interactions between these Indeed, they can be considered extreme due to marked physical marine environments and human populations are extremely diverse, depending on the gradients such as light, hydrodynamics and food availability which societal contexts and the various uses that the populations make of them. make them good mesocosms of deep sea ecosystems. Underwater

TUESDAY cave ecosystems were mostly studied in the few places of the

In this context, this fragmentation of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems are facing Mediterranean Sea, often focusing on specific taxonomic groups. 09:30 TUESDAY dramatic regressions. The dynamics of marine ecosystems are now constrained by Overall, those studies revealed similar faunistic traits and ecological anthropogenic pressures that lead to rapid changes in both their physical and chemical functioning. components. Moreover, the seasonal, decadal and secular variability of oceanographic conditions are associated with the global climate change. These major modifications of Homoscleromorpha sponges are well represented in underwater caves, and some the environmental conditions require the organisms to adapt and/or migrate in order to species can be cave-exclusive. However, very little is known about the factors explaining respond to changes in abiotic parameters. their ecological success in such a constraining environment. We hypothesized that the microbiome and/or metabolome of these sponges may confer adaptation capability. Several approaches can be developed in this session: marine diversity, marine ecosystems, associated anthroposystems, and anthropic uses and actions. Knowledge of old situations On a large collection of samples from Mediterranean and Caribbean submarine caves, we (of the order of a few millennia or of a few tens of millennia) may be relevant to calibrate the undertook metabarcoding and metabolomic fingerprinting analyses to identify putative processes in progress. How has the dynamics of biological processions under climatic and patterns in microbial and chemical diversity that may be related to sponges’ ecological anthropic constraints at the scale of a few millennia and centuries? habit. Some of these patterns seem to be explained by the taxonomy of the sponge and/ or the geographical area, so these two approaches can be used in integrative taxonomy. More interesting, we have found that ecological traits like habitat occupation inside caves (semi-obscure, obscure) or species distribution can be explained by the presence of particular microbial groups or the production of exclusive metabolites. Our results seem to confirm our former hypothesis, however the functional role of those microorganisms and metabolites must be analyzed to understand their contribution to the adaptation of Homoscleromorpha sponges to marine caves.

Merian Award Applicant

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S01-O02 – TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE S01-O03 – TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIA WITH TROPHIC CHANGES DURING DIADROMOUS SPECIES POTENTIAL ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED TO MIGRATION: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF FATTY ACIDS PORITES ASTREOIDES, A DOMINANT CARIBBEAN CORAL SPECIES Lou Frotté1, Alexandre Bec2, Fanny Perrière2, Sébastien Cordonnier1, Etienne Bezault1, Dominique Monti1 Salim Arkam1, Florent Baud1, Yolande Bouchon-Navaro1,2, Pascal Jean Lopez2,3, Céline Zatylny- Gaudin4, Claude Bouchon1,2, Malika René-Trouillefou (speaker)1,2 1Université des Antilles - UMR BOREA, Pointe-à-Pitre, GP, [email protected] 2Université Clermont Auvergne - LMGE UMR CNRS 6023 / GRET GDR CNRS 3716, Aubière, FR 1UMR BOREA, CNRS-7208 – MNHN – Sorbonne Université – UCN – IRD-207 – Université des Antilles, GP, [email protected] In the Caribbean islands, the freshwater macrofauna is predominantly constituted of 2LabEx CORAIL, Perpignan, FR diadromous fish and crustacean species. In the rivers of this region, the most common life 3UMR BOREA, CNRS-7208 - MNHN – Sorbonne Université – UCN – IRD-207 – UA, Paris, FR cycle is amphidromous, defined by a reproduction in river, a downstream passive larval 4UMR BOREA, CNRS-7208 – MNHN – Sorbonne Université – Université de Caen Normandie – IRD- transport followed by a marine dispersal, and finally an upstream migration at juvenile 207 – UA, Caen, FR stages. The growth of these organisms takes place in freshwater habitats, both during their migration and when sedentarized all along the river. When considering the general decline of reef corals in the Lesser Antilles during the last decades, Porites astreoides, among all coral We studied freshwater food consumption through lipids analyses of the five most TUESDAY 09:45 TUESDAY species, became one of the most largely distributed and abundant abundant fish and crustacean species (Gobiidae, Palaemonidae and Atyidae) in one river 10:00 TUESDAY species on those reefs. Such resilient and adaptive potential of that representative of Caribbean islands volcanic functional type, in Guadeloupe. The study species might be explained by a microbiome composition, which of the fatty acids assesses the food sources in various habitats and also the nutritional helps to protect them under changing environmental conditions or quality of the species diets. For comparison, adult and juvenile stages for each species compromised health. were analysed. Preliminary results underline higher availability in essential fatty acids in In the present study, culturable associated bacteria communities, upstream habitats than in downstream ones. These results give rise to the question of the from the coral mucus and tissues were investigated. A total of 224 bacterial strains were food nutritional quality being a driving force for the upstream migrations of diadromous isolated from Porites astreoides collected around Guadeloupe reefs, among which 123 species. independent isolates were identified using both morphological characteristics and 16S rDNA sequence analyses. Phylogenetic analyses based on coral bacteria 16S rDNA sequences indicated that 15 genera of 4 Phyla have been distinguished and Vibrionaceae represented the dominant culturable genus. Metabolic tests (antibiogram and antimicrobial tests) applied to 14 of the culturable bacteria revealed a moderate sensitivity to four antibiotics tested (oxytetracyclin, penicillin, streptomycin and ampicillin). Moreover, 4 pure clones isolated from Photobacterium rosenbergii, Pseudomonas plecoglossicida, and Vibrio vulnificus strains exhibited a strong activity against the growth of the marine pathogen Vibrio splendidus. By producing antimicrobial metabolites, these bacteria strains might protect Porites astreoides against infestation by invasive microbes and pathogens. Our results reveal within the microbial flora of the Caribbean dominant coral speciesPorites astreoides, the existence of culturable beneficial bacteria species that might play a role in their outstanding fitness and their resilience when compared to other coral species. These findings could contribute to the coral “microbial-therapy” new area and to the discovery of promising sources of bioactive molecules from marine microorganisms.

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S01-O04 – TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE S01-O05 – TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE CORAL SKELETAL Δ15N RECORDS REVEAL LONG-STANDING CHRONOLOGY OF WEST INDIAN PALAEOFISHERY EUTROPHICATION OF COASTAL CORAL REEFS Sandrine Grouard1, Sophia Perdikaris2, Dominique Bonnissent3, Nidia Espindola Rodrigues Nicolas N. Duprey1, David M. Baker2,3, Tony X. Wang4, Taihun Kim2,3, Philip D. Thompson2,3, Lourdou1 Alfredo Martinez-Garcia1, Daniel M. Sigman4, Gerald H. Haug1 1Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Dept Homme Environnement, UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, 1Department of Climate Geochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Otto Hahn Institute), Archéobotanique, Paris, FR, [email protected] Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, Mainz, DE, [email protected] 2University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dept Anthropology, Lincoln Nebraska, US 2School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, CN 3Direction des affaires culturelles de Guadeloupe, Ministère de la Culture, Basse-Terre, GP 3Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, CN 4UMR 8096 Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm), Paris, FR 4Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, US The Antilles archipelago is an exceptional example of continental Anthropogenic pressure on tropical shorelines is increasing globally, with dramatic Amerindian populations adapting to an insular environment, consequences for coral reef ecosystems; eutrophication, in particular, is becoming a major with many interisland exchanges due to highly effective naval threat to coral reefs worldwide. Yet, understanding the causes and the consequences of technology. Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean nutrient enrichment on coral reefs remains challenging due to a lack of long-term water contain a significant amount of well-preserved vertebrate remains quality datasets, which hampers the establishment of environmental baselines and thus (fish, turtles, snakes, lizards, birds, mammals), where ichthyological TUESDAY 10:15 TUESDAY the application of adequate mitigation policies. Definition of these baselines is critically remains predominate at a majority of sites. However, the importance 11:00 TUESDAY needed to identify the sources of nutrients present in coral reefs and understand how these of different marine ecosystems had varied in each Pre-Columbian nutrients might have changed the ecosystem over time. culture. The selection of captured marine species (sea turtles, manatees, monk seals, cetaceans, fish) indicates that fishing grounds and techniques also changed according to The natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes in coral skeleton-bound organic matter (CSδ15N) the various periods. is a promising tool to identify nitrogen (N) sources and to track their changes over time. Until now, such studies were prevented by the lack of adequate methodology, mainly due to Based upon 890,000 fish remains recovered and identified from 90 Pre-Columbian the low N content in coral skeleton. A recent study provided a sensitive and precise method archaeological sites in the Lesser Antilles (including St Martin, Barbuda, Antigua, the for analyzing CSδ15N (Wang et al., 2015), paving the way for a new field of investigation. archipelago of Guadeloupe and Martinique) since 1994, a palaeofishery chronology can be determined using the composition of the faunal spectrum and the animals size. The Here we measure CSδ15N records from notoriously eutrophied locations, i.e., Guam USA (56 earliest Archaic Age populations exploited seagrass meadows and lagoons near coral years) and Hong Kong SAR (150 years), to characterize the eutrophication history at these reefs. Later, the first settlers of the Ceramic Age exploited all the ecosystems (deep water locations. In both cases CSδ15N records significant changes in the N sources on decadal to channels, rocky bottoms, coral reefs, sandy bottoms, seagrass, mangroves, foreshore). The centennial scales, in response to increasing human activities. The two records show that Late Ceramic Age populations implanted their villages closer to the coasts and satellites sewage-derived N has been present at these locations for more than 50 years. Although islands were colonized. Some villages were highly specialized on certain species, e.g. these records come from locations that are clearly impacted by nutrient enrichment today, surgeon fish, parrot fish, sea turtles. Indeed, coral reef fish became increasingly important their eutrophication history suggests that a range of coastal reefs across the globe may in subsistence through time. Finally, fish sizes decreased over time but fishing technology have been under eutrophication stress for half a century. did not change.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 52 53

S01-O06 – TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE S01-O07 – TROPICAL MARINE ECOSYSTEM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE ASSEMBLY RULES AND LONG TERMS CHANGES IN GROUND THE GULF STREAM FRONTAL SYSTEM: A KEY FISH COMMUNITIES’ FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY OF THE OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURE IN THE HABITAT SELECTION OF CONTINENTAL SHELF OFF FRENCH GUIANA THE LEATHERBACK TURTLE?

Vincent Vallée1, Fabian Blanchard1 Chevallier Damien1, Yvon Le Maho (speaker)1, Philippine Chambault1, Benoît de Thoisy2, Simon Benhamou3, Alberto Baunadona4 1Ifremer Guyane, Fisheries Biodiversity Unit, Cayenne, GF, [email protected] 1CNRS-Université de Strasbourg, IPHC UMR 7178, Strasbourg, FR, [email protected] For more than two decades, describing and understanding the 2Association Kwata, 16 avenue Pasteur, BP 672, Cayenne, GF spatio-temporal dynamics of fish communities has been subject to 3Centre d’Étude Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, FR increasing attention from scientists. Such dynamics are crucial for 4Sorbonne Université, Université Paris 06, CNRS-IRD-MNHN-IPSL Laboratory, Paris, FR ecosystem functioning and productivity which provide goods and ecosystem services. Fishing and climate change have undisputable Although some associations between the leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea and the effects on species’ ecology and functions but are often difficult Gulf Stream current have been previously suggested, no study has to date demonstrated to disentangle insofar as two forcing variables could have the strong affinities between leatherback movements and this particular frontal system same effects on an indicator. Moreover, works on dynamics of using thorough oceanographic data in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. The fish communities focused mainly on temperate and boreal ecosystems. In recent years, importance of the Gulf Stream frontal system in the selection of high residence time (HRT) TUESDAY 11:15 TUESDAY progress has been made in the application of species traits to assess the functional areas by the North Atlantic leatherback turtle is assessed here for the first time using state- 11:30 TUESDAY diversity of fish communities. The traits based approach has been shown to be effective of-the-art ocean reanalysis products. Ten adult females from the Eastern French Guianese and sensitive to describe variation in functional diversity and to determine assembly rules rookery were satellite tracked during post-nesting migration to relate (1) their horizontal governing communities. movements to physical gradients (Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Sea Surface Height (SSH) and filaments) and biological variables (micronekton and chlorophyll a), and (2) their We used the trait-based approach, with ecological and morphometrical traits, and diving behaviour to vertical structures within the water column (mixed layer, thermocline, functional diversity indices to describe dynamics in the functional structure of the fish halocline and nutricline). All the turtles migrated northward towards the Gulf Stream north communities of the French Guiana continental shelf, a tropical zone characterized by a wall. significant increasing of SST and a declining fishing pressure. Our study is basedon datasets from surveys conducted from 1993 to 2017 using a bottom shrimp trawl between Although their HRT areas were geographically remote (spread between 80–30°W and 10 and 60 m depth. 28–45°N), all the turtles targeted similar habitats in terms of physical structures, i.e. strong gradients of SST, SSH and a deep mixed layer. This close association with the Gulf Firstly, comparing the functional richness of the fish communities to values obtained Stream frontal system highlights the first substantial synchronization ever observed in from a null model enabled us to identify the relative importance of the assembly rules in this species, as the HRTs were observed in close match with the autumn phytoplankton recent years (niche filtering hypothesis vs limiting similarity hypothesis). We secondly bloom. Turtles remained within the enriched mixed layer at depths of 38.5 ± 7.9 m when analyzed the ground fish communities’ spatio-temporal structure and functional diversity diving in HRT areas, likely to have an easier access to their prey and maximize therefore over this period. Subtropical species occurring at the upper limit of their thermal range the energy gain. These depths were shallow in comparison to those attained within the are disfavored with warming waters provoking potential changes in the fish communities’ thermocline (82.4 ± 5.6 m) while crossing the nutrient-poor subtropical gyre, probably structure. The consequences of such alterations are discussed. to reach cooler temperatures and save energy during the transit. In a context of climate change, anticipating the evolution of such frontal structure under the influence of global warming is crucial to ensure the conservation of this vulnerable species.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 54 55

S02-O01 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT METABOLOMIC FINGERPRINTING OF EIGHT MANGROVES SESSION 02 SPECIES FROM VIETNAM

MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT IN A Anne Bousquet-Mélou1, Virginie Baldy1, Tan Dao Van2, Stéphane Greff1, Jean-Rémi Malachin1, CHANGING WORLD Gérald Culioli3, Catherine Fernandez1

Chairs: Tarik MEZIANE, Emma MICHAUD 1Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie, Marseille, FR, [email protected] Contact: [email protected] 2Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, VN 3Laboratoire Matériaux Polymères Interfaces Environnement Marin, Toulon, FR Mangrove forests are some of the world’s most valuable coastal ecosystems. Their ecological importance has been increasingly highlighted such as providing food sources, Mangroves are tropical forest ecosystems where species are shelter, breeding grounds and nursery habitats for local faunal communities and organisms adapted to live in an extremely changing environment as they from adjacent coastal ecosystems. The trees are highly productive and the whole habitat occur exclusively in intertidal zones. Although their functioning is provides important ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling at still misunderstood, they are of special interest for the numerous a global scale, maintaining food sources, coastal stabilization, and enhancing recreation ecosystem services they provide among which the production of activities that ultimately benefit local populations. However, these intertidal forests despite molecules of interest, particularly used in traditional medicine.

TUESDAY being highly resilient and able to provide some coastal defence from climate and human These molecules, known as secondary metabolites, regulate

impacts such as sea rise level, changing in weather pattern, urban pollution and aquaculture the interactions between organisms of these ecosystems. They 14:30 TUESDAY development, are increasingly destroyed due to an excessive need of these services. are considered like the ultimate expression of metabolome, and they have key role in allelopathic processes. The surrounding plant species, but also the soil organisms (e.g. To better protect this unique ecosystem and help implementing none destructive practices, bacteria, fungi and invertebrates), are under constant pressure of this production which this session will gather studies that deal with (1) a functional role of every aspects that influence the quality of the environment. lead to sustainable ecosystem services, (2) the development of innovative methods for characterizing and quantifying key processes behind the mangrove services, and (3) the The aim of this study is to characterize the metabolomic fingerprinting of eight mangrove application of this know-how into management and restoration practices. species from the Northern Vietnam: Avicennia marina, Kandelia obovata, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Sonneratia apetala, Sonneratia caseolaris, Aegiceras corniculatum, Lumnitzera racemosa, and Rhizophora stylosa, and identify specific markers of these species. Analysis with UHPLC-QToF, in both negative and positive modes, revealed a chemical proximity in agreement with phylogeny, between the three species of the Rhizophoraceae family producing some quercetin derivatives like rutin and between the two species of the genus Sonneratia, with gallic acid derivatives.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 56 57

S02-O02 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT S02-O03 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT NYPA FRUTICANS WURMB (ARECACEAE) PEATLAND CARBON STOCK IN THE PACIFIC AND CARIBBEAN CHARACTERIZATION IN CAMEROON’S MANGROVE COLOMBIAN MANGROVES ECOSYSTEM Alejandra Monsalve1, Jaime Polonia (speaker)1, Paula Sierra2, Jhoanata Bolivar3 Jean-Hude E. Moudingo1,2, Gordon Ajonina2,3, Didier Dibong1,4, Minette Tomedi3 1Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, CO, [email protected] 1Département de Biologie des Organismes Végétaux, Faculté des Sciences, University of Douala, 2INVEMAR, Santa Marta, CO Douala, CM, [email protected] 3South Pole Group, Medellín, CO 2Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society Mouanko, Littoral Region-Cameroon, Douala, CM 3Département d’Aquaculture, Institut des Sciences Halieutiques, University of Douala, Douala, CM Mangroves are well known for their high rate of carbon accumulation. However, they are 4Department of Geosciences and Environment, Faculty of Sciences, University of Douala, Douala, CM threatened by deforestation and degradation, which in turn generate high greenhouse gas emissions. An effective alternative for mitigation of climate change can be protection Nypa fruticans, a plant originally from East Asia, was introduced to and restoration of mangroves, as well as to include them in mitigation strategies, such as Nigeria in 1906 and is spreading across Cameroon mangrove block. REDD projects. Since mangroves are ecologically diverse within the same climatic zone, Focusing especially on Nypa fruticans ecological niche is necessary coastal geomorphology and hydrological processes influence the chemical and physical to better understand this invasive character, especially because data conditions of their soils, as well as the structural development of their vegetation and, on its invadability are not available. consequently, on the carbon storage capacity of their different compartments. Therefore, it TUESDAY 14:45 TUESDAY is essential to quantify the ecosystems carbon stock. 15:00 TUESDAY The main objective of this study, carried out from April to August 2017, is to characterize (water and soil environment) the ecological This study estimated the carbon stock of Cispatá and Málaga bays (Colombian Caribbean niche of Nypa across Cameroon mangrove. Eight treatments amongst which stands with and Pacific, respectively). Carbon stock in above ground biomass, roots, necromass Nypa or mixed with (Nypa pure Nypa and Rhizophora, Nypa and Avicennia and Nypa, (standing dead trees and debris) and soil (first 45 cm of deep) were calculated, as well Rhizophora and Avicennia) and the three others with no Nypa (Rhizophora pure, Avicennia as their relationship with the soil physicochemical characteristics. The total carbon pure and Rhizophora and Avicennia). Water parameters were measured in situ at two levels stock varied between 226.4 ± 126.9 for the Pacific coast, and 521.2 ± 80.1 Mg.C.ha-1 for the of depth with the Hanna Hi 9829 multi-parameters while soil sample were analysed in Caribbean. The soil was the main compartment, representing more than 60 % of the carbon the laboratory. The results showed that the Nypa palm is present in all mangrove blocks stock in both littorals. It was also the one with the greatest variability, with means of 142.2 with heights ranging from 2.5 to 16 m while Rhizophora and Avicennia are up to 25 m. We and 417.4 Mg.C.ha-1 for the Pacific and Caribbean, respectively. At a more local level, the identified current invaded areas and found that water salinity, turbidity, temperature, pH highest carbon stock was associated to the lower N concentration. Nevertheless, higher and DO, soil pH varied significantly with stands and with depth across the three mangrove root carbon stocks were associated with the high N, Ca and Mg concentrations. We found blocks. Some of the parameters don’t varied significantly with treatments nor with depth. greater allocation to the root biomass at the expense of the aboveground compartment We recommend Nypa palm destructive sample so as to establish possible correlations when soil nutrients where less availability. These results reaffirm that the protection of between soil-water parameters and plant nutrient concentrations. mangroves is one of the key in climate change mitigation strategies, however, carbon stock estimates should take into account the great variability of these forests. Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 58 59

S02-O04 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT S02-O05 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT ENROOT: AN INEXPENSIVE, PARTIALLY 3D PRINTED THREE DECADES OF PLANES, SATELLITES AND DRONES MINIRHIZOTRON TO STUDY FINE ROOT PRODUCTION IN IN MONITORING AND MANAGING MANGROVE FORESTS IN MANGROVE FOREST KENYA, SRI LANKA AND MALAYSIA

Marie Arnaud1, Andrew Baird1, Paul J. Morris1, Angela Harris2, Jonathan J. Huck2 Farid Dahdouh-Guebas1,2, Behara Satyanarayana1,3, Viviana Otero1, Monika Ruwaimana1,2, Ruben Van De Kerchove4, Nico Koedam2, Richard Lucas5 1Leeds University, Leeds, UK, [email protected] 2University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 1Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BE, [email protected] 2Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, BE Mangroves are amongst the most carbon-dense ecosystems in 3Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, MY the world. The major input of organic carbon into mangrove soil 4Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Mol, BE seems likely to come from fine roots. However, our knowledge of 5University of New South Wales, Sydney, AU fine root production in mangroves is severely limited, due in large part to the inherent difficulty of measuring such subterranean Since the rise of remote sensing, the monitoring and management processes. Measurement techniques for fine root production are of mangrove forests world-wide has been aided. In this presentation, time consuming, expensive, and often destructive. we provide a zoom from historic aerial photography, over space- borne imagery, up to state-of-the art Unmanned Aerial Vehicle TUESDAY 15:15 TUESDAY Minirhizotrons offer a non-destructive alternative to quantify fine root production and (UAV) drone technology. 16:00 TUESDAY enable high-frequency in situ monitoring with little disturbance after an initial settling period. However, commercial minirhizotron systems are often prohibitively expensive. Using case-studies from Kenya, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, we provide an overview of the challenges of (1) identification of mangroves We present Enroot, an inexpensive, easy to build and partially 3D printable minirhizotron. trees, (2) pinpointing functional degradation of forest patches, and (3) estimating/ The cost of the new minirhizotron is less than 150 euros per unit, approximately one calculating reliable silvimetric indices. Overcoming these three challenges are paramount hundredth of some commercial systems. Enroot has been designed specifically for use in in successful (remote sensing-based) mangrove management. mangrove ecosystems, including in remote locations. Enroot is light, waterproof and uses a narrow minirhizotron tube that can fit between stilt-roots. The 3D-printing files required to manufacture the instrument are freely available. Once printed, assembly of the pieces requires less than 30 minutes.

We tested Enroot in laboratory mesocosms, and compared the instrument to theoretical characteristics of commercial systems. Enroot provides accurate imagery, is effective in flooded soil conditions, and is highly customizable. Enroot provides an effective, low-cost tool for repetitive, non-destructive sampling of root production in mangrove.

Although we focused primarily on root production, like other minirhizotron systems Enroot also has applications to measuring root morphology, rooting depth or root mortality. Enroot also represents an opportunity for the inhabitants of mangrove ecosystems to monitor the sequestration of carbon in local soils with relatively little training or expense, and may therefore provide a powerful tool for citizen science in the developing world.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 60 61

S02-O06 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT S02-O07 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT LINKING SCIENCE TO POLICY AND MANAGEMENT: THE CHANGES IN WHITE MANGROVE LEAF CHEMISTRY AND FRENCH TROPICAL WETLANDS NETWORK (PÔLE-RELAIS SUBSEQUENT ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS UPON LOGGING ZONES HUMIDES TROPICALES) Mirco Wölfelschneider1,2, Moirah Paula Machado de Menzes3, Ulf Mehlig3, Véronique Helfer1, Anne Caillaud1, Alain Pibot2, Alain Brondeau3 Martin Zimmer1

1IUCN France, Paris, FR, [email protected] 1Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT), Bremen, DE, 2Conservatoire du Littoral, Basse-Terre, GP [email protected] 3Conservatoire du Littoral, Paris, FR 2Universität Bremen, Bremen, DE 3Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Bragança, Bragança, BR Although there is a large consensus today on the value of mangroves and the ecosystem services they provide, significant With human populations rapidly increasing in coastal mangrove- losses continue to occur in French overseas territories. Mangrove rich regions, the number of people dependent on mangrove resources ecosystems continue to be the object of scientific studies, but there is rising. ‘No-take’ policies are no longer a feasible solution to protect is still a major disconnect between latest scientific findings on and preserve mangroves for future generations. this ecosystem (in fields such as geomorphology, ecology, botany, chemistry and oceanography), operational management and policy Hence, there is an urgent need for well-conceived management TUESDAY 16:15 TUESDAY decisions. In addition, the administrative and scientific silos that plans. Communities along the coastline of North Brazil practice a 16:30 TUESDAY tend to appear between terrestrial and marine ecosystems negatively affect decision- traditional form of selective mangrove-logging involving the White making and management for this intertidal habitat. Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa). The felled trees of this species have the ability to regrow, thus this activity is often considered as sustainable resource-use and is therefore In this context, the French Tropical Wetlands Network (Pôle-relais zones humides under less stricter regulation. However, its subsequent ecological impacts have yet to be tropicales), a national initiative coordinated by IUCN France and the Conservatoire du investigated. Littoral, aims to advocate enhanced protection of mangroves and other wetlands in French overseas territories through information sharing, capacity building, technical support and This study, conducted in the Reserva Extrativista (RESEX) on the Ajuruteua peninsula awareness raising at all levels in a complex governance context. (PA, Brazil), investigated how the regrowth process of the White Mangrove influences leaf chemistry and subsequent herbivory. In the first phase, leaf samples from trees at different This presentation will present current obstacles in the regulatory context, and the Network’s stages of regrowth were analysed for carbon, nitrogen and phenolics content, precipitation- strategy to revert the decline of mangroves in French overseas territories, including: capacity and leaf toughness. This provided an understanding of the chemical dynamics in • efforts to reduce inefficiencies of administrative and regulatory measures leading to regard to herbivore defences. further destruction of mangroves: development of public policy decision support tools, development of reliable and operational descriptors and indicators, support to adopt Results show significant changes in the leaf nitrogen content and toughness throughout better urban planning practices; tree regrowth. Increased levels of nitrogenous compounds and toughness in regrowing • capacity building strategies for managers, urban planners, decision-makers, rangers trees shortly after cutting align with decreased feeding activity of herbivores. These and public prosecutors; and patterns recede quickly whilst the regrowth proceeds. A second phase is currently • success stories in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Mayotte and New Caledonia. underway using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to gain a more detailed insight into the chemical composition of potential defence compounds. Current mangrove loss trends highlight the urgent need to go beyond knowledge acquisition Overall, preliminary results support the assumption that selective logging is a sustainable on this ecosystem and to guide efforts to adopt ambitious management measures through resource-use with a comparably low impact on surrounding ecosystem functioning. innovative and practical approaches that deliver tangible outcomes for mangroves. Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 62 63

S02-O08 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT S02-O09 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT LIGNOCELLULOSIC DETRITUS IN MANGROVE ECOSYSTEMS INVOLVEMENT OF WATER SOLUBLE OR VOLATILE IS PROCESSED BY A SPECIALIST GUILD OF INVERTEBRATES COMPOUNDS FROM LEAVES OF TWO MANGROVES AND ASSOCIATED MICROBIOTA AVICENNIA MARINA AND KANDELIA OBOVATA IN CRABS ATTRACTION Simon Cragg1 Catherine Fernandez1, Virginie Baldy1, Tan Dao Van2, Roxane de Rodez-Bénavent1, Magali 1University of Portsmouth, Institute of Marine Sciences, Portsmouth, UK, [email protected] Proffit3, Anne Bousquet-Mélou1

Mangrove forests are one of the main sources of vascular 1Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie, Marseille, FR, [email protected] plant detritus for coastal waters. Such detritus differs from the 2Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, VN particulate organic carbon that originates in the water column, 3Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Montpellier, FR being characterised by lignocellulose, a polymer complex of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. The complex is recalcitrant Most of mangrove primary production consists of mangrove leaves (resistant to enzyme activity), but is converted by specialist fauna and available to consumers after senescence and breakdown. and microbiota to labile oligomers that then join fluxes and sinks Herbivorous crabs are possibly among the most important actors of organic carbon within, and adjacent to, mangrove ecosystems. in the nutrient cycle and the forest structure, and thus by cutting Processing of leaf and small detritus is well characterised in a range of ecosystems, but tree leaves into pieces, digesting them or burrowing them. Given TUESDAY 16:45 TUESDAY processing of large woody detritus is not. the high content of specialized metabolites of mangroves, and the 17:00 TUESDAY ability of these molecules to be transmitted by air or water, crabs Woody detritus ranges in size from whole trees to twigs and wood flakes, with the larger can probably detect remotely the chemical signals released by the components being initially colonised by wood boring molluscs of the family Teredinidae leaves. Current knowledge does not allow us to know whether specialized metabolites and by isopod crustaceans (families Limnoriidae and Sphaeromatidae). Borers remove have a clear role in the choice of mangrove species consumed or in the preference of green up to 70 % of the original biomass and as their tunnelling progresses, bacteria and fungi leaves over senescent leaves. We don’t also know what type specialized metabolite crabs colonise tunnel walls, eventually becoming the dominant processors once as the wood are attracted by: volatile molecules or water-soluble molecules? disintegrates. Borers play a crucial role in the breakdown of large woody detritus that accounts for approximately half of the detrital input in undisturbed mangrove forests. We tested the feeding preferences of Perisesarma bidens between leaves from two common Exemplar ecosystems demonstrate the ecological implications of the processing of Vietnamese mangrove tree species (Avicennia marina and Kandelia obovata) and of two lignocellulosic mangrove detritus. A proper understanding of mangrove detrital processing phenological stages (green and senescent). In addition, it was tested if crab electivity is essential for a mangrove-related response to the REDD+ initiative. differed when chemical cues were mediated by air or water. This was done on the one side with the use of two-choices feeding essays and on the other side with attraction tests, both aquatic and aerial.

We observed that S. bidens crabs preferred to consume K. obovata rather than A. marina, and had no preference for green or senescent leaves. Moreover, it seems that crabs are not attracted by the smell of Kandelia leaves or those of A. marina and are not attracted by the taste of K. obovata leaves but rather rejected by that of A. marina. In the water attraction tests, crabs are more likely to move to seawater rather than A. marina macerates. We concluded that crabs could be repulsed by water-soluble compounds rather than volatile ones.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 64 65

S02-O10 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT DIRECT AND INDIRECT RESPONSES TO ENSO MODERATE COMMUNITY-BASED FISHERIES IN COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN MANGROVES

Ann Thornton1, Martin Solan1, Jasmin Godbold1, Mario Rueda2, Luisa Espinosa2, Carmen Lacambra3, Carlos Villamil3, Piran White4

1University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, [email protected] 2INVEMAR, Santa Marta, CO 3Grupo Laera, Bogotá, CO 4University of York, York, UK

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) creates fluctuations in temperature and precipitation throughout the Pacific region. The direct effect on mangroves from El Niño and La Niña events has been widely studied. However, the cumulative impacts of multiple environmental factors are often assumed rather than explicitly

TUESDAY 17:15 TUESDAY demonstrated yet these can have important repercussions for system dynamics and services. Only by identifying and managing these controllable effects can we potentially increase mangrove resilience to unpredictable sudden-onset environmental events?

We show how direct and indirect effects of ENSO on other environmental drivers within the mangrove system moderates the vital artisanal fisheries relied upon by local communities for food and income. Changes in air temperature (a key ENSO indicator) had a direct negative effect on overall fish catch (kg) and fishing effort. However, air temperature had a direct positive effect on catch weight of freshwater fish yet a negative effect on catches of freshwater/brackish species. Indirect effects from ENSO on catch weight and species diversity were evident through direct effects of air temperature and precipitation on salinity, water temperature, dissolved oxygen and nutrients.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 66 67

S03-O01 – CONTINENTAL WETLANDS TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS IN THE WATER-ENERGY-FOOD SESSION 03 NEXUS

ECOLOGY OF CONTINENTAL WETLANDS IN THE WORLD Fritz Kleinschroth1

Chairs: Hery Lisy Tiana RANARIJAONA, Pete B. PHILLIPSON 1ETH, Zürich, CH, [email protected] Contact: [email protected] The water-energy-food nexus is a conceptual tool for achieving This international conference is intended to exchange on both the ecology of the flora and sustainable development. Water, energy and food are equally fauna of the continental wetlands of the world: ethnoecology, systematics, ecology, biology, essential for human wellbeing, but especially in the face of climate threats, direct and indirect wetland values, biological invasions, conservation and climate change, the distribution of limited water resources between change. differing demands and across borders is becoming increasingly challenging. With a low degree of electrification and a growing need The aim is to mobilize and federate stakeholders concerned with the ecology of Indian for food, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa particularly depend on Ocean wetlands, specifically lentic environments (lakes, marshes, ponds, ponds, swamp the availability of sufficient water resources for their development. forests) and lotic environments (rivers, streams...). There are striking trade-offs between irrigation agriculture and hydropower production,

TUESDAY as both require dams to store water resources during the dry season. However, such river

The ecology and systematics of the continental aquatic flora (macrophytes, macroscopic regulations also have important implications for environmental flows and ecosystems 09:30 TUESDAY and/or microscopic algae), and that of the continental aquatic fauna (fish, birds, turtles, services demanded by downstream communities that depend on fisheries and the crocodiles...) will be treated. Also, the ecological dynamics of wetlands, followed by remote availability of clean water. sensing, and restoration will be addressed. We analyzed the importance of ecosystem functioning within the water-energy-food nexus These wetlands are reservoirs where human derives his resources and has been for the catchment of the Zambezi River. We developed an environmental values map of operating for thousands of years. Also, threats to wetlands due to the potential impacts of rivers and riparian habitats based on aquatic species richness, habitat types and potential anthropogenic activities and climate change will be highlighted. All this for the purpose connectivity-needs for migrating fishes and other water-dependent species. We combined of conserving and sustainably managing the tropical wetlands of the Indian Ocean. And this environmental values map with (1) a layer of potential threats from infrastructure finally, ecology and communication on wetlands will be important to be treated in order development such as dams and roads, (2) water quality, indicated by invasive floating to improve them. The aim is to make exchanges between specialists and highlight the vegetation and (3) streamflow information from a hydrological model, calculating water experiences on the tropical ecology of the Indian Ocean. These exchanges may lead to the availability and flows. The spatially explicit combination of environmental values and development of projects in partnership. predicted hotspots of change serves to suggest measures to avoid, reduce and mitigate impacts from development on the landscape scale. This will contribute to a decision analytic framework evaluating large-scale investments in projects such as hydropower stations and industrial agriculture under different socio-economic and climatic scenarios.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 68 69

S03-O02 – CONTINENTAL WETLANDS S03-O03 – CONTINENTAL WETLANDS HYDROELECTRIC RESERVOIRS INFLUENCE TREE EMERGENT MACROPHYTES SUPPORT ZOOPLANKTON PHYSIOLOGY AND ENDEMISM IN A SHALLOW TROPICAL LAKE: A BASIS FOR WETLAND CONSERVATION Pia Parolin1, Leandro Ferreira2 Mesfin Damtew1,2, Demeke Kifle3, Ludwig Triest1 1University of Hamburg, Hamburg, DE, [email protected] 2Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, BR 1Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ecology and Biodiversity, Brussels, BE, [email protected] 2Haramaya University, Environmental Health Science, Harar, ET In Amazonia, river damming to provide energy from hydroelectric 3Addis Ababa University, Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa, ET reservoirs turns rivers into huge lakes which flood the original vegetation. The vegetation suffers from strong impacts of The littoral zone of freshwater lakes, comprising macrophyte fragmentation, i.e. microclimatic changes, desiccation from wind, vegetation, is of high ecological and socioeconomic importance, and altered rainfall patterns. This leads to high tree mortality and and influences the structure and function of biological community. shifts in floristic composition. Understanding the biodiversity value of littoral zones of lakes is a priority for aquatic biodiversity conservation and land/water We analyze short-term responses in artificial islands of the Tapajós, management. However, less emphasis has been given to biotic Xingu and Tocantins Rivers in Amazonia in plot pairs of 5 × 40 m on 17 islands of varying interactions and refugia within wetlands bordering tropical African TUESDAY 09:45 TUESDAY sizes (8-100 hectares). The plot pairs comprised one plot 30 m from the margin and one more lakes, compared to the many researches focusing on monitoring 10:00 TUESDAY than 100 m from the margin. No significant differences of tree density, basal area, density open water. of regeneration and canopy cover were found between island border and interior in the sampled islands in the Tucuruí dam reservoir. This gives evidence that the whole islands – The present study investigates the role of the littoral zone of a shallow freshwater tropical and not merely the borders – are heavily affected by abiotic changes. Alterations of species rift lake (Ziway, Ethiopia), dominated by two emergent macrophytes, on zooplankton composition, richness and diversity occur, and the original species are substituted even in community structure. We hypothesized that the wetland vegetation serves as a preferred the central area of 100 ha islands. On the long run the woody vegetation is heavily affected microhabitat for zooplankton communities. To test this hypothesis, a lake with substantial and forests lose diversity and are shifted towards more open vegetation forms. With only coverage of emergent macrophytes was monitored monthly from January to August six out of 74 species occurring in three inventories of adjacent river systems, the majority 2016. The monitoring included measurements of onsite physical-chemical parameters, of woody species was restricted to each one of the rivers, indicating a high degree of local collection of zooplankton and water samples for biological and chemical analysis. Sites for endemism. Different species occupy similar environmental niches, alternative designs of replicate sampling were selected within habitats of macrophyte vegetation (Typha latifolia equal fitness occur in similar environments, making these fragile ecosystems of pioneering and Phragmites australis) and the open water part of the lake. formations highly valuable. Conservation plans must consider the complementarity of species when decision on where to place conservation units are taken. If this is not Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis were found to be home of more dense and diverse considered for conservation strategies, the original biodiversity will be lost irreversibly, zooplankton community than the open water. However, during the period of higher flood and it is impossible to compensate for it in other places. levels and vegetation loss, the density of crustacean zooplankton became significantly reduced within the patches of macrophytes. From biodiversity conservation perspective, the preservation of an albeit small fringe of macrophytes patches in the littoral zones of lakes is an integral part of protection of the whole lake. However, a rapid degradation of wetland vegetation by human activities is a real threat to these riparian lake ecosystems and the biota it supports.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 70 71

S03-O04 – CONTINENTAL WETLANDS FAIRY CIRCLES AND WETLAND VEGETATION PATCHES: WHY ARE THERE SIMILAR OR EVEN IDENTICAL REGULAR VEGETATION PATTERNS IN DESERTS AND WETLANDS?

Norbert Juergens1

1University of Hamburg, Hamburg, DE, [email protected]

Regularly spaced circular patches without vegetation in the grasslands at the Namib Desert margin (the famous “fairy circles”) caused an interesting scientific debate regarding their causation. One campus assumes that feedbacks based on competition for scarce resources among neighbouring plants alone can create spatial patterns at a much larger spatial scale. A second campus assumes that the regular spatial patterns are caused by competition for food among neighbouring colonies of social insects that actively manipulate cycling of biomass, nutrients, and minerals close to the colony center. TUESDAY 10:15 TUESDAY

Based on a decade of data collection, the presentation reviews new evidence regarding the flow of water (infiltration, percolation, lateral flow), minerals and biomass andthe inhibition of social insect activity.

In tropical wetlands the opposite contrast is observed: There are patches of vegetation within a surrounding matrix of less or no vegetation. These vegetation patches show the same spatial patterns as the desert fairy circles.

The presentation will propose a holistic harmonized hypothesis encompassing the pattern formation in extremely dry and extremely wet conditions.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 72 73

S04-O01 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS SESSION 04 11 CURRENT ISSUES IN SAVANNA ECOLOGY Jacques Gignoux1 UNDERSTANDING SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS TO PREDICT THEIR FUTURE 1Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES), Paris, FR, [email protected] Chairs: Jacques GIGNOUX, Sébastien BAROT Contact: [email protected] Savannas are increasingly acknowledged as important and valuable ecosystems. They occupy ~20 % of global land surfaces, 85 % of Savannas are tropical biomes covering about 25 % of continental surfaces. They host the global land area burnt, host an important and spectacular a very diverse flora and fauna. They host large human populations, especially in Africa, biodiversity, and constitute a significant income for many countries that highly depend on natural resources, soil fertility and biodiversity. Savannas are also through tourism and ranching. Despite this importance, they are fragile ecosystems that depend on the coexistence between C4 grasses and trees and under threat, mainly because of a poor knowledge of their extent that can quickly be turned into woodlands by bush encroachment that is due to diverse and functioning.

mechanisms (from the increase in the atmospheric CO2 concentration to changes in fire regimes and various human activities). In turn, tree-grass coexistence depends on complex For long they were considered as degraded forests or croplands – ignoring that most of

TUESDAY interactions between fires, herbivores, climate and human activities. them are ancient ecosystems that appeared at least 5 million years ago. They are subject to

high economic pressure, being easy to transform either to cropland or to tree plantations, 11:00 TUESDAY The goal of this session is to present various results from all relevant ecological and and being found in parts of the world where human population growth is fastest. environmental sciences (from population dynamics to ecosystem ecology, evolution and environmental humanities, from soil microorganisms to large mammals) that Savanna science faces the double challenge of the ecological complexity of these systems allow predicting the future of savannas. Will savannas persist? What proportion of their and of the deep transformations they are currently undergoing. The complexity is due to biodiversity may disappear? Will the functioning, e.g. carbon storage or soil fertility, of the many interacting functional groups found in savannas: grasses, trees, grazers, browsers, savannas change? What is the future of human populations inhabiting savannas? Local predators, soil engineers. The balance between these groups is under the control of climate, and global studies and all approaches, from field observation to lab experiments and fire regime and human activities, making the understanding and prediction of changes modelling are welcomed. in ecosystem dynamics very difficult. The transformations currently observed are bush encroachment and/or afforestation, clearing and conversion to cropland, heavy poaching of emblematic species, changes in fire regimes and changes in rainfall regimes.

I attempt here to prioritize the hottest issues in savanna ecology with regards to their current global situation. I identify 6 urgent issues motivated by threats on savanna ecosystems and 5 unresolved scientific problems specific to savannas.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 74 75

S04-O02 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S04-O03 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS EFFECTS OF MINERAL NITROGEN PARTITIONING ON TREE- GAS EXCHANGE AND BIOMASS ALLOCATION OF SHEA GRASS COEXISTENCE IN SAVANNAS (VITELLARIA PARADOXA C.F. GAERTN.) SEEDLINGS UNDER

INCREASED CO2, COMPETITION AND WATER AVAILABILITY Sarah Konaré1 Damian Tom-Dery1, Christoph Reisdorff1, Kai Jensen1 1Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Paris, FR, [email protected] 1Biocenter Klein Flottbek, Applied Plant Ecology, University Hamburg, Hamburg, DE, Coexistence between trees and grasses in savannas is generally assumed to be due to a [email protected] combination of partial niche separation for water acquisition and disturbances impacting the demography of trees and grasses. We propose a new mechanism of coexistence The Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.) is a major parkland species occurring solely based on the partitioning of the two dominant forms of soil mineral nitrogen (N), across the Africa Savanna belt from East to West. Its fruits, butter, and products from Shea

ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-). We built a mean-field model taking into account butter play a key role in the Sustainable Development Goals of poverty eradication, hunger the capacity of grasses and trees to influence nitrification fluxes as well as their relative elimination, and gender equity. Abiotic and biotic interactions play a pivotal role in shaping

preferences for NH4+ versus NO3-. Two models were studied: a first where nitrification only parklands because they influence vital processes like photosynthesis, transpiration and

depends on the quantity of NH4+ and a second where nitrification also depends on tree and biomass production. grass biomasses. We measured gas exchange of Shea seedlings grown under ambient and increased TUESDAY 11:15 TUESDAY TUESDAY 11:30 TUESDAY Consistently with coexistence theories, our results show that taking these two forms of atmospheric CO2 (eCO2), with and without grass competition and under different water

mineral N into account may allow coexistence when trees and grasses have contrasted availabilities in greenhouse chambers. We hypothesized that eCO2 will increase seedling

preferences for NH4+ or NO3-. Moreover, coexistence is more likely for intermediate growth in Shea via increases in photosynthetic parameters and that grass competition

nitrification rates. Assuming that grasses inhibit nitrification while trees stimulate it, as decreases the assimilation rate of Shea resulting in reduced growth. Increased CO2 caused observed in the Lamto savanna, Côte d’Ivoire, the most realistic case of coexistence would a 10 % (p < 0.001) increase in maximum light-saturated photosynthesis (Asat), 22 % (p < 0.001)

be when grasses prefer NH4+ and trees NO3-. Partitioning of mineral N is a stabilizing increase in intrinsic water use efficiency, 13 % (p < 0.001) increase in stem mass fraction coexistence mechanism that would act in interaction with already described mechanisms (SMF) and 11 % (p = 0.006) reduction in transpiration rate. Grass competition significantly based on disturbances by fire and herbivores. This mechanism virtually applies toany reduced Asat by 9 % (p < 0.001), maximum electron transport rate by 13 % (p < 0.001) and SMF savanna but should be thoroughly tested through empirical studies and new models taking (p < 0.001) by 19 %, with corresponding reduction in all biomass parameters, but a significant into account spatial heterogeneity in nitrification rates. 16 % (p < 0.001) increase in C/N ratio. Interactive effects were recorded for maximum electron

transport rate, dark respiration, stomatal conductance, CO2 compensation point and leaf

area ratio. Photosynthesis under eCO2 was positively influenced while transpiration was reduced leading to increased growth of Shea. Conversely, grass competition negatively affected photosynthesis, Shea growth and biomass. The control of grasses in the early stages of Shea development is therefore recommended.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 76 77

S04-O04 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S04-O05 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS MAMMALIAN HERBIVORES ALONG A NATIVE VEGETATION FROST IN AFROTROPICAL MID-ALTITUDE SAVANNAS - A LOSS GRADIENT IN NEOTROPICAL SAVANNA NEGLECTED ENVIRONMENTAL FILTER

Cyntia Santos1,2, Fábio Roque1, Olivier Pays2, Pierre-Cyril Renaud2 Manfred Finckh1, Paulina Zigelski1, Marion Stellmes2, Rasmus Revermann1

1Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, BR, [email protected] 1Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology of Plants, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, DE, 2Universitè de Angers, Angers, FR [email protected] 2Institute of Geographical Sciences, Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, Freie Universität Berlin, The Cerrado is a new economic development frontier for agribusiness Berlin, DE worldwide. In the last 30 years deforestation has reached 46 % creating a landscape made by a mosaic of preserved natural Current reviews of the factors shaping the forest - savanna transition focus mainly on C4 vegetation and agricultural matrix. This deforestation dynamic has grass - fire feedback and tree shade-fire suppression, with a secondary line of reasoning an impact especially for mammalian herbivores. We expected that discussing the role of large herbivores for the evolution and maintenance of dry tropical herbivores that are more dependent on forest resources (such as grasslands. Frost, however, has so far been widely neglected by researchers looking at the fruits) would be more sensitive to native vegetation loss. forest grassland dynamics in tropical landscapes. This is especially surprising since frost events reliably occur in the mid-altitudes of southern and south-central Africa. We selected 13 sampling sites of 5,000 hectares each, ranging from 9 to 90 % native vegetation TUESDAY 11:45 TUESDAY cover in the Bodoquena Plateau, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. We carried out mammal surveys We will present evidence that frost acts as a strong environmental filter in Afrotropical 14:30 TUESDAY using camera trappings between April 2016 and November 2017. In each sampling site, we suffrutex-grasslands of the Zambezian phytoregion. Data from western and central Angola installed 15 cameras, spaced about 900 meters, during at least 22 consecutive days during show frequent frost events (up to > 30 frost nights p.a.) occurring in the dry season between rainy and dry seasons. Our preliminary results indicate that composition of the herbivore mid-May and early September. Typically, night frosts start at about midnight and peak community is impacted by the loss of native vegetation. At species level, small body mass immediately before sunrise and result from thermal radiation during the cloud-free dry herbivore occurrence rate is significantly negatively impacted by natural vegetation loss season. These repeated frost events cause topkill of woody plant species with their origins as well as specialized diet species. We believe that larger species with good dispersal in the tropics, but are too short to penetrate the topsoil or dense grass tufts so that buds capacity can use the most favorable environments in the agricultural matrix to maintain of suffrutices and meristematic tissues of grasses remain protected from critically low some connectivity, while small and specialized species, require areas with better native temperatures. vegetation structure. While fires are frequent in the Angolan highlands, there is an astonishing lack of evidence for According to the composition of the species in the NMDS based on Jaccard distances, natural fires in the area and fire seasonality is inversely placed to potential natural ignition two main group of species are detected: (1) common species that occurred in almost all events. Similarly, landscape patterns in terms of natural forest-grassland distribution are landscapes, such as Tapirus terrestris, Peccary tajacu, Mazama gouazoubira, Mazama inversely located to spatial logics of fire dominated landscapes, but correspond perfectly to americana and Dasyprocta azara, and (2) sensible species, such as Cuniculus paca and drain lines (and thus frost distribution) of cold air in the hilly landscapes of the Angolan Tayassu pecary, that occurred mainly in landscapes dominated by native vegetation. plateau. Managing connectivity in this landscape can play a crucial role and underscores the importance of understanding how land use planning is occurring in the Cerrado for a better Since frost occurrence in the Angolan highlands is closely linked to the influx of cool dry biodiversity conservation strategy. air during the dry season, it can be assumed that frost events have been stronger, more frequent and further distributed during the cold periods of the quaternary (with lower global mean temperatures and generally drier atmospheric conditions). Functional traits of Afrotropical suffrutex-grassland biota which serve to avoid temperature stress are generally considered as fire traits but can similarly be regarded as evolutionary responses to frequent frost events rather than to sporadic natural fire events.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 78 79

S04-O06 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S04-O07 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS “PURGATORIES” REVEAL THE EFFECTS OF FIRE AND FROST EFFECT OF FIRE REGIME ON THE GRASS COMMUNITY OF ON GEOXYLIC SUFFRUTICES AND GRASSES IN SAVANNAS THE HUMID SAVANNA OF LAMTO (IVORY COAST)

Paulina Zigelski1, Manfred Finckh1, Fernanda Lages2 Kouamé Fulgence Koffi1,2, Aya Brigitte N’Dri2, Jean-Christophe Lata1, Souleymane Konaté2, Tharaniya Srikanthasamy1, Marcel Konan2, Sébastien Barot1 1Biozentrum Klein Flottbek, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, DE, [email protected] 2ISCED Huíla Lubango, Lubango, AO 1Sorbonne Université, Paris, FR, [email protected] 2Université Nangui Abrogoua, Abidjan, CI Recurrent fires are a characteristic feature of savannas and shape the pattern of grasslands and woodlands. The impact of fires on The persistence of humid savannas requires frequent fires. However, savanna trees is well studied; however, there has been less attention the impact of fire on perennial grass communities that constitute on aspects like the seasonal timing of fire or the dynamics of the open, the main source of fuel is largely unknown. This study assesses grass covered parts of these ecosystems beyond their role for fuel the impact of four fire treatments after three years: early fire, mid- loads. In many cases the seemingly grassy areas are intermingled season fire, late fire and no-fire treatment, on the grass communities with a diversity of shrubs or geoxylic suffrutices, resprouting readily of Lamto savanna, Ivory Coast. We described grass communities on after fire. The mixture of life forms with their different flammability 3 replicated 5 m × 5 m or 10 m × 5 m plots of each fire treatment. influences fire intensities, patchiness and associated microclimatic conditions before and TUESDAY 14:45 TUESDAY after burning. Thus, changing fire regimes (e.g. cessation of burning or different seasonal There was a non-significant trend for lower densities and smaller tussocks in the late fire. 15:00 TUESDAY timing) will probably cause shifts in phenological development stages, species and life Mid-season fire had the highest proportion of large tussocks (circumference above 50 cm) form composition, and vegetation structures. and holed tussocks (tussocks with an inner space deprived of tiller). All grass characteristics (density, circumference, proportion and probability of having holed tussocks) varied with Although fires occur ubiquitously in savannas, it is challenging to quantify the impact of the species. Andropogon canaliculatus and Hyparrhenia diplandra were the most abundant fire (and effects of fire exclosures) on tropical grasslands. Nevertheless, such analyses are of the 9-grass species and had the largest tussocks and the highest proportion of holed urgently needed to understand current and future effects of fire and subsequent changes tussocks. Brachiaria brachylopha, Hyparrhenia smithiana, Sorghastrum bipennatum and in microclimate on tropical grassy biomes, particularly since growing human populations Schizachrinum platiphylum were the less abundant species, with the lowest proportion of will increase the pressure on these ecosystems. Thus, in the dry season 2017 we started a holed tussocks and the smallest tussocks. Loudetia simplex was the third most abundant systematic burning experiment (“purgatory”) at two sites in Angolan suffrutex - grasslands species but was very rare in no-fire plots. The distribution of tussock circumferences is allowing us to compare the effects of early and late season fires and fire exclusion on right skewed and dominated by small tussocks. The proportion of holed tussocks strongly vegetation structure, subsequent differences in microclimatic conditions due to changes increases with tussock circumference which could lead to tussock fragmentation. Taken in vegetation height and cover, and species composition and performance. together, this study allows deriving preliminary hypotheses on the impact of fire on the demography of savanna grasses and their coexistence. Here, we present first results comparing the responses of different grass and suffrutex species to the burning treatments. We show that burning triggers resprouting in both life forms, whereby resprouting of suffrutices is enhanced with increasing fire damage. Furthermore, solely woody species are affected by frost damages in these open habitats, irrespective of the burning treatment. While meristematic tissues of perennial grasses are well protected by dense tufts against night frost, fresh shoots of suffrutices are vulnerable to frost damage. Particularly when older shoots and grass cover have been burned away, early regrowth of woody species gets killed by late dry season frost.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 80 81

S04-O08 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S04-O09 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS SEASONAL CHANGES IN FIRE BEHAVIOUR IN A HUMID ROLE OF THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF N CYCLE ON GRASS- SAVANNA OF WEST AFRICA TREES COMPETITION AND COEXISTENCE IN SAVANNAS

Aya Brigitte N’Dri1 Jean-Christophe Lata1

1University Nangui Abrogoua, Abidjan, CI, [email protected] 1Department Community Diversity & Ecosystem Functioning, iEES-Paris Laboratory – Sorbonne Université, Paris, FR, [email protected] Fire is important for the maintenance of African savanna ecosystems, particularly humid savanna. Despite the importance of The productivity of African savannas can be as high as that of fire behaviour to understand its ecological effects, few studies have tropical forests while they are extremely constrained by fire, strong documented fire behaviour and its determinants in humid West seasonality and low-nutrient soils. Twenty-five years of studies in African savannas. African savannas showed that one plant strategy could partially explain this high productivity paradox. Perennial grasses (Poaceae) We analyzed fire behaviour in the Guinean savanna of Lamto (Ivory can inhibit nitrification through root-exuded molecules. By limiting Coast) during a 4-year-field experiment. Nine 0.5 ha plots were burnt nitrate production, these ecosystems are more conservative for annually to determine the rate of spread and fire intensity. Fuel characteristics and weather nitrogen (N), being less prone to leaching/denitrification losses. This conditions were measured to assess their impact on fire behaviour. The fire regimes tested ability also likely explains the invasiveness of African Poaceae following their introduction TUESDAY 15:15 TUESDAY only depended on the burning season: early (EF), mid-season (MF), and late (LF) fires. for pasture in South America and Australia. 16:00 TUESDAY

Over the 4 years, understory grass height, total fresh fuel load and its moisture contents Besides Poaceae, savannas also include trees and shrubs. Their coexistence often appears had higher values in EF than in MF and LF. The rate of spread and intensity of MF (0.14 difficult to explain, as trees seem well able to exclude Poaceae through light or nutrient/ ± 0.03 m.s-1 and 3920 ± 740 Kw.m-1) and LF (0.12 ± 0.02 m.s-1 and 3134 ± 482 Kw.m-1) were water competition. We suggest that one of the reasons for coexistence could be a functional significantly higher than those of EF (0.04 ± 0.01 m.s-1 and 1416 ± 252 Kw.m-1). Fuel moisture niche divergence for N cycle control, leading to a 2-speed savanna functioning: Poaceae content and air humidity were generally the best predictors of fire behaviour. Thus, the biologically inhibit nitrification and therefore contribute to close the N cycle, while trees generally reported higher impact of late fires on trees is not due to a higher fire intensity stimulate it from mineralization to (de)nitrification, contributing to open the N cycle by

in the studied West African humid savanna. We suggest that the impact of late fires is due producing more N2O (GHG gas). to trees being in a more sensitive phenological stage, and to a longer time of exposure to lethal temperatures (> 60°C) at this season. These data provide important insights into fire Savannas provide worldwide important ecosystem services in regions of very high behaviour in the Guinean savanna-forest mosaic ecoregion, informing fire management. human population growth. Among the major global problems they are facing, increased

CO2, fire suppression and afforestation for C market will induce a functional shiftof savannas towards a more open, less conservative N cycle under increasing woody cover.

The promotion of increased N2O emissions can potentially offset carbon gains stored by afforestation. In the future, it would be very important to compare different savanna types, and the respective impact of grasses and trees on the N cycle to predict the evolution of savannas submitted to global changes and the evolution of the services they provide, e.g. climate regulation and soil fertility for agriculture.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 82 83

S04-O10 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S04-O11 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS CONTRASTED EFFECTS OF GRASSES AND TREES ON ANT ASSEMBLAGES IN A FOREST SAVANNAH MOSAIC IN MICROBIAL N-CYCLING IN AN AFRICAN HUMID SAVANNA THE COMOÉ NATIONAL PARK (IVORY COAST) DURING THE WET SEASON Nils-Christian Schumacher1, Erik T. Frank1, Karl Eduard Linsenmair1 Tharaniya Srikanthasamy1, Sébastien Barot1, Brigitte Aya N’Dri1, Kevin Tambosco1, Jean- Christophe Lata1 1University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, DE, [email protected]

1Sorbonne Université-iEES-Paris, Paris, FR, [email protected] Savannahs and forests cover most of tropical terrestrial landscapes. This ecosystem provides a high species richness and biodiversity. African humid savannas are highly productive ecosystems where grasses and trees coexist Biodiversity is strongly influenced by natural and anthropogenic despite very low soil fertility. Earlier results suggest that their high productivity is at least habitat fragmentation. For this study, the West African Comoé partially due to the ability of perennial tussock grasses to influence nitrogen (N) cycling and National park was investigated for ant diversity, with savannah as that trees likely have a contrasted influence on N cycling. Hence this study assessed the surrounding matrix, a continuous gallery forest and forest islands as impact of savanna grass and tree species on soil nitrification processes and the underlying an example for natural fragmented habitat. Samples of ants in the nitrifying archaeal and bacterial communities. leaf-litter, soil and tree trunk were taken by using Winkler traps, soil excavation and honey baits respectively with five sites in savannah and gallery forest and During the long-wet season, we sampled soil in the Lamto savanna (Ivory Coast - West 6 sites in forest islands. TUESDAY 16:15 TUESDAY Africa) under the dominant perennial grass species (Hyparrhenia diplandra) the dominant 16:30 TUESDAY tree species (Crossopteryx febrifuga) and in patches of soil without vegetation (hereafter In total 96 species from 35 genera were collected. While habitats did not differ in species bare soil patches). We combined measurements of the abundances of the functional genes richness, turnover in composition of ant assemblages between the different habitats was (DNA) of nitrification (amoA) and the transcripts of these genes (RNA) nitrification enzyme highly significant. Communities of the gallery forest and forest islands were more related activities (NEA) and soil physico-chemical characteristics. to each other when compared to the savannah. Subterranean and tree trunk samples had a lower species richness over all habitats compared to the leaf litter. Likely impacts The NEA was higher under trees than under grasses and in bare soil patches, and was on different composition in ant assemblages are regular bush fires, solar radiation, higher in these patches than under grasses. The abundance of ammonia oxidizing archaea temperature and humidity. Concerning habitat heterogeneity, our study suggests not a (AOA) followed the same pattern whereas, for the transcript, no difference was found. higher α-diversity for more complex habitats but β-diversity shows that habitats clearly The abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was higher under grasses and trees differ in their ant community. For every habitat, indicator species could be detected. For than in bare soil patches, but their transcript was under the limit of detection. Our results land-use and park management in the Comoé National park all three habitats need to be suggest that grasses inhibit nitrification while trees stimulate nitrification. The differences conserved to preserve a high γ-diversity. between the abundances of the transcripts of AOA and AOB nitrifying genes suggest that AOA are strongly involved in nitrification in this savanna. Overall, these results suggest Merian Award Applicant that grasses and trees create a strong heterogeneity in N cycling in the studied savanna. The underlying plant-soil feedbacks likely influence tree-grass dynamics. These feedbacks

should be taken into account to predict savannas N budget and their emissions of N2O at a time when savannas and the tree-grass equilibrium is threatened by many factors.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 84 85

S04-O12 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S04-O13 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS EFFECTS OF LAND USE PATTERN ON INVASIVE PLANT BIODIVERSITY RESPONSE TO LAND USE IN THE AFRICAN DIVERSITY IN GUINEAN SAVANNA ECOSYSTEMS OF TOGODO SAVANNA WOODLANDS: IMPLICATIONS OF HETEROGENEITY PROTECTED AREA, TOGO BETWEEN LAND USE ACTIVITIES AND TAXONOMIC GROUPS

Amah Akodewou1,2,3, Johan Oszwald4, Sêmihinva Ben Akpavi3, Laurent Gazull2, Koffi Akpagana3, Hemant Tripathi1, Casey Ryan1, Catherine Parr2 Valéry Gond2 1Department of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, [email protected] 1AGROPARISTECH, Paris, FR, [email protected] 2School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 2CIRAD, Montpellier, FR 3Laboratoire de Botanique et Ecologie Végétale, Université de Lomé, Lomé, TG Land use change and intensification is a leading cause of degradation 4Université Renne 2 - UFR Sciences sociales, Rennes, FR and deforestation and, consequently, habitat modification and biodiversity loss across the globe. However, the understanding Tropical natural ecosystems host a very diverse flora and fauna of global biodiversity-land use discourse is geographically and and are key ecosystems for global climate and biogeochemical taxonomically biased and restricted to land use end-points (e.g. regulation. Unfortunately, in West African landscapes, large forest to cropland). In this study, therefore, we examined the effects areas of savanna and forest have been progressively replaced or of selective logging and agriculture expansion on trees and mammal fragmented by crops. These dynamics promote the spread of many communities in the savanna woodlands of southern Africa, an TUESDAY 16:45 TUESDAY invasive plants representing on the one hand, a real and growing underrepresented ecosystem in the global biodiversity datasets. 17:00 TUESDAY threat for many conservation areas and on the other hand, a serious We used a single-season spatial comparison of two chronosequences, indicating a selective problem for agricultural production. Similarly, Togodo Protected logging-led charcoal production and agriculture expansion-led fragmentation intensity Area, a crucial habitat for many vulnerable and endangered species in Togo, is submitted gradient in the mopane and the miombo woodlands of Mozambique, respectively. We to important threats by human disturbance which promote the establishment and examined the individual species-level (occurrence) and community-level (alpha diversity - development of invasive plants. species richness, beta diversity - turnover and nestedness) responses of tree and mammal The eradication of invasive plants already established over a large area is rarely possible. communities as function of land use intensity. Thus, understanding and predicting the invasive success of plants is one of the major With charcoal production intensity, the species richness reduced by 12 % and 8.5 %, while concerns of the ecology of invasive plants. In order to evaluate the relations between in response to agriculture expansion, it declined by 14 % and 15 % for trees and mammals current land use patterns and invasive plant diversity and abundance, first, a typology of respectively. In addition, the species richness of trees underwent linear decline, while that landscape elements was defined based on the heterogeneity of the environment (forests, of mammals showed non-linear response. With increasing charcoal production intensity, savannas, fallows, oil palm and teak plantations, crops). Then, in each identified landscape the species turnover of trees decreased (-19 %), whereas that of mammals increased (98 %). element, the dominant plant species have been identified. A total of 133 botanical surveys In case of agriculture expansion, the turnover of trees increased (5 %) and that of mammals including: 27 in crops, 41 in fallows, 17 in palm plantations, 13 in teak plantations, 18 in declined (-17 %). savannas and 17 in forests. This study shows that species richness primarily reduces in response to land use pressures. As results, 178 dominant plant species including 31 (17.42 %) invasive or potentially However, there are caveats - taxonomic heterogeneity in patterns of species richness, beta- invasive were recorded. In terms of diversity, fallows (25 species) and crops (15 species) diversity and individual species responses should be taken in to consideration. Despite contain more dominant invasive species, unlike teak plantations and forests dominated losing species, not all communities underwent a total biodiversity decline. Mammal by only 4 and 5 species respectively. Among the most common dominant invasive species, communities in high intensity charcoal production and tree communities in response Panicum maximum Jacq. and Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob. dominate all to agricultural expansion increased in beta diversity. This underlines that loss of species types of landscape elements while other species such as Acmella oleracea (L.) R.K.Jansen richness does not always lead to biotic homogenization and biodiversity response differs and Triumfetta rhomboidea Jacq. dominate only one type of landscape element. between taxonomic groups and land use activities. Our results show that fallows are most susceptible to invasion and Panicum maximum Jacq. and Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob are the most invasive species in our Merian Award Applicant site. This is fundamental for predicting the future and for the restoration of these very useful ecosystems for biodiversity as well as for the population of the area.

Merian Award Applicant Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 86 87

S05-O01 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS MULTIPLE SHIFTS TO OPEN HABITATS IN MELASTOMATEAE SESSION 05 (MELASTOMATACEAE) CONGRUENT WITH THE INCREASE OF AFRICAN NEOGENE CLIMATIC ARIDITY DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN RAIN FOREST BIODIVERSITY: CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Marie Claire Veranso-Libalah1,2, Gudrun Kadereit1,2, Robert D. Stone Stone3, Thomas L.P. Couvreur4 Chairs: Violaine NICOLAS-COLIN, Thomas COUVREUR Contact: [email protected] 1Institut für Molekulare und Organismische Evolutionsbiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, DE, [email protected] Tropical African rain forests are one of the most species rich biomes on the planet. Yet 2Institut für Molekulare Physiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, DE this diversity is threatened by ongoing climate change and human actions. Understanding 3School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, ZA the origin and diversification of this biome will play a key role in its conservation over 4IRD, DIADE, University Montpellier, Montpellier, FR time. It will be important to bring together data from both animals and plants, which all too often are not integrated. The growing body of biogeographic and macro-evolutionary African Melastomateae (Melastomataceae) comprise c. 185 species studies focusing on tropical African forests, the generation of large DNA sequence datasets occurring in both closed and open habitats including primary, via NGS, the increasing availability of synthetic datasets of species distributions and secondary and gallery forests, humid and dry savannas, and

TUESDAY molecular data, an increasingly sophisticated set of available predictor data (e.g. spatially woodlands. As such, Melastomateae present an opportunity to test

explicit models of past climate) are now enabling us to adopt a comparative perspective on hypotheses about the evolution of African vegetation in response 09:30 TUESDAY biodiversity evolution in the region. to increased aridification. Based on an extensive sampling of New and Old World Melastomateae using two nuclear and three plastid The aim of this symposium will be to synthetize macro-evolutionary studies of both animal markers we reconstructed the biogeographic and habitat history of and plant African rain forest centered clades. The symposium will bring together early- the clade. In addition, we tested for shifts in diversification rates especially in relation to career and established researchers working on African rain forest biodiversity in general. adaptation to new habitats. Divergence times were estimated in BEAST based on three calibration priors. Biogeographic history was reconstructed under a dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis model implemented in ‘BioGeoBEARS’. The ancestral habitat of African Melastomateae was estimated using maximum likelihood and stochastic character mapping approaches. Finally, shifts in diversification rates were identified using BAMM. Melastomateae dispersed from South America to Africa during the Late Oligocene (~28 Ma) with subsequent dispersals to Madagascar and SE Asia during the Middle and Late Miocene (~16 Ma and ~12, Ma respectively). The ancestral African Melastomateae were adapted to closed habitats. At least 12 shifts to open habitats were inferred mainly occurring during the Middle Miocene or Pliocene. BAMM analyses estimated a net diversification rate (r) of 0.23 species/Ma (95 % quartile = 0.15-0.30) for African Melastomateae. Speciation (λ) and net diversification rates (r) gradually increased during the Neogene with a sharper increase after 4 Ma. None of the habitat shifts led to a significant increase in diversification rates. Long-distance dispersal from South America during the Early Miocene explains the origin of African Melastomateae. The inferred adaptation to open habitats from an ancestrally closed habitat is congruent with the Neogene increase of aridity across Africa. Adaptation to open habitats during the Neogene is an important driver of African plant diversity, but is not always followed by increased diversification rates.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 88 89

S05-O02 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS S05-O03 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS PHYLOGENETICS AND DIVERSIFICATION HISTORY OF FORESTS OF SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA - OVERLOOKED AND AFRICAN RATTANS (CALAMOIDEAE, ANCISTROPHYLLINAE) ENDANGERED CENTRE OF AFRICAN ENDEMISM

Adama Faye1, Jean-Christophe Pintaud1, William J. Baker2, Yves Vigouroux1, Bonaventure Josef Bryja1, Leonid A. Lavrenchenko2, Radim Sumbera3, Yonas Meheretu4 Sonké3, Thomas L.P. Couvreur1,2,4 1Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, CZ, [email protected] 1Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier, FR, [email protected] 2A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, RU 2Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK 3Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, CZ 3Département des Sciences Biologiques, Laboratoire de Botanique systématique et d’Ecologie, 4Department of Biology, Mekelle University, Mekelle, ET Université de Yaoundé I, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Yaoundé, CM 4Botany Section, Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, Darwinweg, Leiden, NL Biodiversity of African rainforests has been intensively studied. This is especially true for geographically large-scaled Guineo-Congolian Even though African Rain Forests (ARF) display high levels of local forests as well as for the geographically much more restricted species diversity and endemism, they are known to contain fewer montane forests of Eastern Africa (Albertine Rift, Kenyan Highlands, plant species than both the Neotropics and Asia. This disparity Eastern Arc Mountains, etc.), known for their very high level of has been suggested as a result of important extinction events that endemism. On the other hand, there are relatively small isolated occurred during the climatic history of Africa (Oligocene-Eocene rainforests laying outside the main distribution of African forests TUESDAY 09:45 TUESDAY and Pliocene periods). (e.g. in Angola or Ethiopia), whose biodiversity and biogeographical 10:00 TUESDAY relationships are understudied. African palms display a marked lower species diversity when compared to the two other rain forest areas. Here, we used African rattans (subtribe: In the frame of our biodiversity research of small terrestrial mammals in Eastern Africa, Ancistrophyllinae), one of the most diverse palms clades in Africa to test the impact of past we collected new material from two most important forest areas in Ethiopia (Harena mass extinction events on the evolution history of this clade. We reconstructed a near- forest in Bale Mountains and forests in south-western part of the country) and analysed complete, dated species-level phylogenetic tree for Ancistrophyllinae using plastid and biogeographical relationships of local mammalian fauna using phylogenetic approaches. nuclear markers. We found numerous endemic taxa living in this unique ecosystem - majority of them are Ancistrophyllinae diversified during the Eocene with most species originating during the specialized lineages within endemic Ethiopian clades, but there are also taxa, whose sister late Miocene after 10 Mya. This result is in agreement with several other studies suggesting lineages are distributed either in montane forests of Eastern Africa or even in lowland a pre-Pleistocene origin of the extant African flora. African rattans have undergone a forests in the Congo basin. Ethiopian forests can be thus considered as an additional center constant diversification rate punctuated by one or several important extinction events of African endemism requiring urgent conservation action, because of very rapid increase during the first part of the Cenozoic with most species diversity accumulating during of human population and extremely high level of deforestation in the country. the late Miocene and Pliocene. These results highlight that the diversity of ARF has been affected mainly by ancient extinction events.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 90 91

S05-O04 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS S05-O05 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS RESPONSE OF AFROMONTANE FORESTS TO PAST DIVERSIFICATION OF THE AFRICAN GENUS TREE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES: NEW INSIGHTS FROM BRACHYSTEGIA PODOCARPUS TREES USING GENOMIC TOOLS Arthur Boom1, Jérémy Migliore1, Dario Ojeda Alayon2, Esra Kaymak1, Pierre Meerts1, Jérémy Migliore1,2, Anne-Marie Lézine1, Olivier J. Hardy2 Olivier J. Hardy1

1Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches 1Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, BE, [email protected] Numériques (LOCEAN), Paris, FR, [email protected] 2Department of Ecology and Genetics, Oulu University, Oulu, FI 2Université Libre de Bruxelles, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology (EBE), Brussels, BE Past climatic fluctuations in Africa impacted dramatically the Afromontane forest is one of the most threatened habitat in Africa, different biomes compositions and distribution in Africa and referred to as the Afromontane archipelago, as their fragmented have probably played a role in the diversification of species trough distribution above 1500-2000 m elevation in the Tropics is analogous different mechanisms. To understand how these climate variations to a series of sky islands. Although some Afromontane enclaves contributed to the diversification of species and biomes shift, it is are widely discontinuous, they share similar plant communities proposed here to take interest the African tree genus Brachystegia. which are often distinct from the surrounding lowland regions This genus is represented in the tropical rainforest with seven and characterized by the Podocarpaceae conifers. According to species, but is also well represented in the so called miombo TUESDAY 10:15 TUESDAY palaeoecology, the story of these forests seems closely linked to woodlands, with at least 20 species. Understanding the diversification of this genus can 11:00 TUESDAY Plio-Pleistocene climate oscillations with a maximum expansion of montane elements give us insight in the landscape evolution. during phases of cool and dry conditions. However, the role of climate as motor of evolution of trees is difficult to assess, and there is still much uncertainty regarding the evolutionary The study here takes advantage of Illumina sequencing to obtain phylogenies (1) based imprints left by successive past forest fragmentation events on the diversification of on the full chloroplast sequence, and (2) based on several nuclear genes. The nuclear Podocarpus populations. Phylogeography can thus be a key proxy to study the response of sequences are obtained with the use of already developed baits for Detarioideae, and target trees to past climate changes, since genetic lineages bear the signal of past range dynamics 283 nuclear genes for a total of 359,222 bp. Here, the consistency of the two preliminary and population size fluctuations (e.g. population bottlenecks, expansion, and/or migration). phylogenies will be discussed.

Genomic data were developed using high throughput sequencing tools from both capture of chloroplast genomes and genotyping of nuclear DNA microsatellites on an extensive sampling, covering the patchily distribution of Podocarpus latifolius/milanjianus, in central and eastern Africa. The high level of polymorphism detected (400 SNPs along ca. 130000 bp of plastomes) provides a detailed phylogeographical signal to infer the evolutionary history of populations. There is a clear genetic differentiation between central and eastern African mountain ranges, with key elements about potential migration corridors. However, we detect past extensive gene flows from Cameroon to Angola and from Kenya to Mozambique that could be used to track the response of vegetation belts to past climate changes, and to compare to palaeoecological reconstructions.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 92 93

S05-O06 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS S05-O07 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS SMALL MAMMAL DIVERSIFICATION IN THE AFRICAN PHYLOGENETIC PATTERNS OF DIVERSIFICATION ACROSS GUINEO-CONGOLIAN RAINFOREST: A COMPARATIVE ECOLOGICAL NICHES IN THE AFRICAN TREE GENUS PHYLOGEOGRAPHIC SURVEY GUIBOURTIA

Violaine Nicolas1 Félicien Tosso1, Jean-Louis Doucet1, Kasso Daïnou1, Adeline Fayolle1, Alain Hambuckers2, Charles Doumenge3, Honoré Agbazahou3, Piet Stoffelen4, Olivier J. Hardy5 1Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, UMR ISYEB 7205, Paris, FR, [email protected] 1Central African Forests, TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University The African Guineo-Congolian rainforest constitutes the second of Liège, Gembloux, BE, [email protected] largest block of rainforest on earth, and it hosts a remarkable 2UR SPHERES, Behavioral Biology, University of Liege, Liège, BE biodiversity. Understanding the evolutionary processes responsible 3Centre International de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Montpellier, FR for this high species richness has fascinated biologists for decades 4Herbarium, Botanic Garden Meise, Meise, BE and remains a highly debated topic today. Two main hypotheses 5Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Unit, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, for Pleistocene divergence have been proposed and adapted for Bruxelles, BE Africa: Pleistocene forest refugia and riverine barriers. When interpreted through available palaeo-environmental frameworks, Adaptive evolution is thought to be a major driver of organism phylogeographical studies of habitat-specialist species are especially useful to test diversification but the link between phenotypic traits and TUESDAY 11:15 TUESDAY alternative hypotheses of diversification. Even more instructive are the comparisons of environmental niche remains little documented in tropical trees. 11:30 TUESDAY phylogeographical patterns in several species sharing the same biogeographical regions. Moreover, the respective roles of phylogenetic inertia and convergent evolution in shaping environmental niche and phenotypic trait In this talk we review recent phylogeographical studies focusing on terrestrial small similarity among related plant taxa is not well understood. Indeed, mammal (rodents and shrews) species inhabiting the lowland African rainforest. a correlation between species traits and species environmental This review shows that both Pleistocene forest refugia and riverine barriers explain niche among a sample of species may result from (1) convergent diversification across a variety of taxa, and that small differences between sibling species evolution if different environmental conditions have selected different sets of traits, or in habitat requirements can lead to completely different phylogeographic patterns. This (2) phylogenetic inertia if niche and morphological differences between species are simply review also highlights the limitations of previous studies, and which kind of studies should function of their phylogenetic divergence, in which case the trait-niche correlation does now be conduct to further test alternative diversification hypotheses. not imply any direct causal link. The aim of this study is to understand the relationships between environmental niche divergence and morphological divergence among congeneric species while accounting for phylogenetic inertia. This issue was addressed with the timber tree genus Guibourtia Benn. (Leguminosae, Detarioideae) which contains 13 African species occupying various forest habitat types, from rain forest to dry woodlands, with different climate and soil conditions. To this end, we combined morphological data with recent ecological niche modelling and used a highly resolved plastid phylogeny of the 13 African Guibourtia species. First, we demonstrated phylogenetic signals in both morphological traits (Mantel test between phylogenetic and morphological distances between species: r = 0.24, p = 0.031) and environmental niches (Mantel test between phylogenetic and niche distances between species: r = 0.23, p = 0.025). Second, we found a significant correlation between morphology and niche, at least between some of their respective dimensions (Mantel’s r = 0.32, p = 0.013), even after accounting for phylogenetic inertia (Phylogenetic Independent Contrast: r = 0.69, p = 0.018). This correlation occurred between some leaflet and flower traits and solar radiation, relative humidity, precipitations and temperature range. Our results demonstrate the convergent evolution of some morphological traits in response to climatic factors in congeneric tree species and highlight the action of selective forces, along with neutral ones, in shaping the divergence between tropical plants. Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. 94 95

S05-O08 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS south-western Congo forests. We detected fine-scale phylogeographic structuring in PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF A LEAF-LITTER FROG REVEALS most of the main lineages, which comprise up to 17 lineages. A genome-wide SNP dataset THE HISTORY OF THE LOWER GUINEA AND CONGO partly supports the mitochondrial structure, however, with some mitochondrial lineages RAINFORESTS evaluated as representing panmictic populations as based on detected gene flows, likely upon secondary contacts of populations expanding from forest refugia. Vaclav Gvozdik1,2, Matej Dolinay2,3, Daniel M. Portik4,5, Zoltan T. Nagy6,7, Eli Greenbaum8, Jos Kielgast9, Gabriel Badjedjea Babangenge10, David C. Blackburn11, Breda M. Zimkus12, Mark-Oliver Rödel7, Michael F. Barej7, Ange-G. Zassi-Boulou13, Rayna C. Bell14, Matthew K. Fujita4, Adam D. Leaché15

1Department of Zoology, National Museum, Prague, CZ, [email protected] 2Institute of Vertebrate Biology, CAS, Brno, CZ 3Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno, CZ 4Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, US 5Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Arizona, Tucson, US 6Joint Experimental Molecular Unit, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, BE 7Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, DE 8Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, US

TUESDAY 11:45 TUESDAY 9Department of Biology, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, DK 10Department of Ecology and Aquatic Biodiversity Resources, Biodiversity Monitoring Centre, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, CD 11Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, US 12Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, US 13National Research Institute of Exact and Natural Sciences, Brazzaville, CG 14Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, US 15Department of Biology and Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, US

Selecting an appropriate model species can also provide insights into the history of the ecosystem inhabited by the species. We have studied a lowland rainforest leaf-litter frog from Central Africa, Phrynobatrachus auritus, to infer its evolutionary history and the history of the Congolian and Lower Guinean forests using mitochondrial and genome-wide DNA sequence data.

Unexpectedly high number of geographically restricted mitochondrial lineages have been detected, suggesting existence of numerous forest refugia during climatically drier periods when the rainforests were fragmented. The highest genetic variation was detected in (1) the central Congo Basin south of the Congo River with the identification of several divergent lineages, suggesting the importance of this area as a diversification center. Further major phylogeographic units were detected in (2) the northern and eastern Congo Basin, (3) north-western Congo Basin and northern Gabon, (4) Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests, (5) coastal Gabon, and (6) southern Gabon/

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 96 97

S06-O01 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS LONG-TERM MULTI-SITE ACOUSTIC MONITORING SESSION 06 OF BIODIVERSITY IN THE AMAZON UNDER PROJECT PROVIDENCE ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS: NEW INSIGHTS AND NEW CHALLENGES Monika Kosecka1,2, Serge Zaugg1,2, Mike van der Schaar1,2, Emiliano Ramalho3, Michel Andre1,2

Chairs: Jérôme SUEUR, Alice C. HUGHES, Patrick A. JANSEN 1Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB), Technical University of Catalonia, Vilanova i la Geltru, Contact: [email protected] Barcelona, ES, [email protected] 2The Sense of Silence Foundation, Vilanova i la Geltru, Barcelona, ES Monitoring animal diversity is a key challenge of tropical ecology, as getting reliable 3Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá, Bairro Fonte Boa, Tefé, BR information on species ecology in a standardised manner across space and time is challenging. Furthermore, the rarity of some species and challenging landscapes and Project Providence is an international collaboration between the ecosystems can make direct observations and captures difficult. Yet understanding species Mamirauá Institute of Sustainable Development (Coordinator, distributions, their populations and their movements and the communities or landscape Brazil), The Sense of Silence Foundation (Spain), the Federal they belong to is essential information to not only understand their ecology bit also to University of Amazonas (Brazil) and CSIRO (Australia) that is ensure they are adequately protected into the future. developing automated animal detection sensors, called Providence

TUESDAY nodes, to monitor biodiversity under the canopy of the Amazon

However, recent non-invasive techniques based on audio and video autonomous sensors forest in real-time and at an unprecedented scale. 14:30 TUESDAY open the possibility to sample tropical environments over large areas and long-time periods Traditional wildlife survey methods, e.g. transect sampling or in a consistent and reliable manner. Such digital data acquired remotely and automatically camera traps, are inefficient in detecting most tropical species and are both expensive and returns valuable information on animal behaviour, animal distribution, animal community complex to deploy over large areas and long-time spans. Providence nodes will permanently composition, and even landscape structure. detect and classify species automatically through acoustic and visual sensors. The nodes will be radio linked, making use of WiFi, LoRa, or satellite communication. In this session, we will report the most recent finding in terms of audio and video Providence is planned in three phases, which will see the deployment of an increasing monitoring and discuss about the possible challenges in terms of data collection, sampling number of data collecting stations. Providence phase 1 is currently underway and it aims design, supervised and unsupervised automatic identification of species, and ecological at demonstrating the viability of the project by deploying ten nodes as a proof of concept indices. We will also show that these data can be used as an attractive media to raise public in the Várzea Floodplain Forests of Central Amazonia. The second phase will extend the awareness about tropical diversity and conservation. We will aim to conclude the session number of nodes to a hundred, covering over 1 million hectares inside the Mamirauá with a presentation of the integration of these different types of techniques to obtain a reserve. The final third phase will oversee the deployment of over a thousand Providence holistic understanding of the potential of these technologies. nodes throughout the whole Amazon forest. The Providence bioacoustics approach is taking advantage of LIDO (http://listentothedeep. com), a real-time data analysis system that was initially developed for ocean acoustic applications by the LAB. The LIDO system allows automatic detection of acoustically active species on Providence nodes and in phase 1 it is expected to be able to classify approximately 30 species, including birds, bats, dolphins, frogs, primates, cats, and other mammals. The automated real-time processing of audio streams is based on machine learning methods while the post-processing to obtain the final time-series (e.g. per-species presence indicators) is based on statistical methods that account for prediction errors. Taken jointly, these indicators inform on acoustically active species composition at a fine temporal scale and can be formally combined to provide biodiversity indices.

The project is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 98 99

S06-O02 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS S06-O03 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS REMOTE SENSING FOR LARGE SCALE BIRD MONITORING IN ACOUSTIC MONITORING OF RESPLENDENT QUETZAL TROPICAL FORESTS PHAROMACHRUS MOCINNO, A FLAGSHIP BIRD SPECIES OF GUATEMALA Hervé Glotin1,2, Hervé Goeau3, Willem-Pier Vellinga4, Robert Planque4, Marie Trone2,5, Alexis Joly6,7 Pablo Bolanos1,2, Thierry Aubin2, Jérôme Sueur1

1Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, ENSAM, LIS UMR CNRS, Toulon, FR, 1Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, FR, [email protected] [email protected] 2CNRS, Paris, FR 2BRILAAM STICAmSud, France, Perú, Chile, Iquitos, PE 3IRD, UMR AMAP, Montpellier, FR The Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno is a neotropical 4Xeno-Canto Foundation, NL bird included in the IUCN red list of threatened species. This bird 5Valencia College, Kissimmee, US is an important seed disperser and is the center of the past and 6Inria ZENITH team, Montpellier, FR present Mayan culture. The observation of P. mocinno is challenging 7LIRMM, Montpellier, FR due to its rarity and its elusive behaviour. Moreover, its cultural importance precludes capture and manipulation. The number of Monitoring the faunal biodiversity of tropical rainforests is critical individuals is unknown, in part due to a lack of a reliable monitoring to evaluating their resiliency to global changes. Visual assessments method. In order to track the remaining populations for appropriate TUESDAY 14:45 TUESDAY of species are challenging due to the cryptic behavioral repertoires conservation, we developed an acoustic method using autonomous recorders and machine 15:00 TUESDAY and camouflaging patterns exhibited by many species, as well as learning technics. the visually impairing forest vegetation. Auditory estimations are We first recorded sounds with six autonomous recorders positioned in a protected area complicated by a single species producing an assortment of calls in Guatemala during February 2016 and 2017. We conducted propagation experiments of under varying conditions. Moreover, soundscapes are composed of vocalizations of P. mocinno in its habitat, the cloud forest, to measure the detection range multiple species. of the recorders. We also determined the composition of the bird community occurring We report on the synergistic application of soundscape audio recording techniques, in the same frequency range, and identified the vocalizations of other species that could human birder expertise, and deep learning machine learning algorithms developed during generate false positive detections. We developed an automatic detection system using the international BirdCLEF 2017 challenge. Previous BirdCLEF challenges used rainforest cross correlation that was assessed with manual identifications in a ground truth dataset. short soundscape recordings made in Colombia in conjunction with known bird calls The results indicate that acoustics is an effective method to track the populations of P. collected via the crowd sourced website, Xeno-Canto, to aid in the development of species mocinno in the fields. This non-invasive method can be easily applied to other Guatemala identification algorithms. populations and other countries. Such monitoring data should clarify ecological questions New audio recordings were made by our team by placing 4 microphones (sample rate 96 to support management decisions. kHz, 24-bit) 35 meters above the ground in an undeveloped region of the Peruvian Amazon near the Napo River in 2016 and 2017. Subsequently, these recordings were annotated by a professional bird guide who indicated the sex of the caller and its behavioral significance. These recordings were then used in the BirdCLEF 2017 machine learning challenge, with the goal of improving automated counts of rainforest species based upon real remote auditory sensing. New algorithms were developed to solve these soundscape recordings resulting in improved mean average precision rates as depicted in http://www.imageclef.org/ lifeclef/2017/bird. Details of the variety of the models and results are shown, demonstrating the rapid increase of the accuracy of the model even for 1500 species, but still in need of some improvements for complex soundscape tasks.

We thank Explorama Lodges, CONAPAC & STICAmSud for their support.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 100 101

S06-O04 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS S06-O05 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS ASSESSING AMAZON RIVER DOLPHIN (INIA GEOFFRENSIS / PASSIVE ACOUSTICS REVEALS VOCAL DYNAMICS OF CORAL SOTALIA FLUVIATILIS) POPULATIONS ACOUSTICALLY AND REEF COMMUNITIES IN MOOREA ISLAND AND FAKARAVA VISUALLY ATOLL, FRENCH POLYNESIA

Marie Trone1,2,3, David Bonnett2,3,4, Gerald Blakefield2,3,4, Valentin Gies3,5,6,7, Valentin Barchasz3,5,6,7, Frédéric Bertucci1,2, Noémie Jublier2, Katy Maratrat2, Laurent Ballesta3, David Lecchini1,4, Eric Julie Patris,3,6,8, Randall Balestriero3,6,9, Pascale Giraudet3,6,8, Franck Malige3,6,8, Hervé Glotin3,6,7,8 Parmentier2

1Valencia College, Kissimmee, US, [email protected] 1Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement, USR3278, Moorea, PF, 2Conservacion de la Naturaleza Amazonica del Peru, A.C., Iquitos, PE [email protected] 3BRILAAM STICAmSud, France, Perú, Chile, Iquitos, PE 2Laboratoire de Morphologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Liège, BE 4Engineer, retired, Seattle, US 3Andromède Océanologie, Carnon-Plage, FR 5Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IM2NP UMR, Marseille, FR 4Laboratoire d’Excellence «CORAIL», Paris, FR 6EADM MADICS CNRS, Marseille, FR 7SMIOT, Université de Toulon, Toulon, FR Although passive acoustics have allowed to identify and follow 8Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, ENSAM, LSIS UMR 7296, Marseille, FR the calling activity of many species, only few studies address 9Rice University, Houston, US sound production within an entire community, and on a long term basis. We investigated sound production within two coral reef TUESDAY 15:15 TUESDAY Two species of dolphins (Inia geoffrensis / Sotalia fluviatilis) inhabit ichthyologic communities in French Polynesia by using automated 16:00 TUESDAY the Amazon River watershed. These populations are difficult to audio recorders in Moorea Island and Fakarava atoll. We identified visually assess due to the opaque waters and flooded forests in which a total of 38 and 57 different types of sounds respectively. Some they live, as well as the morphology and behavior exhibited by these calls dominated during day-time while others did it during night- unique aquatic mammals. As a result, both species are listed as time. Acoustic features of co-occurring sound types significantly differed at the spectral “data deficient” by the IUCN. Thus, these dolphins lack endangered level, optimizing communication within a biologically rich and dense environment. species status and consequently international protection, despite The combination of nycthemeral activity and specialization in the use of the frequency increasing anthropogenic threats. spectrum has already been reported in insects, frogs, birds or mammals but rarely in fishes. Our research team has been working to develop robust methods to assess river dolphin In addition, site specific differences in acoustic activity were observed and may be linked populations using visually-supplemented, acoustical methods. Underwater portable arrays to seasonal changes. housing between 4 and 7 hydrophones have been used in conjunction with a high capacity Overall, these results illustrate the diversity of sounds in coral reefs and further demonstrate digital analog converter, JASON DAQ (http://smiot.univ-tln.fr/). JASON DAQ is capable of the potential of passive acoustics to monitor biodiversity and its possible implication in sampling at 1 MHz on 4 channels simultaneously to assess dolphin positions relative to management strategies. However, while the acquisition of such dataset is now easy, the the array using time delay of arrivals of the dolphin acoustical signals. These data are development of tools such as automatic detection algorithms and appropriate indices to supplemented with simultaneous video recordings, and sightings are documented using rapidly assess diversity are needed to speed-up the analysis of longer term surveys. customized code on a tablet. Furthermore, side scan sonar has been occasionally used to obtain collateral data regarding dolphin size and relative position. Data have been collected in the Peruvian Amazon using these techniques from 2014 to 2017. Based upon a subset of our data, 5 differing methods of acoustically counting dolphins have been ascertained. In addition, dolphin acoustic frequencies as high as 300 kHz have been documented. Finally, twin inverted pulses are commonly recorded, as well as frequency-modulated clicks. Possible explanations for these findings are suggested. Limitations of this work are discussed, as well as avenues for future research.

We thank Explorama Lodges, CONAPAC, STICAmSud, & Dolphin Communication Project for their financial support.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 102 103

S06-O06 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS S06-O07 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS PREDICTING BIRD SPECIES RICHNESS IN TROPICAL DRY CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF EXPLOSIVE BREEDING FORESTS USING ACOUSTICS AMPHIBIAN COMMUNITIES REVEALED BY REMOTE SENSORS Branko Hilje1, Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa1 Juan Sebastian Ulloa1,2, Thierry Aubin2, Diego Llusia1,2, Philippe Gaucher3, Antoine Fouquet3, 1Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CA, Élodie Courtois3, Jérôme Sueur1 [email protected] 1Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB UMR 7205 CNRS-MNHN- EPHE, Muséum Birds are highly sensitive to habitat transformation caused by national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Université, Paris, FR, [email protected] human activities such as logging, cattle ranching, and agriculture, 2Equipe Communications Acoustiques, UMR 9197 Neuro-PSI-CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Orsay, FR and species that inhabit forests are particularly affected by land 3Laboratoire Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens, USR 3456 CNRS, Université use change. In tropical forests, vegetation structure and floristic de Guyane, Cayenne, GY species composition are two important predictors of bird species richness and diversity. As a result, older forests provide a greater Amphibian communities are endangered by several threats, structural complexity than young forests due to a higher availability including habitat loss, diseases and pollution. These threats are of perches for singing and displays during the breeding season, even more pronounced for communities which breed in limited- more nesting and roosting sites, a greater protection from predators, and more stable resource areas during an extremely brief period. This is the case TUESDAY 16:15 TUESDAY microclimatic conditions. On the other hand, the floristic composition is important for of neotropical explosive breeding species which adult populations 16:30 TUESDAY fruit and seed-eating bird species. Tropical dry forests (TDFs) in the neotropics hold a emerge massively in small ponds for only a few days. These high diversity of flora and fauna, and several species of birds have distribution ranges populations constitute very peculiar communities that need to be restricted to this ecosystem. However, TDFs are highly threatened by human activities and accurately monitored and studied for appropriate conservation most of its original extension has been converted to other land uses. Nevertheless, some planning. countries have experienced dry forest recovery in the past decades due to changes in their economies and conservation policies, that is the case of Costa Rica, which has the largest Using automated remote sensors, we collected for the first time acoustic and environmental protected TDF in Central America. The TDF there is a mix of old growth forest with forests data simultaneously and regularly in five ponds during four months in French Guiana. from different successional stages that recovered mostly from cattle ranching activities in We assessed changes in the acoustics of the communities before and during explosive the past. Few studies have evaluated bird species richness in TDFs and they are focused on breeding events and confronted these changes with environmental variables. landscape characteristics at a broad scale. During the survey period we detected in each pond two explosive breeding events lasting In this study, we evaluated the influence of forest structure on bird species richness at a fine between 24 and 70 hours. Rain of the 48 preceding hours was identified as the most scale in dry forests in Costa Rica. We used acoustic recording techniques for bird species important abiotic factor predicting the emergence of these events. Even if a common pool richness data collection, identification, and analysis. We used the Acoustic Complexity of species co-occurred in the different sites, the sites presented high diversity within and Index (ACI) as well as manual bird identification to obtain information on acoustic and between explosive breeding communities. The frequency dispersion and the acoustic species richness. We demonstrated that acoustics are reliable techniques for predicting diversity of the explosive breeding communities were lower than those of the communities bird species richness in TDFs. We generated hot zones maps for bird species richness and preceding the explosive breeding events. The diversity and spatiotemporal dynamics of avian acoustic complexity based on dry forest structural characteristics. Hot zones maps these communities seem therefore to be unique and call for their preservation. The use of are important tools for predicting bird species richness in dry forests in Costa Rica, but acoustic sensors appears as a suitable method for tracking explosive breeding species and they can also be implemented at a larger scale for the neotropical dry forests extent. They might offer new possibilities to support future conservation decisions. can be useful instruments for bird species conservation efforts in dry forests throughout the neotropics.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 104 105

S06-O08 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS S06-O09 – ACOUSTIC SURVEY IN TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS DOCUMENTING SPECIES RICHNESS AND ACOUSTIC 8-YEARS OF RESEARCH ON THE NEW CALEDONIAN ACTIVITY PATTERNS FROM SOUNDSCAPES IN A TROPICAL ACOUSTIC COMMUNITIES: SUMMARY AND PERSPECTIVES BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT, SULAWESI, INDONESIA FOR BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION

Karen Rowe1,2, Mohammad Irham3,4, Tri Haryoko3,4 Amandine Gasc1,2, Jérôme Sueur3, Jeremy Anso4, Laure Desutter-Grandcolas3, Hervé Jourdan4

1Museums Victoria, Melbourne, AU, [email protected] 1Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Marseille, FR, [email protected] 2University of Melbourne, Parkville, AU 2Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale, Aix-en-Provence, 3Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Bogor, ID FR 4Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Bogor, ID 3Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, FR 4Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Nouméa, NC The Indonesian Archipelago, which includes more than 17,000 islands, is one of the most biodiversity-rich and unique tropical Understanding the composition and dynamics of animal regions in the world. In particular, Sulawesi is the largest island communities is of high importance for tropical conservation. Tropical within the Wallacean Biodiversity Hotspot, representing a unique acoustic communities could be monitored and analysed thanks to blend of Asian-origin, Australian-origin, and endemic species. Yet autonomous field recorders and appropriate analytic methods. We rapid, landscape-scale habitat loss, land conversion, and expanding conducted a long-term research on acoustic communities in New TUESDAY 16:45 TUESDAY human populations threaten the long-term persistence of wildlife Caledonia based on the collection of environmental recordings, the 17:00 TUESDAY within Sulawesi and Indonesia more generally. Understanding inventory of the biological sounds recorded, and the calculation of the scale of these threats is challenging, in part due to gaps in our knowledge of the acoustic diversity indices. distributional dynamics of species along ecological gradients as well as the geologically and topographically complexity of the Indonesian landscape. Results showed a clear diel pattern in acoustic activity with higher values at night, a detectable acoustic signature for animal communities differing in composition, and a Autonomous audio recorders provide a low-cost opportunity to gather spatially and gradual change in acoustic composition overnight. Focusing on crickets, the results temporally comprehensive data on the presence of individual species. Furthermore, also demonstrated a clear dominance of this group in the New Caledonian nocturnal the recorded soundscapes can provide information on species diversity, through the soundscapes. Each habitat harbored a specific acoustic cricket community related to calculation of acoustic biodiversity indices, which can ultimately aid in our understanding specific environmental attributes including vegetation height, daily variation of humidity of shifting patterns of biodiversity in the face of change. We explored the use of audio and temperature. The presence of W. auropunctata, an invasive ant, was significantly recorders and acoustic indices to document patterns of biodiversity across a species associated with a lower cricket acoustic activity and species richness at night. Of the richness gradient (elevation) on multiple mountain ranges within Sulawesi. Specifically, 19-species of crickets detected, four nocturnal species were identified as indicator we discuss how well acoustic biodiversity indices matched observational records for birds of non-invaded forests and preforests. Similar conclusions have been found through as species richness declined with elevation. We also document the diurnal and spatial fast calculation of acoustic diversity indices. This work supports the use of acoustic in patterns of acoustic activity (frogs, birds, and insects) both within and among sites. Our monitoring large protected area as an alternative method to detect disturbances such as results suggest that documenting species via soundscape analyses can provide novel invasion by exotic species. insights into our understanding of shifting biodiversity patterns, as well as highlighting the benefits and challenges of acoustic monitoring within species-rich and acoustically complex communities.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 106 107

S07-O01 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE UAS IDENTIFICATION OF SCALE AND PATTERNS OF LIANA SESSION 07 INFESTATION IN TROPICAL FORESTS, MALAYSIA

BIODIVERSITY IN THE TREETOPS: Catherine Waite1, Richard Field1, Geertje van der Heijden1, Doreen S. Boyd1 NOVEL METHODS TO EXPLORE CANOPY ECOLOGY 1University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, [email protected] Chairs: Julian DONALD, Louise ASHTON Contact: [email protected] Across the world’s tropical forests, recent increases in woody vine (liana) abundance is dramatically altering carbon dynamics: Rainforest canopies are one of the most diverse habitats on the planet, providing a home to reducing carbon accumulation and long-term storage by enhancing a large number of plant and animal species adapted to the unique conditions found at the tree mortality and reducing growth by up to 84 %. Also, lianas rely top of the trees. The role of the canopy as an interface between the earth’s vegetation and on trees for support, and therefore allocate a higher proportion of the atmosphere means that this habitat is also critically important in influencing global biomass to foliage production over carbon-dense stems, reducing climate, carbon and nitrogen cycles. Whilst scientific studies of these ecosystems are net above-ground carbon uptake by ~76 %/year. This has important increasing as a result of advances in canopy access techniques, they nonetheless remain impacts for climate change but, despite this, lianas are chronically difficult environments within which to perform scientific research. understudied in tropical forest ground-based censuses due to the time-consuming nature

TUESDAY of surveying them. Satellite and airborne mapping and monitoring studies have occurred,

In this session, we aim to discuss how novel tools can help us to elucidate the patterns and but are limited by relatively coarse spatial and temporal resolutions, cloud obscuration, and 09:30 TUESDAY processes which characterise these unique habitats, in order to better understand their high costs. Resultantly, data is lacking on the scale and impacts of recent liana proliferation. functioning when faced with the twin threats of habitat destruction and climate change. UAS imaging may provide an affordable, accessible tool to map and monitor lianas at higher spatial and temporal resolutions than possible with ground-based censuses, while overcoming the limitations associated with airborne and satellite techniques.

Combining UAS and ground-based censuses in two areas of Malaysian tropical forest, this research investigates whether liana load (estimated as % crown cover) can be accurately distinguished using UAS imagery. It aims to assess the viability of UASs as tools for mapping and monitoring lianas in tropical forests, while providing information on the extent and spatial patterning of liana infestation. The ability to repeatedly and accurately map lianas is crucial for analysing and quantifying their effects on forest function, and helps uncover mechanisms behind their proliferation, as a continued increase may further reduce tropical forest carbon storage and sequestration, endangering the future of the

tropical carbon sink. Preliminary results indicate strong, positive correlations (R2 ranging from 0.72 to 0.91, n = 3320).

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 108 109

S07-O02 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE S07-O03 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE DIFFERENCES IN LEAF TEMPERATURE BETWEEN LIANAS TREE ARCHITECTURE AND WIND-INDUCED SWAY AND TREES AT THE CANOPY OF A LOWLAND TROPICAL FOREST Tobias Jackson1, Alexander Shenkin1, Andy Burt2, Mat Disney2, Kim Calders3, Yadvinder Malhi1

J. Antonio Guzmán Q.1, G. Arturo Sánchez-Azofeifa1, Benoit Rivard1 1Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, [email protected] 2Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK 1Center for Earth Observation Sciences, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University 3CAVElab – Computational & Applied Vegetation Ecology, Ghent University, BE of Alberta, Edmonton, CA, [email protected] The motion of trees in the wind is intricately linked with the Leaf temperature (Tleaf) is one of the leading factors that can affect architecture of tree crowns. Recent advances in terrestrial laser the physiological processes on leaves such as photosynthesis scanning allows us to map the 3D structure of trees at the plot- and respiration. Currently, there is a growing interest in including scale for the first time. These 3D model trees allow us to extract lianas in productivity models due to their increasing abundance architectural measures such as mean branching angle and angular and their detrimental effects on net primary productivity in tropical asymmetry of the crown, which were previously impossible to environments. Therefore, understanding the differences of Tleaf measure in large or medium-sized trees. We exploit these advances between lianas and trees is important for future of forest on whole to explore the shapes and patterns found in tree crowns and what ecosystem productivity. they may tell us about mechanical constraints on tree growth and competition between TUESDAY 09:45 TUESDAY neighbouring crowns. 10:00 TUESDAY Here we hypothesize that the presence of lianas affects the displayed leaf temperature (Td = Tleaf - ambient temperature) of their host trees, and leaves of lianas and their host trees In the second part of this work, we extract the resonant frequencies of trees using a finite exhibit differences in Td. These hypotheses were addressed measuring the Tleaf of several element approach. This fundamental frequency determines how the tree will respond species of lianas and their host trees canopy of the Parque Natural Metropolitano, Panama. to wind forcing and therefore how likely it is to suffer wind damage. The arrangement The estimations of Td were conducted during wet and dry seasons in ENSO and non-ENSO of higher order resonant frequencies within a tree can contribute significantly to its years using thermal cameras and local meteorological stations. overall damping efficiency. This arrangement of higher order resonant frequencies is determined by crown architecture, meaning that some trees can dissipate dangerous sway Our results suggest that close to midday, the presence of lianas does not affect the Td of energy more efficiently due to their architecture. We quantify this relationship between their host trees; however, lianas tend to have higher values of Td than their hosts across resonant frequencies and crown architecture using multivariate analysis, and explore its seasons, in both ENSO and non-ENSO years. Although lianas and trees tend to have a implications for canopy science. similar physiological-temperature response, our models suggest that differences in Td could lead to significant differences in the estimation of photosynthesis and respiration. Therefore, future models should thus consider differences in leaf temperature between these life forms in order to achieve robust predictions of productivity.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 110 111

S07-O04 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE S07-O05 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM RECORDING BATS IN THE AUTOMATED ECOSYSTEM MONITORING IN THE CANOPY PERUVIAN RAINFOREST CANOPY 35 METERS ABOVE THE FOREST FLOOR Sarab Sethi1, Robert Ewers1, Nick Jones1, Lorenzo Picinali1

Marie Trone1,2,3, Valentin Gies3,4,5,6,7, Valentin Barchasz3,4,5,6, Pascale Giraudet3,5,7, Hervé Glotin3,5,6,7 1Imperial College London, London, UK, [email protected]

1Valencia College, Kissimmee, US, [email protected] Automated methods of monitoring ecosystems provide a cost- 2Conservacion de la Naturaleza Amazonica del Peru, A.C., Iquitos, PE effective way to track changes in natural system’s dynamics across 3BRILAAM STICAmSud, France, Perú, Chile, Iquitos, PE temporal and spatial scales. Whilst much work has been done on 4Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IM2NP UMR, Marseille, FR automated analyses, methods of recording and storing data captured 5EADM MADICS CNRS, Marseille, FR from the field still require significant manual effort. 6SMIOT, Université de Toulon, Toulon, FR 7Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, ENSAM, LSIS UMR 7296, Marseille, FR Here, we introduce an open source, inexpensive, fully autonomous ecosystem monitoring unit for capturing and remotely transmitting Rainforest canopies have been described as the last biological huge amounts of data from field sites over long time-periods. Due to the unique challenges frontier on the planet due to the difficulty of accessing this diverse of deploying technology in the extreme environmental conditions of the tropical rainforests habitat. The vertical stratification of bat populations from the ground of Borneo, we mount the devices in the canopy. Having surveyed the existing methods, we TUESDAY 10:15 TUESDAY to above the canopy of any forest type has been little investigated. show how our system can outperform comparable technologies for fractions of the cost. 11:00 TUESDAY

In July of 2016 and 2017 bats were recorded in the Peruvian Amazon We have deployed a network of acoustic monitoring units across a fragmentation at various heights above the rainforest floor up to 35 meters, via experiment (SAFE) located in Sabah, Borneo, which should provide continuous metrics of platforms secured to trees in an undeveloped patch of rainforest biome health over the course of a year. Using the same hardware design, we also have near the Napo River. Recordings were made an hour before sunset, at midnight, and an hour installed long duration time lapse cameras high in the canopy to capture a birds eye view of before sunrise on various nights. A pyramidal array consisting of 4 microphones sensitive the process of converting logged forest to oil palm. We provide full details of the hardware’s to 250 kHz were directed upwards away from the forest floor during recordings. This array potential capabilities, our network deployed at SAFE, and insights into the challenges faced was connected to a high capacity digital analog converter, JASON DAQ (http://smiot.univ- whilst installing networks of monitors across a varying landscape. Paired with appropriate tln.fr/). JASON DAQ is capable of sampling at 1 MHz on 4 channels simultaneously, although automated analysis techniques, this system could provide spatially dense, near real-time, the bats were sampled at 500 kHz. continuous insights into ecosystem and biodiversity dynamics for a low cost.

The data from these high-frequency recordings allow for the reconstruction of bat flight paths and flight speed analyses, as well as enhancing bat behavioral studies. Bats were detected using this system. Limitations and future applications of this system are discussed. For example, bioacoustical data can be assessed in conjunction with automated climatic sensors positioned in the same locations.

We thank Explorama Lodges, CONAPAC & STICAmSud for their financial support.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 112 113

S07-O06 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE S07-O07 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE VERTICAL STRATIFICATION OF TROPICAL ANT THE ROLE OF INVERTEBRATES AND MICRO-ORGANISMS IN ASSEMBLAGES: DO GROUND ANTS RESTRICT THE FORAGING FACILITATING NUTRIENT CYCLING IN THE CANOPY DISTRIBUTION OF ARBOREAL ANTS? Julian Donald1 Stephanie Law1, Kate Parr1, Dr Matthew Spencer1, Dr Paul Eggleton2 1University of the West of England Bristol / Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Toulouse, FR, 1University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, [email protected] [email protected] 2Natural History Museum, London, UK Suspended soils provide a key source of nutrients in rainforest canopies, and as such are In tropical rainforests ants dominate arthropod fauna in their home to a diverse community of plants, invertebrates and microorganisms. Understanding ecological impact, diversity and abundance. Primary tropical how these communities of organisms can coexist is challenging, in particular at the top of rainforest is vertically stratified into the forest floor, understory trees. and canopy. A growing body of research has shown that the distribution of ant species in tropical rainforest corresponds with This talk will present a manipulative experiment performed in the canopies of Danum this vertical stratification. Ants are abundant in all strata yet species Valley in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. By using the bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus) as a distributions between ground and canopy ants show little overlap, natural microcosm, and tracing enriched isotopes through this system, the work presented with many species occupying only one strata. Community structure here sheds new light on the role of invertebrates in facilitating decomposition, and TUESDAY 11:15 TUESDAY of ants within a stratum has been explained by habitat complexity, associated microhabitat influencing microbial activity far from the forest floor. This presentation will demonstrate 11:30 TUESDAY specialisations and by competitive interactions. However, reasons behind the existence of how laboratory sorting of invertebrates, extraction of microorganisms, and tracing vertical stratification and differences between strata are less comprehensive. of isotopically enriched carbon revealed trends in the interactions between different constituents of rainforest canopy decomposer communities. This research aims to look at how removing competitive interactions influences vertical stratification. We quantified the contribution that ground foraging ants have on the vertical stratification of ant species above the ground. We investigated this using a novel, large- scale manipulative field experiment in an old growth tropical rainforest in Malaysian Borneo where ground ants had been suppressed in treatment plots. By eliminating a whole assemblage of ants and the associated competitive interactions the degree to which it influences the composition of other ant assemblages can be determined. In order to survey vertically, baited traps were placed at 5 m vertical intervals from the ground to the canopy on 3 emergent trees in each experimental plot (4 ant suppression and 4 control plots). Species richness, ant abundance and assemblage composition were compared between suppression and control plots. Suppression of ground ants significantly impacted ant abundance and species richness in the canopy.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 114 115

SESSION 08 LINKING ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION OF TROPICAL TREE BIODIVERSITY

Chairs: Joeri Sergej STRIJK, Damien Daniel HINSINGER Contact: [email protected]

“Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution” - Theodosius Dobzhansky References cited: (1973). The interactions between Ecology and Evolution are widely recognized in explaining Eiserhardt W. L., Couvreur T. L. P., Baker W. J. (2017). Plant phylogeny as a window on the patterns of biodiversity (e.g. biogeography), but evolutionary forces are also more and more evolution of hyperdiversity in the tropical rainforest biome. New Phytologist, doi: 10.1111/ demonstrated as a driving process influencing ecology of species (e.g. through niche shifts nph.14516 or conservatism, hybridization, etc.) (Eiserhardt et al. 2017). Conversely, Ecology informs Hinsinger D., Gaudeul M., Couloux A., Bousquet J., Frascaria-Lacoste N. (2014). The Evolutionary studies and allows to delineate complex patterns (e.g. Silva et al. 2016). phylogeography of Eurasian Fraxinus species reveals ancient transcontinental reticulation. Currently, most ecological studies consider evolutionary relationships as a “noise” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 77: 223-237. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.04.021.

TUESDAY parameter, and therefore many models simply remove it to estimate ecological traits or Silva I. A., Sfair J. C., van Melis J., Weiser V. L., Martins F. R. (2016). Does phylogeny have a parameters. In others, only relatively short-term evolution, e.g. since the last maximal role in the liana-phorophyte interaction in tropical forests?. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, glaciation, are considered. However, especially in long-living plants, larger temporal scales Evolution and Systematics, 21, 14-22. can usually better reflect the ecosystems assemblages than only recolonization patterns Yu X.-Q., Gao L.-M., Soltis D. E., Soltis P. S., Yang J.-B., Fang L., Yang S.-X., Li D.-Z. (2017). (Yu et al. 2017), or identify past events of hybridizations (e.g. Hinsinger et al. 2014), making Insights into the historical assembly of East Asian subtropical evergreen broadleaved phylogenetic and phylogenomic tools especially valuable in combination with ecological forests revealed by the temporal history of the tea family. New Phytologist, 215: 1235–1248. data. doi:10.1111/nph.14683

Tropical biodiversity is among the highest on emerged lands, characterized by a great heterogeneity supporting diverse and complex ecosystems as well as providing ecological services for one third of the world’s population. However, both Ecology and Evolution of these ecosystems remain poorly known. Studies of speciose tropical taxonomic groups are hampered by extensive geographic ranges, lack of diagnostic morphological characters and limited success of traditional molecular markers. This is visible in the fragmented knowledge on the evolutionary history, genetic diversity and ecological functioning of widespread, key plant families of tropical ecosystems.

We aim at highlighting the major contribution evolutionary studies can provide for ecologist, and to help new ideas and methods to studies the interaction between Ecology and Evolution in tropical ecosystems.

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S08-O01 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION S08-O02 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION TEMPERATE GOING (SUB)TROPICAL: RETICULATED NON-TROPICAL LEGACIES ON SOUTH AMERICAN ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION IN FIRS (ABIES, PINACEAE) FROM BIOGEOGRAPHY CENTRAL MEXICO Ricardo Segovia1, Kyle Dexter1 Juan P Jaramillo-Correa1, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes2, Luis E. Eguiarte1, Jorge Cruz-Nicolás1, Eréndira González1, Gustavo I. Giles-Pérez1, Norberto Martínez-Méndez1, Erika Aguirre-Planter1 1School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, [email protected]

1Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Ecology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Recent studies have shown unexpected relationships between México, Mexico City, MX, [email protected] clade age and diversity along latitudinal and elevational gradients 2Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, Mexico City, MX in tropical and temperate South America. In addition, more phylogenetic diversity than expected given species richness has Tropical trees embody an evolutionary dichotomy: they are been documented for temperate forests and high elevation forests in outcrossing long-lived taxa with a predominant position on the the tropical Andes. These evidences likely reflect the influence of an ecosystem, which favours the retention of ancestral polymorphisms ancient, rich and extratropical palaeoflora of Gondwanan ancestry and evolutionary stasis; but they also evolve in highly heterogeneous on South American biogeography. environments that prompt isolation by distance, and disruptive selection, which facilitates species divergence. In this study, we explore the phylogenetic consequences of historical processes shaping the TUESDAY 14:45 TUESDAY TUESDAY 14:30 TUESDAY modern composition of communities in relatively cold environments of South America. We We studied this dichotomy on a temperate genus Abies (firs), which hypothesize that modern assemblages in these environments are formed by a mix between in North America spanned into tropical latitudes ~5 Ma and then underwent a relatively tropical lineages that have recently evolved cold tolerance and an early differentiated rapid diversification. While most modern populations are secluded into the highlands extratropical biota, with lineages preadapted to non-tropical environments. (~3000 m asl), firs can grow as low as 1,500 m asl in the western parts of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt (TVB; central Mexico), which implies a role for adaptive divergence. Our approach is based on quantifying lineage diversity (LD), measured as the standardised effect size of phylogenetic diversity, of >5000 tree communities distributed across the By concentrating on the A. religiosa - A. flincki - A. jaliscana complex, distributed along continent. If communities from modern temperate and high elevation environments the TVB, we first compared environmental and phenotypic variation. Models suggested include both old extratropical lineages and recently arrived descendants from tropical that populations on the eastern (A. religiosa) and western (A. flincki - A. jaliscana) parts lineages, LD should be higher than in the tropical lowlands, which would only have tropical of the TVB had different niches. Eastern stands also had shorter and thicker needles than lineages. This would be opposite to the pattern expected from species richness, which is the western ones, and this variation was correlated with the mean annual temperature highest in tropical lowlands. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the

(r2 = 0.57; P = 0.59; A. religiosa and A. flincki) started some ~2 Ma, while several cycles historical biogeography of South America, including the influence of extratropical lineages, of contractions and expansions (with secondary contact in the central TVB) shaped the to explaining present-day patterns in the distribution of evolutionary diversity across the more recent stands. Tests for selection provided further evidence of adaptive divergence, continent. particularly for two genes within the clade leading to A. flincki. Since their arrival in the tropics, firs have been evolving through a continuum process in which adaptation, genetic drift and introgression act across various temporal and spatial scales, blurring traditional taxonomic boundaries.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 118 119

S08-O03 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION S08-O04 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION PARALLEL RADIATIONS IN NEOTROPICAL ANNONACEAE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF TROPICAL TREE SPECIES TRACK NEOGENE UPHEAVAL OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN COMPLEXES: SPECIES DELIMITATION AND ADAPTIVE CONTINENT GENETIC VARIATION IN THE BERTHOLLETIA CLADE (LECYTHIDACEAE) Lars Chatrou1, Paul Maas2, Rutger Wilschut3, Heleen Melchers-Sharrott4, Michael Pirie5 Myriam Heuertz1, Quentin Jehanne1, Katharina B. Budde1, Henri Caron1,2, Niklas Tysklind2, 1Wageningen University, Biosystematics group, Wageningen, NL, [email protected] Caroline Scotti-Saintagne3, Erwan Guichoux4, Jean-François Molino5, Daniel Sabatier5, Veronica 2Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NL El Mutjar6, Alain Franc1, Pauline Garnier-Géré1, Stéphanie Mariette1 3Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, NL 4Omgevingsdienst Haaglanden, The Hague, NL 1INRA, Université Bordeaux, Bordeaux, FR, [email protected] 5Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Institut für Spezielle Botanik und Botanischer Garten, Mainz, DE 2INRA, Kourou, FR 3INRA, Avignon, FR Much of the immense present day biological diversity of Neotropical 4Plateforme Genome Transcriptome Bordeaux, Bordeaux, FR rainforests originated from the Miocene onwards, a period of 5UMR AMAP, Montpellier, FR geological and ecological upheaval in South America. We assess the 6INTA, San Carlos de Bariloche, AR impact of the Andean orogeny, drainage of lake Pebas, and closure of the Panama Isthmus on two clades of tropical trees (Cremastosperma, Tropical tree species complexes harbour closely related species TUESDAY 15:15 TUESDAY TUESDAY 15:00 TUESDAY c. 31 spp.; and Mosannona, c. 14 spp.; both Annonaceae). that display shared alleles and that are difficult to delimit using phylogenetic approaches. Such species complexes arise when Phylogenetic inference revealed similar patterns of geographically lineage sorting is slow due to large effective population sizes typical restricted clades and molecular dating showed diversifications in the different areas in trees, when diversification is accompanied by interspecific gene occurred in parallel, with timing consistent with Andean vicariance and Central flow, or due to a combination of both processes. The concerned American geodispersal. Ecological niche modelling approaches show phylogenetically species are often difficult to distinguish morphologically due to high conserved niche differentiation, particularly within Cremastosperma. Niche similarity phenotypic trait variation. The large intraspecific variation typical and recent common ancestry of Amazon and Guianan Mosannona species contrasts of tree species complexes promotes adaptive processes, suggesting that species complexes with dissimilar niches and more distant ancestry of Amazon, Venezuelan and Guianan are important in the diversification of tropical tree biodiversity. The evolutionary histories species of Cremastosperma suggesting that this element of the similar patterns of disjunct of these systems remain however poorly understood. distributions in the two genera is instead a biogeographic parallelism, with differing We here investigated the evolutionary history of tropical tree species complexes by origins. The results provide further independent evidence for the importance of the Andean examining the phylogeny and population genetic processes in sympatric taxa of the orogeny, the drainage of Lake Pebas, and the formation of links between South and Central Bertholletia clade (Brazil nut clade, Lecythidaceae) in French Guiana. We sampled 192 America in the evolutionary history of Neotropical lowland rainforest trees. individuals belonging to 26 tree species of the Bertholletia clade and sequenced them at nine plastid, eight mitochondrial and 134 putative nuclear loci derived from double-digest restriction site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-Seq). Phylogenetic methods recovered the expected large sub-clades within the Bertholletia clade, but genetic clustering methods were needed to delimit species within these clades. Some common species such as Eschweilera coriacea, harboured several sympatric gene pools, indicative of hitherto undescribed cryptic species. Outlier detection methods revealed that few single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were strongly diverged among gene pools, whereas a significant portion of SNPs was more shared than expected a priori in sympatric populations. The local pattern of allele sharing pointed to hybridization, rather than incomplete lineage sorting. Taken together, our results suggest that hybridization is important for adaptive evolution in tropical tree species complexes.

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S08-O05 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION S08-O06 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION NEW HYDRAULIC TRAITS FOR CHARACTERIZING DROUGHT PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS IN TWO AFRICAN RESISTANCE IN NEOTROPICAL CANOPY TREES AND LIANAS CEDRELOIDEAE GENERA (MELIACEAE) REVEAL MULTIPLE RAIN/DRY FOREST TRANSITIONS Louis Santiago1,2, Mark De Guzman1, Aleyda Acosta-Rangel1 Franck Monthe1, Jérôme Duminil2, Gael Bouka3,4, Jérémy Migliore1, Boris Demenou1, Marius 1University of California, Riverside, US, [email protected] Ekué5, Charles Doumenge3, Doyle Mckey6, Bernd Degen7, Olivier J. Hardy1 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, PA 1Université Libre de Bruxelles, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Bruxelles, BE, [email protected] Recent drought events throughout the tropics have caused elevated 2Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier, FR mortality and new tools are needed to predict responses of tropical 3CIRAD, Unité Forêts et Sociétés, Campus international de Baillarguet, Montpellier, FR trees to future drought. However, predicting drought responses 4Laboratoire de Botanique et écologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville, of tropical trees is complicated by high species diversity and CG relatively little available data. We measured hydraulic conductivity, 5Bioversity International, s/c IITA, BP 2008, Yaoundé, CM xylem vulnerability curves, sapwood pressure-volume curves, and 6Université Montpellier, Centre d’Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, UMR CNRS 5175, Montpellier, wood density on emergent branches of 35 common liana and tree FR species from French Guiana and Panama. Our measurements were 7Thünen Institute of Forest Genetics, Grosshansdorf, DE stratified across a broad range of wood density. Our main objective was to understand how TUESDAY 16:15 TUESDAY TUESDAY 16:00 TUESDAY coordinated hydraulic traits lead to drought resistance strategies. Establishing phylogenetic relationships allows investigating how species diversity has evolved in various ecosystems. The genera Hydraulic conductivity was related to capacitance, sapwood water content and turgor loss Entandrophragma and Khaya contain tree species distributed in point, and other drought avoidance traits, but not to xylem cavitation resistance. Wood different African biomes (lowland rain forest, lowland dry forest, density was correlated with sapwood pressure-volume traits, forming an axis of hydraulic mountain forest), allowing to examine how (single or multiple strategy variation. We show for the first time that Amazonian and Central American liana events) and when the processes of diversification led to biome and tree species vary along an axis of hydraulic strategy variation determined by wood transitions. Based on the sequencing of plastid genome (pDNA: density, hydraulic conductivity, capacitance and turgor loss point. This stands in contrast c. 160,000 bp) and ribosomal DNA (rDNA: c. 7,000 bp) and habitat to findings in many other vegetation types that show hydraulic strategy variation along characteristic data for each species, we have: (1) reconstructed phylogenetic relationships the cavitation resistance versus hydraulic conductivity trade-off. The lack of this trade- between species and estimated the dates of divergence between the main lineages, and (2) off among the Neotropical trees and lianas in this study supports the idea of diminishing reconstructed ancestral states regarding biome preferences. selection on xylem cavitation resistance as moisture availability increases. The globally consistent phylogenetic tree topologies obtained with both markers in Entandrophragma show five main clades that are quite consistent with previously-defined sections based on reproductive characters of flowers. By contrast, in Khaya, pDNA and rDNA show divergent topologies, possibly due to a more recent diversification involving incomplete lineage sorting and/or recurrent hybridization events. Two major periods of diversification were highlighted: one for Entandrophragma species during the Oligo- Miocene, and a second, during the Pleistocene, concerned both genera at the intraspecific level for Entandrophragma and at the interspecific level for Khaya. These different diversification periods coincide with three major biomes shifts in Entandrophragma. The first habitat transition from rain to dry forests occurred during the Oligo-Miocene and two other transitions were inferred during the Pleistocene, one from rain forest to dry forest and another from rain forest to high altitude mountain forest.

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S08-O07 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION S08-O08 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION SPECIES DELIMITATION, HYBRIDIZATION AND SPECIES GLOBAL PATTERNS IN PALM ABUNDANCE HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS IN THE GENUS SYMPHONIA (CLUSIACEAE) ON MADAGASCAR Robert Muscarella1, Thaise Emilio2, Henrik Balslev1

Katharina B. Budde1, Sanna Olsson2, Paloma Torroba-Balmori2, Santiago C. González-Martínez1, 1Aarhus University, Aarhus, DK, [email protected] João Loureiro3, Stéphan Rakotonandrasana4, Andriamalala Rakotondrafara4, Isabel Sanmartín5, 2Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London, UK Myriam Heuertz1 Palms (Arecaceae) are an iconic and diverse group that provide myriad ecosystem services 1INRA/ Université de Bordeaux, Cestas, FR, [email protected] in tropical forests. For example, palms account for 7 of the top 20 ‘hyperdominant’ tree 2INIA Forest Research Centre, Madrid, ES species of the Amazon. While previous work has examined global patterns of palm diversity, 3University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, Center of Functional Ecology (CFE), Coimbra, PT we currently lack a quantitative global analysis of palm abundance patterns. Given the 4CNARP, Department of Ethnobotany and Botany, Antananarivo, MG many morphological and physiological differences between palms and dicotyledonous 5Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, Plant Evolutionary Biology, Madrid, ES trees, the responses of these groups to environmental change drivers are likely to differ. As a result, a better understanding of palm dominance will help identify knowledge gaps and Tropical rainforest tree genera often comprise multiple closely- ultimately improve the predictive ability of global vegetation models. related species occurring in sympatry but the genetic mechanisms that explain such sympatric coexistence are poorly understood. Using a dataset of > 1,000 globally-tropical forest plots distributed, we quantified (1) relative TUESDAY 16:45 TUESDAY TUESDAY 16:30 TUESDAY Inter-specific hybridization has been proposed as a key mechanism abundance of arborescent palms versus dicot trees across regional, continental, and in the maintenance of highly diverse communities, potentially global scales, and (2) how relative abundance of arborescent palms is related to abiotic retarding the (local) extinction of rare species and also allowing the variables. We show that arborescent palm abundance is extremely lower in the African and sharing of beneficial genetic variants across species borders. The Asian tropics compared to Neotropical sites. We then examined spatial variation in palm genus Symphonia (Clusiaceae) diversified on Madagascar, where abundance considering evolutionary, biogeographical, and ecological hypotheses, and ca. 20 endemic species have largely overlapping ranges. Symphonia species are difficult use statistical models to examine relationships between palm abundance and plot-level to distinguish morphologically because of trait variation within species, poorly defined environmental covariates. We introduce some novel hypotheses regarding the dominance species boundaries and scarcity of discriminant characters for species delimitation. of the arborescent palm life form in the New World. We set out to test the role of hybridization in shaping patterns of genetic variation and species delimitation of the genus Symphonia in Madagascar. We sampled over 400 trees Merian Award Applicant from three regions in eastern Madagascar, where hybridization among multiple species of the genus is expected to take place, genotyped them at 20 nuclear SSRs (nuSSRs), as well as sequenced the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in a representative subsample. A phylogeny was built from ITS sequences and we used genetic clustering approaches on “blind samples” (i.e., without using morphology) for taxon delimitation using nuSSRs. We then examined the spatial distribution of genetic clusters and assessed the hybridization history of the genus in Madagascar. We discovered three major gene pools in Symphonia, which were sub-structured into 13 minor gene pools that could be assigned to 13 potential species. Gene pools occurred frequently in sympatry, suggesting a role of hybridization in maintaining high genetic diversity in the genus. Flow cytometry and nuSSR scoring identified three tetraploid and ten diploid species. Clustering analysis was congruent with morphological characters in S. clusioides, S. eugenioides, S. microphylla, and S. nectarifera, but did not support other described taxa such as S. fasciculata, S. sessiliflora and S. louvelii. Overall, we found evidence for hybridization and introgression between multiple species and a habitat- specific distribution of sympatric clusters in several locations.

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S09-O01 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY THE DRIVERS OF DIVERSIFICATION IN NEOTROPICAL SESSION 09 MIMETIC “CLEARWING” BUTTERFLIES

FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY Marianne Elias1, Nicolas Chazot1,2, Melanie McClure1, Florence Prunier1, André Freitas3, Keith Willmott4 Chairs: Catherine REEB, Eric GUILBERT Contact: [email protected] 1Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (CNRS, MNHN), Paris, FR, [email protected] 2University of Lund, Lund, SE 3University of Campinas, Campinas, BR 4University of Gainesville, Gainesville, FR

Ithomiine butterflies (Nymphalidae: Ithomiini), also known as clearwing butterflies because of the partially transparent wings of most species, form a highly diverse tribe of ca. 390 species that occupy neotropical forests. All species have chemical defenses and are engaged in Müllerian mimicry: co-occurring species converge

TUESDAY in wing colour pattern, thereby advertising predators of their

unpalatability. 09:30 TUESDAY

We generated a dated species-level phylogeny of the entire tribe to investigate temporal and spatial patterns of speciation and extinction, and to assess the role of geological and ecological factors in the diversification of the group.

We found that the geological dynamics of the Andean and upper Amazon regions had a considerable impact on the diversification of ithomiine butterflies during the Miocene, when the upper Amazon became flooded with water (Pebas system). The Pebas system likely triggered extinctions in lowland lineages, while the concomitant rise of the Andes promoted speciation in montane lineages, which form a highly diverse clade, the core- group (80 % of ithomiine extant species). The retreat of the Pebas during the late Miocene then further promoted speciation in the core group, via the colonization of newly available lowland habitats. A closer examination of ecological factors shows that shifts in altitudinal niche and mimicry pattern have driven speciation in the core group, but such shifts remain relatively rare. Patterns of diversity-dependent speciation also suggest that several genera in the core-group have undergone adaptive radiation, perhaps driven by larval hostplant shifts. The role of other traits, such as wing transparency, is currently being investigated. The combination of a highly dynamic geological history with intrinsic ecological traits have therefore largely contributed to the diversity of ithomiine butterflies.

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S09-O02 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY S09-O03 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY LEAF TRAITS MEDIATE CHANGES IN INSECT HERBIVORY IMPACT OF THE LEAF-CUTTING ANT ATTA OPACICEPS ON ALONG BROAD ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS ON MT. PLANT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION ALONG A GRADIENT OF KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA FOREST COVER IN THE CAATINGA DRY TROPICAL FOREST

Henry K. Njovu1,2, Marcell K. Peters1, David Schellenberger Costa3, Roland Brandl4, Michael Clarissa Mendes Knoechelmann1, Felipe Fernando Siqueira2, Rainer Wirth1, Inara Leal2 Kleyer3, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter1 1University of Kaiserslautern, Plant Ecology and Systematics, Kaiserslautern, DE, 1Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Wuerzburg, Am [email protected] Hubland, Wuerzburg, DE, [email protected] 2Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Departamento de Botânica, Recife, BR 2College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka, Moshi, TZ 3Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, DE The Brazilian Caatinga is a dry tropical forest with pronounced 4Department of Ecology, Animal Ecology, University of Marburg, Marburg, DE seasonality, vast areas of which are subjected to high levels of habitat loss in combination with livestock production, timber harvesting, Climate, primary productivity, and plant functional traits are key and extensive firewood collection. In the ecological context of predictors of leaf herbivory but their direct and indirect contributions human-modified landscapes dominated by communities of early- to community-level herbivory are not well understood along broad successional plants, generalist herbivores commonly proliferate, climatic gradients. Here we analyzed patterns and drivers of insect such as leaf-cutting ants. Recently, we have demonstrated that TUESDAY 09:45 TUESDAY leaf herbivory in plant communities along extensive elevational leaf-cutting ants also benefit drastically from anthropogenic 10:00 TUESDAY and land use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro. We estimated standing disturbances in the Caatinga. However, while it is well known that these ants negatively leaf herbivory, climate, net primary productivity (NPP) and plant affect seedling recruitment in rainforests and savannas, their impacts on dry forest leaf traits (specific leaf area, CN and NP ratios) on 55 study sites in regeneration has been completely neglected. natural and anthropogenic habitats along a 3060 m elevation gradient on Mt. Kilimanjaro. This study aims to investigate how plant recruitment and community composition is Leaf herbivory ranged from 5 % to 11.5 % and showed a unimodal pattern in natural habitats affected by leaf-cutting ants along a gradient of forest cover in the Catimbau National Park but a strongly contrasting bimodal pattern in anthropogenic habitats. Path analyses suggest in Buíque, PE, Brazil. For this, we chose fifteen nests ofAtta opaciceps located in landscapes that the variation in leaf herbivory was driven by changes in leaf CN and NP ratios which with forest cover ranging from 8.7 % to 87 %. For each nest, three sampling areas were were closely linked to changes in NPP. Our study elucidates the strong role of leaf nutrient established: (1) nest mound, (2) foraging area, i.e., the area where ants were foraging in the stoichiometry and its linkages to climate and energy for explaining the variation in leaf night before data collection, and (3) control area, established 20 m away from the foraging herbivory along broad climatic gradients. Furthermore, the study suggests that climatic area. The communities of vascular plants < 1 m height were recorded at 2-month intervals changes and nutrient inputs in the course of global change may alter leaf herbivory and using four randomly placed 1-m2 plots in each sampling area. consequently energy and nutrient fluxes in terrestrial habitats. We found that foraging areas were most species rich (42 species across 853 individuals), followed by nest mounds (35 species, 547 individuals) and control area (32 species, 1416 individuals). Overall, the most represented families were Malvaceae (30.6 %), Euphorbiaceae (8.8 %), and Convolvulaceae (8.5 %), thus resembling the Caatinga dry forest in general. The results indicate that leaf-cutting ants may act as biotic filters that influence forest regeneration via herbivory and ecosystem engineering as demonstrated for rain forests. Ongoing research activities will address the temporal dynamics of ant impacts on community assembly and explore both the importance of forest cover and the potential role of these ants for the successional trajectory experienced by human-modified Caatinga.

(Edital Universal-CNPq, PELD-CNPq, APQ-FACEPE, PRONEX-FACEPE, PROBRAL CAPES-DAAD)

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 128 129

S09-O04 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY S09-O05 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY MYRMECOVORIE IN NEOTROPICAL PRIMATES FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF AMAZONIAN BAT ASSEMBLAGES FOLLOWING SECONDARY FOREST Nadja Isabel Risch Ferreira1, Eckhard W. Heymann (speaker)1 SUCCESSION

1Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Göttingen, DE, [email protected] Fábio Z. Farneda1,2,3, Ricardo Rocha2,3,4, Adrià López-Baucells2,3,5, Erica M. Sampaio6, Jorge M. Palmeirim2,3, Paulo E. D. Bobrowiec2, Carlos E. V. Grelle1, Christoph F. J. Meyer (speaker)2,3,7 Ants represent a large proportion of the invertebrate biomass in Amazonian forests and are preyed upon by a broad spectrum of 1Department of Ecology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BR vertebrates, mainly specialized birds (various families) and the 2Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, National Institute for Amazonian Research and anteaters (Myrmecophagidae), but also by opportunistic predators Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Manaus, BR like primates. 3Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PT 4Metapopulation Research Centre, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI Here we review the relevance of ants in the diet of Neotropical 5Granollers Museum of Natural Sciences, Granollers, ES primates (Platyrrhini). Predation on ants has been reported from 6Department of Animal Physiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, DE 51 out of 204 species, representing 17 of the 19 genera from all five families of extant 7School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford, UK, platyrrhines. The proportion of ants in the prey of Neotropical primates ranges from <1 % [email protected] to almost 70 %, with a non-linear relation between primate body mass and the proportion TUESDAY 10:15 TUESDAY of ants in the prey. It is highest in medium-sized (~1-4 kg), but low in small and large Regenerating forests occupy large areas in the tropics, mostly as a 11:00 TUESDAY platyrrhines. Members from 13 genera of ants (representing 7 subfamilies of Formicidae) result of deforestation for livestock and agriculture, followed by land are preyed upon by primates, including tree-living and terrestrial ants that are mainly abandonment. Despite the importance of regenerating secondary social foragers, and genera with and without chemical defence. While myrmecovorie forests for tropical biodiversity conservation, studies of temporal by Neotropical primates is unlikely to exert any selective pressures on ants, it may be a effects of matrix regeneration on species responses in fragmented significant source of protein for several primate species. landscapes are scarce. Here, we used an Amazonian whole- ecosystem fragmentation experiment to investigate how changes in matrix quality over time through secondary forest regeneration affect bat assemblages from a functional perspective.

We found that forest regeneration in the matrix positively affected functional α diversity, as well as species- and community-level functional uniqueness, reflecting an increase of species that perform different ecological functions in secondary forest over time. According to functional trait composition, animalivorous species showed the clearest signs of recovery associated with matrix regeneration. Consequently, between-period differences in functional β-diversity were highest in secondary forest compared to fragments and continuous forest, determined mainly by trait gains. However, ~30 years of secondary forest regeneration were not sufficient for the functional recovery of bat assemblages to levels observed in continuous forest. Restoring degraded habitats while protecting primary forest will be an important strategy for safeguarding high functional diversity of bats and their vital contributions to ecosystem functioning in fragmented tropical landscapes.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 130 131

S09-O06 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY S09-O07 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS VARIATIONS OF AFZELIA CONSERVATION PLANNING FOR TROPICAL FRESHWATERS AFRICANA SM. IN RELATION TO CLIMATIC CONDITION AND THROUGH A GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR FRESHWATER LIFE IMPLICATION FOR SPECIES CONSERVATION IN BENIN Kenneth Irvine1, William Darwall2, Anthony I. Dell3, Sonja Jähnig4, Jonathan M. Jeschke4, Thierry Houehanou1,2,3, Kathleen Prinz4, Frank Hellwig4, Achille Assogbadjo2,3, Jens Gebauer5, Michael T. Monaghan4, Olaf Weyl5 Romain Glele Kakaï3 1IHE Delft, Delft, NL, [email protected] 1Laboratory of Ecology, Botany and Plant Biology; Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, 2IUCN, Cambridge, UK Parakou, BJ, [email protected] 3National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC), Washington, US 2Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey Calavi, 4Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, DE Abomey Calavi, BJ 5South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown, ZA 3Laboratoire de Biomathématiques et d’Estimations Forestières, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey Calavi, Abomey Calavi, BJ Preservation of tropical aquatic biodiversity requires better 4Institute for Ecology and Evolution, Department for Systematic Botany with Hausknecht Herbarium understanding of ecosystems and governance structures. Tropical and Botanical Garden, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, DE aquatic ecosystems are species rich, with high numbers of 5Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems with Special Focus on Horticulture, Faculty of Life endemics, and under increasing pressure from human activities. Sciences, Rhine- Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kleve, DE A more concerted effort towards aquatic conservation requires TUESDAY 11:15 TUESDAY addressing a number of key topics, including: better documenting 11:30 TUESDAY Morphogenetic variation assessment across population species and understanding tropical aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem ranges is known to benefit selecting of superior populations and functioning; identifying and communicating critical regulating, individual tree and motivate also conservation concerns. Thus, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services; better coordination across institutional this study aims to (1) assess how far extent morphological traits structures to build capacity of decision makers that can work together for the preservation of the threatened tree species A. africana are mediated by climate of aquatic ecosystems and congruence with terrestrial ones; and (re)establishing well- condition and (2) highlight which climatic variables interact with functioning monitoring and reporting networks, and connecting these with local citizen morphological traits. Twelve morphological traits based on fruits, monitoring for both data collection and citizen awareness. seeds, and leaves were assessed across three different climatic conditions in Benin: wetter, transitional and drier areas. Univariate and multivariate A recent and developing global initiative, the Alliance for Freshwater Life (AFL) supports analyses were used to assess the effect of climatic gradient and the climatic variables that the knowledge base of freshwater biodiversity and its importance for human well-being. drive the morphological traits. Building a coalition of global leaders in research, conservation, education, communication and environmental policy, the AFL initiative is of particular relevance for tropical Results showed that wetter area had greater values of fruit length, width, thickness and freshwaters which are often lacking effective national or regional protection, and where weight; higher values of seed length, thickness and weight; and higher values of leaflet institutional capacity can be weak. length and width. In contrast, it held a lower value of seed rate of fruit. Bioclimatic variables such as isothermality, the minimum temperature of coldest month, the mean temperature of The AFL will: (1) build greater global awareness of the values of freshwater ecosystems and wettest quarter, the precipitation of driest month and the mean monthly temperature range their biodiversity; (2) augment and mobilise the huge body of existing research information, were the potential drivers of length, width, thickness, weight, total seeds weight and the such as on the functioning, distribution and status of freshwater systems, for application to seed rate of fruit as well as length and weight of seeds. These variations of morphological the sustainable management and conservation of them; (3) fill critical information gaps on traits suppose an adaptation to the environmental condition or a phenotypic plasticity freshwater ecosystems to inform sustainable development; (4) bring forward the science of for A. africana and are important insights to guide management and conservation of A. freshwater ecosystems to develop and inform conservation and development policy; and africana populations in the different climatic condition in Benin. Future investigations (5) implement on-the-ground conservation action. on molecular analyses should reveal variation in gene pools over the different climatic conditions and will precise later the more plausible hypothesis.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 132 133

S09-O08 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY S09-O09 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY IDENTIFYING GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS FOR UNFOLDING LONG TERM DISTURBANCES OF FOREST BIODIVERSITY FROM OIL PALM EXPANSION COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHWESTERN AMAZONIAN LOWLANDS

John Garcia-Ulloa1, Natalia Ocampo-Penuela1, Giovanni Strona2, Serge Wich3 Dilce de Fatima Rossetti1, Rogerio Gribel2, Peter Mann Toledo1, Sônia H. Tatumi3

1ETH Zurich, Zurich, CH, [email protected] 1Brazilian Institute for Space Research, São Jose dos Campos, BR, [email protected] 2European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate D - Sustainable Resources, Ispra, IT 2Brazilian Institute for Amazonian Research, Manaus, BR 3Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK 3Federal University of Sâo Paulo, Santos, BR

Oil palm expansion has significantly transformed landscapes in Southeast Asia and the Linking plant species distribution to geology has been biased by the simplification of industry has become a globally important social and environmental player. Oil palm biogeographic models and the poor comprehension of geological processes. Amazonian development is a reality in many regions in the world, as human population grows and lowlands show forests under different successional stages. A growing perception has been demand for vegetable oils increases. Although our knowledge of the impacts of oil palm that such heterogeneity results from long-term environmental changes. We investigate cultivation has significantly increased in the last decade, we lack a global strategy for the this hypothesis designing a model based on past and present-day vegetation, and on the expansion of this crop that minimizes impacts on biodiversity and meet local and global understanding of geological history. An area in southwestern Amazonia was selected to demands for palm oil. acquire floristic inventories, and we interpreted the paleovegetation based on C/N and 1 d 3C of sedimentary organic matter. These data were analysed in the context of geological TUESDAY 11:45 TUESDAY In this talk, we present an up-to-date study of the potential risks to biodiversity from oil evolution. 14:30 TUESDAY palm expansion, based on regional spatial analyses for selected case studies in Africa, Americas and Southeast Asia. These analyses combine information on oil palm suitability Topographically higher, Late Pleistocene terrains had non-flooded, late successional and current land-use, with species distribution, diversity and vulnerability for various terra firme forests and local less-diversified white-sand forests on younger paleochannel vertebrate groups. deposits. Late Pleistocene-Holocene terrains at intermediate elevations also had terra firme forests, but of smaller trees with lower basal areas. These terrains exhibited forests with Overall, we found no available areas where large scale oil palm agriculture could be ecotonal features near forest-savanna boundaries. Terrains of Holocene age located closer accommodated in Africa, while available land for planting new oil palm plantations in to the main river valley recorded seasonally-flooded varzea forest. Several Late Pleistocene Southeast Asia is increasingly limited. Yet, our analysis show opportunities for low-impact and Late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits recorded the expansion of C4 land plants before expansion in the neotropics. Our analysis highlights as well, the potential impacts on non- the forestation from ~20,000 cal yr BP to 7,578 cal yr BP, which could not be related solely to forest biomes from a low carbon development trajectory in the oil palm industry. Finally, past aridity. The studied forests had a long history, with onsets from 6,130 to 3,533 cal yr BP, we discuss factors that may enable or hinder the application of such global strategy by 3,402 to 2,800 cal yr BP and 1,624 to 964 cal yr BP in the instance of terra firme, varzea and examining local and regional environmental and social contexts. ecotonal forests, respectively.

Despite these long-lasting communities, not all forests reached maturity due to their location in terrains of diverse hydrological contexts. Hydrology in the study area was a consequence of environmental disturbances caused by the interplay of topographic gradients owing to the history of terrace downcutting and deposition over the geological time, added to the distance to a main river valley having various flooding events through time. Capturing long-term disturbances in this area of still pristine forests has the potential of contributing to better understand potential mechanisms that determine trends in tree growth and forest diversity across many tropical regions.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 134 135

S09-O10 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY S09-O11 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY ARCHIVES OF NATURAL HISTORY; TREE OF LIFE ANALYSIS OF THE POTENTIALITIES OF AMBAHIVIKY RAFFIA CONSTRUCTED FROM A GRAM OF SOIL USING EDNA PALM IN THE BOENY REGION

Kingsly Chuo Beng1, Richard Thomas Corlett1 Zolalaina Andriamanantena1, Fenozo Heritiana Andriamanantena1, Hery Lisy Tiana Ranarijaona1

1Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, 1Doctoral School Natural Ecosystems (EDEN), University of Mahajanga, Mahajanga, MG, Yunnan, CN, [email protected] [email protected]

Advances in next-generation sequencing have made it possible to Madagascar is a country with a very famous biodiversity. There are detect an organism’s presence or absence in any environment and many wood and non-wood forest products in the island. Raffia is a this is especially important for soil taxa. Environmental DNA (eDNA) non-wood product. Rafia farinifera is a very important and unique is genetic material originating from the hair, skin, urine, faeces, natural resource both in the daily life of the chain operators and in gametes or carcasses of an organism and preserved in water, soil the natural forest ecosystem. The raffia areas of Ambahiviky in the or sediment. DNA can persist in the environment from a few days rural commune of Betsako in the Mahajanga II district of the Boeny in temperate water, to hundreds of thousands of years in cold, dry Region are managed by the local grassroots community. permafrost, allowing direct isolation without any obvious signs of an organism’s presence or absence. Studies are being done to find out about the potential and the measures of these natural TUESDAY 14:45 TUESDAY resources and the different pressures they are undergoing by carrying out transects and 15:00 TUESDAY eDNA barcoding and metabarcoding has the potential to revolutionize ecology and plots carried out in 2011 and 2017. Surveys are also conducted with local population to conservation in several ways. First, eDNA techniques are fast, efficient and relatively assess pressures on the raffia palm. cheap, thus providing the opportunity to monitor the dynamics of species, populations and communities, and to map their geographic distribution over long-time periods and During measurements, stand density and abundance decreased. Seed individuals are across large spatial scales. Second, eDNA sampling is simple, non-destructive and non- especially less abundant. Yet, the raffia areas are a source of water supplying the rice fields invasive, causing no significant damage to the target species or its habitats. Third, using and the local population. However, climate change among the pressures on the raffia areas eDNA improves the detection of rare, cryptic and elusive species, even at relatively low leads to the degradation of these resources. In fact, the rice fields are silted and the raffia densities. Fourth, eDNA enables the early detection of biological invasions and their timely palms are cut down by very intense cyclones. In addition, to ensure the effect of climate eradication before full establishment. Despite these developments, little attention has been change and to have a balance between economic recovery and biological conservation, given to the application of eDNA in soil, especially in biodiversity-rich tropical regions. measures such as protection and restoration will be provided to ensure the sustainability of raffia especially regeneration. In a pilot eDNA study in tropical China, we collected soil cores from seven sites and used three molecular markers to evaluate the application of eDNA in biodiversity monitoring. We detected taxa representing the entire Tree Of Life, from microbes through invertebrates to vertebrates. Our study demonstrates that tropical soils are archives of natural history.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 136 137

S09-O12 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY S09-O13 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY DISTRIBUTION OF PODOCARPUS LATIFOLIUS/MILANJIANUS SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATIONS OF CARBON AND NITROGEN FROM THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM TO 2100 IN AFRICA IN BIOGENIC STRUCTURES OF FUNGUS-GROWING TERMITES WITH THE DYNAMIC VEGETATION MODEL CARAIB IN THE XISHUANGBANNA REGION

Marie Dury1, Alexandra-Jane Henrot1, Anne-Marie Lézine2, Rachid Cheddadi3, Jérémy Migliore2,4, Chunfeng Chen1, Wenjie Liu1, Junen Wu1, Xiaojin Jiang1 Olivier J. Hardy4, Alain Hambuckers5, Joy Singarayer6, Franck Trolliet1, Louis François1 1Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Science, Jinghong, CN, 1Unit for Modelling of Climate and Biogeochemical Cycles, UR-SPHERES, University of Liège, Liège, [email protected] BE, [email protected] 2Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat LOCEAN, Sorbonne Université, Paris, FR Fungus-growing termites are abundant and play an important 3Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université de Montpellier II, CNRS-UM-IRD, Montpellier, FR role in soil nutrient dynamics in the tropics due to their activities 4Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, BE and unique effects on soil physical, chemical and biochemical 5Behavioural Biology Unit, UR-SPHERES, University of Liège, Liège, BE properties. However, the mechanisms of termite mound turnover 6Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK and the effects of such turnover on temporal and spatial patterns of nutrients in surrounding soils have rarely been studied. Podocarpus latifolius/milanjianus (same species according to genetics) is an endemic African species with populations in the western, eastern and southern parts of the Here, we investigated the relationship between the stabilization TUESDAY 15:15 TUESDAY continent. The current global warming threatens the conservation of the relict patches of and redistribution of soil nutrient properties and the chronological development of termite 16:00 TUESDAY this mountain evergreen species. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the species was mounds (primary, secondary-occupied and abandoned mounds). The study was conducted certainly more largely distributed and present at lower elevations than today according to to assess the concentrations of nutrients and water content in the biogenic structures pollen data. At the beginning of the Holocene, Podocarpus moved upwards due to warmer produced by two fungus-growing termites (M. annandalei and O. yunnanensis) in different conditions. The size of the populations might have collapsed abruptly at the end of the mound stages. Samples were collected along a transect at regular intervals proportional to “African Humid Period” at ca. 3,000 BP (Lézine et al., Journal of Biogeography, 40: 183- the size of the biogenic structure. 196, 2013). Besides this general evolution, the palaeo-distribution of Podocarpus remains

relatively unknown. The origin and connections between the eastern, southern and We found the concentration of NO3- in the following sequence: active mound, abandoned western Podocarpus forests are still not understood. mound, and the surrounding soils. The concentrations of organic carbon (Corg) and total In the framework of two related projects, AFRIFORD (Genetic and palaeoecological signatures N in the active mounds were significantly lower than those in the surrounding top soils, of African rainforest dynamics: pre-adapted to change?) and VULPES (VULnerability of although a weak difference was observed with subsoils. The concentrations of Corg and Populations under Extreme Scenario), we use the CARAIB dynamic vegetation model (Dury total N in the abandoned mounds were significantly higher than those in active mounds, et al., iForest, 4:82-99, 2011), in parallel to genetic and palynologic analyses, to simulate the whereas no difference was observed with surrounding soils. The mean concentrations of past and future dynamics of Podocarpus and to understand its current distribution. nutrients were significantly different between fresh parts (sampling locations 1–3) and old Projections of the HadCM3 climate model are used to reproduce climatic conditions in parts (locations 4–6) of the secondary-occupied mounds. The nutrients in the fresh parts Africa from LGM (21,000 BP) to present time with a temporal resolution of 1 kyr. For the of the mound approached the values in the primary mound; whereas the nutrients in the future (period 2006-2100), several IPCC climate scenarios from the Coupled Modelling old part of the mound approached the values in the abandoned mound. Our results indicate Intercomparison Project–Phase 5 (CMIP5) have been selected according to the quality that nutrient concentrations change through the chronological development of termite of their reconstructed climate (temperature and precipitation) over sub-Saharan Africa mounds, which are hot spots of nutrients that subsequently affect ecosystem processes for historical period. After interpolation to a 0.5° regular grid, we kept only past/future at specific spatial and temporal scales through the stabilization and redistribution of anomalies that we added to the GSWP3 (20 CR) climate data chosen as the reference for nutrients. the historical period. Sub-continental simulations are performed with CARAIB forced by these climatic projections to simulate the net primary productivity (NPP) of Podocarpus over time and space. In addition, CARAIB simulations are performed at higher resolution over a restricted region in southwestern Cameroon to identify potential microrefugia.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 138 139

S09-O14 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL DIVERSITY FACTORS DETERMINING FUNGAL DIVERSITY AND DYNAMICS DURING WOOD DECOMPOSITION ACROSS DISTURBANCE GRADIENT IN TROPICAL MOUNTAINOUS FOREST

Gbadamassi G.O Dossa1,2,3, Yun-Qiang Yang1, Weiming Hu4, Ekananda Paudel5, Douglas We did not find forest disturbance to affect the decomposition process for any of the two Schaefer2, Kun-Fang Cao6, Jian-Chu Xu1,3,7, Kathyn E. Bushley8, Rhett D. Harrison9 contrasting woody species. Nevertheless, species identity, core relative position to the soil and time significantly affect the decomposition rates. To explain these results, we explored 1Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, CN, [email protected] the temporal dynamic of fungal diversity and community. We found that the diversity of 2Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese fungi peaked in the mid of the experiment then decrease toward the end of the monitoring Academy of Sciences, Menglun, CN time. The preliminary analyses suggest that time and species (of woody debris) were 3Centre for Mountain Ecosystem Studies, Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, CN significant drivers of alpha-diversity of fungal decomposers. While for the community 4Nematode Molecular Systematics and Biological Control, Entomology and Nematology Department change over time, we found that time and forest type were significantly shaping the University of Florida, Florida, US turnover. 5Nepali Academy of Science and Technology, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, NP 6Ecophysiology and Evolution Group, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Merian Award Applicant Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, and College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Guangxi, CN

TUESDAY 16:15 TUESDAY 7World Agroforestry Centre, East & Central Asia Regional Office, Kunming, CN 8Department of Plant and Microbial Biology University of Minnesota, Minnesota, US 9World Agroforestry Centre, East & Southern Africa Region, Lusaka, ZM

Nutrient cycling is controlled by both abiotic and biotic factors. However much less is known about biotic factors such as fungi contribution to nutrient cycling in tropical biomes. Combining with the high degree of degradation occurring in tropical forests, there is a need of filling this gap in our knowledge.

Our study aims to link biotic, especially fungal diversity to decomposition rates in tropical biomes. Thus we set up to examine how forest degradation affects wood decomposition in general but more importantly (1) does time have an effect and what are those effects in terms of diversity and community structure? (2) does woody debris species affect fungi diversity and community structure? (3) does the relative position of woody debris to the soil affect fungi diversity and community structure? We conducted a standard wood decomposition experiment across a disturbance gradient in a tropical mountain forest from mature forest to open land in Xishuangbanna, SW China using two contrasting native woody species. We periodically monitored wood specific gravity loss of logs (n = 280, each being 0.5 m in length) by collected wood core (from lower half of log, part in direct contact with soil and upper half part in opposite direction) and wood dust samples and employed next-generation sequencing to identify fungi alpha diversity and the fungal community structure (beta diversity).

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 140 141

S10-O01 – TROPICAL SOIL ECOLOGY SOIL, LANDSCAPE AND LAND-USE ITINERARY EFFECTS ON SESSION 10 NON-CULTIVATED PLANT COMMUNITIES AND ASSOCIATED SERVICES IN CROPLANDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND IMPACT OF SOIL PLANT-FAUNA-MICROORGANISMS INTERACTIONS ON THE FUNCTIONING OF TROPICAL Margot Neyret1, Henri Robain1, Anneke de Rouw1, Bounsamay Soulileuth2, Karn Trisophon3, ECOSYSTEMS Kaesorn Jumpa4, Christian Valentin1

Chairs: Jean-Christophe LATA, Luc ABBADIE 1Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES) Paris, Institute of Research for Development Contact: [email protected] (IRD), Sorbonne University, National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), University Paris-East Creteil (UPEC), Bondy, FR, [email protected] Tropical natural ecosystems are renowned for being major reservoirs of plant and animal 2Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES) Paris, IRD, Sorbonne University, INRA, biodiversity, and key ecosystems for global climate and biogeochemical regulation. They are University Paris-East Creteil (UPEC), Vientiane, LA also submitted to important threats, mainly through conversion to agriculture and climate 3Land Development Department, Regional office 6, Chiang Mai, TH changes. These terrestrial ecosystems depend on their soils and the biodiversity they host, 4Land Development Department, Central office, Bangkok, TH so that the ecology of tropical soils must be studied to better understand the functioning of these ecosystems and predict their dynamics. Moreover, tropical soils are viewed as very In the past decades, the transition from annual crops to rubber fragile due to low cation exchange capacity, high mineralization rates and heavy rains so tree plantations in South-East Asia has caused concern regarding that the degradation of tropical ecosystems often begins with soil degradation. the increase of soil erosion processes. Weeds communities fulfil numerous ecosystem services and are strongly dependent and The goal of this session is to present results on the ecological functioning of tropical farming practices. Thus, the ongoing transition is likely to affect soils that determine the general functioning of tropical ecosystems. Soil ecology is based their structure and associated services such as soil protection from on belowground-aboveground interactions and all aspects of these interactions will erosion. potentially be addressed: plant-soil interactions, plant-soil-microorganism interactions, To address the effects of land use, season, soil characteristics and plant-soil fauna interactions, plant-microorganism-fauna interactions, modification of soil landscape on plant communities in croplands of mountainous Northern Thailand, we properties by soil organisms... carried out botanical inventories and soil characterization in 20 fields from 4 main land uses representative of the transition from annual crops to rubber plantations (upland rice, The session will emphasize interactions that are essential to the maintenance of the maize, young rubber, mature rubber) twice a year since March 2016. We estimated the concerned ecosystems and their resilience to disturbances. Anthropized ecosystems will proportion of each land cover around the fields using satellite images. We installed twelve WEDNESDAY also be addressed, for example when soil ecology is influential for the maintenance of soil erosion microplots in rubber tree plantations to monitor weekly plant cover, run-off, and WEDNESDAY 09:30 WEDNESDAY fertility in agricultural landscapes. Studies on the general ecology of soil organisms will soil detachment. also be considered. Land use was the main factor of weed community variations, explaining 33 % of the variance. Season, soil characteristics and landscape also affected communities (resp. 8 %, 9 % and 7 % of observed variance). Soil cover was lower in rubber tree plantations compared to annual crops. High plant living biomass was associated to higher N and C soil content. Higher plant cover decreased runoff (the proportion of rainfall that does not infiltrate) and prevented soil surface from degradation. While further investigation is needed to uncover more precise relations between soil physical properties and weeds, we showed that plant cover was strongly affected by land uses and was a key factor in protecting soil from degradation and limiting runoff. Ongoing investigations are now focusing on the effects of farming practices on the seasonal dynamics of weeds and soil erosion.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 142 143

S10-O02 – TROPICAL SOIL ECOLOGY S10-O03 – TROPICAL SOIL ECOLOGY DIET COMPOSITION ANALYSIS OF TROPICAL SOIL-FEEDING TERMITES INCREASE ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE TO DROUGHT TERMITES: AFRICAN APICOTERMITINAE IN TROPICAL RAINFOREST

Johanna Romero Arias1, Steeve Bonneville2,3, Yves Roisin1 Louise Ashton1,2, Hannah Griffiths3, Kate Parr3, Theo Evans4, Fevziye Hasan2, Yit Arn Teh5, Marcus Tin6, Charles Vairappan6, Paul Eggleton2 1Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BE, [email protected] 1The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, HK, [email protected] 2U.R. BGéOsys, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BE 2Natural History Museum London, London, UK 3MAT, Materials Engineering, Characterization, Processing and Recycling, Université Libre de 3University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK Bruxelles, Brussels, BE 4University of Western Australia, Australia, Perth, AU 5University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Termites are one of the key actors of the soil fauna of tropical 6Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, MY rainforests and woodlands. The termite assemblage of an ecosystem depends on its soil parameters such as granulometry, chemical Climate change is threatening tropical rainforests and the ecosystem composition or water retention. These parameters are largely services they provide. Drought events are predicted to become more influenced by the termites themselves, which act as “ecosystem frequent and more severe, yet, there is little information about how engineers” of tropical environments. On the other hand, variations droughts affect faunal biota and associated ecosystem processes. in soil texture and composition create opportunities for niche Consequently, biotic responses to climate change are barely partitioning, to support a broad diversity of termites and other soil considered in Earth system models and we know little about how arthropods. animal responses to climatic events can affect ecosystem resilience. The Apicotermitinae is a subfamily of soil-feeding termite species, which ingest cellular Termites are hyper-abundant in tropical rainforests, with up to organic materials mixed with clay minerals. Yet, specific food sources can be revealed 10,000 individuals in a square meter. Unlike many other rainforest organisms, there is by direct methods, such as analysis of gut contents and termite tissues, or indirect ones, evidence that termites respond positively to drought; however, the consequences of through nest material analysis. In this study, we analysed the content of the foregut (i.e. the such climate-mediated biotic changes on ecosystem processes and resilience has not crop and the gizzard) of the workers of a broad array of Apicotermitinae species. been investigated. Here, we address this gap for the first time, using a large-scale termite We estimated the relative amounts of clay, organic matter and coarse mineral elements suppression experiment in Malaysian Borneo, spanning the El Niño drought of 2015-16 (crystals) in species with or without soldiers. Clay dominates the gut contents in this group, and subsequent non-drought conditions. We quantified the influence of termites on three followed by organic matter. We also found substantial amounts of aggregates consisting of ecosystem components that determine vegetation dynamics: decomposition, soil nutrient organic matters and thin clay particles. We discussed the variations observed between the cycling and soil moisture. These factors were assessed both during and after the drought WEDNESDAY 09:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 10:00 WEDNESDAY different species of Apicotermitinae studied. event and we quantified seedling mortality within each period. During the drought, termites were more abundant. When termites were experimentally suppressed, decomposition, soil nutrient heterogeneity and soil moisture decreased, and seedling mortality was 34 % higher. The effects of termite suppression were not apparent in non-drought conditions. These results demonstrate the multitrophic impact of termite- mediated processes on ecosystem resilience to drought, with far-reaching implications for terrestrial nutrient cycling and atmospheric carbon budgets. We demonstrate, with a novel, real-world experiment, the vital importance of an invertebrate biota for the resilience of rainforest systems. As drought pressure increases under climate change, biodiversity will become more important for the maintenance of functioning ecosystems.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 144 145

S10-O04 – TROPICAL SOIL ECOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS OF BIOME DISTRIBUTION IN BOLIVIA AND BRAZIL - DISSECTING THE IMPORTANCE OF SOILS, CLIMATE AND FIRE

Pedro Luiz Silva de Miranda1, Caroline Lehmann1, Ary Oliveira-Filho2, Danilo M. Neves3, Timothy R. Baker3, Carlos Alberto Nobre Quesada5, Toby Pennington6,7, Kyle G. Dexter1,7

1School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, [email protected] 2Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Miras Gerais, Belo Horizonte, BR 3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, US 4School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK 5Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Coordenação de Dinâmica Ambiental, Manaus, BR 6Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK 7Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

In the tropics, areas under the same climatic regime can be occupied by different biomes, showing that the environmental controls behind biome distribution are still poorly understood. Other factors such as edaphic conditions and disturbance history (e.g. fire) must also be involved. We aimed to determine which are the main environmental drivers behind the distribution of rain forests, savannas and seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) in Brazil and Bolivia.

We collected and analysed soil samples (for many variables, including pH, aluminium, phosphorous, partial sum of bases and sand percentage) from 182 sites for which biome state had been determined independently based on tree species composition. We also considered temperature seasonality (from Bioclim), inter-annual precipitation seasonality and fire return index (both from Lehmann et al., 2014) as explainers of biome state. We employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess drivers of biome state, in order to account for dependencies of explanatory variables. WEDNESDAY 10:15 WEDNESDAY

For Bolivia, the transition between SDTF and Savanna is mainly driven by fire and it is not related to soils, whereas in Brazil it is driven only by soils (partial sum of bases and Aluminium). The transition between savannas and rain forests in Brazil is related to soils and fire; in Bolivia, it is mediated by fire frequency and inter-annual precipitation seasonality. The transition between SDTFs and rain forests in Bolivia is mediated by fire and climate, whereas we were unable to detect any significant drivers for this transition in Brazil. These results show that soils and fire are important to biome distribution and that environmental controls differs between Brazil and Bolivia. Savannas in Bolivia (Chiquitania) are likely the result of anthropogenic degradation of SDTFs. Meanwhile, in Brazil, soil controls are responsible for the distribution of savannas and SDTFs as previously hypothesized.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 146 147

S11-O01 – MOLECULAR TAXONOMY AND CRYPTIC SPECIES IN SOILS A LARGE VIEW OF THE SMALL PROTISTS IN NEOTROPICAL SESSION 11 RAINFORESTS

MOLECULAR TAXONOMY AND CRYPTIC SPECIES IN SOILS Micah Dunthorn1

Chairs: Virginie ROY, Lise DUPONT 1University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, DE, [email protected] Contact: [email protected] Naturalists have long known that plants and animals in tropical Soil is a complex system which provides ecosystem services such as biomass production, rainforests are exceedingly species rich. It has been unknown if organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. These functions are delivered by similar hyperdiversity patterns are seen at the microbial scale the huge diversity of organisms that live and interact in the soil, under the influence of with unicellular protists. To expand our view of these ecosystems abiotic environment. While significant advances have been made in physical and chemical to include a broader microbial perspective, I sampled soils in characterization of soils, biological communities remain understudied, with a poor lowland rainforests in Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador using a knowledge of their specific diversity. Indeed, soil fauna suffers a strong taxonomic deficit metabarcoding approach with general eukaryotic primers. that is particularly pronounced in tropical regions. Identification of soil species is hampered by the lack of observable morphological characters and samples can be represented by I found that protist communities in Neotropical rainforests are hyperdiverse and dominated incomplete specimens or non-identifiable structures (cocoons, eggs, traces). Constraining by the parasitic Apicomplexa, which infect arthropods and other animals. These host- environmental conditions such as those encountered in soils can induce a stabilizing specific parasites potentially contribute to the high animal diversity in the forests by selection on morphology, decreasing morphological changes that accompany speciation. reducing population growth in a density-dependent manner. By contrast, too few Oomycota OTUs were found to broadly drive high tropical tree diversity in a host-specific manner With the increasing use of molecular data in taxonomy, the number of publications referring under the Janzen-Connell model. Extremely high OTU diversity and high heterogeneity to cryptic species discovery is continually rising. DNA barcoding and metabarcoding are between samples within the same forests suggest that protists, not arthropods as now routinely used to organize samples in genetically divergent groups, allowing rapid commonly thought, are the most diverse eukaryotes in tropical rainforests. These data discovery of species and calculation of biodiversity estimators. Multi-locus approaches show that protists play a large role in tropical terrestrial ecosystems long viewed as being provide a fine resolution on species delimitation issues, and confirmation of cryptic dominated by macro-organisms. speciation.

Session participants are encouraged to submit contributions on the following topics: WEDNESDAY tropical soil diversity and species assemblages, molecular species delineation, cryptic WEDNESDAY 11:00 WEDNESDAY species discovery.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 148 149

S11-O02 – MOLECULAR TAXONOMY AND CRYPTIC SPECIES IN SOILS S11-O03 – MOLECULAR TAXONOMY AND CRYPTIC SPECIES IN SOILS MEGALOTHORAX DIVERSITY: ACCOUNT OF A NEGLECTED COMPLEX TAXONOMY AND GLOBAL PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF SPRINGTAIL WIDELY DISTRIBUTED IN THE INTERTROPICAL THE WELL-KNOWN TROPICAL EARTHWORM PONTOSCOLEX ZONE CORETHRURUS

Clément Schneider1, Cyrille D’Haese (speaker)1 Shabnam Taheri1, Samuel James2, Virginie Roy1, Thibaud Decaëns3, Bronwyn Williams4, Franck Anderson4, Rodolphe Rougerie5, Chih-Han Chang6, George Brown7, Luis Cunha7,8, Dave Stanton8, 1MECADEV, UMR 7179 CNRS/MNHN, Paris, FR, [email protected] Elodie Da Silva7, Jiun-Hong Chen9, Alan Lemmon10, Marie Bartz11, Dilmar Baretta12, Isabelle Barois13, Emmanuel Lapied14, Mathieu Coulis15, Lise Dupont1 Despite its apparent poor diversity, the genus Megalothorax have a worldwide distribution. Phylogenetic analyses based on several molecular loci indicates that Megalothorax is 1Université Paris Est Créteil, Créteil, FR, [email protected] much more diverse than previously thought with probably many species yet to be described 2University of Iowa, Iowa, US including cryptic species. 3Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Montpellier, FR 4Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, US Interestingly, several species have a sexual reproduction and have a restricted distribution 5Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, FR whereas others are parthenogenetic and widely distributed. The latter group includes 6Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US Megalothorax minimus group and Megalothorax incertus group. M. laevis belongs to 7Embrapa Florestas, Colombo, BR the incertus group but shares similitudes with the minimus group acquired through 8Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK evolutionary convergences such as smooth lamellae of the mucro. Those similitudes might 9National Taiwan University, Taipei, TW have created a confusion between M. minimus and M. laevis. While M. minimus used to be 10Florida State University, Tallahassee, US generally regarded cosmopolitan it is actually restricted to the temperate and cold regions 11Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, BR of both hemispheres. M. laevis has been completely overlooked since its original discovery. 12Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Chapecó, BR However, the present sampling lead to believe that M. laevis replace M. minimus as the 13Instituto de Ecología, Veracruz, MX commonest edaphic Megalothorax species in the intertropical zone. 14Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, NO 15CIRAD, Le Lamentin, MQ

Few earthworm species are peregrine and among them, Pontoscolex corethrurus is the most well-known. Probably native from the Guyana shield, this earthworm is nowadays distributed worldwide, in the tropical and sub-tropical zones. It is found in a wide range of habitats, from apparently pristine to any kind of human-disturbed environments. WEDNESDAY 11:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:30 WEDNESDAY P. corethrurus presents several characteristics of a successful invader: r-strategy, parthenogenesis reproduction and ecological and reproductive plasticity. Although its ecological interactions with the environment were well documented, the taxonomic status of this earthworm was unclear.

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships within the genus Pontoscolex at a global scale (25 countries), focusing on morphologically indistinguishable lineages using the mitochondrial COI and 16S markers, the nuclear ITS 2 and 28S markers and a large-scale multilocus sequence data matrix obtained using the Anchored Hybrid Enrichment (AHE) phylogenomic method.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 150 151

S11-O04 – MOLECULAR TAXONOMY AND CRYPTIC SPECIES IN SOILS Four cryptic species were discovered within the P. corethrurus species complex and one

of them, P. corethrurus L1 was particularly widespread. Although sympatry between L1, L3 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO DISENTANGLE THE

and L4 was observed, no case of hybridization was detected between L1 and the two other CRYPTIC DIVERSITY IN ANTS OF THE NEOPONERA APICALIS

cryptic species, confirming the status of species of P. corethrurus L1. A population genetics SPECIES COMPLEX study of this species using COI sequences and AFLP data revealed a low mitochondrial genetic diversity and a high proportion of clones in some populations, in accordance with Boris Yagound1,2, Ronara Souza Ferreira3, Fabrice Savarit1, Stéphane Chameron1, Nicolas the principal mode of reproduction of the species (i.e., parthenogenesis). However, variable Châline3, Chantal Poteaux (speaker)1 levels of genetic diversity among populations and results of gametic disequilibrium analysis suggesting recombination in several populations, confirmed a mixed-mating 1Laboratoire d’Ethologie Expérimentale et comparée, Villetaneuse, FR, [email protected] strategy (sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis). 2Behaviour and Genetics of Social Insects Laboratory, Sydney, AT 3Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, São Paulo, BR

Inferring species boundaries is of crucial importance in the biological sciences. However, this task often proves to be challenging because many species exhibit a very high morphological similarity, while their actual diversity remains cryptic. In this context, multidisciplinary studies can be useful to circumvent this issue and delimit species. Here, we present results gathered during several years in an integrative study of Neoponera apicalis ants, a complex of closely related and partly sympatric cryptic species.

The relationships between the different putative species were first investigated over their Neotropical distribution range with molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial DNA genes. All morphs represented distinct well-supported clades, with a high intra- morph variability mostly explained by geographic differences. Phylogenetic relationships between morphs were however mostly unresolved, leaving the phylogeography of this complex unanswered.

To further decipher the topologies observed between N. apicalis morphs, we then conducted a set of comparative analyses in ants from sympatric and allopatric populations, focusing on (1) the morphology and bioacoustics of stridulatory organs, (2) the anatomy of male phenotypes, (3) the diversity of reproductive systems, (4) the ecological preferences WEDNESDAY 11:45 WEDNESDAY for nesting sites and foraging activity, and (5) the chemical ecology of fertility-associated signals.

Overall, we found a strong congruence of morph-specific traits across methods. We suggest that at least five of the morphs studied here should be considered as a valid new species, even if they present different levels of divergence. This study highlights the relevance of integrative approaches when dealing with cryptic diversity.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 152 153

S12-O01 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY BIOSTATISTICS APPLICATIONS FOR TROPICAL (AND SESSION 12 NON) PLANT AND ANIMAL BIOLOGY: A (META)GENOMICS PERSPECTIVE MOLECULAR ECOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL GENETICS IN THE TROPICS Filippo Biscarini1,2

Chairs: Pablo OROZCO-TERWENGEL, Ute RADESPIEL 1Cardiff University - School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK, [email protected] Contact: [email protected] 2CNR-IBBA (National Council for Research - Institute of Biology and Biotechnology in Agriculture), Milan, IT Tropical environments are under threat for a variety of reasons including human population expansion and encroachment, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. Species leaving Next-generation sequencing and high-throughput SNP-genotyping in such environments are highly challenged, as they need to modify life strategies and/or have wide applications in plant and animal genomics and change distribution ranges in order to accommodate for rather fast environmental changes. metagenomics. Such applications provide insights into population Understanding the outcome of such changes (e.g. demographic changes, hybridization, genetics and are used to develop tools to assist agriculture. extinction, inbreeding) is of utmost importance if we are to effectively contribute to the conservation of tropical species. In rice, through GWAS the SD-1 gene allele linked to semi-dwarf phenotype was found to be still segregating in temperate japonica Historically, the field of molecular ecology has focused on characterizing population accessions, while in indica and tropical japonica accessions genetic parameters typically associated to neutral molecular markers. The understanding was either absent (wild type) or fixed (semi-dwarf lines). With a similar approach, of the effect of genetic variants on functional traits, however, was constrained, largely, due SNP associated with yield have been identified in rice accessions under limited-water to our limited capacity to mine genome-wide diversity. Technological developments during conditions: the identified associations are suitable targets for genomics-assisted breeding the last decade have facilitated generating genetic resources for almost any species, as to improve yield-related traits under limited water conditions. In sugar beet, alleles for well as have speeded up the pace at which genetic information can be acquired, thereby genetic resistance to diseases are typically introduced through introgression from wild revolutionizing the field of molecular ecology. Today it is possible to screen natural beets. By sequencing 21 resistance genes for rhizomania and nematode infections, wild and populations for genetic variation related to neutral demographic processes, but also cultivated beets did indeed cluster together, except one gene: this last reveals a resistance variation that is associated to adaptive processes and therefore of functional importance. mutation that originated directly in domestic beets. However, as new possibilities become available in molecular ecology, questions arise regarding how to incorporate such new results into management strategies of species With metagenomics, significant differences have been observed in the gut microbiota WEDNESDAY inhabiting changing environments such as the tropics. composition of BALBc mice (animal model for Graves’ thyroid disease) immunized with WEDNESDAY 13:30 WEDNESDAY the same protocol in comparable specific-pathogen free units from different centers. These This session will provide the opportunity to present new data on this and related questions, differences help explain the lack of reproducibility of the animal model across centers. to critically review the existing evidence and to point out important avenues for future Similarly, the gut microbiota may be implicated in genotype-by-environment interactions research in tropical molecular ecology. found in livestock when farming the same breed in different places (e.g. temperate vs tropical latitudes). In cattle, the rumen microbiome has a major role in methane production, a green-house gas implicated in global climate change. Feed supplementation modulate the rumen microbiota composition, and specifically reduce the counts of methanogenic taxa. These results can be applied to farming and breeding for reduced methane emissions in cattle.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 154 155

S12-O02 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY S12-O03 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY POPULATION GENOMICS OF WILD CHINESE RHESUS RED VERSUS BLUE VERSUS GREEN: MOLECULAR ASPECTS MACAQUES REVEALS DYNAMIC DEMOGRAPHIC HISTORIES OF COLOR POLYTYPY IN A POISON FROG AND LOCAL ADAPTATION Heike Pröhl1, Ariel Rodríguez1, Nicolas Mundy2 Pablo Orozco-terWengel1 1Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, DE, [email protected] 1Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, [email protected] 2Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

The rhesus macaque (RM, Macaca mulatta) is one of the most important nonhuman Animal coloration is an adaptive attribute, subject to strong local selection pressures primate models in evolutionary biology and biomedical research. However, information and therefore often diversified among species or populations. The visually conspicuous on the genetic variation of geo-referenced wild populations is limited. Here we present strawberry poison frog Oophaga pumilio shows a broad array of color morphs across its the first population genomics survey of wild RMs, comprising 81 individuals representing distribution in the rainforests in Central America. While the ecological factors contributing five subspecies from 17 locations in China, covering a large fraction of the species’ natural to this impressive phenotypic color divergence have been extensively investigated, the distribution. contribution of molecular processes has been neglected so far.

With a > 55M detected autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genetic diversity We applied RNA-Seq gene expression analysis in order to identify candidate genes involved in wild RMs is higher compared to captive populations with 834K-8.5M subspecies specific in coloration differences among red, blue and green color phenotypes on the mainland SNPs. We detected a hierarchical population structure with genetic lineages found on the and the islands of the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Panama. Using RNA extracted from mainland and one on Hainan Island mapping onto the current subspecies designations. field-collected skins, we assembled a de novo reference transcriptome containing 20494 The divergence among the five groups was estimated between 70 and 127 thousand years transcripts with an open reading frame and used it to estimate the differences in gene ago but with more recent gene flow detected between some groups. Consistent with the expression between color morphs. Differential expression (DE) was quantified and

expectation of a larger body size in colder climates (Bergman’s rule), the northernmost RM statistically tested using three methods (limma, edgeR, and DESeq2). lineage (subspecies M. m. tcheliensis) exhibits the largest body size of all Chinese RMs and features signatures of positive selection in genes responsible for skeletal development. A set of 735 coding transcripts were identified as DE by the three detection methods applied. When comparing the tropical subspecies M. m. brevicaudus from Hainan Island to other Approximately 8 % of these transcripts represented genes previously linked to pigment subspecies we identified candidate genes related to cardiovascular function including production pathways, including carotenoid metabolism, pteridine production, melanin blood circulation, and response to temperature stimuli, features potentially involved in synthesis and purine metabolism. Gene set enrichment analyses indicated that genes in adaptation to tropical climates. Furthermore, we found 87 non-synonymous RM SNPs the pteridine pathway were upregulated in red relative to blue color frogs. Genes in the homologous to human variants involved in disease. melanin synthesis pathway were up-regulated in green relative to blue frogs. Expression WEDNESDAY 13:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 14:00 WEDNESDAY patterns of several of these genes were analyzed and their potential role in color variation Our study revealed an unexpected demographic history in Chinese RMs, coupled with a inferred based on published studies on other vertebrates. Overall our results identify history of local adaption to the regions where they are currently found. This study offers multiple candidate genes associated to color phenotypes which will open new avenues for novel insights into the evolution of RMs and provides valuable information for biomedical future studies of color variation in frogs. research.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 156 157

S12-O04 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY S12-O05 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY DE NOVO TRANSCRIPTOME SEQUENCING AND IMMUNOLOGICAL MHC SUPERTYPES AND ALLELIC COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED EXPRESSION: HOW LOW IS THE FUNCTIONAL MHC GENES IN ERYTHROPHLEUM SPECIES UNDER DROUGHT VARIABILITY IN WILD ENDANGERED NAMIBIAN CHEETAHS? STRESS Simone Sommer1, Bettina Wachter2, Nina Schwensow1 Mohamed Neji1, Anais Gorel2, Dario Ojeda Alayon1, Jérôme Duminil1,4, Kathy Steppe3, Adeline Fayolle2, Olivier Hardy1 1University of Ulm, Ulm, DE, [email protected] 2Leibnitz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, DE 1Université Libre de Bruxelles, Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Brussels, BE, [email protected] 2University of Liege, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Department Biosystem Engineering, Gembloux, BE Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are a famous textbook example of 3Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Laboratory of Plant Ecology, Ghent, BE how habitat loss and historic bottlenecks have depleted genetic 4UMR-DIADE, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier, FR variability both genome-wide and at the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), which plays an integral role in the adaptive The genus Erythrophleum includes two sister tree species immune response. However, wild Namibian cheetahs show no geographically widespread in the tropical African rainforest signs of impaired immuno-competence or health. This contradicts characterized by a high economic and socio-cultural value: E. theoretical expectations and poses the question as to whether other suaveolens and E. ivorense (Fabaceae). With a large geographical adaptive components of the immune system have been overlooked distribution extending from Senegal to Kenya, and south to that might be important for consideration in conservation genetics. Zimbabwe, E. suaveolens seems to be more adapted to the dry climate of the Guineo-Congolian forests and the forest-savanna Here, we show that wild Namibian cheetahs still harbor a certain degree of functional MHC landscapes. In contrast, E. ivorense is restricted to evergreen diversity. The present alleles are divergent enough to cover several functionally distinct Guinean-Congolese forests. Such pattern of distribution suggests that the two species MHC supertypes and thus are probably capable of binding and presenting a relatively broad differ in their performance for coping with drought stress. range of antigens to T-cells. We have detected a similar pattern in four other wild, strongly With the aim of unravelling the molecular mechanisms underlying the response of these bottlenecked, cat species supporting the hypothesis that species with a low MHC allelic species to drought, we performed an RNA-seq on six seedlings from each species to analyze variability might be able to retain diversity not within but across loci. Moreover, the allelic their transcriptional responses at different stages of drought. After cleaning and assembly, composition influences the level of MHC class I and class II expression suggesting that the 97,645,249 reads in E. ivorense and 144,281,582 in E. suaveolens were assembled to 68,768 latter is triggered by structural MHC diversity. Our study indicates that the evolutionary and 70,383 unigenes, respectively. Annotation of these genes showed that 45 % had a role of MHC diversity goes beyond allelic variability and offers an explanation as to how significant match to one of the following databases: Swiss-Prot, Pfam, Signalp, Tmhmm and wild cat species might have avoided impaired immuno-competence, despite showing low WEDNESDAY 14:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 14:30 WEDNESDAY RNAmmer for both species. Gene Ontology analysis showed that 10,865 and 20,364 genes MHC diversity. On a cautionary note, although the low MHC diversity currently seems to be were assigned to 55 to 56 GO terms, with the abundance of “Biological process” category. sufficient to ensure the health of wild cheetahs, whether it can provide sufficient protection By comparing control samples to 2 weeks and 8 weeks stressed samples, a set of 2,020 from future threats through emerging new pathogens remains uncertain. (1,204 down-regulated/816 up-regulated) and 1,495 (469 down-regulated/1,026 up-regulated) differentially expressed genes were identified inE. ivorense and E. suaveolens, respectively. Notably, the number of DEG was found to be much higher at 8 weeks of stress in both species, suggesting that the severe treatment affects more drought-related genes than mild stress. Digital gene expression analysis indicated that pathways involved in “response to stimulus” plays important role during drought stress in both species with more change observed in E. suaveolens. Overall, our data showed that the two species exhibit similar expression patterns, suggesting that the main difference in gene expression was quantitative. A lower number of DEG identified inE. suaveolens and the change in pathways observed during the treatment is consistent with the expectation that this species displays more tolerance to drought.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 158 159

S12-O06 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY S12-O07 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY PHYLOGEOGRAPHY AND HETEROGENEOUS SELECTION SPECIES DELIMITATION IN THE GENUS SHAPE VOMERONASAL RECEPTOR DIVERSITY IN MOUSE GREENWAYODENDRON BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND LEMURS (MICROCEBUS SPP.) GENETIC MARKERS REVEAL NEW SPECIES

Ute Radespiel1, Philipp Hohenbrink1,2, Nick Mundy2 Brandet-Junior Lissambou1,2, Thomas L.P. Couvreur3,4, Christiane Atteke1, Tariq Stévart5, Rosalia Piñeiro6, Gilles Dauby2,5, Franck K. Monthe2, Bertrand M’batchi1, Olivier J. Hardy2, Bonaventure 1Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, DE, Sonké4 [email protected] 2Department of Zoology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK 1Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), Franceville, GA, [email protected] Olfactory communication is essential for nocturnal mammals and 2Service d’Evolution Biologique et Ecologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, BE many species possess a functional vomeronasal organ (VNO). The 3Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, FR small nocturnal mouse lemurs of Madagascar presumably possess 4Laboratoire d’Ecologie et Systémique des Plantes du Département de Biologie de l’Ecole Normale the largest number of vomeronasal receptors (VR, ~ 200) among Supérieure (ENS) de l’Université de Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, CM all primates. The high diversity of VRs within this clade has been 5Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique africaine, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de related to the fundamental relevance of olfactory communication Bruxelles, Bruxelles, BE and predator recognition in these primates. Previous genetic studies 6Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Londres, UK suggest an allopatric radiation of extant mouse lemur species with a recent expansion of one species, M. murinus, from southwestern to northwestern Combining genetic and morphological markers is a powerful Madagascar. approach for species delimitation, much needed in tropical species The aim of this study is to infer different phylogeographic signals and selection regimes complexes. Greenwayodendron (Annonaceae) currently contains that acted on the VR repertoire of two mouse lemur species differing in their evolutionary two species of trees distributed across African rainforests. Previous trajectories. To infer ongoing intraspecific selection regimes and phylogeographic history, genetic studies have suggested that this genus could contain cryptic

we investigated sequence variation in seven V1R loci amplified across multiple mouse species. We tested species delineation within Greenwayodendron lemur species and sequenced 17 VRs in sympatric populations of two species of mouse by combining morphological and molecular data. lemurs (M. murinus and M. ravelobensis) in northwestern Madagascar. First, we measured 26 morphological characters from 500 herbarium The VR repertoire of M. ravelobensis showed a significantly higher genetic diversity on specimens. Multivariate analyses were used to identify groups of morphologically different the level of nucleotides and haplotypes than M. murinus that can be explained by a longer specimens. We then tested whether these groups were genetically different. For this, a total evolutionary history of the former species in the region and a relatively recent founder of 800 silica-dried samples were genotyped using 8 nuclear microsatellites. Genetic groups WEDNESDAY 14:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 15:00 WEDNESDAY effect in M. murinus. Whereas the larger interspecific comparisons revealed strong signals were identified and characterized using a Bayesian clustering algorithm and factorial of positive selection across the VR repertoire, the population samples rather suggest the correspondence analysis. effect of purifying selection with one locus even showing evidence of functional loss in M. Morphometric analysis suggested the existence of seven different groups. Bayesian cluster ravelobensis. Only a few loci in M. ravelobensis showed evidence of positive selection. The analysis identified four different groups, while factor analysis identified three additional discordance of both analyses may indicate that early beneficial mutations at VRs may have groups. These analyses highlight that Greenwayodendron as currently circumscribed been fixed over a short period of time during mouse lemur evolution and that VR evolution underestimates the total number of species. Indeed, based on our integration of morphology may have been rather heterogeneous and episodic over time. and genetic diversity we identified two new species and confirm the new status of species for one variety. Our results support the subspecies status of G. suaveolens subsp usambaricum. The status of one group of specimens, all collected from Sao Tome, remains inconclusive. This is partially linked to the few fertile materials available. Our study shows the strength of combining morphological and molecular data, as it shows that potentially new taxa are to be discovered using these approaches.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 160 161

S13-O01 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY STATE OF THE ART ON TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY: SESSION 13 PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOMASS/CARBON MONITORING AND ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE INTRA- AND INTER-SPECIES VARIATIONS IN THE ALLOMETRY OF TROPICAL TREES AND CONSEQUENCES FOR Adeline Fayolle1, Vincent P. Medjibe2, Moses Libalah3 THE ESTIMATION OF BIOMASS AND CARBON STOCK 1Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Gembloux, BE, [email protected] Chairs: Adeline FAYOLLE, Moses LIBALAH, Vincent MEDJIBE 2COMIFAC, Yaoundé, CM Contact: [email protected] 3University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, CM

Current and future decisions to attenuate the impacts of climate change is also dependent In the recent decades, a renewed interest has been observed for on the accuracy in quantifying biomass and carbon stocks in tropical forests which host the estimation and monitoring of forest biomass and carbon the world’s largest terrestrial ecosystems and play a central role in the global carbon worldwide, and specifically in the tropics with the ongoing cycle. However, while the knowledge, technology and savoir-faire in the latter subject are negotiations under the UNFCCC for the implementation of the witnessing significant process elsewhere, other areas such as the Congo Basin forests in REDD+ mechanism. Because all methods to estimate biomass and Central Africa, are far less studied compared to the other tropical regions. Because of the carbon stocks contained in tropical forests rely on an allometric lack of site- or species-specific tree allometries for the estimation of biomass, most studies equation to convert inventory data into biomass estimates, tropical have therefore adopted approaches developed elsewhere or have relied on pantropical tree allometry recently received great attention from scientists and allometries hence leading to huge uncertainty on the forests biomass stocks, and dynamics. research sponsors.

This session aims at grouping contributions: (1) on new approaches to build tree allometries, Pantropical allometric models early developed in the 1980s, and 2000s, were recently and specifically high-resolution remote sensing; (2) gather newly collected data on revised and a global consensus is emerging toward a universal approach to estimate tropical tree allometry, e.g., PreREDD+ project in the Congo Basin, in order to have a better biomass and carbon stocks in tropical forest using generic allometric models. Many local understanding of the variation of tropical tree allometry, within and between species, and allometric models were also recently established, specifically in places previously under- within and between sites at community level. Studies conducted outside Central African sampled, such as the forests of the Congo basin. We believe that the newly collected data forests are also welcome. that have and will have strong practical implications for the estimation of forest biomass and carbon stocks are also extremely important to explore the between-site and between- species variations in tropical tree allometry. WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 09:30 WEDNESDAY Despite major advances in our understanding of tropical tree allometry, an integrative view on tropical tree allometry, its variation and ecological (and evolutionary) significance, is yet to arise. As an introduction to the session, we will present the interest of analyzing between- site and between-species variations in tropical tree allometry, integrating methods and spatial scales, and bridging disciplines and approaches to reach a unifying view.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 162 163

S13-O02 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY S13-O03 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY INTEGRATING ECOLOGICAL PREDICTORS IN A REGIONAL STRUCTURAL, FUNCTIONAL AND WOOD ANATOMICAL TREE HEIGHT-DIAMETER MODEL FOR CENTRAL AFRICA TRAITS PREDICT DROUGHT RESPONSES OF COSTA RICAN TROPICAL FOREST TREE SPECIES Moses Libalah1,2, Maxime Réjou-Méchain2, Vincent Droissart2, Bonaventure Sonké1, Gilles Dauby3, Gyslene Kamdem1, Narcisse Kamdem1, Gilles Le Moguedec1, Gislain II Mofack1, Roman Mathias Link1, Sylvain Delzon2, Christoph Leuschner1, Dagoberto Arias Aguilar3, Juan Raphael Pélissier2, Pierre Ploton1, Stéphane Takoudjou Momo1,2, Nicolas Texier3, Donatien Carlos Valverde Otarola3, Marvin Castillo Ugalde3, Bernhard Schuldt1 Zebaze1, Nicolas Barbier1,2, Pierre Couteron1,2 1Georg-August-University, Göttingen, DE, [email protected] 1Plant Systematic and Ecology Laboratory (LaBosystE), Higher Teacher’s Training College, University 2Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Bordeaux, FR of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, CM, [email protected] 3Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Cartago, CR 2AMAP, IRD, CNRS, INRA, Université Montpellier, Montpellier, FR 3Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique africaine, Bruxelles, BE Vulnerability curves (VCs) are an important tool for ecophysiological studies because they allow to quantitatively determine the drought Tree height scales allometrically with tree trunk diameter but response of plants. Parameters derived from VCs, such as the P50 this scaling varies considerably between trees and sites. Because (water potential at 50 % loss of conductivity), are mechanistically tree height is often estimated from generic tree height-diameter close correlates of plant drought resistance and have been shown to allometric models, this variation generates large uncertainties be closely related to a series of other plant traits. In our study, we test and biases in the estimation of the above-ground biomass (AGB). whether the parameters of VCs can be credibly predicted using a set Growth in tree height is known to be influenced by ecological of structural, functional and wood anatomical variables. factors such as temperature, light availability, soil fertility and Upper canopy branches of 30 trees from 10 species of tropical trees from humid low-land competition. Therefore, these factors can also be expected to impact tropical forests situated on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica were collected during two the allometric relationship between height and diameter. The main goal of this study is to measurement seasons in 2016 and 2017. VCs for at least one branch of each sampled tree test the potential of some ecological factors to improve tree height prediction for central were obtained with the Cavitron centrifuge method with a novel 100 cm rotor system. African forest trees. Additionally, we determined tree size, wood density, vessel diameter and vessel density for Diameter and height of 71,146 and 4,510 trees respectively were measured in nine sites all sampled trees. hosting 127 1-ha plots in three countries of the Congo Basin. Soil samples were collected We use a hierarchical Bayesian framework to fit VCs on our dataset using multi-level within each plot and analyzed for 10 variables and bioclimatic variables were extracted nonlinear models that account for the hierarchical nature of the data and allow to estimate from satellite data. We built height-diameter log-linear regression models integrating one to the within-tree, between-tree and between-species variability in the parameters of the twelve ecological predictors and estimated their relative root-mean-squared-error (RMSE) VCs. On a second stage in the model, we test for effects of structural, functional and wood WEDNESDAY 09:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 10:00 WEDNESDAY and bias using a leave-one cross-validation scheme. We compared the predicted tree height anatomical traits on the shape of the VCs. and AGB estimates with those obtained from two existing pantropical or regional models (Feldpausch et al. 2011; Chave et al. 2014), henceforth named generic models. Our analyses revealed that using plot-level tree basal area and a precipitation gradient as additional covariates significantly improve the performance of the tree height-diameter model. The error in height prediction associated with this model was 18.9 % compared to 20.2 % and 21.7 % for the generic models while the bias was 5.0 % with this model and 12.5 % and 21.5 % for the generic models. Using these height–diameter models for AGB estimation, our results indicate that the two generic models led to an AGB overestimation of 6.6 % (Chave et al. 2014) and 14.6 % (Feldpausch et al. 2011). This study thus presents an improved height-diameter model to predict the heights of Central African trees by integrating the effects of some easy-to-retrieve ecological predictors.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 164 165

S13-O04 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY S13-O05 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY VOLUME-WEIGHTED AVERAGE WOOD SPECIFIC GRAVITY THE LIMITED CONTRIBUTION OF LARGE TREES TO BIOMASS IMPROVES ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS PREDICTIONS IN A DYNAMICS IN AN OLD-GROWTH TROPICAL FOREST SEMI-DECIDUOUS FOREST OF EASTERN CAMEROON Gauthier Ligot1, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury2, Dakis-Yaoba Ouédraogo1, Xavier Morin3,4, Sébastien Le Bienfaiteur Sagang Takougoum1,2, Stéphane Momo Takoudjou1,3, Moses Bakonck Libalah1,3, Bauwens1, Fidele Baya5, Yves Brostaux6, Jean-Louis Doucet1, Adeline Fayolle1 Vivien Rossi4, Noël Fonton5, Gislain II Mofack1, Narcisse Guy Kamdem1, Victor François Nguetsop2, Bonaventure Sonké1, Nicolas Barbier3 1Université de Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Research Center, Central African Forests, Gembloux, BE, [email protected] 1University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, CM, [email protected] 2UPR Forêts et Sociétés, CIRAD, Montpellier, FR 2University of Dschang, Dschang, CM 3CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, FR 3AMAP, IRD, CNRS, INRA, Université Montpellier, Montpellier, FR 4Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, Montpellier, FR 4Commission des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC), Yaoundé, CM 5Ministère des Eaux, Forêts, Chasse et Pêche, Bangui, CF 5ONFi, Yaoundé, CM 6Université de Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, AgroBioChem, Applied Statistics, Computer Science and Modeling, Gembloux, BE Wood specific gravity (WSG) is an important trait directly linked to the biomass of a tree and accuracy in its measurement will enhance Although the importance of large trees regarding biodiversity and biomass and carbon stock estimations. We here propose a simple carbon stock in old-growth forests is undeniable, their annual method to obtain precise WSG values that integrates both WSG and contribution to biomass dynamics and carbon uptake remains volume distribution along the tree compartments into an average- poorly studied at the stand level. weighted WSG (WWSG). This is thanks to an original destructive To clarify the role of large trees in biomass dynamics, we used data dataset of 132 trees belonging to 15 species mostly represented by of tree growth, mortality and recruitment monitored during 20 years large trees (up to 45 Mg) collected in the semi-deciduous forests in 10×4-ha plots in a species rich tropical forest (Central African of eastern Cameroon within the auspices of the PREREDD+ of the Commission of Central Republic). Using a random block design, three different silvicultural African Forest funded by the World Bank. treatments, control, logged, and logged + thinned, were applied in the 10 plots. Biomass The variables breast height diameter (DBH), stem morphology (Sm) and WSG sources gains and losses were analyzed in relation to the relative biomass abundance of large trees (from basal samples, WSGBase; from Dryad global database, WSGDryad) were combined in and by tree size classes using a spatial bootstrap procedure. allometric models to predict WWSG. We then studied the influence of each WSG source Despite large trees showing a high individual growth rates and holding a substantial on bias propagation from individual to forest stand scale from census data of 9780 trees amount of biomass, we showed that stand-level biomass production decreased with the belonging to 21 1-ha plots inventoried in the same area. A combination of WSGBase, DBH abundance of large trees in all treatments and plots. The contribution of large trees to WEDNESDAY 10:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:00 WEDNESDAY and Sm was found significant to predict WWSG explaining 82 % of its variation. However, annual stand-level biomass production appeared limited in comparison to that of small replacing WSGBase by WSGDryad in the model explained 74 % of WWSG variation. At tree trees. This pattern did not only originate from differences in abundance of small versus level, estimating AGB using WSGDryad and WSGBase yielded overestimations of 10 % and large trees or differences in initial biomass stocks among tree size classes but also from a 8 % respectively whereas the predicted WWSG only produced an underestimation of 2 %. At reduced relative growth rate of large trees and a relatively constant mortality rate among stand-level, predicted WWSG gave an average simulated bias of – 1 % ± 6.8 whereas WSGBase tree size classes. led to a bias of 7.3 % ± 7.5 and WSGDryad led to a bias of 3.3 % ± 8.8. We also observed In a context in which large trees are increasingly gaining attention as being a valuable and that the stand-level bias obtained with WSGBase and WSGDryad decreased with total plot a key structural characteristic of natural forests, the present study brought key insights AGB; plots with a low number of large trees being the most biased in AGB predictions. The to (1) better gauge the relatively limited role of large trees in the biomass dynamics at the systematic bias induced by WSGBase and WSGDryad for biomass estimates are clearly stand level and (2) carefully up-scale results of biomass growth observed at the tree or not negligible but generally overlooked. The result in terms of application is, however, the species levels. same, as the use of WSGBase and WSGDryad, e.g. within National Forest Inventories or REDD+ scheme, will produce spatially structured errors, with different forest types having different overestimation levels, dramatically impacting broader scale extrapolations.

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S13-O06 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY S13-O07 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY VARIATIONS OF CARBON STOCKS IN TROPICAL FOREST; COMPARISON OF LIDAR-DERIVED LIANA BIOMASS COMBINING VIEWS FROM THE FIELD AND FROM REMOTE ESTIMATES WITH ALLOMETRIC ESTIMATES SENSING Sruthi Moorthy1, Hans Verbeeck1 Jean Francois Bastin1, Ervan Rutishauser2, Sassan Saatchi3, Tom Crowther1, John Poulsen4, Lee White5 1Ghent University, CAVElab, Ghent, BE, [email protected]

1ETH-Zurich, Institute of Integrative Biology, Crowther Lab, Zurich, CH, [email protected] Lianas are an important component of tropical forests, commonly constituting up to 40 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, PA % of the woody stems and about 35 % of the woody species. Tropical forests are currently 3NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove 46 Drive, experiencing large-scale structural changes, including an increase in liana abundance and Pasadena, CA 91109, US biomass. Biomass of tropical trees have been an active area of research for the past few 4Duke University, Durham, US decades whilst liana biomass has received little or no attention. Schnitzer et. al. (Biotropica 5ANPN, Libreville, GA 2006) developed an allometric equation relating liana diameter to biomass based on 424 lianas from four different countries. This allometric equation is the best general equation Global estimation and monitoring of forest carbon are a major that is available for estimating liana biomass. Addo-Fordjour et. al. (International Journal component of Global Change research. While remote-sensing data of Ecology 2013) developed specific allometric equations for estimating liana biomass acquisition and improvement of techniques follow an increasing in Penang National Park, Malaysia as the equation proposed in Schnitzer et. al., 2006 exponential curve, the assessment of forest carbon stocks and significantly overestimated the liana biomass in this forest. change at global -but also national- scale appears still very uncertain. The objective of our study is to quantify the uncertainty of the different allometric equations proposed for liana biomass estimation in literature. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is an Here, to illustrate some of the most important remaining gaps on our active remote sensing technique that measures forest structure parameters with high understanding of tropical forest carbon stock variations, we summarize some of the latest spatial accuracy. We collected data with a Riegl VZ1000 instrument between September 2017 investigations we led on the subject with perspectives from remote sensing, from forest and October 2017 from lianas within the COPAS (Canopy Operational Permanent Access inventories and from tree anatomy. System) site of Nouragues field station (French Guiana). We scanned 12 lianas of varying size distribution (between 2 to 30 cm DBH) in high resolution from multiple positions. To Merian Award Applicant estimate the wood density, we collected micro-core samples of each liana.

We manually extract the 3D point cloud of every liana from these scans by following them WEDNESDAY 11:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:30 WEDNESDAY from the ground to the canopy. After extraction and isolation of the points belonging to a liana, we determine their volume by applying Quantitative Structure Modelling (QSM) algorithms (Raumonen et. al., Remote Sensing 2013). We estimate the liana biomass from the total volume and the wood density based on microcores. We compare the LiDAR-derived biomass with the biomass estimates from the allometric equations.

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S14-O01 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY BIOLOGICAL VS. ABIOTIC CONTROL OF BASE METAL SESSION 14 BUDGETS IN A TROPICAL MONTANE FOREST IN SOUTH ECUADOR DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSES OF TROPICAL FORESTS TO INCREASING NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY Andre Velescu1, Moritz Bigalke2, Jens Boy3, Carlos Valarezo4, Wolfgang Wilcke1

Chairs: Jürgen HOMEIER, Selene BAEZ 1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe, DE, Contact: [email protected] [email protected] 2University of Bern, Institute of Geography, Bern, CH Tropical regions are facing increasing atmospheric inputs of nutrients, which will have 3Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Soil Science, Hannover, DE unknown consequences for the structure and functioning of these systems, no matter if 4National University of Loja, Research Directorate, Loja, EC they are within protected areas or not. Even remote areas are expected to receive rising amounts of nutrients. In a tropical montane rainforest in South Ecuador, the alkali and earth alkali metals Ca, Mg, K, and Na are supplied by weathering of the parent substrate consisting of phyllites and The effects of higher rates of atmospheric nutrient deposition on the biological diversity and metasandstones and by atmospheric inputs. Phases of acid deposition are interrupted by ecosystem functioning of tropical ecosystems are poorly understood and our knowledge of alkalinization through episodic basic dust deposition. Although the biological productivity nutrient fluxes and nutrient limitation in tropical forest ecosystems is still limited. Yet, it of most terrestrial ecosystems is thought to be N- and/or P-limited, there is increasing will be of paramount importance to know the effects of increased nutrient availability to evidence that the essential plant nutrients K, Na, Mg and Ca can also limit biological conserve these ecosystems with their biological and functional diversity. functioning.

This session will combine recent results from experiments and observational studies with To explore the effects of dust deposition on base metal budgets and to quantify the biological the aim to review and conclude on our current knowledge on the role of nutrients (and and geochemical contributions to base metal cycling, we set up complete element budgets increasing nutrient availability) in tropical forest ecosystems. of a 9-ha large catchment in a native tropical montane forest in South Ecuador between 1998 and 2013. The catchment is characterized by a high annual interception loss (28-50 %) and a low contribution of stemflow to the soil water input. Mean total annual soil input (throughfall + stemflow + litterfall) was 13800 ± 1500 mg -2m (Ca, mean ± SD), 19000 ± 1510 (K), 4690 ± 619 (Mg) and 846 ± 592 (Na) of which 22 ± 6 % (Ca), 45 ± 16 (K), 39 ± 10 (Mg) and 84 ± 33 (Na) were leached to soil horizons below the organic layer. The three nutrient metals Ca, K WEDNESDAY and Mg were thus to a large part retained in the biotic part of the catchment. WEDNESDAY 13:30 WEDNESDAY

The canopy budget of K was consistently and most pronouncedly negative. The canopy budgets of Ca and Mg were closely correlated and in most years negative, while the budget of Na was consistently positive, indicating net retention of this element in the canopy. The mineral soil retained 79-94 % of Ca, K and Mg, while Na was net released from the mineral soil.

The size of mainly biologically controlled aboveground fluxes of Ca, K and Mg was 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than that of mainly geochemically controlled fluxes which are driven by sorption to soil and weathering. If estimated dry deposition was included, the system accumulated 86 kg Ca.ha-1 and 199 kg K.ha-1, had a nearly balanced budget of Mg (+0.3 kg.ha-1) and lost 56 kg of Na.ha-1 in the 15 years of the long term ecosystem study. The strongest driver of all budgets was the input flux into the various compartments.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 170 171

S14-O02 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY S14-O03 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY NUTRIENT INPUTS ALTER ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL ONTOGENIC AND TRAIT-BASED RESPONSES OF COMMON FUNGAL ASSEMBLAGES IN MONTANE TROPICAL FORESTS TREE SPECIES TO ALTERED NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY IN A OF SOUTHERN ECUADOR TROPICAL MONTANE FOREST

Juan F. Dueñas1,2, Tessa Camenzind1,2, Julien Roy1,2, Stefan Hempel1, Juan Pablo Suárez3, Daisy Cárate Tandalla1,2, Selene Báez3, Jürgen Homeier2 Jürgen Homeier4, Matthias C. Rillig1,2 1Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal. Escuela Politécnica del Chimborazo, Riobamba, EC, 1Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, DE, [email protected] [email protected] 2Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, DE 2Plant Ecology. University of Göttingen, Göttingen, DE 3Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, EC 3Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas. Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, EC 4Plant Ecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, DE Increased nutrient deposition has the potential to modify plant community structure and The eutrophication of tropical forest soils driven by atmospheric decrease tree diversity of tropical montane forests. Higher nutrient deposition is expected nutrient deposition is a poorly understood phenomenon and a to alter tree community through trait-based responses of adult trees. Altered nutrient cause of major concern. Even more so, as the concentration of availability can also affect tree seedling performance (i.e., growth and mortality), which reactive forms of nutrients in the atmosphere has increased will influence the regeneration potential of the tree community. To our knowledge, no steadily in the last decades, mainly due to human action. Given that studies have yet investigated how long-term experimental nutrient addition influences the eutrophication will have a direct impact on soil nutrient pools, it is seedling community, and whether responses of seedlings and adult trees are determined important to generate empirical data on the response of soil borne by their functional traits. micro-organisms to this change. This information can assist in understanding the consequences that global change can impose on understudied tropical Within the Nutrient Manipulation Experiment (NUMEX), we conducted a detailed ecosystems, which are prominent biodiversity hotspots. monitoring of seedlings to investigate changes in forest regeneration potential as a consequence of increased nutrient availability. After nine years of fertilization, our Our research group has provided evidence that nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions results indicate that increased availability of N and P affect the regeneration and growth to the soils of a tropical montane forests in south-eastern Ecuador affect the diversity of various tree species. Demography and composition of tree seeding communities have and composition of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) assemblages. We also reported been analyzed after six years of monitoring 192 regeneration plots (1 m2) equally distributed that different taxonomic groups within Glomeromycotina react differently to N versus P in experimental nutrient addition plots (+N, +P, +N and P) at 2100 m in southern Ecuador. additions. As part of an ongoing nutrient manipulation experiment (NUMEX), our group Preliminary analyses at the community level were performed to compare the responses of extends this evidence by looking at how AMF assemblages along an elevation gradient common and rare species among seedlings. WEDNESDAY 13:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 14:00 WEDNESDAY (1000 m – 3000 m) of old growth tropical montane forests respond to systematic additions of N and P. Using high-throughput sequencing techniques we present evidence that The most common species were: Graffenrieda emarginata (Melastomataceae), Myrcia sp. nutrient additions reduces, albeit not markedly, the diversity of AMF assemblages along nov. (Myrtaceae), Prunus sp. nov. (Rosaceae), Faramea uniflora, Palicourea angustifolia, the elevation gradient, while producing a shift in their composition. These results are Palicourea luteonivea (all Rubiaceae). Among these species, seedling growth showed interpreted in the context of the resource allocation hypothesis, while the possible individual responses to nutrient availability. Recent studies of mature common species in consequences of this change for tropical forest ecosystem are further discussed. the same experiment demonstrated that functional traits of species are involved directly in the differential response to N, P or NP addition. Since functional strategies in early stages are of high importance for the competition among species, we compare how functional traits (LA, SLA, foliar N and foliar P) are involved in growth responses of seedlings and mature trees of common species. We expect that seedlings show generally more acquisitive functional traits than later stages.

Merian Award Applicant

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S14-O04 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY S14-O05 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY TREE FUNCTIONAL TRAITS AND NUTRIENT LIMITATION IN SODIUM RETENTION IN THE CANOPY OF A TROPICAL AN ANDEAN ELEVATION GRADIENT MONTANE FOREST IN SOUTH ECUADOR

Selene Báez1, Jürgen Homeier2 Tobias Fabian1, Andre Velescu1, Wolfgang Wilcke1

1Escuela Politécnica Nacional del Ecuador, Quito, EC, [email protected] 1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe, DE, 2University of Göttingen, Göttingen, DE [email protected]

Increased atmospheric nutrient deposition is one of the most pervasive aspects of Global Sodium is an omnipresent element, which is primarily known as an essential nutrient for Environmental Change. Our research indicates that trait-based tree responses to increased animals. Although the importance of Na is increasingly being discussed as a functional nutrient availability have the potential to affect plant community structure and decrease element, Na is only considered a supporting nutrient for plants. Yet, in contrast to animals species diversity in a nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) limited Andean forests. However, and plants, little is known of Na demands of microorganisms in the phyllosphere. the extent of nutrient limitation (for N and P) seems to vary along Andean elevation gradients. Furthermore, it is not well understood how tree functional traits are distributed We present results of an experiment on Na absorption of phyllosphere microorganisms in along this elevation gradient. a tropical montane forest located on the eastern cordillera of the south Ecuadorian Andes. We conducted our study in a 9 ha-large catchment under undisturbed lower montane Thus, the present study uses Linear Mixed Models to explore (1) the relative nutrient forest, where ecosystem Na fluxes have been monitored since 1998. Because the climate limitation (by N and P) on tree growth along an Andean elevation gradient, (2) how tree is dominated by the SE trade winds passing over the Amazon Basin, Na deposition is low, functional traits are distributed across our elevation gradient, and (3) how tree functional although the Pacific Ocean is at only 150 km distance to the West. Na concentrations in traits affect individual responses to higher nutrient availability. This study was conducted the ecosystem fluxes are low and catchment budgets indicate that Na is retained in the in the framework of the ongoing project NUMEX (Ecuadorian NUtrient Manipulation canopy. Since Na is not considered an essential element for plants, we hypothesise that Na EXperiment) in southern Ecuador. The NUMEX experiment was established in 2008 and is retained in the canopy because of Na limitation of microorganisms in the phyllosphere. includes three sites at 1000, 2000 and 3000 m of elevation. At each site 16 permanent forest plots of 20 × 20 m receive ambient, or moderate additions of N, P and N+P. In the plots, all To test Na absorption, we sampled leaves heavily covered by phyllosphere microorganisms trees with ≥ 10 cm DBH have been identified, labelled and their diameter has been measured and leaves without visible phyllosphere cover from 12 tree species belonging to 7 frequently annually. occurring plant families. The fresh leaves were sprayed with a NaCl solution containing 1 mg.L-1 Na, which simulates the Na concentration in rainfall during La Niña events. Comparison with a control treatment excluded effects by abiotic Na fixation on the surface of the leaves. WEDNESDAY 14:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 14:30 WEDNESDAY

The results showed a positive relationship between phyllosphere cover and Na retention, which was significant on understory tree leaves, but not in the upper canopy. Different habitat conditions in the upper and lower canopy seem to favor the development of different organism communities, which seem to have a different demand for Na. Interestingly, leaching of K, Ca and Mg increased with increasing degree of phyllosphere cover, which can be attributed to an intensified element exchange between foliage and phyllosphere with leaf age. These results suggest that Na availability possibly plays a regulating role in the study ecosystem which might even grow in importance if Na deposition from the atmosphere continues to decrease or stabilizes at the current low level.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 174 175

S14-O06 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY S14-O07 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY LONG-TERM LITTERFALL DYNAMICS IN TROPICAL MONTANE VARIATION OF TREE LEAF PROPERTIES AND FOLIVORY FORESTS IN ECUADOR: THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE, ALTITUDE, AFTER CONTINUED NUTRIENT ADDITION IN TROPICAL AND FERTILIZATION MONTANE FOREST OF S ECUADOR

Kerstin Pierick1, Nohemy Poma2, Jann-Philip Ahlers1, Andre Velescu3, Jürgen Homeier1 Jürgen Homeier1, Anne Bergmann1, Katharina Giray1, Carlos Iván Espinosa2

1Albrecht von Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, DE, 1University of Göttingen, Göttingen, DE, [email protected] [email protected] 2Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, EC 2Universidad National de Loja, Ciudadela Universitaria Guillermo Falconı ́ sector La Argelia, Loja, EC 3Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, DE Andean tropical forests belong to the hotspots of biodiversity. However, these ecosystems are threatened by deforestation and fragmentation, and also by increasing nutrient deposition Litterfall is an important component of the carbon and nutrient cycles of tropical forests. In rates. The Ecuadorian Nutrient Manipulation Experiment (NUMEX) was established in the near future, tropical ecosystems will be exposed to increased atmospheric deposition 2008 to improve our understanding of effects of increasing nutrient availability in tropical of nutrients, which is likely to impact their functioning. In order to study the effects of montane forests. Old-growth montane forests at 1000, 2000 and 3000 m asl are fertilized increased nutrient availability on tropical montane forests, a fertilization experiment was with moderate amounts of N (50 kg.ha-1.yr-1) and P (10 kg.ha-1.yr-1). launched in the mega-diverse Podocarpus National Park area in southern Ecuador. Plots at three altitudes (1000 m, 2000 m and 3000 m a.s.l.) were fertilized in a full-factorial design Within the present study, we analyzed changes in leaf properties and herbivory on tree with moderate amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen since 2008. species and stand level. At the three elevations, fresh leaves of abundant tree species were annually analyzed for changes in their leaf functional properties (SLA, foliar nutrients) Since the beginning of the experiment, litterfall rates were measured in monthly intervals during nine years of continued nutrient addition. In addition, we used mixed fallen with litter traps. Additionally, phosphorus and nitrogen contents of the litter were leaves (collected with litter traps after eight years of nutrient addition) to determine leaf measured once a year. We analyzed the temporal development of litterfall rates and litter morphology (leaf area and SLA), foliar nutrient concentrations and leaf area loss on the quality at the different altitudes and under the different treatments using mixed models. stand level. Furthermore, we used the mixed models to examine how both seasonal patterns and long- term trends in litterfall rates can be explained by variation in precipitation. The tree species responded species-specifically to the added nutrients, most species increased foliar N or P when the respective nutrient was added. On the stand level, we Our results suggest that tropical montane forests of higher altitudes are highly susceptible found a significant influence of elevation on leaf morphology (leaf area and specific leaf to nutrient inputs, and that changes in precipitation can considerably impact litterfall area decreased with elevation), foliar nutrients (decreasing N and P concentrations) and dynamics. folivory (decreasing leaf area loss with elevation), but nutrient addition did not produce WEDNESDAY 14:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 15:00 WEDNESDAY strong effects. Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 176 177

S15-O01 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT BEYOND BODY SIZE: CONSISTENT DECREASE OF TRAITS SESSION 15 WITHIN ORTHOPTERAN ASSEMBLAGES WITH ELEVATION

ECOSYSTEM AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE ALONG Yvonne Tiede1, Claudia Hemp2, Antje Schmidt1, Thomas Nauss1, Nina Farwig1, Roland Brandl1 ALTITUDINAL GRADIENTS 1Philipps-Universität, Marburg, DE, [email protected] Chairs: Eric GUILBERT, Marianne ELIAS 2Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, DE Contact: [email protected] Morphological traits affect the overall fitness of organisms as well as Mountains provide a natural gradient of environmental parameters changing with interactions with the environment and within food webs. Body size, altitude. As such, it is a natural lab to explore many aspects of biodiversity and ecosystem for example, affects the fitness of individuals in various ways and structures related with changing parameters. Tropical mountains harbor among the patterns of body size clines have been studied intensively across highest concentrations of biodiversity on Earth. Mountain provided also refuge area environmental gradients, particularly with respect to Bergmann’s to species when environmental changed during the past (like glaciations). As such rule. Yet, the applicability of a general rule for body size clines of community structure on altitudinal gradient may reflect past evolution as well as current ectotherms is still under debate and patterns of other morphological environmental conditions. Climate change already causes montane species to shift their traits are nearly unexplored. distribution ranges in response to warming temperatures. We therefore studied how elevation (as a proxy for temperature) and productivity along The session aims to consider all aspects of altitudinal changes and variations of community an extensive elevational gradient (~ 700 - 4,400 m a.s.l.) on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro structure and ecosystems. It aims also to evaluate the historical aspects vs. current (Tanzania) influence four ecologically relevant morphological traits of orthopteran ecological trends that shape community structure. A better understanding of altitudinal assemblages: Body size (fecundity), wing length (dispersal), hind femur length (jumping gradient is crucial for biodiversity conservation, particularly in a changing climate frame. ability), and eye size (predator detection) of 160 species. Bayesian analyses revealed that interspecific body size, relative wing length, hind femur length, and eye size of orthopteran assemblages decreased with increasing elevation. Our results suggest that orthopteran assemblages had higher fecundity, better dispersal and escape abilities and better predator detection at higher temperatures (low elevations) than at low temperatures (high elevations). Body size and relative eye size also decreased with increasing productivity. This contrasts assumptions from the resource-availability hypothesis, which would WEDNESDAY suppose positive relationships between productivity and the size of morphological traits. WEDNESDAY 13:30 WEDNESDAY Instead, the absence of vegetation as a source of food and hiding possibilities benefited large body- and eye sizes that reduce the risk of starvation and predation.

Altogether, our study emphasizes a clear change of a significant number of ecologically important morphological traits along environmental gradients. Our understanding of species responses to changing environmental conditions can therefore strongly benefit from studies that go beyond patterns of body size and include changes of further morphological traits that influence the ecological fit of organisms in their environment.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 178 179

S15-O02 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT S15-O03 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT IMPACT OF POLLINATOR SHIFTS ON MATING SYSTEMS MACRO-ECOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF HALICTINE AND POPULATION GENETIC DIVERSITY IN A NEOTROPICAL BEE-MICROBIOMES PLANT GROUP Antonia Mayr1, Marcell K. Peters1, Alexander Keller1, Thomas Schmitt1, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter1 Agnes Dellinger1, Ovidiu Paun1, Diana Fernández-Fernández3, Darin Penneys2, Jürg Schönenberger1 1University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, DE, [email protected]

1University of Vienna, Vienna, AT, [email protected] The diversity and composition of microbial communities on wild 2UNC Wilmington, Wilmington, US bees is poorly understood. Their microbiome differs strongly from 3INABIO, Quito, EC the one of domesticated honeybees, due to differences in lifestyle and behavior. The microbiome is assumed to be largely shaped by Pollinator shifts, shifts in the functional group of a plant species’ nest-materials and collected pollen. The microbiome on the bee’s pollinator, are believed to be triggered by changes in pollinator surface might also be affected by the composition of their cuticular quantity and pollinator quality. In tropical systems, shifts from bee chemistry. So far it is completely unknown how these associations pollination in lowland species to vertebrate pollination (humming- shift with changes in temperature or resource availability. birds, bats) in montane species seem to be common as the activity of vertebrates is less affected by adverse weather conditions. In this study, we test the effect of changes in temperature and flower preferences along Such shifts can have consequences for the plant species’ mating an altitudinal gradient at Mt. Kilimanjaro, as well as the impact of host phylogenetic systems as well as for population genetic structure and diversity. relationships and cuticular hydrocarbon compositions on the microbiota of halictine bees, Experimental studies support the hypothesis that birds and bats are more efficient with special focus on the genus Lasioglossum. We sampled 160 female bees from flowers pollinators than bees, transferring larger amounts of pollen and capable of spanning larger from 22 sites over an elevational gradient of 2900 m. DNA was extracted from heads and distances between plant individuals. However, the impact of different functional pollinator guts and bee species were barcoded by Sanger sequencing. Metabarcoding was applied for

groups on population genetic diversity is still largely unknown. ITS2 to analyze the pollen composition as well as for 16S to infer microbiota from the same samples. Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles were identified by using gas chromatography We chose the Neotropical tribe Merianieae (Melastomataceae), harbouring bee, coupled to mass spectrometry. hummingbird/bat and passerine pollination, as a model system to study consequences of pollinator shifts on mating systems and population genetic diversity. All selected species We found a strong turnover in the microbiome composition following the altitudinal were self-compatible, regardless of pollinator type. No signs of pollen limitation were found gradient. One of the major impacts was the decrease of Lactobacillaceae with higher in the vertebrate pollinated systems. Comparing two bee-pollinated populations at different elevations and lower temperature. Lactobacillaceae are common bee gut symbionts with WEDNESDAY 13:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 14:00 WEDNESDAY altitudes, however, showed strong pollen limitation in the high-altitude population. Our strong importance in pollen fermentation and nutrient acquisition. Other bacterial families population genetic results further support the idea that vertebrate pollinators are better became more prominent in higher elevations, raising new questions about the functional at linking populations over large geographic distances, with higher levels of observed role of these bacteria for host bees. heterozygosity and higher population genetic diversity among populations than in bee pollinated species.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 180 181

S15-O04 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT S15-O05 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT TRAITS THAT HELP BATS CONQUERING NEOTROPICAL FERN ECOLOGY ALONG A TROPICAL ALTITUDINAL MOUNTAINS: LESSONS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF GRADIENT IN ECUADOR TROPICAL FOREST ANIMAL DIVERSITY Laura Salazar1, Jürgen Kluge2, Jürgen Homeier3, Michael Kessler4 William Douglas de Carvalho1,2, Maraya Martins2, Carlos Esberard2, Jorge Palmeirim (speaker)1 1Research Center for Biodiversity and Climate Change (BioCamb), Universidad Tecnológica 1cE3c - Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PT, [email protected] Indoamérica, Quito, EC, [email protected] 2Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropedica, BR 2Faculty of Geography, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, DE 3Plant Ecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, DE To identify determinants of biodiversity in Neotropical moist 4Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zürich, CH montane forest, we analyzed the structure of phyllostomid bat assemblages along an altitudinal gradient and tested the role of Ferns and lycophytes (henceforth called ferns for simplicity) are species traits shaping those assemblages. Using own data and widely distributed across the world with about 12000 species. Ferns published descriptions we compiled a dataset with the composition are more abundant and diverse in humid tropical forest, especially in of assemblages at 25 forested sites, ranging from 60 m to 1960 m montane habitats, where they represent between 6.5 and 25 % of the asl, in mountains in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest domain. We then vascular plants flora at local scales. For instance, Ecuador harbors quantified how abundance, richness and diversity changed along about 1400 ferns species, although it is the smallest Andean country this altitudinal gradient. Finally, we evaluated the capacity of each species to be present with an area of approximately 283000 km². The overall fern richness and thrive in altitude, and tested which traits may influence that capacity. found in Ecuador is considered exceptionally high in comparison to Abundance, species richness and diversity declined markedly in altitude, due to a other Andean countries (e.g. Peru: 1200 species, Bolivia: 163 species). Although of the high progressive trait related rarefaction or absence of species; low habitat specialization, diversity of this group of plants in Ecuador, few studies have been conducted to evaluate tolerance to low temperatures and cave roosting facilitated success at higher altitudes. diversity patterns and its causes along elevational gradients. Because of this trait filtering and of altitudinal changes in resources, assemblages where The center of attention of this work is the study of species richness, productivity, and progressively dominated by a smaller number of mostly generalist species. There were no interspecific competition of terrestrial ferns along an elevational gradient on the eastern mountain specialist species. Andean slope in Ecuador. In addition, we expect to evaluate in the long term, different High mountain Atlantic Forest harbors phyllostomid assemblages that are impoverished aspects of fern ecology in permanent plots at the same gradient. During the first years of subsets of those at lower altitudes. Phyllostomids have a tropical origin, and may thus research, diversity and productivity were recorded at eight elevations (500 m to 4000 m) in have a low potential to adapt to montane forest environments, which possibly explains the three permanent plots of 400 m2 each per elevation. Whereas, experiments on interspecific observed climatic trait filtering. Habitat filtering is also important, keeping forest specialists competition were recently carried out at 4000 m, 2500 m and 500 m. For these last tests, it WEDNESDAY 14:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 14:30 WEDNESDAY mostly at lowest altitudes. Protected areas in the Atlantic Forest are mostly limited to was established 12 plots of 20 × 5 m per elevation. Each plot was divided in 4 subplots of 25 mountains. These areas are precious to protect biodiversity, including phyllostomid m2 and only the second subplots were used for competition experiments. assemblages with unique structures and ecological roles. However, it is also critical to In agreement with other studies, the species richness in our elevational gradient showed protect and restore the few remaining areas of lower altitude Atlantic Forest, which tends to a hump-shaped pattern, with highest values at mid elevations. Also, along the elevational host better populations of forest specialists, and have less climatic constraints for animal gradient (regional scale), fern species richness was strongly positively related to fern taxa with a tropical origin. productivity. Whereas, within elevational belts (local scale), fern species richness was marginally negatively related to fern productivity, probably driven by competition. Currently, we are carrying out an experimental removal of dominant terrestrial fern individuals to test the roll of competition on diversity. We expect that in the first few years after the removal, the fern individuals of the remaining species will show increased growth (productivity) per individual (because of reduced competition) but the overall productivity per plot should be lower than in the control subplots.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 182 183

S15-O06 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT S15-O07 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT ALTITUDINAL FILTERING AND THE EVOLUTION OF DIVERSITY OF VASCULAR EPIPHYTES ALONG AN PLANTHOPPERS (HEMIPTERA, AUCHENORRHYNCHA) ON ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT IN VERACRUZ, MEXICO MOUNT WILHELM (PAPUA NEW GUINEA) Valeria Guzman-Jacob1, Gerhard Zotz2, Thorsten Krömer3, Amanda Taylor1, Holger Kreft1 Paul Chatelain1, Marianne Elias2, Adeline Soulier-Perkins1, Eric Guilbert1 1Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography group. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, 1Mécanismes adaptatifs et évolution, MECADEV-UMR 7179 MNHN-CNRS, Muséum National DE, [email protected] d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, FR, [email protected] 2Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences. Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, DE 2Institut de Systématique Evolution Biodiversité ISYEB-UMR 7205, CNRS-Muséum National d’Histoire 3Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales. Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, MX Naturelle, Paris, FR Vascular epiphytes are a conspicuous and highly diverse group Tropical mountains are critical spots for biodiversity research and in tropical forests; contributing substantially to local and regional conservation. Since the environment gradually varies along tropical plant diversity. This group of plants is particularly vulnerable to slopes, they are also key models for climate change issues. Within primary habitat loss and anthropogenic disturbances in forest these forests, species altitudinal assemblages can be shaped by structure, a typical example being the montane region of central numerous factors: biotic, abiotic and historical factors. Phylogenetic Veracruz in Mexico, were fragmentation of the natural forest due to relatedness patterns along altitudinal gradients constitute a land use changes is one of the biggest threats. considerable source of information, and can shed light on ecological processes that structure communities. This study aims at analyzing the diversity, distribution and floristic composition of vascular epiphytes along gradients of elevation and forest-use intensity at the eastern slope of Cofre This study focuses on community phylogenetic structure of planthoppers, specifically de Perote. We quantified species richness at eight different sites within belts of ca. 500 the species rich and abundant Fulgoroidea families (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha), m each between sea level and 3,500 m, including six vegetation types (semi-deciduous Cixiidae and Derbidae+Achilidae, along an elevational gradient on Mount Wilhelm (Papua forest, tropical lowland oak forest, humid montane forest, pine-oak forest, pine forest and New Guinea). Those taxa are strongly linked to vegetation, since they are sap-feeders or fir forest) and a land-use gradient (old-growth forest, degraded forest and secondary forest). fungivorous, and therefore respond to vegetation transitions throughout the gradient We established 120 plots of 20 × 20 m along the gradient. Epiphytes were sampled on one (ranging from 200 to 3700 m. a.s.l). In order to assess the factors driving planthoppers mature tree per plot from stem base to the outer portion of the crown, using the single community composition, we recorded abundance data for planthoppers species along the rope climbing technique. Additionally, we recorded the presence of all epiphytes in the elevational gradient and we generated a molecular phylogeny of the local species, using understory, using collecting poles and binoculars. Bayesian Inference. WEDNESDAY 14:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 15:00 WEDNESDAY A total of 297 morphospecies distributed in 25 genera and 15 families were found along We recorded 65 taxa. We then investigated the phylogenetic structure of the communities the elevational gradient. Elevation and different land-uses were strong filters shaping the by performing a Spatial Analysis of Community Diversity. We also conducted an ancestral epiphyte species composition. Epiphytes were negatively impacted by human disturbance, reconstruction of vegetation type and linked it with feeding characteristics. With a fully species numbers in the disturbed and secondary forest were reduced by 10 % and 26 % resolved and well-supported phylogeny, we show that Cixiidae are phylogenetically respectively. We discuss the relationship of epiphyte diversity, elevation, and land-use clustered along the elevational gradient, while Derbidae+Achilidae harbour a random gradients in the light of climate change and conservation. structure, suggesting that local adaptation to elevation shapes community structure of Cixiidae, but not that of Derbidae+Achilidae. Evolutionary perspectives in light of the ecology of the species are discussed. Our findings highlight how crucial phylogenies can be in the study of tropical altitudinal gradients.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 184 185

S15-O08 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT PREDICTORS OF SPECIES RICHNESS AND COMMUNITY BIOMASS OF LARGE MAMMALS ALONG ELEVATIONAL AND LAND USE GRADIENTS ON MT. KILIMANJARO

Friederike Gebert1, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter1, Marcell Peters1

1University of Würzburg, Würzburg, DE, [email protected]

Mammals are of huge ecological importance and flagships for conservation. However, the factors promoting their diversity and community structure on tropical mountains remain remarkably little understood. Today, large mammals are threatened by human disturbances such as habitat destruction and hunting and may increasingly depend on the conservation of protected areas. Here, we studied large mammals (> 10 kg) with camera traps along extensive elevational and land use gradients on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Using path analysis, we identified the direct and indirect effects of climate, area and resources on the species richness and community biomass of mammal communities. Furthermore, we tested how protected areas contribute to the conservation of large mammals.

Our results show that the species richness distribution of large mammals along the elevational gradient follows a hump-shaped pattern and is best explained by differences in ecosystems’ primary productivity along the elevational gradient. Moreover, we found that protected areas significantly contribute to the maintenance of mammal communities as they were exhibiting a higher species richness and community biomass than non- protected areas. This effect was largely caused by the loss of large mammal species from unprotected areas (even those with natural vegetation). WEDNESDAY 15:15 WEDNESDAY Our study suggests that resources rather than direct climatic effects shape species richness distributions and underscores the crucial importance of protected areas for the conservation of large mammals on tropical mountains.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 186 187

S16-O01 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES THE TROPICAL LOWLAND CLOUD FOREST - AN EPIPHYTE SESSION 16 HOTSPOT

FIELD WORK WITH HAND LENS: Robbert Gradstein1 RESEARCH ON ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES 1Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, FR, [email protected]

Chairs: Catherine REEB, Sanna HUTTUNEN Cloud forests are widely distributed in montane regions in the Contact: [email protected] Tropics, at elevations above 500 m; fog in the mountains develops on windward slopes by uplifting, cooling and condensation of Research of tropical bryophytes benefits from tight collaboration with herbarium moist air masses. Recent studies in French Guiana have shown taxonomists and ecologists. Because of small size and insufficient taxonomic knowledge the occurrence of cloud forest in lowland areas, well below 500 m. and literature, research on tropical bryophytes can rarely been conducted without These forests occur in valleys with high rainfall; fog in these forests identifying specimens with microscope and reference specimens in herbaria. develops during night by cooling and condensation of moist air at the valley bottom, under conditions of low air turbulence. The fog Our aim in this session is to give an overview of current taxonomical and ecological research (= radiation fog) gradually lifts during early morning hours by solar heating, and is cleared on tropical bryophytes and enhance collaboration between taxonomists and ecologists well before noon. working on them. As research groups working on tropical bryophytes are typically very small and scattered in in different institutions and countries around world, session also Tropical lowland cloud forests have not received attention in the literature yet should be provides an opportunity for networking and sharing research results and ideas. widespread; observations are available from Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, French Guiana and Borneo. The forest is rich in epiphytes, including montane species which descend to sea level under foggy conditions. In this talk I will present evidence from corticolous liverworts, epiphylls, filmy ferns and epiphytic biomass. WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 09:30 WEDNESDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 188 189

S16-O02 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES S16-O03 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES RESPONSES OF TROPICAL LOWLAND BRYOPHYTES TO HABITAT SPECIALIZATION OF LEJEUNEACEAE IN THE

EXPERIMENTAL WARMING AND CO2 FERTILIZATION AMAZON FOREST: THE ROLE OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS Maaike Y. Bader1, Elodie Moureau1, Nada Nikolic1, Gerhard Zotz2 Sylvia Mota de Oliveira1 1University of Marburg, Marburg, DE, [email protected] 2University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, DE 1Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NL, [email protected]

The tropics harbor a very high bryophyte diversity, but the warm Amazonian bryophytes are mostly epiphytic, and species show lowlands seem to contribute relatively little to this richness. strong habitat specialization related to the forest structure. The Bryophyte biomass is even more conspicuously reduced in most clear association between turn-over in species composition and tropical lowland areas, compared to cooler montane forests, the microenvironmental gradient along the host trees supports suggesting that high temperatures limit bryophyte growth. If so, the idea that species occurrences – and community assemblage then climate warming may be lethally dangerous for mosses in – are subjected to environmental filtering. The expectation is that tropical lowland forests. To test this hypothesis and to study the features that facilitate species to inhabit a given environment will underlying physiological mechanisms of climate-change responses, be significantly more present in the bryophyte community growing we are exposing various bryophyte species (mosses and liverworts) in the rainforest of La in that environment. However, the broad morphological variation within bryophytes limits

Selva, Costa Rica, to increased temperatures and CO2, measuring responses in growth and the comparison among all species that occur along the vertical microenvironmental gas-exchange rates. Concurrently, we are developing a model simulating carbon-exchange gradient. rates based on microclimatic conditions to predict responses under different climate- change scenarios. Lejeuneaceae is the only bryophyte family that has species distributed along the complete vertical gradient in the Amazon forest, showing specialization on both extremes – the Diel carbon balances in bryophytes can be affected by increased temperatures through understory and the canopy. The relationship between Lejeuneaceae species occurrence increased respiration rates and through faster drying, which restricts the time available along the height zones on the host trees and the possession of a number of morphological for photosynthesis. Respiration rates in tropical mosses appear well-adjusted to current and reproductive traits was tested using data from a systematic bryophyte inventory from ambient temperatures across elevations, but especially in the warm lowlands, warming nine localities in the Amazon. While reproduction mode and the production of asexual may move temperatures beyond the acclimation capacity or even beyond thermal tolerance propagules do not seem to influence species occurrence along the height zones, leaf thresholds. Faster drying will likely reduce activity times especially during the day, due to pigmentation and the convolution of leaves during dry state facilitate canopy occupancy the typical tropical afternoon rains and high night-time humidity rendering bryophytes and hamper the occurrence of species in the understory. WEDNESDAY 09:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 10:00 WEDNESDAY actively respiring, i.e. loosing carbon, during most nights. On the other hand, the concurrent

increases in atmospheric CO2 may partly counteract these effects by allowing higher rates of carbon gain. Few experimental studies have addressed these questions in bryophytes in general, and none in tropical bryophytes in particular. We will present the first results of our unique rainforest experiment and discuss the implications for the future of bryophytes in the tropical lowlands.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 190 191

S16-O04 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES S16-O05 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF EPIPHYLLOUS TAXONOMY, SYSTEMATICS AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF COMMUNITIES WITH LEAF AGE, HOST SPECIES AND AFRICAN ENTOSTHODON (FUNARIACEAE) MICROCLIMATE IN A TROPICAL LOWLAND FOREST Nicholas Wilding1,2, Bernard Goffinet3, Rafael Medina3,4, Yang Liu3,5, Terry A. Hedderson2 Anna Mežaka1,2, Noris Salazar Allen2, Maaike Y. Bader1 1University of La Réunion, Saint-Pierre, RE, [email protected] 1Marburg University, Marburg, DE 2University of Cape Town, Cape Town, ZA 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, PA, [email protected] 3University of Connecticut, Storrs, US 4Augustana College, Rock Island, US Epiphyllous algae, fungi, lichens and liverworts (total epiphylls) 5Shenzhen Fairy Lake Botanical Garden, Shenzhen, CN represent a diverse but under-studied part of tropical forest ecosystems. The epiphyll substrate is inherently short-lived, The Funariaceae are a large family of soil-inhabiting, annual to although some leaves in tropical forest understories can live biennial mosses of worldwide distribution. A recent revision of several years, thus allowing the establishment of well-developed the genus Entosthodon in sub-Saharan Africa counts 26 species, of epiphyllous communities. To study what factors control succession which six are newly described. among epiphylls, we described epiphyllous community composition on leaves in three age classes belonging to different host species Phylogenetic inference suggests that the genus is largely paraphyletic and located in contrasting microsites (closed forest and forest gap). with respect to Physcomitrium and comprises no fewer than 3 major clades. Each of these major lineages are represented on the African Epiphyllous communities differed strongly with leaf age. Total epiphyll cover and diversity continent and/or neighboring islands, often by multiple species. Species of Entosthodon increased with leaf age. The highest increment was that of lichens followed by liverworts otherwise occur throughout sub-Saharan Africa although centers of diversity are found and algae. Fungi showed no changes in diversity and cover. While total epiphyll and lichen in the Cape provinces of South Africa and in East Africa. Biogeographic reconstructions cover clearly increased, liverwort and algae cover increased much less and fungi cover did recover an African origin for the two most diverse clades within Entosthodon, however, the not change with leaf age. The strong increase in diversity was mainly due to the increase extant diversity is probably best explained by a combination of cladogenesis and repeated in lichen species. Several indicator species were found for old leaves but none for young dispersal into the region. leaves, suggesting that succession is mainly an accumulation rather than a turnover of species. Host species and sites did differ in epiphyll cover and diversity from young to old leaves. Contrary to our expectation, liverwort cover and diversity were higher on leaves in gaps than in closed forest, while lichen cover did not differ. However, for gaps and closed WEDNESDAY 10:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:00 WEDNESDAY forest several lichen and liverwort indicator species were distinguished. The next step will be to follow epiphyll communities through time, studying on an individual basis, whether and how species interactions control community development.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 192 193

S16-O06 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES S16-O07 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES CLOUD WATER INTERCEPTION OF EPIPHYTIC BRYOPHYTES BIOMASS AND WATER-HOLDING CAPACITY OF BRYOPHYTES IN A PERUVIAN UPPER MONTANE CLOUD FOREST: AN ALONG AN ELEVATIONAL GRADIENT ON BARU VOLCANO, EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH PANAMA

Tinja Pitkämäki1, Sanna Huttunen1, Johanna Toivonen2 Eyvar Elias Rodriguez Quiel1,2, Jürgen Kluge1, Glenda Mendieta Leiva1, Maaike Bader1

1Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, Turku, FI, [email protected] 1Faculty of Geography, University of Marburg, Germany, DE, [email protected] 2Department of Biology, University of Turku, FI 2Herbarium, Autonomous University of Chiriqui, Chiriqui, PA

Epiphytic plants account for high proportion of biomass in tropical Tropical mountain forests support a high abundance and diversity montane rain forests. In high-elevation cloud forests, where frequent of bryophytes on different substrates. However, quantitative fog passes through the canopy, the majority of this epiphytic biomass information about how bryophyte biomass and diversity change consists of bryophytes. Together with physiological adaptations with elevation in tropical mountains is still scarce. The current for water absorption and storage, bryophytes’ abundance implies project analyzes ecological aspects, such as the effect of climatic a regulatory role in the forest water cycle. Epiphytic bryophytes characteristics on the diversity and abundance of bryophytes in the capture rain and fog droplets, potentially increasing water Baru Volcano National Park, Panama. On the western slope of the availability, and stabilize forest microclimate by slowly releasing volcano 24 plots, four at each of eight elevations, were established the accumulated moisture. Their ecological impact on forest hydrology has been especially on an elevational gradient from 1900 to 3300 m a.s.l. Bryophytes were sampled in 20×30- attributed to cloud water interception (CWI) during dry seasons, but few studies have cm plots on rocks, soil, branches, decaying trunks and the bark of live trees. We recorded provided quantitative data to support this hypothesis. the thickness of the bryophyte layer, species cover and environmental parameters. After collection, the water-holding capacity and biomass of all samples was determined. We constructed an experimental design to measure the cloud water input into bryophyte Identification of bryophytes and lichens is still ongoing. assemblages on artificial branches. To contrast CWI efficiency to functional traits of bryophytes, we used different dominant species typical of different parts of the host tree. The bryophyte biomass and the water retention capacity per substrate area increased along Our results show that bryophytes’ water content changes following the daily fluctuations in the elevational gradient for each substrate. The highest forests (3100 and 3300 m a.s.l.) have temperature and humidity and that the magnitude of this variation is species-dependent. isolated trees and many dwarf shrubs, and this is where the greatest development of the These findings highlight the importance of species composition as well as biomass on the bryophyte layers (up to 16 cm thickness) was recorded. ecohydrological functioning of bryophyte communities, both of which should be noted in conservation planning and management. These patterns can probably be explained by the variation in microclimate along the WEDNESDAY 11:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:30 WEDNESDAY gradient. At the highest elevations, fog provides a daily wetting of the bryophytes, especially epiphytic ones. At lower elevations the water supply is increasingly in the form of rain, which is less frequent than the fog. At even lower elevations (below ca 2300 m) the amount of rain also declines. The apparent strong coupling of bryophyte biomass to precipitation regimes implies a high sensitivity to climatic warming and changes in the cloud base altitude. If diversity patterns follow abundance patterns, as we will study next, this means a serious threat of climate change to biodiversity.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 194 195

S16-O08 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES S16-O09 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES CLIMBING MT. GEDE UP AND DOWN - INSIGHTS INTO THE MADBRYO PROJECT, A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO SPECIES RICHNESS AND COMPOSITION OF EPIPHYTIC ENHANCE MALAGASY BRYOPHYTES KNOWLEDGE BRYOPHYTES Catherine Reeb1, John Brinda2, Elodie Dubuisson1, Michelle Price3, Bernard Goffinet4, Lova Eka A.P. Iskandar1,2, Michael Stech1, Sylvia Mota de Oliveira1 Marline5, Pete Philippson2, Alain Vanderpoorten6

1Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NL, [email protected] 1Institut de Systématique Ecologie Evolution, Sorbonne Université, MNHN, Paris, FR, 2Cibodas Botanic Garden, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibodas, Cianjur, ID [email protected] 2Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis, US Along elevational gradients, three main patterns of species richness 3Conservatoire Botanique de Genève, Genève, CH have been observed in studies of different groups of organisms: 4University of Connecticut, Storr, US increase with altitude, decrease with altitude, and increase-then- 5University of Cape Town, ZA decrease with altitude. The latter, known as the hump-shaped 6Université de Liège, Liège, BE pattern, seems to be the most common, but the factors causing these three patterns remain unclear. Bryophytes have been included Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) are small terrestrial in rather few studies of elevational transects, and in Indonesia, no plants that primarily disperse via spores. They are the second most such study on epiphytic bryophytes involving multiple transects speciose group of land plants and play essential roles in water from different slopes on the same mountain was ever conducted. and nutrient cycling in many ecosystems. The latest checklist of bryophytes from Madagascar, a globally recognized biodiversity We established two elevational gradient transects on the North-North-East (Cibodas) and hotspot, contains 1144 taxa, but comparisons with other regions South-South-West (Selabintana) slopes of Mt. Gede, West Java, Indonesia. The gradients suggest that this number considerably underestimates the actual range from 1500 to 2700 m asl. each, and were sampled at 200 m intervals. This research size of the island’s bryoflora. The MadBryo project aims to close aims to compare species richness patterns and composition along transects based on the gaps in our knowledge by gathering together the specimen and taxonomic data that statistical analyses. are currently scattered across multiple institutions, supplementing them as necessary with targeted collecting efforts, and using them to develop a comprehensive flora for Species richness distribution on both slopes showed a hump-shaped pattern that the bryophytes of Madagascar. Together, these efforts will provide a strong foundation peaked at 1900 m asl. The Cibodas transect is richer than the Selabintana transect, with for pursuing further scientific research on Malagasy bryophytes and for promoting their 160 species (71 mosses and 89 liverworts) compared to 149 species (57 mosses and 92 conservation. liverworts), respectively. Based on pairwise elevation comparison, species composition is WEDNESDAY 11:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 13:30 WEDNESDAY not significantly different between slopes, except for the highest plot (2700 m asl). More Many historical specimens of Malagasy bryophytes have accumulated in herbaria over the detailed analyses of the species compositional changes along the transects are in progress. years. Together they represent a large and mostly untapped source of vital taxonomic and biogeographic data, but many of them have not been fully curated and are consequently difficult to use. In turn, the inaccessibility of the information they contain hampers scientific research into all aspects of the biology of Malagasy bryophytes.

We present the actual state of knowledge on Malagasy bryophytes and then the MadBryo collaborative project, beginning by a coordinated effort to mobilize herbarium specimens and their associated data. We aim to provide here very preliminary results and to promote dynamic exchanges on Malagasy bryology.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 196 197

S16-O10 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES EVOLUTION OF HABITAT PREFERENCES AMONG MOSSES (BRYOPHYTA)

Sanna Huttunen1, Lars Hedenäs2, Neil Bell3

1University of Turku, Turku, FI, [email protected] 2Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, SE 3Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Mosses (Bryophyta) together with liverworts (Marchantiophyta) and hornworts (Anthocerophyta) belong to the oldest land plant lineages. Division Bryophyta includes approximately 12500 species that occupy wide diversity of habitats from tropical forest canopies to arctic wetlands.

We used recently published molecular phylogeny including the largest sampling of mosses this far and data on habitats to investigate evolution of habitats and environmental preferences of mosses. Ancestral character state reconstruction highlights highly convergent evolution of epiphytic and aquatic habitat preferences among derived moss lineages. We will revise (1) research dealing with evolution of some morphological traits, such as sporophyte structure, structures related to water transport and growth habit, and (2) current knowledge on functional role of these traits in different habitats. WEDNESDAY 13:45 WEDNESDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 198 199

S17-O01 – MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS EXPERIMENTAL DISRUPTION OF FOOD WEBS IN TROPICAL SESSION 17 RAIN FORESTS

MANIPULATIONS OF BIOTIC COMPONENTS AND THEIR Vojtech Novotny1 INTERACTIONS IN TROPICAL FORESTS (FOOD WEBS) 1Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, CZ, [email protected] Chairs: Katerina SAM, Elina MÄNTYLÄ, Piotr SZEFER Contact: [email protected] Experimental manipulation of exceptionally complex food webs in tropical rain forests is often the only feasible approach to There is an imbalance between experimental and observational data in tropical forest understand their dynamics, particularly the balance of bottom- community ecology. Many hypotheses – built on empirical statistical patterns – still up resource control and top-down control by natural enemies on remain untested by rigorous field experiments. For example, predictions of the widely individual trophic levels. known Janzen-Connell hypothesis were only recently confirmed by pioneering manipulation of natural enemies of seedlings (pathogens and insect herbivores) in Belize Here we attempt a classification of various methodological and also producing some unexpected results. This shows that experimentation – coupled approaches to food web experiments and give examples, mostly with developments in ecological theory – can enhance our abilities to look into and predict from rain forests of Papua New Guinea. future dynamics of rich tropical ecosystems.

In recent years, growing number of whole ecosystems/food webs manipulations proved – through their abilities to falsify hypotheses explaining empirical patterns – to be invaluable tools in understanding the dynamics and processes governing complex tropical food webs. As researchers usually need to follow rigorous protocols, carrying out whole ecosystem experiments in the rich ecosystems like the tropical forest is still burdened with many conceptual and technical difficulties. Therefore, we believe that initiating and intensifying discussion in this topic would accelerate finding new solutions, which would then help to increase the scope of the ecosystem manipulations and open the “black box” of experimental approaches conducted in the context of diverse interacting ecosystems. WEDNESDAY We propose a session that would cover broad spectrum of tropical ecosystem/food webs WEDNESDAY 14:00 WEDNESDAY manipulative experiments. We would bring together researchers working currently on in tropics. Ideally, we want to engage scientists working on manipulations of some aspects of animal-plant interactions in different areas of the world. Our session scope is to include manipulations of primary and secondary forests, prey-predator, herbivore-host plant and host-parasite systems from various tropical ecosystems. We believe that this meeting would have a great potential to spark future collaborations and stimulate development of tropical forest community ecology.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 200 201

S17-O02 – MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS S17-O03 – MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS WHAT TO MEASURE FROM PLANTS IN PREDATOR A CROSS-CONTINENTAL COMPARISON OF FRUIT-SEED EXCLOSURE STUDIES? SYNDROMES IN THE TROPICAL RAINFORESTS OF PANAMA, THAILAND AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA Elina Mäntylä1 Chris Dahl1,2, Richard Ctvrtecka1, Sofia Gripenberg3, Dominic Rinan2, Jona Filip2, Roll Lilip2, 1Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Science, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, CZ, Pitoon Kongnoo4, Montarika Panmeng4, Sutipun Putnaul4, Manat Reungaew4, Marleny Rivera5, [email protected] Simon T. Segar1, Petr Klimes1, Stuart J. Davies5, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin4, Joseph S. Wright5, George D. Weiblen6, Vojtech Novotny1, Yves Basset5 Several meta-analyses and reviews have shown that insectivorous birds and bats help plants by removing herbivorous arthropods also 1Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia and Institute of Entomology, Biology Center of the in the tropics with a rich biodiversity. Predator exclosures around Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, CZ, [email protected] the plants are needed to study this. Conducting a predator exclosure 2New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, PG experiment requires usually a lot work; starting from building the 3University of Oxford, Oxford, UK exclosures and maintaining those. Therefore, researchers usually 4Khao Chong Botanical Garden, Nayoung, TH want to measure everything possible happening to the predator, 5Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, PA arthropod and plant communities. Counting the arthropods, and 6Bell Museum and Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, US observing birds or bats is usually rather straightforward. ForestGEO is a global network of permanent forest plots established But what should be measured of the plants inside the exclosures and of their uncaged to study long term tropical and temperate forest ecosystem controls? The easiest measure is often how much leaf material the herbivorous arthropods dynamics. Until recently the wealth of plant data from ForestGEO have eaten. This is also usually the strongest effect of predator exclusion, especially in plots has not been used by entomologists. We compare fruit/seed experiments with a short duration. Other rather easy measurements are stem width, plant feeding insect predators in three ForestGEO rain forest plot sites, height or biomass. A big portion of the exclosure studies in tropics have been done in Panama, (Barro Colorado Island = BCI), Thailand (Khao Chong = KHC) agricultural environments. There it is understandably interesting to measure the amount of and Papua New Guinea (Wanang = WAN). Insect feeding on fruits the final product, such as how much there are coffee beans, how big are kales or how many and seeds may reduce the survival rate and mortality of seedlings kilograms there is cacao. It is worth to measure also the flower, seed or fruit production thus influences plant species diversity and composition. of non-agricultural plants. There are much less measurements done showing of what is We used a standardized protocol and reared fruit/seed feeding insects in these forest happening inside the plant. For example, are the plants without insectivorous predators plots. At these sites, matured or ripened fruits/seeds were sampled from 1146 plant species forced to produce more defensive chemicals, invest more in trichomes covering the leaves and were assigned to a syndrome category per species. We also took morphometric WEDNESDAY 14:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 14:30 WEDNESDAY or lower their photosynthetic rate? There is need for more plant measurements in predator measurements of selected fruits and photographed them. We used Munsell Colour index exclosure studies, especially in the natural tropical forests. and identified pictures to vertebrate dispersed fruit colour (black, blue, brown, green, orange, purple, violet, white and yellow) by Janson (1983) and Gautier-Hion et al. (1985). Overall, a total 1,163 kg of seeds/fruits reared 80,600 insects representing approx. 1,678 insect species at three sites. We used these data and analyze the fruit syndromes in three tropical forest communities, and compared fruit colour distribution, since, fruit colour may be a by-product of selection acting on correlated characters, therefore, we expect high fruit colour similarity between KHC and WAN. Further, BCI understorey may be dominated by high number of small fruiting trees and shrubs, on average will have smaller fruit size than those at KHC and WAN. Finally, the distribution of fleshy fruited plants is largely determined by water-energy dynamics and seasonality, thus proportion of dry fruits will be high at the drier and more seasonal at Neotropical Panama site. It may likely explain that Neotropical rain forest exhibit high proportion of dry drupes, non-fleshy dehiscent, and therefore attacked by specialized insect communities.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 202 203

S17-O04 – MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS S17-O05 – MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS COMPARING THE MECHANISMS THAT GENERATE SEEDLING ELEVATIONAL PATTERNS IN PREDATION, HERBIVORE COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN A DIVERSE TROPICAL PERFORMANCE AND HERBIVORY IN HOSTILE AND ENEMY ECOSYSTEM FREE SPACE

Kirstie Hazelwood1, C. E. Timothy Paine1, Harald Beck2 Katerina Sam1,2, Bonny Koane3, Peter Amick3, Vojtech Novotny1,2

1University of Stirling, Stirling, UK, [email protected] 1Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, CZ, [email protected] 2Towson University, Towson, US 2University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Ceske Budejovice, CZ 3The New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, Madang, PG The determinants of species composition and the processes that maintain diversity in tropical forests is of increasing interest to ecologists and conservationists alike. An It is well recognized that predators can enhance plant growth by inverse relationship between conspecific density and survival, known as negative density reducing herbivore abundance. Yet the strength of such trophic dependence (NDD), is thought to play a pivotal role in structuring plant communities, in cascades has been found to be quite variable both within and particular at the seedling stage. The mechanisms by which NDD operates are thought to between communities. We hypothesised that birds, bats and ants be heavily reliant on host specific predators, in particular pathogenic fungi and insects, are important predators of arthropod. However, their relative and to a lesser extent mammals, though the comparative contribution of these predators importance will differ along a forest elevational gradient (200 - to NDD is unclear. 3700 m). We also expected that various predators will affect prey in different ways, based on their size and life history. We conducted Well documented seedling plots in a non-degraded lowland tropical forest in Peru give exclosure experiments at eight sites (500 m elevational increment) along the elevational us a unique opportunity to experimentally compare the contributions of four different gradient of Mt. Wilhelm in Papua New Guinea. We excluded ants, birds, bats separately and mechanisms to NDD in seedlings, and to examine their contribution to diversity. We in combinations from tree saplings (Ficus sp., 100 per site) and completed experiment with excluded fungal pathogens and insects using pesticides, and mammals of two size classes work on control saplings. We protected saplings by nets (against birds and bats), by nets using wire mesh exclosures from seeding plots spread throughout mature floodplain forest, opened daily in the morning and in the afternoon (separate birds and bats) and by tangle and monitored survival over three years. foot (against ants). We surveyed insect communities and herbivorous damage every three months. Further, we completed our experiments with surveys of focal predators. Our control plots showed a strong negative relationship between seedling survival and conspecific density, indicating effects of overcompensating NDD. Fungal pathogens Herbivorous damage and arthropod abundances decreased with increasing elevations, and and small mammals reversed this effect, allowing higher seedling survival with higher exclusion of vertebrates and birds had significant effect on herbivorous damage as well conspecific density, while the effect of insects and large mammals reduced the strength of as on arthropod abundances, and their body size. Bats and ants did not seem to influence WEDNESDAY 14:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 15:00 WEDNESDAY overcompensating NDD but did not reverse the trend. These results back up results from insect communities significantly. Species richness of insectivorous birds and bats separate studies showing that the effects of fungal pathogens on NDD are stronger than decreased with increasing elevation, while their abundances peaked at mid-elevations. Ant those of insects, and that the effects of small mammals on NDD are stronger than those of species richness and abundance decreased steeply with increasing elevation. large mammals. We are surprised to find, however, that small mammals generate stronger NDD than insects, since we expected insects to maintain higher host specific behaviours. We conclude that herbivore pressure and herbivore abundances are higher towards Our study demonstrates the importance of fungal pathogens, and the understated relevance lowlands. Stable arthropod populations are remained low by natural enemies of various of small mammals in determining species composition in tropical forests. importance along gradients. Disruption on communities of natural enemies has the potential to allow arthropods to reach high levels, resulting in extensive herbivorous damage.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 204 205

S17-O06 – MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS After one year of regrowth 36 experimental plots (5×5 m) were harvested and total above- FUNGI, HERBIVORES AND PREDATORS CAN CHANGE THE ground biomass of all species present within the plots was sampled. Plots were treated COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF EARLY SUCCESSIONAL STAGE either with insecticides, fungicides, subjected to increased herbivory pressure or protected OF TROPICAL FOREST from birds, bats and ants with plastic fences and exclosures. Plant community structure responded significantly to treatments, resulting in changes of species composition, Piotr Szefer1,2, Kenneth Molem3, Austin Sau3, Vojtech Novotny1,2 diversity, richness, productivity, and community weighted trait values. Individual treatments affected different aspects of successional plant communities, suggesting 1Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, České Budějovice, CZ, diversified roles of insects, fungal pathogens and predators in successional processes. [email protected] Moreover, these responses were not always consistent between experimental blocks, 2Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, CZ which may imply complex mechanisms and interactive effects of local, initial conditions 3The New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, PG on the outcomes of food web manipulations during successional changes. We show that fungi, herbivores and predators can influence secondary successional processes. These In the last few decades evidence has accumulated showing an important role of findings may shed some light on high unpredictability of successional trajectories of secondary forests in maintaining high tree diversity and ecosystem functions in tropics. tropical secondary forests, however mechanisms still remain hypothetical. Its conservation value can raise fast and plays increasingly important role over time, as secondary forests community structure becomes more similar to untouched primary forest. Merian Award Applicant The outcome of secondary successional process strongly depends on the disturbance regime, time elapsed after disturbance and on landscape context of a former forest patch. Despite that knowledge very often the end results of successional trajectories remain highly unpredictable.

Recent manipulative experiments in tropical primary forests have shown important role of pathogens, insect herbivores and predators in shaping the diversity and composition of seedling communities. These studies point out an important mechanism of mediation of plant competitive interaction, which have great potential to drive tropical forests dynamics. However it is uncertain whether these biotic factors are of high importance during secondary succession in tropics, where fast growing plants compete aggressively for resources.

We designed a manipulative experiment to assess the effect of pathogenic fungi, insect WEDNESDAY 15:15 WEDNESDAY herbivores and predators on general productivity, diversity and trait composition of secondary tropical forest in Papua New Guinea at its early stage.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 206 207

S18-O01 – TROPICAL NETWORKS MOBILITY OF AVIAN FRUGIVORES DETERMINES THEIR SESSION 18 ABILITY TO SWITCH TO OTHER PLANT RESOURCES IN FRAGMENTED FORESTS ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS UNDER THE TROPICS Eike Lena Neuschulz1, Marta Quitián1,2, Vinicio Santillán1,2, Carlos Iván Espinosa3, Jürgen Chair: Colin FONTAINE Homeier4, Katrin Böhning-Gaese1,2, Matthias Schleuning1 Contact: [email protected] 1Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, DE, [email protected] Ecological communities, whether they are forest, lake, savanna or coral reefs, consist of a 2Goethe University, Frankfurt, DE wide variety of species that interact with each other in a variety of ways. These interactions 3Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, EC are a key component of biodiversity in general and of communities in particular: all 4University of Göttingen, Göttingen, DE organisms depend on it for example to feed, reproduce or benefit from favorable habitats. Ecological networks are powerful tools to understand the organization and functioning of Matching of functional traits determines the selection of potential biological communities, as well as their dynamic and response to perturbations. partners in species interaction networks, such as between plants and animals. The composition of functional traits in species The aim of this symposium is to synthesize the current knowledge on ecological networks communities, however, often varies in space, for instance along in tropical areas, to investigate whether tropical networks differ from those at higher gradients of human land use. Understanding how flexible animal latitude as well as discuss methodologies to sample and analyse interaction networks. consumers can react to changes in the trait composition of plant communities is crucial to project consequences for ecosystem functions, such as animal-mediated seed dispersal.

We here investigate the ability of frugivorous birds to switch fruit resources between natural and fragmented forests by using a novel, trait-based approach, to quantify functional shifts of consumer species. We expected that a high functional shift between plant resources should be associated with bird traits that relate to foraging (i.e., avian bill width) and mobility (i.e., Kipp’s index). We sampled plant-frugivore networks in a tropical montane forest in Ecuador covering three elevations and two habitat types (natural and fragmented forest) at each elevation over a period of two years. We measured functional traits for each WEDNESDAY fleshy-fruited plant and bird species in the field and on museum specimens. WEDNESDAY 09:30 WEDNESDAY

We found pronounced variation in the functional trait space of the fruiting plant community between natural and fragmented forests across all elevations. Kipp’s index was the most important trait determining functional shifts of birds, whereas bill width and phylogeny were not associated with functional shift. We conclude that high mobility enables birds to respond flexibly to changes in the trait composition of resource plants by switching to other resources in disturbed habitats and that linking species interaction networks and functional traits can help to better project the consequences of human impacts for ecosystem functioning.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 208 209

S18-O02 – TROPICAL NETWORKS S18-O03 – TROPICAL NETWORKS SPECIALIZATION IN ANTAGONISTIC INTERACTION THE IMPORTANCE OF SEASONALITY IN ORGANISING AN NETWORKS: SELECTIVE PRESSURES ON ANURAN CALLING UPPER MONTANE FOREST POLLINATION NETWORK ON MT. IN THE PRESENCE OF FROG-BITING MIDGES CAMEROON

Ulmar Grafe1 Yannick Klomberg1,2, Jan Mertens1, Štěpán Janeček1,3, Michael Bartoš1,3, Robert Tropek1,4

1Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, BN, [email protected] 1Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, CZ, [email protected] The advertisement calls of anurans are subject to eavesdropping 2Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NL by illegitimate receivers such as competitors, predators, and biting 3Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, CZ flies. Here I report on the selective pressures that act on anuran 4Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, CZ advertisement calls and calling behavior from frog-biting midges (Corethrellidae: Diptera) from northern Borneo. Frog-biting midges Biotic pollination is a key factor in tropical forests, since 99 % of plant feed on frog blood and are also known to be vectors of trypanosomes dependent on it. A crucial factor in shaping pollinator assemblages and thus must be regarded as having significant influence on the is climatic seasonality. However, currently there is a lack of design of frog advertisement calls and calling behavior. In a ten- comparative studies considering complete seasonal pollination year effort, midges were collected directly from calling frogs and with traps broadcasting network fluctuations at a given locality. To increase knowledge of frog advertisement calls and pure tones in lowland mixed-dipterocarp rainforest and pollination in the Afrotropics and gain further insights on the role peatswamp forest in Brunei Darussalam and Sarawak, Malaysia. of seasonality, we study pollination networks on Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in west-tropical Africa. It offers a unique Nine species of frog-biting midges were found to bite 23 species of frogs. Frogs with ecosystem diversity due to its bordering of several biogeographic regions and isolated advertisement calls below 4 kHz were bitten more, suggesting a significant cost to calling positioning. Furthermore, Mt. Cameroon is one of the three wettest places in the world with in these species and an upper limit in the hearing threshold of most midges. In addition, per annum rainfall ranging between 3-15 m. The presence of two very contrasting seasons sound traps broadcasting at high rates, high amplitude, and placed on the ground versus making it a perfect site for studying seasonal changes. 4 m above ground were more attractive. Quantitative bipartite host-ectoparasite networks indicated an antagonistic interaction network containing both generalist and specialist Besides identifying the pollination networks and seasonal variations we also aim to test the relationships with significant specialization asymmetry. Host defenses and parasite pollination syndromes with this dataset. These syndromes have been tested and debated offenses varied strongly in different frog and midge species. A significant role of habitat on a global scale, but data from West-tropical Africa is lacking. filtering, behavior, and coevolution in shaping network structure is proposed. WEDNESDAY 09:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 10:00 WEDNESDAY On two elevations (1400 and 2200 m) six 200 m transects were established in upper- montane forest. We recorded all flowering plant species from the complete forest strata and its visitors during 24-hour periods using video-cameras in both wet and dry season. This methodology allowed us to assess which flower visitors are potential pollinators. We recorded ± 600 plants of 105 different species. In the thus far analysed recordings we have documented over 10,000 individual flower visits comprising different visitor groups. Using this initial data, we will present preliminary findings of the role of seasonality in organizing an Afrotropical upper-montane forest pollination network. Furthermore, we will give insights in the applicability of pollination syndromes within this unique system.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 210 211

S18-O04 – TROPICAL NETWORKS TROPHIC STRUCTURE IN A TROPICAL CAVE ECOSYSTEM: SURFACE-SUBSURFACE ECOSYSTEM INTERACTION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION

Daniel Husana1,2, Masumi Yamamuro3

1University of the Philippines Los Baños, Los Baños, PH, [email protected] 2University of the Philippines Open University, Los Baños, PH 3The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, JP

The absolute darkness of the cave ecosystem makes photosynthesis impossible, resulting in a scarcity of food. Nonetheless, certain animals that are adapted to long period of starvation live in this habitat. Here, we aimed to determine the source of nutrients for cave animals, and clarify the trophic structure and hierarchy in the tropical subterranean ecosystem as well as its implications to the conservation of cave habitats and its unique inhabitants. We

TUESDAY 10:15 TUESDAY investigated upland (freshwater) cave in the Philippines and used stable isotope analysis technique.

Results of δ13C and δ15N stable isotope analyses revealed the trophic hierarchy in the cave aquatic habitat. Troglobitic (cave-obligate) animals occupied the top level of the trophic structure whereas non-cave-obligate animals occupied the bottom. Stable isotope analysis suggests that troglobitic fish is the top cave aquatic predator feeding on crabs and crickets. The result also suggests that the basic source of nutrition for cave animals is guano rather than other organic matter such as forest litter. The presence of many unique and endemic cave inhabitants, and the surface-subsurface interaction and connectivity implied a major concern for management and ecological conservation, suggesting the need for protection of both cave and the surface environment in an integrated and multidisciplinary manner.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 212 213

S19-O01 – FREE SESSION: FRUGIVORES, SEED DISPERSAL AND FOREST REGENERATION IS FRUIT ODOR AN ADAPTATION FOR LEMUR SEED SESSION 19 DISPERSAL?

FREE SESSION: FRUGIVORES, SEED DISPERSAL AND FOREST Omer Nevo1, Diary Razafimadimby2, Juan Antonio James Jefery3, Stefan Schulz4, Manfred REGENERATION Ayasse1

Chairs: Pierre-Michel FORGET 1University of Ulm, Ulm, DE, [email protected] Contact: [email protected] 2University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, MG 3University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, US 4Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, DE

Many angiosperms rely on animal vectors for pollination and seed dispersal. This resulted in an evolution of a plethora of floral and fruit traits which attract animal mutualists. In flowers, various studies have demonstrated the importance of both visual and olfactory signals in pollinator attraction. In fruits, visual signals have evolved to attract seed dispersers, primarily birds, which possess excellent colour vision. Yet with the exception of a few studies, the role of olfactory signals through fruit odour has remained understudied.

Primates are now known to possess an excellent sense of smell which, in the process of food acquisition, is primarily used for food selection, i.e. identification of individual ripe fruits in a patch. Thus, if fruit odour is under selection exerted by primate feeding behaviour, fruits of species that specialise on primate seed dispersal are expected to be selected to shift their odours upon ripeness to allow primates to discriminate ripe from unripe fruits. In contrast, in species that rely on olfactory less-oriented frugivores such as birds, a change in odour profile upon ripeness may result from fruit maturation processes but is expected to be substantially less marked. WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:00 WEDNESDAY We conducted a comparative study of changes in fruit odour in a community of 19 plant species from Madagascar. We show that plants that specialise on seed dispersal by lemurs – the local primates – tend to substantially increase their odour production upon ripeness while bird specialists or generalists do not. More strikingly, the difference in the chemical composition of ripe and unripe fruits is significantly higher in lemur-specialist species. These effects are independent of phylogeny. This indicates that fruit odour is an evolved signal whose function is to allow seed-dispersing primates to identify ripe fruits and thus facilitate plant reproduction.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 214 215

S19-O02 – FREE SESSION: FRUGIVORES, SEED DISPERSAL AND FOREST REGENERATION S19-O03 – FREE SESSION: FRUGIVORES, SEED DISPERSAL AND FOREST REGENERATION FOUR DECADES OF FOREST LOSS IN BORNEO AND ITS LARGE TROPICAL AVIAN FRUGIVORES: A PANTROPICAL LASTING EFFECTS ON FOREST FRUGIVORES AND SEED COMPARISON OF THEIR DIVERSITY, SEED DISPERSAL AND DISPERSAL CONSERVATION STATUS

Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela1, John Garcia-Ulloa1, David Gaveau2, Jaboury Ghazoul1 Olivier Boissier1

1ETH Zurich, Zurich, CH, [email protected] 1Independent, Paris, FR, [email protected] 2CIFOR, Bogor, ID Large frugivorous birds in tropical rain forests can be comparable Animal-assisted seed dispersal is an important ecosystem process in size to their mammalian counterparts, with arboreal hornbills often imperilled by habitat loss and fragmentation through the reaching the weight of a monkey and ground-dwelling cassowaries reduction of functional landscape connectivity. The loss of seed that of a bovid. These birds can also be very efficient dispersers of dispersal affects natural regeneration processes in remaining large seeds. But as primates and other seed-dispersing mammals forested areas, and can limit the outcomes of forest restoration are being extirpated out of ever increasing tracts of hunted rain initiatives. To investigate the impacts of forest loss on animal- forests, the role of large avian seed dispersers is likely to increase in assisted seed dispersal, we modeled changes in habitat availability, these defaunated forests, so long as they can persist there. It is thus species distribution and functional connectivity of frugivorous important to have detailed knowledge of this key ecological group. forest vertebrates between 1973 and 2015 for Borneo. We mapped concentrations of 69 frugivorous birds and mammals in the island, using I aimed to comprehensively review and compare the diversity of large rain forest avian refined species distributions and habitat availability maps, and modelled landscape frugivores (≥ 200 g) over all four tropical continents and to assess their seed dispersing functional connectivity through graph theory approaches. Our methodology allowed us to potential and conservation status. I selected relevant species in the literature and recorded identify the impacts of four decades of forest loss, characterize the most affected species, their range, weight, habits and diet. I extracted global conservation assessments from the and create a vulnerability map of seed dispersal potential for the island. IUCN Red List. Spatially explicit models of habitat availability showed a mean loss of 30 % of species’ habitat in the period studied. Large vertebrates and lowland species were the most affected. A total of 411 species of large avian frugivores were found in tropical rain forests Results of a mixed effects model showed that relative connected area loss was explained by worldwide. America, with 159 species, has the greatest species richness, and Africa the the amount of habitat loss, with moderate impact of the elevational range of the species, its lowest (37 species). Australasia has the highest proportion of large avian frugivores over dispersal ability, and its ability to move through plantations. total rainforest avifauna, possibly in relation with the absence of primates. Arboreal Given that oil palm only grows <1000 m, and that it is the primary cause of deforestation species are significantly heavier in Asia (mean weight 870 g), while terrestrial species are WEDNESDAY 11:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:30 WEDNESDAY in Borneo, lowland forests have been disproportionally affected. These forests are highly significantly heavier in Australasia (mean weight 3.55 kg) than on other continents. A total diverse and can house concentrations of up to 60 frugivorous species in a given patch. The of 42 % of all species are globally threatened or near-threatened. This figure rises to 62 % extirpation of these species is likely harming native plant populations, with impacts that for species weighing over 1kg. Besides, 74 % of all species are declining. While their global are expected to worsen over generations. situation is not as dire as that of primates, the conservation status of large avian frugivores Through our models we are able to identify areas that are critical to the conservation of is nonetheless very worrying. As dispersers of large seeds, the largest frugivore species functional connectivity for frugivorous species at the landscape and regional scales. As (>1 kg) are essential for many rain forest trees, and their endangerment threatens forest such, our approach can be used to prioritize areas for the maintenance of seed dispersal regeneration. processes. These conservation priorities are especially important in the face of continued expansion of commodity plantations (such as oil palm) in Borneo.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 216 217

S19-O04 – FREE SESSION: FRUGIVORES, SEED DISPERSAL AND FOREST REGENERATION GENE DISPERSAL AND HISTORY OF THE COLONIZATION OF THE DAHOMEY GAP FROM THE CAMEROON VOLCANIC LINE BY GUINEO-CONGOLIAN FLORA

Boris B. Demenou1, Rosalía Piñeiro2, Jean-Louis Doucet3, Jérémy Migliore1, Franck K. Monthe1, Gilles Dauby1, Olivier J. Hardy1

1 Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Unit, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BE, [email protected] 2 Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK 3 Management of Forest Resources, Biosystem Engineering Department, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Université de Liège, Gembloux, BE

This study focuses on the history of colonization of the Dahomey Gap (DG) by two Guineo-Congolian (GC) plants species and the gene dispersal pattern that can explain the obtained demographical pattern. The DG is a corridor of savannahs located in South Benin and Togo that separates currently the GC forest into two blocks: the block of Upper Guinean (UG) and the block of Central Africa (Lower Guinean (LG) + Congolia (C)). It results from the fragmentation of the GC forest during the glacial phases. Currently, it contains some typical GC plant species. In this study, we used data from nuclear microsatellites for two GC forest species Distemonanthus benthamianus (429 individuals) and Terminalia superba (299 individuals) and from whole plastome for D. benthamianus (47 individuals) to infer genetic discontinuities and the origin of DG populations. We then investigated the gene dispersal patterns of T. superba using an indirect approach to estimate gene dispersal distances. As results, we obtained that these two species exhibit similar phylogeographical pattern with respectively high and low differentiation (FST) between inferred gene pools; but WEDNESDAY 11:45 WEDNESDAY which results from different demographic histories depending on the markers: DG population come from admixture of both forest blocks with microsatellite data and only from the Cameroon volcanic line with chloroplast data. One explanation of these results could be linked to the gene dispersal pattern. We discuss these results in the light of the obtained gene dispersal distance for T. superba (400 m to 817-1150 m) in this study and for D. benthamianus by Debout et al. (2011) and Hardy et al. (unpublished).

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 218 219

S20-O01 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME SIMULATING THE IMPACT OF LIANAS ON THE CARBON SESSION 20 CYCLE OF TROPICAL FORESTS

TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME: Hans Verbeeck1, Manfredo di Porcia1, Marcos Longo2, Félicien Meunier1 CHALLENGES IN CONNECTING REMOTE SENSING, FIELD DATA, AND FOREST MODELS – FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL 1Ghent University, CAVElab, Ghent, BE, [email protected] PERSPECTIVES 2JPL, California Institute of Technology, California, US

Chairs: Andreas HUTH, Franziska TAUBERT, Rico FISCHER Lianas are an important component of tropical forests, commonly constituting up to 40 % Contact: [email protected] of the woody stems and about 35 % of the woody species and contributing substantially to forest leaf biomass. Lianas compete strongly with trees for both above- and below-ground Tropical forests are characterized by complex patterns, structures and processes acting resources. Their indirect impact on the carbon balance, due to their influence on tree at various spatial and temporal scales. Consequently, forest attributes like biomass stocks community dynamics (by increasing mortality and suppressing tree growth), is far larger or carbon, water and nutrient fluxes can vary in space and time. Understanding and than their direct contribution to biomass. predicting main forest attributes in response to global change drivers is a major challenge for scientists and policymakers. Currently tropical forests are experiencing large-scale structural changes, including an increase in liana abundance and biomass. This may eventually reduce the projected carbon State-of-the-art methods like field inventories, forest modelling or remote sensing sink of tropical forests. Despite their crucial role no single terrestrial ecosystem model has techniques are generally applied to estimate and project forest attributes under global included lianas so far. change. However, each of these methods can be limited in terms of accuracy, extent or resolution leading to uncertainties. To overcome such limitations and to improve estimates We have included lianas in a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model and test it against of forest attributes, the combination of these methods represents a promising approach. experimental data. We chose ED2 (Ecosystem Demography model version 2), a model that occupies the midpoint on the continuum from gap models that contain individual trees, to We want to explore innovative linkages between remote sensing, field inventories and area-based global models. ED2 explicitly tracks horizontal and vertical heterogeneity in forest modelling at different spatial and temporal scales and to discuss perspectives of canopy structure making it very suitable to study liana impacts at a large scale. At the same future research in forest ecology. We encourage scientists of different fields to contribute time, the very inner structure of the model, that is its spatial implicitness, constraints the novel experimental and theoretical approaches that can be applied to characterize patterns, programming design of this new liana PFT. structures and processes in tropical forests.

The first part of the presentation will focus on the current representation of lianas in ED2 and the parameterization that has been used. We will focus mainly on the specific allometry and interaction with tree cohorts that we have implemented in the model. In the second part results will be shown where we compare the output of the model with data collected in an old growth forest at the Paracou site (French Guiana) and a regrowth forest in Gigante, Panama. We integrate the model with a multitude of data types: inventories, flux tower data, terrestrial lidar data, etc. By comparing runs starting from bare ground, runs starting from observed inventories and ‘liana’ vs ‘no liana’ runs we assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current model version and try to get a better insight in the impact of lianas on the carbon cycle of tropical forests. Our results indicate a total forest biomass reduction of 20

THURSDAY % due to the impact of lianas. THURSDAY 09:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 220 221

S20-O02 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S20-O03 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME IMPACT OF HYDRAULIC TRAITS OF LIANAS ON THEIR RAIN FOREST DYNAMICS UNDER DIFFERENT EXPLOITATION ABUNDANCE: PREDICTIONS FROM THE VEGETATION MODEL REGIMES ED2 Stephan A. Pietsch1 Félicien Meunier1, Manfredo di Porcia e Brugnera1, Long Nguyen Hoang1, Hans Verbeeck1 1IIASA-ESM, Laxenburg, AT, [email protected] 1Ghent University, Cavelab, Gent, BE, [email protected] Among the tropical forests, moist and wet forests exhibit the highest tree species Tropical forests play an important role in global climate change mitigation, storing diversity and contain commercially highly valued timber. The density of exploitable about half of the global terrestrial carbon on Earth. These ecosystems are experiencing stems per hectare, however, is normally restricted to 2-5 stems. Any timber exploitation important structural changes, of which one of the most apparent is liana proliferation. is concomitant with damage and/or death of neighbouring trees and with the removal of Lianas constitute a taxonomically diverse growth form, making them difficult to study. several trees to gain access to the marketable timber resource. Depending on the type of That explains why they were ignored so far in models. forest exploitation concession, i.e. permanent, medium or short term, different harvesting and timber extraction strategies are applied. Within this study, the different strategies will Recently, however, it was lobbied for defining a new Plant Functional Type, representing be analysed for their sustainability in terms of Carbon stocks, Carbon sequestration and lianas, in vegetation models, such as the Ecosystem Demography model (ED2). Among growth dynamics using model data fusion. other processes, ED2 is able to simulate the water fluxes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, and it was shown that the hydraulic properties were responsible for the Results from BGC-model application, calibrated and validated with a set of ~200 plot differentiated responses to water stress in seasonally dry forests. Woody vines exhibit level data sets on soil, litter and biomass C - representing different land use histories and contrasted properties as compared to regular trees, which should lead to contrasted management strategies - revealed that (1) different growth traits are favoured by different responses to drought stress and hence abundances. management strategies, (2) ecosystem productivity response is non-linear and (3) that sudden shifts in productivity dynamics occur. We performed a meta-analysis of the literature to collect the available information about lianas (in particular, the functional parameters of the ED2 hydraulic module together with structural traits). The significant correlations between functional and structural parameters were then implemented in the ED2 model and four long-term simulations (with or without the lianas, with or without the hydraulic module) were run for a specific site.

Statistical differences were observed for hydraulic properties between the two groups. In particular, for the same wood density, lianas experience more severe cavitation which impacted their abundance, as well as the forest total biomass. THURSDAY 09:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 10:00 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 222 223

S20-O04 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S20-O05 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME PRODUCTIVITY OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST AND THE HIGH RESOLUTION ANALYSIS OF TROPICAL FOREST ROLE OF FOREST STRUCTURE FRAGMENTATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE Andreas Huth1, Edna Rödig1, Rico Fischer1, Franziska Taubert1, Anja Rammig2, Matthias Cuntz3 Rico Fischer1, Katharina Brinck1,2, Jürgen Groeneveld1, Mateus Dantas De Paula1, 1Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig, DE, [email protected] Joseph O. Sexton3, Danxia Song3, Andreas Huth1 2TU Munich, Munich, DE 3INRA, Nancy, FR 1Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig, DE, [email protected] 2Imperial College, London, UK Precise descriptions of forest productivity, biomass, and structure are essential for 3University of Maryland, College Park, US understanding ecosystem responses to climatic and anthropogenic changes. However, relations between these components are complex and rarely investigated, in particular for Deforestation in the tropics is not only responsible for direct carbon tropical forests. emissions but also extends the forest edge wherein trees suffer increased mortality (edge effect). Here we combine high resolution We developed an approach to simulate carbon dynamics of around 410 billion individual (30 m) satellite maps of forest cover with estimates of the edge effect. trees within 7.8 Mio km² of Amazon rainforest. We then integrated remote sensing observations from lidar (forest height map) in order to detect different forest states and We show that 19 % of the remaining area of tropical forests lies within structures caused by small-scale to large-scale natural and anthropogenic disturbances. 100 m of a forest edge. The tropics house around 50 million forest fragments. Edge effects in tropical forests have caused an additional Under current conditions, we identified the Amazon rainforest as a carbon sink, gaining 10.3 Gt (2.1 - 14.4 Gt) of carbon emissions, which translates into 0.34 Gt / year and represents 0.56 Gt C per year. This carbon sink is driven by an estimated mean gross primary 31 % of the currently estimated annual carbon releases due to tropical deforestation. production (GPP) of 25.1 tC.ha-1.a-1, and a mean woody aboveground net primary production (wANPP) of 4.2 tC.ha-1.a-1. We found that successional states play an important role for the Fragmentation substantially augments carbon emissions from tropical forests and must be relations between productivity and biomass. Forests in early to intermediate successional taken into account when analyzing the role of vegetation in the global carbon cycle. states are the most productive and carbon use efficiencies are non-linear. Simulated values can be compared to observed carbon fluxes at various spatial resolutions (individual to Amazon-wide scale). Notably, we found that our results match different observed patterns (e.g., MODIS GPP).

We conclude that forest structure has a substantial impact on productivity and biomass. It is an essential factor that should be taken into account when estimating current carbon budgets or analyzing climate change scenarios for the Amazon rainforest. THURSDAY 10:15 THURSDAY THURSDAY 11:00 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 224 225

S20-O06 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S20-O07 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME GLOBAL PATTERNS OF TROPICAL FOREST FRAGMENTATION EFFECTS OF FRAGMENTED FOREST DEGRADATION ON THE WATER CYCLE - INSIGHTS FROM A FOREST SIMULATION Franziska Taubert1, Rico Fischer1, Juergen Groeneveld1,2, Sebastian Lehmann1, Michael Mueller1, MODEL Edna Roedig1, Thorsten Wiegand1,3, Andreas Huth1,3,4 Mateus Dantas de Paula1, Jürgen Groeneveld1,2, Andreas Huth1,3,4 1Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ, Leipzig, DE, [email protected] 2TU Dresden, Dresden, DE 1Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, DE, [email protected] 3German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, DE 2Institute of Forest Growth and Forest Computer Science, Tharandt, DE 4University Osnabrueck, Institute of Environmental Systems Research, Osnabrueck, DE 3Institute of Environmental Systems Research, Osnabrück, DE 4German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, DE Remote sensing allows for the quantification of global tropical deforestation with high spatial resolution. This in-depth mapping enabled us to achieve substantial advances in Deforestation is expected to cause large disruptions to the water the analysis of continental-wide fragmentation of tropical forests. cycle, affecting forest evapotranspiration and runoff, and causing changes in weather patterns and higher incidence of flooding We identified roughly 130 million forest fragments in three continents that show surprisingly events. However these disruptions could become much more severe, similar power law size and perimeter distributions as well as fractal dimensions. Power since the remaining fragmented forests continue to degrade for a law distributions have been observed in many natural phenomena such as wild fires, long time after deforestation has ceased due to edge effects, a major landslides and earth quakes. The principles of percolation theory provide one explanation cause of forest degradation. for the observed patterns and suggest that forest fragmentation is close to the critical point of percolation. Simulation modelling supports this hypothesis. The observed patterns do Here we use an individual-based dynamic forest model, parameterized with local forest not only emerge from random deforestation which can be described by percolation theory inventory, climate and soil data from a 126,000 ha reference landscape from the Brazilian but also from a wide range of deforestation and forest recovery regimes. northeastern Atlantic forest, containing 20,928 ha of fragmented forest to understand the consequences of forest degradation due to edge effects on the evapotranspiration and Predictions of our models outline that additional forest loss will strongly increase the runoff. We simulate forest areas of 1-121 hectares with 100 meter edge influence during 1000 total number of forest fragments (maximum by factor 33 over 50 years while decreasing years in the reference landscape and observe the average changes to evapotranspiration their size), and that this consequence can be partly mitigated by reforestation and forest and runoff due to edge effect mediated forest degradation. protection. Our results show a reduction of 54 % of transpiration from a fragment of 1 hectare (mean = 363 mm/ha) to 121 hectares (mean = 790 mm/ha), and an increase of total surface runoff of 35 % (1 ha mean = 1743 mm/ha, 121 ha mean = 1140). Most hydrological change for transpiration and runoff occur for fragment sizes up to 50 hectares. When applying the model to the whole landscape, we found that not considering the effects of edges overestimated 34 % total evapotranspiration and underestimated in 45.7 % total runoff. This work demonstrates the importance of forest models in quantifying ecosystem processes under disturbance regimes, and can be incorporated to remote sensing products in order to further model regional climatic changes in precipitation and impacts to watershed dynamics or water environmental services. THURSDAY 11:15 THURSDAY THURSDAY 11:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 226 227

S20-O08 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S20-O09 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME DENSITY-DEPENDENT REGULATION AND DENSITY- MODEL-DATA FUSION TO RETRIEVE TERRESTRIAL INDEPENDENT LIMITATION TOGETHER DETERMINE THE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES FROM SATELLITE ABUNDANCE OF A COMMON TREE SPECIES OBSERVATIONS

Marco Visser1 Jean-François Exbrayat1, A. Anthony Bloom2, T. Luke Smallman1, Mathew Williams1

1Princeton University, Princeton, US, [email protected] 1National Centre for Earth Observation and School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, [email protected] Stable coexistence requires that species have positive population 2Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, US growth rates at low density, and negative rates at high density. Yet few studies empirically quantify such population-level density- Recent model benchmarking and inter-comparison studies have dependence, focussing almost exclusively on density-dependence highlighted some non-trivial uncertainties in our understanding of early life-stages, while none evaluated the relative importance of of key terrestrial ecosystem properties. Differences in plant carbon all underlying demographic processes toward population regulation. allocation and residence times in particular lead to worrisome differences in terrestrial carbon stocks simulated by Earth system We used high resolution aerial pictures to quantify landscape-scale models in the present and their evolution under changing climate variation in adult density on Barro Colorado Island, in Panama. We used this to select ten and disturbance regimes. nearby locations varying 20-fold in population density of a common tropical palm species Attalea butyracea. Subsequently, we established 10 4-ha field plots and followed the fate of Observations of ecosystem functional properties may only be available at local scale but seeds, seedlings and adult palms from 2007 to 2012. We measured all vital rates (growth, wall-to-wall satellite observations coupled with model-data fusion approaches provide survival and reproduction) and quantified density dependence in these rates, and then a means to retrieve them over large continuous domains. Here, we use the CARbon Data applied density-dependent Integral Projection Models to integrate vital rate functions MOdel framework (CARDAMOM) to produce a re-analysis of the terrestrial carbon cycle across the life cycle. in agreement with remotely sensed observations of leaf area and biomass stocks under current climate and fire regimes. CARDAMOM relies on a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte- Estimated population growth rates were positive at low density and negative at high Carlo model-data fusion to retrieve confidence intervals of model parameters that regulate density, mainly due to negative density dependence of seedling establishment. Invasion ecosystem properties. growth rates and projected equilibrium density, however, were mostly determined by transition rates of density-independent life stages that reflect light limitation. Our results We present pantropical results for the first fifteen year of the 21st century at a 1°×1° spatial highlight that density-dependence at early life-stages can regulate populations around resolution. Overall, the spatial distribution of retrieved plant carbon allocation strategies observed densities, but that density-independent limiting factors are crucial determinants and residence times does not correspond to usual land-cover maps used in global of species abundance, and ultimately coexistence, which cannot be ignored. vegetation models. A sensitivity analysis reveals that fire-prone ecosystems present shifts toward more allocation of net primary productivity to woody carbon pools, at the expense of photosynthetic carbon pools, which is commensurate with field observations.

In conclusion, CARDAMOM is capable of retrieving ecosystem carbon stocks, fluxes and traits consistent with observations and theory. It will be a tool of choice to take full advantage of upcoming satellite missions dedicated to observing tropical forests, and inform the development of more robust climate change projections. THURSDAY 11:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 13:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 228 229

S20-O10 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S20-O11 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME ABOVE, AROUND AND AMONG TREES: INTEGRATING DESCRIBING 3-D STRUCTURE OF TROPICAL FORESTS FROM INDIVIDUAL-BASED MODELLING AND REMOTE SENSING RADAR ACQUISITIONS: POTENTIALS, CHALLENGES, AND DATA FOR ECOLOGICAL INFERENCE ABOUT TROPICAL LINKS TO GROUND AND LIDAR MEASUREMENTS RAINFORESTS Matteo Pardini1, Maria Tello Alonso1, Victor Cazcarra Bes1, Kostantinos Papathanassiou1 Fabian Jörg Fischer1,2, Jérôme Chave1,2 1German Aerospace Center (DLR), Wessling, DE, [email protected] 1CNRS, Toulouse, FR, [email protected] 2Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, FR Remote sensing systems have been demonstrated to be a powerful source of information for monitoring tropical forest ecosystems. Research into the ecology of tropical rainforests has made important progress in recent In particular, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and LIght Detection years. We have not only deepened our understanding of ecosystem processes across scales And Ranging (lidar) systems provide measurements sensitive to (from the ecophysiology of individual organisms to regional biodiversity patterns), but 3-D forest structure parameters at high spatial resolution. This is also seen significant improvements regarding both data quality and quantity. New data of critical importance given the high spatial heterogeneity and sources such as remote sensing have been successfully developed, and existing data complexity of tropical forests. sets are increasingly consolidated and made accessible in open databases. Integrating the resulting wealth of information into a coherent picture of tropical rainforests In particular, SAR acquisitions in tomographic mode enable the estimation of 3-D remains, however, an altogether different challenge. This becomes particularly apparent radar reflectivity profiles. A framework for qualitative and quantitative forest structure when looking at mechanistic models that simulate the emergence of patterns through estimation from these reflectivity profiles has been recently proposed. It is based on a pair underlying processes. While the approach is highly promising given its integrative powers, of complementary indices for the characterization of horizontal and vertical structure. In it is far from clear how to strike the right balance between the theoretical knowledge of order to ensure the physical interpretation and ecological relevance, the indices have been the processes involved and our practical abilities to parameterize them for species-rich derived in correspondence of structure indices already established in forestry and ecology tropical communities. studies. This two-index framework has been shown to provide: (1) the systematic interpretation of the 3D radar reflectivity in terms of physical forest With regard to these questions, we propose an innovative approach that relies on structure. This is not always an intuitive task because of the dependency of radar reflectivity mechanistic modelling and combines it with techniques known from Approximate on system parameters as well as on the geometric and dielectric properties of the forest. Bayesian Computation (ABC). Remote sensing data can thus be linked back to ecologically (2) the direct comparison of forest structure estimates from field inventory data to estimates meaningful units such as individual trees and help make inferences about processes derived from radar and even lidar measurements. that would be difficult to parameterize otherwise. We here present results from a suite of simulation runs with the individual-based forest growth simulator TROLL which has been In this presentation, potentials and challenges of the application of this framework to applied to a tropical rainforest in French Guiana. Using LiDAR data from recent flights in tropical forests are discussed. Results from the recent AfriSAR campaign, in which time- French Guiana, we will demonstrate how we can effectively narrow down ill-constrained coincident SAR and lidar data were acquired over several tropical forest sites in Gabon, parameters through remote sensing data, gain insight into the emergence of forest will be presented. The correspondence between the structure descriptors calculated from structure and investigate the respective roles of intraspecific and interspecific variation remote sensing data and ground measurements, together with the behaviour of the obtained in the process. forest structure estimates as a function of the spatial scale will be addressed as well. THURSDAY 13:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 14:00 THURSDAY

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S20-O12 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S20-O13 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME FOREST AGE STRUCTURE ASSUMPTIONS WITHIN GLOBAL ELEVATION GRADIENTS SHAPE TREE DISTRIBUTIONS IN FOREST MODEL. BRAZIL CASE STUDY TROPICAL FORESTS

Olga Turkovska1, Dmitry Schepaschenko1, Stephan Pietsch1, Aline Soterroni1,2 James Margrove1, Christopher Philipson1, Robert Bagchi2, Colin Maycock3, David Burlsem4, Jaboury Ghazoul1 1International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, AT, [email protected] 2National Institute for Space Research, Sao Paulo, BR 1ETH Zurich, Zurich, CH, [email protected] 2University of Connecticut, Connecticut, US Current aboveground biomass is a key quantity researched by spatially explicit forest and 3Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, MY land-use models, estimated through net primary production, forest area, forest age structure 4University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK etc. Of these factors, forest age structure has been difficult to constrain due to a lack of observations and geographical heterogeneity. Moreover, forest age structure simulation Variation in the topographical distribution of tropical tree species has long been within forest and land-use models is limited to several assumptions, often without actual associated with local soil water availability. The fundamental drivers of these patterns, connection to spatial data and consideration of forest types particularities, e.g. tropical which contribute to mechanisms of species coexistence remain poorly resolved. We forests. However, forest age structure, i.e. distribution of forest area amongst age classes experimentally quantified the sensitivity of seedlings of 16 tree species to ephemeral water significantly impact the estimates for current aboveground biomass on the site-specific inundation across micro-topographical gradients (on the scale of a few tens of centimetres) and regional scale. For instance, forest age structure within spatially explicit global forest and characterised adult tree distributions of these species across a more extensive macro- model (G4M) is described on a level of a spatial unit (0.5 × 0.5˚) as a uniform distribution of the topographical gradients (tens of metres) using spatial point pattern analysis. forest area amongst age classes (normal forest). While the number of age classes depends on selected time step and the last age class is constrained by rotation time for a forest in We show that species-specific seedling sensitivity to water inundation and trait wood the spatial unit. However, evidence suggests that a uniform age structure assumption does density explain a large component (70.1 %) of adult elevation distribution. Seedlings of not adequately capture the forest structure in tropics, for example, in Brazil. At the same trees that typically occur at higher elevations and thus drier localities are more sensitive to time, the question what would be the adequate assumption for simulating tropical forest water inundation. These species tend to have high wood density. Seedlings of adults whose structure remains open. distribution predominantly lies within low-lying wetter areas have higher tolerances to flooding, and these species tend to have lower wood densities. We suggest that communities The study researches the adequacy of the normal forest assumption for simulating of tropical forest trees express fine scale partitioning along soil water gradients. Water forest age structure applied in G4M and investigates the impact of variations in the age inundation episodes on the scale of tens of centimetres act on early life stages in wetter structure assumptions of tropical forest, for example by applying site and country-specific low lying regions to filter out sensitive species. We also reveal an elevation gradient of assumptions based on the literature and observations (e.g. http://forest-observation- increasing species wood densities even after controlling for inundation sensitivities. system.net/). In particular, this exercise explores the changes in aboveground biomass Wood density has long been associated as a trait coupled with stress tolerance, and we estimates due to different approaches towards age structure simulation within G4M for the suggest and periodic droughts enable these species to grow on higher elevations. With tropical forests. this knowledge, it is becoming ever clearer that an increasingly variable rainfall amplitude in the region will affect the spatial structure, species composition, and diversity of future forests. THURSDAY 14:15 THURSDAY THURSDAY 14:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 232 233

S20-O14 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S20-O15 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME MAPPING TROPICAL DISTURBED FORESTS IN MATO GROSSO CARBON RECOVERY OF LOGGED FORESTS THROUGH LANDSAT SURFACE REFLECTANCE TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS Christopher Philipson1,2, Mark E. J. Cutler2, Philip G. Brodrick3, Gregory P. Asner3, Doreen S. Boyd4, Pedro Moura Costa5, Giles Foody4, Geertje M.F van der Heijde4, Philippa R. Lincoln6, Yunxia Wang1, Guy Ziv1, Marcos Adami2, Edward Mitchard3, Sarah Batterman1, Timothy Baker1, Michelle A. Pinard7, Glen Reynolds8, Martijn Snoep9, Hamzah Tangki10, John Tay11, Yap Sau Wolfgang Buermann1, David Galbraith1 Wai10, David F.R.P. Burslem7

1University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, [email protected] 1ETH Zürich, Zürich, CH, [email protected] 2National Institute for Space Research (INPE) – Amazon Regional Center, Belém, BR 2Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK 3University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK 3Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94305, US 4School of Geography University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Tropical disturbed forests play an important role in global carbon 5Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK sequestration due to their rapid biomass accumulation rates. 6LTS International, Edinburgh, UK However, the accurate estimation of carbon stocks in disturbed 7The Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, The University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK forests is still challenging due to large uncertainties in the extent 8Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, Lahad Datu, MY and spatial distribution of disturbed forests. Using Google Earth 9Face the Future, Wageningen, NL Engine (GEE), we developed an automated approach to map forests 10Yayasan Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, MY that have been disturbed between 1984-2010 using time-series 11School of International Tropical Forestry, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, MY of Landsat surface reflectance imagery. This approach combines temporal trajectories of Landsat spectral bands and four vegetation indices with a random Logged-over tropical forests harbour substantial amounts of forest classification algorithm. We demonstrated the feasibility of this method tomap biodiversity and forest carbon, yet are under ever-increasing threat disturbed forests in three different forest ecoregions, namely seasonal forest, moist forest of land use change. Protecting logged forest from conversion to and dry forest in Mato Grosso, Brazil. plantations could help maintain terrestrial carbon stocks, which could be funded by avoided-deforestation carbon-credit schemes. The overall mapping accuracy varied from 81.2 % for moist forest to 85.5 % for seasonal However, there are very few studies reporting the rate of biomass forest. According to our classification, the dry forest ecoregion experienced the most severe and carbon recovery of logged-forests in Southeast Asia. Accurate disturbances with 38.5 % of forests being disturbed during our period of interest, followed by estimates of carbon recovery rates are essential to ensure carbon- seasonal forest and moist forest. We further separated disturbed forest into degraded forest offset projects are economically viable. and post-deforestation regrowth forest based on an existing post-deforestation land use map. We found that the area of degraded forest was up to 50 % larger than post-deforestation To assess the Aboveground Carbon Density (ACD) recovery of logged-forest through time, regrowth forest, with 21.8 % of primary forests in Mato Grosso currently degraded. The we combined three different networks of plots in the Ulu-Segama Forest Reserve in methodology developed in this study was found to be an accurate and efficient approach Sabah, Malaysia, with historic logging data. All of the forest plots where measured twice to map tropical disturbed forests including both degraded forests and post-deforestation between 1996 and 2016, accounting for the inherent variation in logged forests and enabling regrowth forests. Applying this new classification approach to other tropical areas will us to estimate recovery rates over a 20-yr interval. The measured values of ACD in plots provide a better constraint on the spatial extent and magnitude of disturbed forests and combined with a history of times since logging provide a high temporal-resolution to ultimately their importance in the global carbon cycle. determine carbon recovery rates. We then extend this analysis using extrapolations from a high-resolution carbon map of the entire forest reserve constructed using an airborne Merian Award Applicant LiDAR survey. This combination of approaches provides the first highly resolved estimates of carbon recovery rates following logging for Southeast Asian lowland dipterocarp forests THURSDAY 14:45 THURSDAY and highlights their potential for rapid recovery. 15:00 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 234 235

S20-O16 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME VARIATION IN SPACE AND TIME OF ANT DISTRIBUTION AMONG GROUND LAYERS IN AN ECUADORIAN PREMONTANE FOREST

Maurice Leponce1,2, Justine Jacquemin1,2, Yves Roisin2

1Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, BE 2Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BE, [email protected]

Nearly half of the ant species present in a tropical forest are directly in contact with the ground for nesting or foraging, with evidence of vertical stratification among ground layers (i.e., surface, litter, and soil). How ants in each layer respond to environmental factors and to seasonality remains little studied. We hypothesized that ant species distribution varied spatially and seasonally among the three ground layers and that their distribution was distinctly affected by various abiotic and biotic factors.

The ant distribution was analysed spatio-temporally: vertically (between the ground surface, leaf-litter, and mineral soil, using pitfalls, Winkler, and soil cores), horizontally (every meter along a 100 m transect) and seasonally (between the dry and the rainy seasons). Four environmental parameters were measured every meter along the transect: canopy openness, slope, leaf-litter volume and soil properties.

Our results showed a clear vertical stratification, with distinct faunal composition in each layer and a strong seasonal effect. Stable distribution of several dominant species between seasons suggests a low nest relocation rate. During the dry season, higher ant richness and abundance were found in pitfall traps suggesting higher activity on the surface of the forest floor. Similarly, higher ant richness and abundance found in the soil during the dry season suggest the migration of drought-sensitive species downwards deeper into the soil. Species richness and dominant species distribution were related to distinct factors according to the layer considered; we found strong correlations between the quantity of leaf-litter and dominant ant species distribution and species richness in the leaf-litter layer, while no correlation was found with any factor in the soil layer. While soil properties influenced the ant distribution at the kilometer scale they had little influence at the meter scale. THURSDAY 15:15 THURSDAY

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S21-O01 – CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON CARBON-SEQUESTRATION SESSION 21 POTENTIAL OF TROPICAL RAINFORESTS

TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEM RESPONSES Jean-François Exbrayat1,2, David T. Milodowski2, T. Luke Smallman1,2, Mathew Williams1,2 TO CLIMATE CHANGE 1National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, [email protected] Chair: Eric GUILBERT 2School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Contact: [email protected] Tropical forests have been identified as both a major sink and Global warming predictions suggest many changes of climate parameters, even with the source for anthropogenic carbon. Multiple international initiatives “best” scenario. We are already faced to these changes. In the tropics, already submitted to have been introduced to mitigate climate change by reforesting heavy anthropic pressure, these changes will deeply affect the environment. Forests are previously cleared areas and restoring degraded forests (e.g. UN- involved in carbon cycle and play a major role in climate system. REDD). Key to implementing effective mitigation plans is knowledge of the capacity of forests to grow and store carbon under projected How will react this ecosystem? How will react the biodiversity? Such questions are highly climate change. This capacity remains poorly constrained. challenging as forests provide many ecosystem services. All studies that aim to analyse, model, project and predict global warming effects on all components of tropical forest Here we use a machine-learning approach to determine the potential biomass of regions should provide information and tools… where climate could support rainforest. We first derive a relationship between climate and satellite observations of biomass in intact forest landscapes. We use this relationship To make our planet great again? The session sets out to evaluate how global warming to create maps of potential biomass of the hypothetical undisturbed landscape for the might affects current tropical ecosystem structure, species distribution and interactions, present. We then create maps also for the end of the 21st century according to projections highlighting the recent advances in the topic. from thirteen Earth system models under two representative concentration pathways (RCPs). All calculations are made at a 10’ spatial resolution.

The difference between the potential and observed biomass defines the carbon- sequestration potential for degraded and deforested landscapes, both for now and the future. Our results indicate a current carbon-sequestration potential of 69.0 Pg C (with a confidence interval ranging from 63.0 to 74.3 Pg C). We estimate that 64 % of the carbon- sequestration potential corresponds to reforestation in regions that have been previously cleared, and 36 % correspond to the restoration of degraded forests. Our results indicate that reforestation potential decreases to 33.0 Pg C (24.5 / 43.2) and 24.1 Pg C (17.8 / 32.4) when using climate change projections under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 respectively. This decrease is due to reduced carbon-sequestration potential from both previously disturbed regions and currently intact regions, indicating a risk of tropical rainforest die-back, due to projected warmer and drier conditions. THURSDAY THURSDAY 09:30 THURSDAY

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S21-O02 – CLIMATE CHANGE S21-O03 – CLIMATE CHANGE SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? PROJECTED CHANGES IN PLANT DIVERSITY HOTSPOTS AND REFUGES IN THE AVIAN FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY ON TROPICAL MOUNTAINS TROPICAL ANDES UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE Gwendolyn Peyre1, David Campos2, Jonathan Lenoir3 Matthias Schleuning1, Irene M.A. Bender1,2,3, Larissa Nowak1,4, W. Daniel Kissling5 1University of the Andes, Bogotá, CO, [email protected] 1Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, DE, 2University of Tolima, Ibagué, CO [email protected] 3University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, FR 2German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, DE 3Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, DE The páramo biogeographical province includes the high mountain 4Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, DE ecosystems of the northern Andes and constitutes a fast evolving 5University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL biodiversity hotspot. The recent orogeny and following glaciation dynamics of the Cenozoic helped shape the páramo’s unique Tropical mountains are hotspots of biodiversity and considered particularly susceptible to phytodiversity by creating continental biogeographic islands on climate change. Along elevational gradients, climate change forces species to move their mountain tops and promoting plant diversification. Today, the ranges upwards, which triggers changes in the composition of ecological communities. páramo hosts around 5000 vascular plant species, most of them We propose to combine approaches from biogeography (species distribution models) and represented within the families Asteraceae and Poaceae. community ecology (functional diversity) to quantify the potential consequences of climate change for ecological communities on tropical mountains. In this study, we focused on these two dominant plant families and aimed at identifying their past refuges and actual hotspots. To do so, we used presence-absence data from the Here we modeled current and projected future occurrence probabilities of 240 frugivorous VegPáramo database and modelled for each species their: (1) past potential distribution bird species along a 3000 m elevational gradient in the tropical Andes, ranging from the during the Last Glacial Maximum (21,000 years ago), (2) present potential distribution, and lowlands up to the tree line, and computed projected changes in avian functional diversity, (3) present realized distribution. For all analyses, we relied on bioclimatic data from the based on functional traits relevant for seed dispersal. CHELSA project database and conducted individual spatial distribution models (SDMs), using the Generalized Linear Model and Random Forest algorithms, and the Area Under the We found three main patterns of projected community change along the mountain: (1) ROC Curve for model evaluation. We then stacked the SDMs based on taxonomy at genus functional attrition caused declines of functional diversity in the lowland, (2) functional and tribe levels. Finally, for each family, we identified páramo refuges with permanent turn-over was high at mid-elevations, and (3) functional decreases were weaker than species occupation as well as actual species-rich areas. The obtained results are therefore expected at high elevations. We conclude that functional diversity of frugivorous birds is contributing valuable knowledge on plant distribution and evolution in the tropical likely to respond differently to climate change at different elevational levels of tropical mountain páramo. mountains, which has important consequences for seed dispersal and movement capacities of plants dependent on avian seed dispersal. THURSDAY 09:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 10:00 THURSDAY

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S21-O04 – CLIMATE CHANGE S21-O05 – CLIMATE CHANGE CYCLONES, FRAGMENTATION AND BIRD ASSEMBLAGES: ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF LIANAS ON TREE GROWTH IN NATURAL AND HUMAN DISTURBANCES IN A CHANGING TROPICAL FORESTS CLIMATE Elizabeth Kearsley1, Geertje van der Heijden2, Stefan Schnitzer3,4, Hans Verbeeck1 James Moloney1 1Ghent University, Gent, BE, [email protected] 1James Cook University, Townsville, AU, [email protected] 2University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK 3Marquette University, Milwaukee, US Severe tropical storms are predicted to increase in frequency and 4Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama city, PA geographic extent in the future due to climate change. Furthermore, natural disturbance regimes such as cyclones now mostly occur in Lianas (woody climbers) are structural parasites and an important component of tropical the context of human disturbance such as habitat fragmentation. In forests. Due to their strong competition with trees for above and below ground resources, March 2006, Cyclone Larry severely disturbed already-fragmented lianas can have a large effect on tree diversity, recruitment, growth and survival, which lowland rainforests in North-eastern Australia. A previous study can further impact tree community composition, carbon storage and carbon, nutrient and provided an opportunity to examine the impacts of a severe cyclone water fluxes. Moreover, recent research from the Neotropics has indicated that lianas are on vegetation and bird communities in continuous and fragmented proliferating in abundance and biomass related to climate change. Although the drivers habitats of differing sizes over a ten-year period. Three unfragmented sites, 3 large behind this liana increase are currently not fully understood, liana proliferation itself can fragments (>25 ha) and 3 small fragments (<25 ha) had been surveyed prior to the cyclone, endanger the future of the tropical carbon sink as lianas reduce carbon sequestration and and then 1-2 months, 5 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 10 years post-cyclone. storage in these forests. As tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon

cycle, this in turn may lead to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations, which may have Immediately post-cyclone, vegetation was largely defoliated and, although canopy cover serious implications for climate change. had recovered from >10 % immediately post-cyclone to <50 % by year 10, vegetation structure remained highly disturbed. The bird assemblage, however, recovered far more quickly after In this study, we use a large-scale liana removal experiment conducted in the Barro initial devastation, with bird assemblages in continuous sites and fragments comparable to Colorado National Monument in the Republic of Panama to investigate the impact of lianas pre-cyclone assemblages 2 years after the cyclone, and little further change after 10 years. on individual tree growth. The impact of varying severities of liana infestation in the crown No evidence of disproportionate species loss in fragments was apparent. on tree growth is assessed, while controlling for growth environment (light, neighboring competition) and species identity using structural equation modeling. The impact of lianas The relatively robust nature of the avifauna to both natural and human disturbance (in is validated with plots that are liana-free. Different scenarios of future increases in liana comparison to other tropical regions) is probably due to the nature of lowland bird abundance and biomass are assessed. assemblages in this region (relatively depauperate and generalist), and the species sifting that had already occurred at a local scale in fragments. However, other tropical regions with more specialised faunal assemblages, or that lie at present outside severe tropical storm zones, may show far greater sensitivity to climate change-driven storm impacts. THURSDAY 10:15 THURSDAY THURSDAY 11:00 THURSDAY

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S21-O06 – CLIMATE CHANGE S21-O07 – CLIMATE CHANGE SIMULATING PRESENT-DAY DISTRIBUTION OF PODOCARPUS ANALYSING THE POSITION OF THE EASTERN ANDEAN TREE LATIFOLIUS/MILANJIANUS IN AFROMONTANE FORESTS LINE WITH A MASS TRANSECT SAMPLING OF SATELLITE OF CAMEROON WITH THE DYNAMIC VEGETATION MODEL IMAGERY CARAIB Stefan Jozefowicz1, Przemyslaw Zelazowski1, Yadvinder Malhi2 Alexandra-Jane Henrot1, Marie Dury1, Anne-Marie Lézine2, Rachid Cheddadi3, Jérémy Migliore2,4, Alain Hambuckers5, Franck Trolliet1, Louis François1 1Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Environmental Modelling, Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, PL, [email protected] 1Unit for Modelling of Climate and Biogeochemical Cycles, UR-SPHERES, Université de Liège, Liège, 2Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, BE, [email protected] Oxford, UK 2Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat LOCEAN, Sorbonne Université, Paris, FR 3Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier, CNRS-UM-IRD, Montpellier, FR The Eastern Andean tree line (EATL) is one of the world’s most vivid 4Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BE examples of an altitudinal ecotone, because of both its continuity 5Behavioural Biology Unit, UR-SPHERES, University of Liège, Liège, BE at the continental scale, as well as it being the western boundary of the forest biome of Amazonia. Where the EATL is undisturbed by It is today established that climate change alters biodiversity, anthropogenic pressures such as wildfires and cattle ranching, its since the migration speeds of many species, especially plants, are course is a spatial manifestation of the underlying environmental presumably too slow to follow climate change. Tropical mountain parameters limiting the distribution of individual species floras are particularly vulnerable to the climatic threat, because they and biomes. This indicator quality of the EATL is of particular combine high ecosystem diversity and large proportion of endemic significance in the context of global climate change and the role of higher altitudes as a species, with the risk of reaching the summits of the mountains, refugium for species migrating upslope as a result of that change. Despite this, there has which would limit their migration. Moreover, these environments been to our knowledge no systematic analysis of the EATL’s position to date. are often strongly impacted by man. Being able to identify and predict the areas favorable to the persistence of species - microrefugia - becomes crucial The aim of this study was to extract information about tree line position for its most in view of the fragmentation of the space devoted to their conservation. Microrefugia can consistent stretch on the eastern slopes of the Andes, ranging between the latitudes of be identified by using dynamic vegetation models (DVMs) at high-resolution over a given 6.5°S and 17.8°S, from the three-decade record provided by fine resolution sensors aboard region. However, DVMs are usually run at the plant functional type level (PFT), whereas the Landsat 4, 5, 7 and 8 satellites. We were aided in this task by the recent publication of conservation studies require specific projections for each individual species. Thus, some the reprocessed, highly spatially accurate Landsat Collection. Spectral data in the form of efforts focus now on applying DVMs at the species level refining the definition of morpho- vegetation indices, along with a set of climatic and geomorphometric characteristics of the physiological parameters from initial PFT traits to specific traits collected in the field or terrain, were sampled by way of upslope transects with a locally-consistent aspect. The found in trait databases. resulting database of tens of thousands of transects can be queried to (1) apply multiple In the framework of the international VULPES project (VULnerability of Populations definitions of EATL, (2) apply various quality restrictions, (3) discover and quantify the under Extreme Scenario, https://vulpesproject.wixsite.com/vulpes), we use the CARAIB EATL’s location drivers on scales ranging from local to continental, (4) quantify shifts in the DVM (Dury et al., iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, 4:82-99, 2011) to simulate the EATL’s position over time. The emergence of the well-known phenomenon of latitudinal evolution over the last thirty years (1981-2010) of the distribution of Podocarpus latifolius/ tree line elevation change serves as a first-order validation of this approach. milanjianus, an endangered species localised in several patches of the Afromontane forest of Southwestern Cameroon. CARAIB is run at high resolution using climatic inputs derived from the ERA-Interim climate dataset combined with WorldClim climatology at 30 arc seconds (~1 km). Climatic tolerances of Podocarpus latifolius/milanjianus are adapted THURSDAY 11:15 THURSDAY in the model simulations in function of the observed distribution. Sensitivity tests are 11:30 THURSDAY performed to evaluate the impacts on the simulated distribution of Podocarpus of different plant traits and tolerances, as well as the effect of the competition with other species. CARAIB results are discussed in terms of biomass and net primary productivity (NPP).

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 244 245

S21-O08 – CLIMATE CHANGE DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION TRENDS IN TROPICAL RAINFOREST

Kiswanto Kiswanto1,2, Satoshi Tsuyuki2

1Faculty of Forestry, The Mulawarman University, Samarinda, ID, [email protected] 2Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, JP

The tropical rainforest is located in a wide area surrounding the equator, covering more than ten percent of the total earth’s land surface. Unfortunately, prospects for tropical forests biodiversity are becoming increasingly depressing due to persistent deforestation and forest degradation. The trends in deforestation and forest degradation and their causes are studied using different disciplinary methodologies at the multiple scales, therefore, give balancing information of environmental management. Several international groups produce routine estimates of tropical deforestation, most notably the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, which has been providing a global forest resources assessment every five to ten years since the late 1940s.

Our study also concerns to deliver yearly land cover maps that could be used to estimate annual deforestation and forest transitions but only in small scale such as a case in East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. For showing the land cover classification and land cover changes over time in East Kalimantan (Indonesia), we produced yearly land cover maps from 2000 to 2016 using Landsat imageries interpreted visually and then analyzed land cover changes during 17 years, including a total of forest cover over time. In this study, we investigated annual deforestation trends during 17 years. Our results indicated that forest loss mainly occurred in natural forests, was caused by decreasing of forest quality, i.e. changes from primary to secondary forest, from secondary forest to shrubland, etc. Forest gain was only seen in plantation forest, that was changed from primary and secondary dryland forest.

Merian Award Applicant THURSDAY 11:45 THURSDAY

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S22-O01 – REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO MONITORING TROPICAL FOREST RESILIENCE: THE SESSION 22 POTENTIAL OF EO TO MONITOR LONG-TERM CHANGE ACROSS FOREST LANDSCAPES REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Mark Cutler1, Christopher Philipson1,2, David Burslem3, Giles Foody4, Doreen Boyd4, Geertje van der Heidjen4 Chair: Mark CUTLER Contact: [email protected] 1University of Dundee, Dundee, UK, [email protected] 2ETH Zurch, Zurich, CH Remote sensing has the potential to provide information relating to important ecological 3University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK variables at a range of temporal and spatial scales. However, despite this potential, the use 4University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK of remote sensing for repeated monitoring of tropical environments is still not operational, with many challenges remaining. Globally, almost half of all remaining tropical forest (c. 400 million ha) is allocated for timber production (Blaser et al., 2011), meaning these forests have a crucial role to play This session will look at the opportunities and challenges that new methods in remote in the economic sustainability of many developing nations’ economies. To maintain the sensing can offer the monitoring of tropical forest environments, with a particular focus on ecosystem services that local inhabitants and state / national economies may derive from forests that have been affected by the recent El Nino. In particular, speakers from several these forests (including medicinal, timber and food production) as well as conservation, projects that have been supported by the UKs NERC-funded programme ‘Understanding the demands effective forest management to promote sustainable regeneration. However, Impacts of the Current El Niño’ will be invited, giving presentations on their experiences the resilience of logged and degraded forests i.e. their capacity to respond to short-term of using remote sensing at a variety of spatial scales: from the monitoring of lianas with perturbations (such as ENSO-induced drought) by resisting damage and recovering drones, to the analysis of productivity across wider landscapes using new Sentinel data. quickly, is poorly understood, with few long-term studies or field plot networks available to determine forest resilience across a gradient of prior disturbance and/or post-logging The session will also be open to others who wish to give presentations on a related theme. management regimes. Ultimately, the aim of the session is foster closer collaboration between remote sensing scientists and ecologists, by better understanding the need and aspirations of ecologists In this paper we report on findings from long-term monitoring of forest plots located across with respect to environmental monitoring, with the opportunities and realities of current a disturbance gradient and the use of remotely sensed data at various scales to estimate remote sensing techniques. forest properties and response to ENSO-induced drought at local to regional scales. Bringing together the results from monitoring across two decades and the more recently funded NERC STEED project (Spatio-TEmporal Dynamics of Forest Response to ENSO Drought) the forests surrounding the Danum Valley Field Centre, Malaysia, have shown huge variability in forest recovery (in terms of above-ground biomass), with recovery rates up to 3.6 MG.ha-1 but that these are highly dependent upon the volume of timber extracted during logging. This increase in biomass is mirrored in our remotely sensed estimates of AGB from Landsat TM and MODIS data, but also shows a high degree of variability across the disturbed landscape. This variability in productivity is also manifest when assessing the impact of short-term drought which the region experienced in 2015/16. We illustrate this by showing variability in leaf spectral response through to a landscape-scale MODIS- derived drought index, illustrating the potential of remote sensing at multiple spectral and

THURSDAY spatial resolutions to estimate forest resilience to both logging and climatic disturbance. THURSDAY 13:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 248 249

S22-O02 – REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO S22-O03 – REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO DO EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS CAUSE LIANA FROM REMOTELY SENSING TROPICAL HUMAN-MODIFIED PROLIFERATION? USING UAVS TO TRACK CHANGES IN LANDSCAPES TO MONITORING PROGRESS TOWARDS AICHI TROPICAL FOREST CANOPY COMPOSITION OVER TIME AND SDG TARGETS

Geertje van der Heijden1, Catherine Waite (speaker)1, Doreen S. Boyd1, David Burslem2, Marion Pfeifer1 Christopher Philipson3, Mark Cutler4 1Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, [email protected] 1University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, [email protected] 2University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Remotely sensing forest ecosystem states over time is a great tool to 3ETH Zürich, Zürich, CH map and monitor essential ecosystem functions. For example, leaf 4University of Dundee, Dundee, UK area index, fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation and fractional vegetation cover can be measured using optical Extreme weather events, such droughts associated with El Niño instruments from below vegetation canopies, as we are currently events, are known to affect tropical forest functioning, but the doing within our GLOBAL LAI project. And using remote sensing specific responses of canopy structure and composition are not data acquired from above vegetation canopies to then map those fully understood. Lianas are a key component of tropical forest attributes for the landscape is a straightforward task, as we show for canopies and are thought to have an advantage over trees in landscapes in Africa and Borneo. This is wonderful as LAI and fAPAR are Essential Climate drought conditions as they may be more efficient in taking up Variables that regulate key ecosystem processes and determine habitat differentiation water during such times drought conditions. As lianas reduce tree along vertical gradients of light availability. Both inter-correlate with each other and with growth, and increase tree mortality and forest-level leaf production, FCover to control vegetation productivity and biomass at stand level. However, how does thereby reducing net above-ground carbon uptake by as much as 76 %/year, chances in that help us to understand resilience, loss and recovery of ecosystems and the services liana infestation due to extreme weather events may therefore have potentially damaging they provide? ramifications for carbon storage and sequestration in tropical forests. I will briefly discuss two new projects I am currently involved in that aim to address Using UAV imagery of Malaysian tropical forest collected in 2016 and 2017, this projects components of this question. The first one is testing imaging as a tool for detecting plant aims to characterise changes in the contribution of lianas to canopy structure, to inform stress before visual symptoms start to appear and negative effects become established. the likely longer-term impact of ENSO drought on carbon accumulation. The ultra-high By linking maps derived from this imaging to measurements of species those ecological resolution (~1 cm/pixel) images enable changes in % liana canopy crown cover (a direct functions within trophic networks are relevant for the delivery of ecosystem services (using indicator of changes in liana) and tree crown greenness (which may be indicative of our new BIOFRAG approach, Pfeifer et al. 2017 Nature), I aim to unravel the mechanisms a change in overall crown health) to be assessed on a per tree basis. From this, we can behind the delivery of biodiversity dependent ecosystem services (https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/ examine whether liana infestation has increased in the period directly after the El Niño, marionpfeifer/projects/measuring-mapping-and-predicting-forest-and-crop-quality- and whether any changes in liana cover are related to changes crown greenness, which in-human-modified-tropical-landscapes/). The second project, with Dr Andy Marshall, will provide potentially unique evidence to improve ecological understanding of tropical involves the monitoring of forest recovery in landscapes in Australia and Tanzania using a forest functioning. Initial results based on 30 trees infested with lianas in both 2016 and combination of imaging tools, field measurements and experiments to unravel mechanisms 2017 indicate that average % liana canopy cover is significantly higher in 2017 (mean = 25.8 and pathways of recovery (http://force-experiment.com/). % in 2017 vs. 14.6 % in 2016, p = 0.005). Additionally, changes in liana infestation were weakly, negatively correlated with a reduction in greenness between years (Adj R2 = 0.09984, p = 0.04948), indicating that increases in liana infestation may lead to a decline in overall tree crown health. THURSDAY 13:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 14:00 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 250 251

S22-O04 – REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO S22-O05 – REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO SPATIAL PATTERNS OF LIANA SUCCESS IN MALAYSIA RESPONSES OF NEOTROPICAL FOREST MAMMALS TO AN EXTREME EL NIÑO EVENT Chris Chandler1, Geertje van der Heijden1, Giles Foody1, Doreen Boyd1 Patrick Jansen1,2, Joseph Wright2 1University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, [email protected] 1Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL, [email protected] Tropical forests are highly productive, biologically rich and carbon 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, PA dense. As such, these ecosystems are critical to the global carbon balance and key in mitigating some of the effects of climate change. A phenomenon that has been linked to extreme El Niño events in Lianas are important components of tropical forests, where they some tropical moist forests is massive die-off of mammals. These have been shown to increase in abundance and biomass over the die-offs, which represent a risk to the genetic diversity and even last decades. Lianas compete intensely with trees for above- and persistence of populations, occur during some but not all El Niño below-ground resources, thus substantially limiting tree growth and events, for reasons not understood. Several authors have speculated survival. Such increases in liana biomass may induce changes in that the mechanism underlying these die-offs is that a dry El Niño tree species composition and dynamics, which could have consequences for tropical forest phase causes a boom of mammal populations via elevated fruit carbon storage in the future. production, and that a wet La Niña phase that follows produces a bust due to depressed fruit production. However, no study actually studied mammal Studies on lianas have largely focused in the Neotropics, limiting our understanding of populations through such a cycle. the drivers behind variation in liana infestation and the impact on carbon balance in the Palaeotropics. Furthermore, although liana infestation varies greatly across forests, We studied the mammal community of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, during and after the drivers of the broad-scale variation in liana pressure remains unexplored. Here, we the very strong El Niño event of May 2015 – April 2016. We used an island-wide network therefore aim to map liana infestation in Bornean Malaysia with the use of airborne of camera traps to monitor mammal abundance, condition and aspects of behaviour, and hyperspectral imagery to (1) investigate whether the spatial patterns in liana infestation transect counts to estimate mammal mortality. We linked the data to climate and fruiting are driven by variation in disturbance and/or forest structure and (2) test whether carbon data from the same site. sequestration and storage is affected by liana infestation on a regional scale. We found that seed production was elevated through most of 2015 and the first half of 2016, Airborne hyperspectral imagery and LiDAR data were collected concurrently (Mark Cutler, and led to a rise in mammal numbers, i.e. a ‘boom’. However, although fruit production Dundee). Preliminary results from ground measurements showed liana biomass and was much lower during the two years that followed, we did not observe elevated mammal abundance were both greater in the primary forest in comparison to secondary forests. mortality, i.e. a ‘bust’. This El Niño event, unlike past events that were followed by mammal Comparison of liana infestation and forest structure revealed a canopy height maximum of die-off, lacked a strong La Niña with harsh (cold and wet) weather conditions. Our 64.4 m for liana infestation. In addition, we find a clear difference in the spectral response observations, along with evidence from past events at the study site, suggests that die-offs between lianas and trees. A neural network is able to accurately predict liana presence associated with El Niño events are at least partially caused by harsh weather conditions across the hyperspectral imagery (82 % correctly classified). Additional training data affecting animals, and not by ENSO-driven variation fruit abundance alone. may have the potential to predict liana infestation as a percentage of canopy cover on a continuous scale.

These results suggest that natural disturbance such as tree fall may be more frequent in the old-growth primary forest leading to increased liana recruitment and infestation. Furthermore, preliminary findings suggest that airborne hyperspectral imagery can provide THURSDAY 14:15 THURSDAY a promising tool to identify liana infestation over large regions in tropical wet rainforests. 14:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 252 253

S23-O01 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES DOES DIVERSITY REALLY MATTER FOR THE ACCUMULATION SESSION 23 OF ABOVE-GROUND BIOMASS IN DRY FOREST REHABILITATION? REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABLE Fatima C.M. Piña-Rodrigues1, Harvey Marin Paladines1, José Mauro Santana da Silva1, Ivonir USE Piotrowski1

Chairs: Sven GÜNTER, Rizza Karen VERIDIANO, Nikolay AGUIRRE 1Universidade Federal de São Carlos-CCTS- Environmental Science Department, Sorocaba-SP, BR, Contact: [email protected] [email protected]

How can the potential and biodiversity of tropical forest landscapes under high human The restoration of degraded areas aims to restore biodiversity and the pressure be rehabilitated? This is what the session aims to address and discuss. natural processes of ecosystems. The contribution of above-ground biomass accumulation is one of the most important ecological Over the last decades, there has been an increasing debate on how to link human and processes that generate stability and resilience in restored areas. ecological dimensions when it comes to conserving and managing tropical landscapes. So, to assess how diversity affects the contribution of above-ground Albeit this holistic approach, there are still challenges that have yet to be addressed in biomass accumulation (ABA), we evaluate a restoration in the terms of scaling-up, incorporating specific restoration ecology aspects into landscape dense-functional functional model (DDF) in a Brazilian southeast approaches and finally transforming science-based studies into tangible policies and good dry forest. Species of tree and shrubs are chosen from local forest practices. communities to restore a multilayer structure. After that we selected 142 species based on functional traits and ecological services such as pollinators and dispersers attraction, The interdisciplinary nature and cross-cutting facets of landscape studies provide a input of nutrient and biomass accumulation and nitrogen fixing. suitable platform to address both forest resilience and options for restoration whilst also addressing the social dimensions of sustainable livelihoods. This is essentially what the An equal proportion of intermediate-late successional and pioneer species were mixed and session seeks to provide the conference participants. Session participants are particularly densely planted (3 plants/m²). In five plots (0.423 ha, 0.605 ha, 0.489 ha, 0.432 ha and 0.590 ha) encouraged to submit contributions on the following topics: we sampled 120 subplots (0.5 × 2.0 m) along two years to collect litterfall using a conic (1) State of the art and challenges in terms of analysing or implementing landscape trap (0.35 m2). Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) was used to represent species approaches at various scales. composition calculated from the Jaccard matrix of plots x species to obtain axis 1 scores (2) Restoration and rehabilitation of tropical landscapes. (80 % of variance). Multiple linear regression analyzes were applied to analyze the ABA (3) Linking ecological data with social and socio-economic data to address the (Mg/ha) as dependent variable and the independent variables of species composition- CE interdisciplinary nature of forest landscape management. (NMDS axis 1 scores), richness (R), dominance (Do), equability (J), diversity of Shannon (H’) and density (d) evaluated by the Akaike criterion. The composition and richness of species were the diversity factors that most influenced the contribution of ABA, represented by: ABA = 2.65349 + 0.06798CE + 0.18016R. This issue is relevant in a scenario which the current trend is the use of few species of rapid growth and the reduction of species richness in restoration projects, especially in Brazil. THURSDAY THURSDAY 09:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 254 255

S23-O02 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES S23-O03 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL OF SECONDARY NATURAL FOREST REGENERATION AT MT. KILIMANJARO FOREST FOR LANDSCAPE RESTORATION AT THE ECUADORIAN AMAZON REGION Marion Renner1, Andreas Hemp2, Markus Fischer1,3,4

Paul Eguiguren1,2, Sven Günter1,2 1Institute of Plant Sciences, Bern, CH, [email protected] 2Department of Systematic Botany, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, DE 1Technische Universität München - Germany, Munich, DE, [email protected] 3Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Bern, CH 2Thünen-Institut, Hamburg, DE 4Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt, DE Tropical forest has more of 50 % of carbon stored in biomass, having a great role in the global carbon cycle, also contains a great Climate change, land use, logging and fire are strongly affecting biodiversity and provides important ecosystem services. Despite tropical forests. However, little is known about woody regeneration this, are heavily threatened by deforestation leading to biodiversity for different land cover types and tropical climates. We investigated loss and ecosystems services (carbon). Large areas of forests have the regeneration of woody species in six natural and seven been converted to other land uses (pastures, crops). In many cases anthropogenic disturbed habitat types along the 3.5 km elevational agricultural land is abandoned after few years of its conversion; gradient of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We recorded all woody regeneration therefore, natural succession processes take place. Secondary stems between 25 and 130 cm tall. forests as result from natural succession are frequently considered to be a promising tool for restoration. In Ecuador it is estimated that almost 67000 ha/year had been regenerated We found woody regeneration along the full elevation gradient with a hump shape between 2000 - 2008, 19800 ha/year were localized in the lowland amazon ecosystems. distribution peaking at mid elevation, where rainfall and overall woody biomass are These areas are mainly the result of abandoned pastures and chakras (traditional highest. The taxonomic diversity was decreasing with elevation. Both suggest that climate agroforestry systems) on private or communal lands. warming has not yet shifted the overall distribution of woody species in natural habitats. The woody regeneration layer in the savanna bears much more species than the higher This study aims to analyze the carbon sequestration potential and carbon stocks of these canopy layers, however the communities are strongly differing. This may indicate a lack secondary forests and compare them with carbon stocks in primary forest. We used a of safe sites for early establishment. In contrast, the forest zone showed a lower species stratified random sampling design, 37 plots of 500 - 1600 m2 were established in secondary number in the sapling than in the higher canopy layers and a lower, however still 30 % forests of different ages of succession (12 - 30 years). Additionally, 24 plots of 1600 m2 species turnover, suggesting sporadic recruitment or recruitment lacks of species. Only were allocated in well preserved primary forest. Analysis of variance using general mixed long term observations could reveal clear answers. models and linear regression were conducted. Our results show that secondary forest between 12 and 30 years can store around 4 Mg.ha-1.yr-1. The carbon stock of secondary Agricultural land use at lower elevation, namely maize fields, grasslands and coffee forests reached in average around 70 Mg.ha-1 representing almost 59 % of primary forests. plantations, reduced the number and diversity of stems dramatically. Only home gardens Our results suggest that sequestration potential of secondary forests can be a promising showed a diverse sapling community, suggesting that the traditional use and the proximity tool for landscape restoration in addition to strategies focusing on avoided deforestation to the forest prevented a lack of propagules and soil destruction. Plots with former and conservation of primary forests. Also could serve as inputs for the implementation disturbance in form of fire and logging showed an increased recruitment of stems and of actions related to the mitigation of climate change and moreover in biodiversity species than natural plots, a proof of still ongoing succession after time spans of 30-40 conservation. years. As we also did find saplings of species typical for natural forests in the disturbed forests, we conclude that these forests still bear the chance to return to the old growth state through natural regeneration. THURSDAY 09:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 10:00 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 256 257

S23-O04 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES S23-O05 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES QUANTIFYING NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY, POTENTIAL CAN INTERCROPPING WITH THE WORLD’S THREE MAJOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND FOREST CONSERVATION IN AN BEVERAGE PLANTS HELP IMPROVE THE WATER USE OF AFRICAN FOREST-COCOA LANDSCAPE RUBBER TREES?

Alexandra Morel1,2, Michael Adu Sasu3, Mark Hirons1, Ken Norris2, Yadvinder Malhi1 Junen Wu1, Wenjie Liu1, Chunfeng Chen1

1University of Oxford, School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford, UK, 1Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, CN, [email protected] [email protected] 2Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK 3Nature Conservation Research Centre, Accra, GH The dramatic expansion of rubber plantations in mainland South-East Asia and South-West China has caused many eco- As part of a three-year Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation environmental problems, especially negative hydrological (ESPA) funded project looking at the ecological limits to consequences. These problems have gradually worsened and poverty alleviation, we have been collecting continuous in situ pose formidable threats to rubber agriculture, especially in the measurements of net primary productivity (NPP) in cocoa farms light of increasingly frequent extreme weather events. Although and contiguous protected and logged forest. The plots were located rubber-based agroforestry systems are regarded as the best across landscape (distance from forest) and management (density solution for improving the sustainability of rubber agriculture and of shade trees maintained) gradients, to assess the trade-offs environmental conservation, plant water use and related interspecific interactions have between crop yields and ecologically sensitive farm management. rarely been examined in such systems. In addition, we collected household demographic, farm management and standard of living data to assess the importance of agroforestry incomes for alleviating community-level We primarily used stable isotope (δD, δ18O and δ13C) methods to test whether intercropping poverty measures. could improve the water use of rubber trees in three types of promising agroforestry systems (i.e. rubber with tea, coffee and cocoa) in Xishuangbanna, China. We found We found that NPP levels varied widely across our plots and, in some cases, cocoa plots that the rubber tree is a drought-avoidance plant with strong plasticity with respect to were as productive as neighbouring protected forest. Crop yields were not related to NPP water uptake. This characteristic is reflected by its ability to cope with serious seasonal levels, suggesting farmers could be managing their cocoa farms to maximise cocoa yields, drought, allowing it to avoid interspecific competition for water. The rubber trees showed carbon sequestration and habitat for biodiversity. We developed an ecological production wasteful water behavior unless they were intercropped with tea or coffee. However, these that found there was not a direct influence of shade management on cocoa yields; however, intercropped species exhibited drought-tolerance strategies and maintained lower water farms located closer to an intact forest did derive a yield benefit. This suggests policy options use efficiencies to strengthen their competitive capacity for surface soil water. The stable such as incentives for maintaining shade and forest conservation could accomplish both δ13C values of the intercrop leaves indicated that all the agroforestry systems have stable positive income effects and biodiversity conservation outcomes in this landscape. internal microclimatic environments or higher resistance.

This study suggests that interspecific competition for water can enhance the water use efficiency of drought-avoidance plants (i.e. rubber trees) and lead to complementarity between the root distributions of plants in rubber agroforestry systems (i.e. rubber with tea, coffee and cocoa). All agroforestry systems have higher resistance, but tea was the most suitable intercrop in terms of water use because the interspecific competition for water was moderate and the agroforestry system retained much more soil water and improved the water use efficiency of the rubber tree. Considering the root characteristics of the tea THURSDAY 10:15 THURSDAY trees, we suggest that the crops selected for intercropping with rubber trees should have a 11:00 THURSDAY relatively fixed water use pattern, short lateral roots and a moderate amount of fine roots that overlap with the roots of the rubber trees in the shallow soil layer.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 258 259

S23-O06 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES S23-O07 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES IMPACTS OF OIL PALM PLANTATION AND RIPARIAN BUFFER ECOSYSTEM SERVICES FROM LARGE-SCALE RESTORATION QUALITY ON STREAM LITTER DECOMPOSITION AND BACTERIAL COLONIZATION IN BORNEO Catarina Jakovac1, Andre B. Junqueira1, Bernardo Strassburg1

Darshanaa Chellaiah1 1International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, BR, [email protected]

1Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, MY, [email protected] International agreements have set goals for restoring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2020 globally. Southeast Asia is undergoing extensive conversion of tropical Countries signing such agreements have set specific goals and are forests into exotic monoculture plantations, particularly oil developing law instruments for achieving them. In this study we ask palm (Elaeis guineensis) (OP). This undoubtedly alters aquatic what would be the contribution in terms of ecosystem services of productivity as headwater streams are heavily dependent on inputs large scale restoration if the world achieve such goals? of riparian leaf litter to provide energy and nutrients to aquatic food webs. To reduce plantation impacts, the retention of riparian buffer We use Brazil as a model to quantify the contribution of landscape zones along stream and river banks are widely advocated as an restoration to carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation at multiple scales. environmental management tool. The Brazilian environmental law requires around 19.5 million hectares to be restored in

private lands. If all that area is restored with native vegetation, 8,670,820 Gg of CO2 will be In this study, we compared the efficacy of commonly used riparian buffer types inOP sequestered from the atmosphere into above and belowground biomass. The rainforests plantations to mitigate impacts on litter decomposition rates and associated bacterial of the Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes and the savannas of the Cerrado make together assemblages quantified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Our riparian types follow a 90 % of the area to be restored and 97 % of carbon sequestration. Belowground biomass disturbance gradient: (1) forested reference sites (NF); (2) OP with ~20 m buffer of native contributes with 23 % of the carbon sequestered. According to the recovery rates of vegetation along both banks (OPF); (3) OP planted to stream edge with no chemical native vegetation estimated for the Neotropics, such maximum carbon stocks would be

application within ~20 m of stream edge on both banks (OPOP); (4) OP planted to stream achieved within 60 years. Therefore, around 144,514 Gg of CO2 would be sequestered per edge with chemical application (OPNB). The litterbag experiment was conducted using two year. This amount represents 7 % of the mean annual emissions in Brazil (mean annual

leaf types of contrasting quality, native reference Macaranga tanarius and exotic OP leaves. emission of Brazil is 1,984,485 Gg CO2eq) and 20 % if zero deforestation is attained. Brazil has committed, in the Paris Agreement, to reduce its emissions in 37 % by 2025. Therefore, We found that both leaf species responded differently to changes in riparian quality. forest restoration along with zero deforestation is important climate mitigation pathways Macaranga litter was more susceptible to increases in nutrients and stream temperatures to be followed. Our analyses indicate that belowground biomass plays an important role in in OP streams with increased bacterial diversity and richness as well as decomposition carbon sequestration, especially in the savanna biomes, and should be taken into account. rates. However, decomposition of OP leaves only slowed in OPOP streams, where we also found significantly different bacterial composition compared to all other riparian types. We propose that long term disturbances at these sites altered the sets of functional interactions of bacterial communities with possible implications on litter processing rates. Overall, our results show the complex interactions between responses of litter processing rates and bacterial decomposer assemblages to litter and riparian quality in oil palm streams in Borneo. Findings from this study provide support for the use of riparian buffers with emphasis on high tree diversity to effectively mitigate adverse OP plantation impacts on tropical stream functioning. THURSDAY 11:15 THURSDAY Merian Award Applicant 11:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 260 261

S23-O08 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES RESTORING RAINFOREST IN MADAGASCAR: ARE WE PLANTING ENOUGH TREES FOR PEOPLE AND LEMURS?

Maholy Ravaloharimanitra1, Lucien Randrianarimanana1,2,3

1The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar, Antananarivo, MG, [email protected] 2GERP (Groupe des Etudes et Recherches sur les Primates de Madagascar), Antananarivo, MG 3University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, MG

Rainforest restoration is vital for reversing current trends of deforestation and for maintaining remaining habitat for Madagascar’s unique wildlife, including its >100 emblematic lemur species (90 % of which are threatened by extinction). We have therefore introduced reforestation and ecological restoration programs as a conservation tool to be implemented by local communities managing various lemur-rich rainforest sites in eastern Madagascar under government-backed management transfer schemes. In order to overcome initial scepticism of the need rainforest restoration, we have integrated community members in assessing the impact of current forest use on resource availability and ecological services.

We used spatial analyses to map forest evolution and correlate it with human demographics in order to run simulations of potential future scenarios. In order to reach a high level of accuracy, we have collected data on the number of cut trees and the amount of other forest products consumed per year. Based on these findings, we calculated the expected number of trees to be planted each year in order to keep the rainforest and its ecological services from shrinking.

As a result, motivation among the local community to engage in rainforest restoration and tree planting has considerably increased, which has helped us to set up a comprehensive rainforest restoration program aiming at both maintaining the local community’s resource base and securing crucial habitat for endangered lemurs. THURSDAY 11:45 THURSDAY

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S24-O01 – RESILIENT RURAL LANDSCAPE FOR RIO DE JANEIRO AN INTRODUCTION TO INTECRAL (INTEGRATED ECO SESSION 24 TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES FOR A SUSTAINABLE RURAL RIO DE JANEIRO) PROJECT TOWARDS A RESILIENT RURAL LANDSCAPE IN THE ATLANTIC FOREST OF RIO DE JANEIRO: EXPERIENCES FROM Claudia Raedig1, Udo Nehren1 INTECRAL PROJECT 1TH Köln, Cologne, DE, [email protected] Chairs: Claudia RAEDIG, Udo NEHREN Contact: [email protected] The BMBF-(German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) funded research project INTECRAL (2013 until 2017) aimed at finding integrative solutions for more sustainable Since the days of the European colonization, within a period of about 500 years, today`s development of the rural region of Rio de Janeiro (RJ). Before project start, research state of Rio de Janeiro has been transformed from a sparsely populated forested area to demands were aligned with the World Bank-funded ‘Program Rio Rural’ (PRR) at the State an economic and cultural hub of Brazil and the whole continent of South America. This Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock. PRR is a cooperation of different, mostly RJ-based process is characterized by technological progress, economic development and population stakeholders, working for a more resilient rural landscape in RJ state with a focus on growth, and at the same time by overexploitation of natural resources, land and ecosystem supporting family farmers. Research demands were oriented towards management options degradation, uncontrolled urban sprawl, and increasing social disparities. Today, the rural that bring together agricultural production and biodiversity conservation and consider landscape of Rio de Janeiro state is dominated by an agricultural and pastoral matrix, Brazil’s legal framework for environmental protection. with forest fragments occurring mainly in steep areas or in areas otherwise difficult to access. Forest fragmentation is accompanied by habitat and biodiversity loss as well as Solutions on one hand allow the cultivation of crops which due to legal restrictions soil degradation and erosion. could not possibly be pursued in an economically successful way in the future, like sugarcane cultivation at the family farm level. On the other hand, solutions are addressing For such lands, extreme weather events as the severe drought events in the northeast of the biodiversity conservation, e.g. measures which maintain and connect areas with near- state (2014-2016) as well as floods and mudslides in response to heavy precipitation events natural vegetation in an agricultural matrix. One important aspect often neglected due to in the mountainous south (2011, the municipality of Teresopólis being particularly affected) standards used for decades for plantation of tree species globally is the use of native species. are increasingly devastating. Regional climate scenarios indicate that extreme weather RJ state belongs to the Mata Atlântica biome which is known for its exceptional richness events will increase in the future, triggering drought events in the northeast as well as of endemic species and suggests the use of endemic species for ecological restoration raising disaster risk in the south of the state. As a consequence, the rural producers, mainly and rehabilitation measures. One famous species, the national tree of Brazil Paubrasilia family farmers, will be adversely affected. According to more pessimistic predictions, even echinata Lam., a CITES-listed species, is further scrutinized for potentials and constraints food and water supply for the metropole region of Rio de Janeiro might be at risk. for a sustainable cultivation strategy. Most relevant solutions provided by INTECRAL project will be summarized in the book ‘Strategies and tools for a sustainable rural Rio de Janeiro’ In light of this setting, the BMBF-funded German-Brazilian research project INTECRAL which will be published in 2018 in the Springer series on Environmental Management. (Integrated eco technologies and services for a sustainable rural Rio de Janeiro, 2013-2017) with the collaboration of the World Bank-funded sustainable development programme ‘Rio Rural’ seeks to explore solutions for a more resilient rural landscape in Rio de Janeiro state. Nested in the complex legal environmental framework of Brazil, integrated strategies, concepts and tools were developed to contribute to the rural region’s sustainable development, maintaining the family farm dominated rural matrix as well as maintaining ecosystem functions and associated services of the forest fragments. In the

THURSDAY session, different measures developed within INTECRAL project will be presented, which

contribute to a resilient rural landscape, such as corridor strategies for private protected 13:30 THURSDAY areas, restoration measures with endemic plant species, potential use and conservation options for a threatened tree species, or eco-friendly and affordable harvesting techniques.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 264 265

S24-O02 – RESILIENT RURAL LANDSCAPE FOR RIO DE JANEIRO S24-O03 – RESILIENT RURAL LANDSCAPE FOR RIO DE JANEIRO AGROECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT IN RIO DE JANEIRO SAVING SMALL SCALE SUGARCANE FARMERS IN THE (BRAZIL): RECONCILING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO: A DEVELOPMENT STUDY OF A BIRD CONSERVATION HARVESTING TECHNOLOGY

Augusto Piratelli1, Fatima Piña-Rodrigues1, Claudia Raedig2 Carl-Friedrich Gaese1

1Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientais, Sorocaba, BR, 1TH Köln, ITT, Cologne, DE, [email protected] [email protected] 2University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics Environmental legislation in Brazil takes account of the and Subtropics, Köln, DE conservation. For the environment, the ban of burning of dry leaves before the sugarcane harvest is indisputable. However, for the Recent research has focused on characterizing biodiversity and its family farmers, this ban will cause the relinquishing of sugarcane ecological functions as well as associated ecosystem services (e.g. cultivation, since without pre-burning, the harvesting will be too pollination, seed dispersal, and control of herbivorous arthropods). expensive to maintain their existence. In the state of Rio de Janeiro A more applied angle of this research is the development of pre-burning will end by the year 2024. Whereas solutions for large biodiversity-friendly measures in agricultural practices maintaining companies like the self-propelled harvester technology are available, ecosystem functions and services. there is a great need for harvest technology for small farms, because until now they are mostly dependent on manual harvesting. When family farmers are able to keep their More than half of Brazil’s native vegetation is found on restricted sugarcane production, usually in combination with other agricultural activities, the diverse areas, and farmers are required by law to maintain parts of their lands as “legal reserves” agricultural matrix of Rio de Janeiro can be maintained. In parallel, by implementation of (LRs) and “permanently protected areas” (PPAs). These areas may serve as stepping a more efficient harvesting process, more high-quality material will be available for further stone for animals and plants, by connecting larger patches of native vegetation across processing as well as more material for feeding the energy demand and generate income agroecosystems. However, a recent revision of the Brazilian forest code has considerably for the farmers. Even the sustainable use of sugar cane leaves as a source of energy will reduced LRs and PPAs, also allowing the use of exotic species in half an area for restoration become more important in the coming years. purposes. Without proper regulation, this situation may put at risk the biodiversity, the ecosystem services it plays, and the future of Brazilian agricultural production. Compared to the conventional harvesting technology, entire stalks of sugarcane are harvested avoiding major losses of sugar juice and reducing fermentation. Due to the Birds serve as models for the range of ecosystem services that they consistently perform, gentle defoliation, the stalks can be used for replanting because rhizomes and nodes are and monitoring these species can provide substantial data for a more effective combination not damaged. The device is pulled by a tractor and has low power consumption. Plant tops of agricultural production and biodiversity conservation. We discuss more sustainable and leaf mass fall to the soil after removal and are not mixed with soil particles during the agriculture practices for optimizing both for agricultural production and bird biodiversity harvesting process. In this way, soil particles do not get into the further processing process conservation and, and thus for human well-being. and leaf mass can be used on the other hand for further use.

For this study both economic and structural conditions in Rio de Janeiro were examined including the state of art and the biologic and technical properties of sugarcane. THURSDAY 13:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 14:00 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 266 267

S24-O04 – RESILIENT RURAL LANDSCAPE FOR RIO DE JANEIRO S24-O05 – RESILIENT RURAL LANDSCAPE FOR RIO DE JANEIRO PROMOTING CONNECTIVITY IN RIO DE JANEIRO STATE: BIOENGINEERED REHABILITATION OF DEGRADED LAND CORRIDORS FOR LINKING PRIVATE PROTECTED AREAS USING NATIVE PLANT SPECIES - A CASE STUDY FROM SOUTHEAST BRAZIL Lorena Valeria Guzmán Wolfhard1, Raedig Claudia1 Dietmar Sattler1, Anja Hebner2, Jens Wesenberg3, Jürgen Heinrich1 1TH Köln, Cologne, DE, [email protected] 1Leipzig University, Institute of Geography, Leipzig, DE, [email protected] Brazil has a highly complex environmental legal framework, and in addition to the 2Dr. Födisch Umweltmesstechnik AG, Markranstädt, DE obligatory protection of forest, land owners have the option to create private protected areas 3Senckenberg Museum of Natural History, Görlitz, DE (Reservas Particulares do Patrimônio Natural, RPPNs). Such RPPNs allow maintaining or re-establishing connectivity, by acting as stepping stones and thus counteracting forest In Southeast Brazil, the continuously growing pressure from rural and industrial land fragmentation and associated biodiversity loss. So far, RPPNs are not considered for use is causing progressive land degradation, especially within the unique Atlantic Forest land management planning and their establishment is dependent of the knowledge of dominion of this region. In contrast to considerable experience in afforesting native landowners about the possibility to create RPPNs and their willingness to establish such forests in Brazil, only little information on ecosystem-friendly bioengineering measures protected areas on their lands. for the rehabilitation of degraded areas is available. Furthermore, natural engineering or soil-bioengineering measures using living plant material are still very rare and if applied, Therefore, this study aims to explore possible connectivity paths between established and they mostly use non-native plants from other tropical regions. The use of non-native probable future RPPNs in two municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, one in the comparatively plants for rehabilitation of degraded areas carries several risks, in particular ecological forest-rich Serrana Region, and the other one in the comparatively forest-poor Northwest incompatibility and the potential invasive spread of these plants. Fluminense Region. Connectivity routes among RPPNs were identified by using two methods: the “least cost path” method for finding the “cheapest” paths by assigning The study presented provides a brief overview of the actual state-of-the-art regarding the use different weights to land use features and a second method which ranks the different land of native and non-native plant species in rehabilitation and restoration measures applied use features from areas suitable to non-suitable for linking of RPPNs. The latter method in the Atlantic Forest dominion. Moreover, results from a case study on bioengineered allowed for the use of more recent data of the study area and was supplemented with data rehabilitation of a degraded pasture are presented where native plants were successfully of the willingness of landowners to establish RPPNs on their land (for the Fluminense used. The case study confirmed that bioengineered rehabilitation measures using native Region). Both methods permitted the identification of suitable linkages between RPPNs species are an additional and valid tool for small scale land restoration. Such measures and priority areas for future RPPN establishment, and can be considered as starting point can even help supporting local biodiversity conservation without compromising farmland for future connectivity strategies incorporating a more systematic establishment of RPPNs activities within the dominion of the Atlantic Forest. to counter fragmentation and biodiversity loss. THURSDAY 14:15 THURSDAY THURSDAY 14:30 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 268 269

S24-O06 – RESILIENT RURAL LANDSCAPE FOR RIO DE JANEIRO POTENTIALS FOR THE CONSERVATION AND THE ECONOMIC USE OF THE THREATENED BRAZILIAN NATIONAL TREE PAUBRASILIA ECHINATA LAM. WITHIN RIO DE JANEIRO STATE

Silke Lichtenberg1, Udo Nehren1, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald2, Juan Antonio Reyes-Agüero3

1Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, Technische Hochschule Köln, Köln, DE, [email protected] 2Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Technológica, San Luis Potosí, MX 3Instituto de Investigación de Zonas Desérticas, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, MX

Several native and endemic tree species of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, especially precious wood species, are highly endangered due to the historical and current overexploitation. In consequence, the legal extraction of wood from wild forests is completely prohibited and legal extraction from plantations of native tree species is strictly regulated.

Brazil’s national tree Paubrasilia echinata Lam. - in Portuguese pau- brasil – is one of them. Its precious wood is used worldwide as raw material for high quality violin bows. Alternative wood species are rarely accepted by professional musicians, bow makers and violin makers, even though some of them have been proven to meet the high technical standards of wood characteristics which pau-brasil guarantees for premium violin bows. Therefore, it was looked for alternative solutions to cover future wood demand and commercial pau-brasil plantations have been established and supported by the affected stakeholders.

There exist several plantation types with pau-brasil, such as monospecific and mixed tree plantations and agroforestry systems, yet there is poor understanding concerning their long-term productivity, wood quality, and economic return. For the sustainability of theses plantations and to guarantee continuous supply of planted pau-brasil for future wood markets, it is essential to identify potential ecological, economic, legal, and social assets and constraints including the potential contribution of wood supply by pau-brasil plantations. The presented data originate from a field study in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest with detailed inventories of nine plantations in Northeast and Southeast Brazil. Based on these data the conservation and utilization potential of pau-brasil for the state of Rio de Janeiro, the southernmost range of the species was discussed respective to the future pau-

THURSDAY 14:45 THURSDAY brasil wood markets.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 270 271

S25-O01 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS COMPLETE CARBON BUDGET IN SELECTIVELY LOGGED AND SESSION 25 OLD-GROWTH TROPICAL FORESTS IN BORNEO

HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS? IMPACTS OF Terhi Riutta1,2, Yadvinder Malhi1, Lip Khoon Kho1,3, Toby R Marthews1,4, Walter Huaraca Huasco1, FOREST DEGRADATION AND BIODIVERSITY LOSS ON Sylvester Tan5, Edgar Turner6, Glen Reynolds7, Sabine Both8, David FRP Burslem8, Yit Arn Teh8, TROPICAL ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING Stuart J Davies5, Noreen Majalap9, Charles S Vairappan10, Robert M Ewers2

Chair: Yit Arn TEH 1University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, [email protected] Contact: [email protected] 2Imperial College London, Ascot, UK 3Tropical Peat Research Institute, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Kajang, MY Human disturbance in the tropics is leading to massive changes in biodiversity and 4Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK major shifts in ecosystem biogeochemistry, altering key processes such as net primary 5Centre for Tropical Forest Science, Washington, US productivity, ecosystem respiration, biogeochemical cycling and fluxes of reactive trace 6University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK gases. Yet despite studies of land-use change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem 7The Royal Society South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, Lahad Datu, MY biogeochemistry of tropical forests, the links between these impacts have received less 8University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK attention, challenging our ability to accurately model and predict the response of tropical 9Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan, MY ecosystems to current and future environmental forcings. 10Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, MY

In this session, we will explore what is known about the linkages between forest degradation The area of human-modified tropical forests exceeds that of and biodiversity loss, and investigate the consequences of these concomitant phenomena undisturbed forests, making them an important component of the for ecosystem processes and trace gas exchange. We will identify key knowledge gaps global carbon budget. However, carbon dynamics in human-modified and discuss means of addressing them, including inter-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary tropical forests remain poorly quantified. Here, we present the first modes of problem solving. Contributions are particular welcome from those investigating estimates for the complete carbon budget of five selectively logged plant-soil interactions; biosphere-atmosphere exchange; traits-based approaches to forest plots and six old-growth forest plots in Malaysian Borneo. studying ecological processes; remote sensing approaches to quantifying biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; the role of fauna in modulating biogeochemical cycles and multi- We measured net primary productivity (NPP) of canopy, woody and trophic processes. fine root components, and autotrophic (Ra, comprising leaf, stem and root) and heterotrophic (Rh, comprising deadwood, litter, mycorrhiza and soil organic matter) respiration. The ecosystem carbon balance was estimated as the difference between NPP and Rh and gross primary productivity (GPP) was estimated as the sum of NPP and Ra. The methods follow the GEM plot protocols.

GPP and Ra were higher in logged forest than in old-growth forest, while NPP and carbon use efficiency (NPP/GPP) in both forest types was similar. Rh was higher in logged forest. The old-growth plots were a small carbon sink (given the uncertainties, not different from zero), while the logged plots were a small source of carbon to the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration via the high growth rate of trees in logged forest did not offset the carbon emissions from the excess organic matter and higher mortality, which were legacies of

THURSDAY the logging. Given that the majority of tropical forest biome has experienced some degree

of logging, accurate assessments of logged forest carbon sink and source strengths are 09:30 THURSDAY crucial for estimating the carbon balance of the tropical biome.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 272 273

S25-O02 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS S25-O03 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS HUMAN MODIFICATION ALTERS THE GREENHOUSE WHERE CAN WE STORE MOST CARBON? USING AN 80-YEAR GAS BALANCE OF MANAGED TROPICAL PEATLANDS IN CHRONOSEQUENCE TO IDENTIFY DRIVERS OF CARBON NORTHERN BORNEO UPTAKE IN SECONDARY FORESTS

Yit Arn Teh1, Frances Manning1, Norliyana Zin Zawawi1, Sarah Cook2, Timothy Hill3, Lip Khoon Isabel Jones1, Lynsey Bunnefeld1, Pattison Zarah1, Daisy Dent1,2 Kho4 1University of Stirling, Stirling, UK, [email protected] 1University of Aberdeen, School of Biological Sciences, Aberdeen, UK, [email protected] 2Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, PA 2University of Leicester, Department of Geography, Leicester, UK 3University of Exeter, Department of Geography, Exeter, UK Secondary tropical forests regenerating after land abandonment 4Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Tropical Peat Research Institute, Kuala Lumpur, MY can rapidly uptake carbon into above-ground biomass, presenting

a cost-effective tool for lowering atmospheric CO2. However, carbon Human modification of tropical peatlands, especially in Southeast uptake and storage in secondary forests can vary across space Asia, has the potential to alter the source-sink potential of tropical and time. Understanding the factors that drive differential rates peatlands for C and the composition of greenhouse gas emissions. of carbon uptake across regenerating forests, such as soil nutrient Given the large scale of tropical peatland conversion in Southeast status, is essential for building more accurate predictive models Asia and the key role that these types of ecosystems play in local of carbon uptake and storage capacity across secondary forests communities’ livelihoods, it is imperative that we find means of globally. improving the sustainability of these managed peatland landscapes Using a chronosequence of secondary forests in Panama, ranging from 40-120 years, we to mitigate climate change and environmental pollution. use structural equation modelling to disentangle the relationships between carbon pools

Here we report ecosystem fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes from managed tropical peatlands in above-ground biomass, deadwood, below-ground biomass and soil, and quantify the in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo that are currently under oil palm production. Trace gas flux relative importance of site characteristics such as forest age, soil nutrients, and land-use was quantified using a mixture of top-down methods (i.e. eddy co-variance) and bottom-up history in determining levels of carbon storage. approaches (i.e. intensive C plots, flux chamber measurements, quantification of aqueous transfers). We also explored the potential for mitigation of greenhouse gas fluxes through altered management practices, focusing on fertilizer and water table management. Top-down and bottom-up methods indicated that these ecosystems were net atmospheric -1 -1 sources of CO2 emitting approximately 3 ± 4 Mg C.ha .yr . Water table position played a key role in modulating rates of C loss, with reduced C emissions at higher water table positions.

These ecosystems were also net atmospheric sources of CH4 and N2O. Net CH4 flux was approximately 37 to 62 ± 88 kg C.ha-1.yr-1 and showed pronounced spatial heterogeneity.

Flooded microforms displayed elevated rates CH4 efflux, and played a disproportionately

large role in regulating ecosystem CH4 balance. Net N2O flux was more difficult to estimate because of lack of agreement between our top-down and bottom-up measurement methods. Eddy covariance measurements suggest a net annual flux of 11 kg N.ha-1.yr-1, while chamber-based flux measurements suggest a net annual flux of 591 ± 843 kg N.ha-1.yr-1 to 4782 ± 8522 kg N.ha-1.yr-1. This discrepancy between top-down and bottom-up methods is

due in part because of the very high temporal heterogeneity in N2O flux, driven by periodic fertilizer application. These data suggest that altered water table and surface management THURSDAY 09:45 THURSDAY practices are the best means of controlling C trace gas fluxes, while advances in fertilizer 10:00 THURSDAY

management could play a critical role in mitigating N2O flux.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 274 275

S25-O04 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS S25-O05 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS EFFECTS OF SELECTIVE LOGGING ON A PRODUCTION LAND-USE CHANGE AFFECTS PLANT TRAIT DISTRIBUTION FOREST’S SUCCESSION OF THE AMAZON: A SIMULATION IN A SEASONALLY DRY TROPICAL FOREST EXPERIMENT Julia Sfair1,2, Francesco de Bello2, Marcelo Tabarelli1 Ulrike Hiltner1,2, Achim Bräuning2, Andreas Huth1,3,4, Rico Fischer1 1Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, BR, [email protected] 1Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Dept. Ecological Modelling, Leipzig, DE, 2University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, CZ [email protected] 2Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Inst. of Geography, Erlangen, DE The intensity of land-use, associated to climate change and soil nutrient depletion, are 3University of Osnabruck, Inst. of Environmental System Research, Osnabruck, DE affecting the biota of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (SDTF) in irreversible ways. Although 4German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research iDiv, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, DE there are plenty evidences that human disturbance, water availability and soil nutrients can affect plant diversity, little is known about how these environmental conditions can There is a growing concern about the extent to which tropical affect functional composition and diversity in SDTF. production forests in the Amazon are managed sustainably. The Amazon rainforest is an essential carbon reservoir, with a high In a Brazilian SDTF (Caatinga), we investigated how chronic anthropogenic disturbance degree of biodiversity worth protecting. It provides useful resources, (CAD, which included wood extraction and livestock pressure) along a rainfall and soil such as timber, which has contributed to the loss of about 20 % gradients affects the local (alpha) and between areas (beta) functional diversities and the of the forest area in the last five decades. The implementation of variation of traits, considering interspecific and intraspecific variability. economically and ecologically sustainable silviculture strategies plays a central role in preventing further loss of resilience and Areas with low rainfall not only have low functional diversity, but also have different forest degradation. However, in order to identify effective silviculture strategies, methods functional composition in comparison to wetter areas. On the other hand, CAD has higher to support the decision-making process are urgently needed. One opportunity to estimate impact on trait distribution: whereas wood extraction promoted species that avoid water future stand structures is provided by dynamic forest growth models able to extrapolate loss, livestock affected more edible plant individuals, with softer tissues. When we analyze field data in the long-term under different scenarios of future environments and logging the trait variation of the most abundant and frequent species (i.e., successful species), the intensity. response to each environmental variable is idiosyncratic, i.e., whereas some species are affected by wood extraction, others are more influenced by livestock pressure or rainfall. We applied the dynamic, individual-based forest model FORMIND, with management In fact, these species have different strategies to cope with water stress, nutrient variation module, to a humid tropical lowland forest of the northeastern Amazon in French Guiana. and CAD, i.e., the most successful species do not have a set of traits that characterize We developed a simulation experiment, for undisturbed forest growth and selective them. In synthesis, CAD, rainfall and soil fertility can affect different aspects of functional logging options, which helps us to better understand long-term effects of different composition and diversity, with potential implications for the ecosystem functioning of disturbance intensities on the forest’s aboveground biomass production and tree species SDTF under increasing levels of disturbance, climate change and soil nutrient depletion. composition. For the first time, we were able to validate the short-term accuracy ofour simulation experiment with the help of multi-year, large-scale forest inventory data, in which secondary succession and undisturbed growth conditions have been recorded over the last 32 years. Our simulation results show the model accurately mirrors aggregated forest attributes, such as aboveground biomass and basal area, of both undisturbed growth and selective logging. We demonstrate that silviculture strategies with low disturbance have advantages over conventional ones in context of forest resilience. Due to a higher disturbance of forest residues, current silviculture burdens future biomass production, tree THURSDAY 10:15 THURSDAY species composition, and delays recovery. 11:00 THURSDAY

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 276 277

S25-O06 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS S25-O07 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS THE IMPACTS OF LOGGING ON SOIL MICROBIAL DIVERSITY DISTURBANCE-INDUCED MICROCLIMATE CHANGE DRIVES IN TROPICAL FORESTS OF BORNEO COMMUNITY SHIFTS IN RAINFOREST ANTS AFTER LOGGING AND CONVERSION TO OIL PALM Dafydd Elias1,2, Nick Ostle2, Niall McNamara1, Rob Griffiths3, Sam Robinson2, Sabine Both4, David Burslem4, Terhi Riutta5, Yadvinder Malhi5 Michael Boyle1,2, Tom Bishop1,3, Sarah Luke4,5, Stephen Hardwick1, R. Isolde Lane-Shaw1, Marion Pfeifer1,6, Michiel van Breugel7,8, Theodore Evans9,2, Clare Wilkinson1, Arthur Chung10, Robert 1Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster, Ewers1 UK, [email protected] 2Plant and Soil Ecology Laboratory, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, 1Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK, [email protected] UK 2Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SG, 3Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, UK 3Centre for Invasion Biology, Dept of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, ZA 4Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK 4School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK 5Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, South Parks Road, 5Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Oxford, UK 6School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK 7Forest GEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama, PA With land use change such as logging predicted to have dire 8Yale-NUS College, Singapore, SG consequences for above ground tropical biodiversity, it is crucial 9School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, AU to understand whether these impacts may alter belowground 10Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Sepilok, MY biotic communities. Soil microbial communities mediate multiple ecosystem services such as net primary production, litter Logging and habitat conversion create hotter microclimate decomposition, nutrient cycling and biosphere-atmosphere trace conditions in tropical landscapes, which represents a powerful form gas exchange. Alteration of the belowground soil microbiome may of localised anthropogenic climate change. These novel conditions drive changes to these ecosystem processes as recent studies have are thought to directly affect tropical organisms, particularly shown a positive link between below ground diversity and ecosystem function. ectotherms, although empirical evidence is lacking. Here we investigated how interactions between environmental temperature We sampled 4 unlogged and 4 logged established tropical forest plots across Sabah, and the physiological traits of species affected communities of ants, Malaysia to measure soil properties and characterise microbial communities. We used next a key functional group in tropical ecosystems. generation Illumina amplicon sequencing to identify soil bacteria and fungi in order to test We obtained 3 years of microclimate recordings from 244 sampling points across a the hypotheses that soil microbial diversity would be reduced by logging. gradient of forest disturbance in Malaysian Borneo, and quantified the ant community (4,620 individuals) at a subset of 59 of these sampling points. Live ants were collected from Results show that whilst bacterial diversity was driven predominantly by soil pH rather the same areas (2,359 individuals), and subjected to laboratory warming experiments to than logging history, species richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi was significantly reduced determine thermal tolerances. by logging. We propose that this is due to the selective removal of large individuals from The abundance of ant genera along a gradient of forest disturbance was defined by an the Dipterocarpaceae family which are one of the dominant ectomycorrhizal symbionts in interaction between their thermal tolerance and environmental temperature. In warmer south-east Asian tropical forests. This may have important implications in terms of carbon microhabitats, genera with high thermal tolerance had increased abundance, and those with cycling, nutrient mobilization and transfer of nutrients from soil organic matter to trees. low thermal tolerance had decreased abundance. The genus-level changes in abundance scaled up to generate community-level changes, with a 1°C increase in maximum daily This work forms part of the wider NERC Human Modified Tropical Forest Programme temperature corresponding to an increase of 0.39°C in community-weighted mean thermal which aims to understand the role of biodiversity in major biogeochemical cycles of tolerance. THURSDAY 11:15 THURSDAY tropical forests. Our results empirically demonstrate that disturbance-induced microclimate change 11:30 THURSDAY directly influences the abundance of key organisms in tropical landscapes. Forests around the world are being rapidly disturbed and fragmented, leaving novel landscapes characterised by altered microclimates. Our findings reinforce the need to develop a mechanistic understanding of the impacts of microclimate change in human-modified landscapes. Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. 278 279

S25-O08 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS INTER-ANNUAL DYNAMICS AND PERSISTENCE OF SMALL MAMMAL COMMUNITIES IN A SELECTIVELY LOGGED TROPICAL FOREST IN BORNEO

Philip Chapman1, Oliver Wearn2, Terhi Riutta1,3, Chris Carbone2, J. Marcus Rowcliffe2, Henry Bernard4, Robert Ewers1

1Imperial College London, London, UK, [email protected] 2Zoological Society of London, London, UK 3Oxford University, Oxford, UK 4Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, MY

Understanding temporal change and long-term persistence of species and communities is vital if we are to accurately assess the relative values of human-modified habitats for biodiversity. Despite a large literature and emerging consensus demonstrating a high conservation value of selectively logged tropical rainforests, few studies have taken a long-term perspective. We resampled small mammals (≤1 kg) in a heavily logged landscape in Sabah, Borneo between 2011 and 2016 to investigate temporal patterns of species-level changes in population density.

We found that small mammal population density in heavily logged forest was highly variable among years, consistent with patterns previously observed in unlogged forest, and uncovered evidence suggesting that one species is potentially declining towards local extinction. Across nine species, population densities varied almost sevenfold during our six-year study period, highlighting the extremely dynamic nature of small mammal communities in this ecosystem. Strictly terrestrial murid species tended to exhibit strong temporal dynamics, whereas semi-arboreal foraging species such as tree shrews had more stable dynamics. We found no relationships between population density and fruit/seed mass, and therefore no evidence that our patterns represent responses to interannual mast fruiting of the dominant canopy dipterocarp trees. This may be due to the removal of most of the canopy during logging, and hence the dipterocarp seed resource, although it possibly also reflects spatiotemporal limitations of our data. Our results underline the importance of understanding long-term variability in animal communities before developing conservation and management recommendations for human-altered ecosystems. THURSDAY 11:45 THURSDAY

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S26-O01 – IMPACT EVALUATION OF FOREST CERTIFICATION NEED, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO EVALUATE SESSION 26 THE IMPACT OF FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION: THE CASE OF THE FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION: CURRENT CHALLENGES OF IMPACT EVALUATION Marion Karmann1, Franck Trolliet1

Chairs: Marion KARMANN, Franck TROLLIET 1Forest Stewardship Council International, Bonn, DE, [email protected] Contact: [email protected] This talk will start with an overview of the origins and goals of forest management Tropical forests are being threatened by habitat degradation and deforestation worldwide. certification and take the example of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme to These changes, mainly caused by a global increasing demand for land, timber and Non explain into more details the functioning and potential impacts of responsible forest Timber Forest Products, affect the sustainability of biodiversity, a wide array of ecosystem management. As a multi-stakeholders initiative FSC has standards developed to ensure a services associated with it, and the long-term well-being of humans from a local to a balance between environmental, social and economic advantages in forestry operations. global scale. While logging activity is often perceived as a major threat to tropical forest Consequently, FSC does not strive explicitly and exclusively for highest ecological ecosystems, forest management (FM) certification has been developed as a response to requirement. Compliance of forest management with those agreed standards is regularly growing anthropogenic disturbances. evaluated by third party.

FM certification aims at promoting better environmental, social and economic forest In contrast, the evaluation of on-the-ground impacts of forest management certification management practices. Today FM certification is mainstream, supported worldwide by is performed by independent researchers. Although recent findings suggest that FSC major producers and buyers. Certification appear thus as a powerful tool to ensure the long- does ensure environmental benefits, evaluators have different objectives, varying term balance between the maintenance of forests’ ecological functions, the well-being of perspectives on FSC goals, use varying – not necessarily aligned methodologies. Therefore, local human populations and the sustainable exploitation of forest resources. Yet, precisely generalization of the findings on the effects of FSC remains hardly possible. Moreover, evaluating how certification schemes impact those various dimensions is challenging and researchers are often faced with challenges to properly conduct such assessments and still requires efforts from the community of researchers. draw robust conclusions. We will present some of the main difficulties of impact evaluation and discuss alternatives to better understand how assessments can be conducted, from The objective of this session is to get an overview about the most recent research findings, rigorous scientific designs to specific instruments inherent to the FSC system and tools challenges and needs to evaluate ecological impacts of FM certification on tropical forests. that need to be developed. We will finally emphasis that sound impact evaluations are crucial to understand what works and what does not (and for whom), and target avenues for the improvements of certification system. THURSDAY THURSDAY 13:30 THURSDAY

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S26-O02 – IMPACT EVALUATION OF FOREST CERTIFICATION S26-O03 – IMPACT EVALUATION OF FOREST CERTIFICATION CERTIFICATION OF TROPICAL FORESTS: FROM IMPACT A BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT BETWEEN PROTECTED AND ASSESSMENT TO POLITICAL ECONOMY? MANAGED FORESTS IN SOUTHEASTERN CAMEROON

Alain Karsenty1 Davy Fonteyn1, Simon Lhoest1, Marc Dufrêne2, Nicolas Barbier3,4, Fructueux Houngbégnon1, Moses Libalah3, Bonaventure Sonké3, Nicolas Texier3,4, Donatien Zebaze3, Adeline Fayolle1 1CIRAD, Montpellier, FR, [email protected] 1University of Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Research Centre, Central African Forests, Certification has not reduced deforestation in tropical countries. Gembloux, BE, [email protected] However, improving the management of productive forests would 2University of Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, BIOSE & TERRA, Biodiversity and Landscape, indirectly contribute to preventing deforestation through sustainable Gembloux, BE forest-oriented development of a territory. It generates jobs and tax 3Plant Systematic and Ecology Laboratory, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, CA revenues that play their role in public decision-making processes 4AMAP Lab, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier University, Montpellier, FR regarding land use. It is difficult for narrowed impact assessments to grasp this process, which is more a matter of political economy. In Central African forests, selective logging represents the main Impact evaluators and public policies scientists must work jointly to land allocation with 49.2 million of ha (28.7 % of forested areas) get a full picture of the effects of policy instruments. while protected areas represents 45.3 million of ha (26.5 % of forested areas). If managed sustainably, production forests can broaden Various observations suggest that companies investing in certification to gain or maintain conservation strategies outside of protected areas, preventing market share are self-regulating to avoid losing their certificates, and thus comply with access to poachers and hunters, and preserving forests, though laws and regulations. Can FSC certification guarantee greater sustainability than strict harvesting some trees per hectare (generally < 2) at each rotation compliance with the law? Several cases suggest that the letter of a regulation may be (between 20 and 30 years). respected but its spirit betrayed, justifying certification. The rise of legality certifications, In this study, we aimed to assess the biodiversity retained by semi-deciduous forests nevertheless, poses a challenge to the FSC and should lead to rethinking the concept of allocated to protection and production in southeastern Cameroon. We specifically compared sustainability of tropical forest management. the floristic and faunistic diversity of a protected area, a FSC-certified logging concession and surrounding community forests. Certified areas are promoted by governments to demonstrate (their) good forest management. Camera traps and 1-ha forest plots were installed in the Dja Biosphere Reserve (n = 11 Certification has become an institution in the sociological sense of an established social cameras, n = 5 plots), different sites in the Pallisco FSC-certified concession (n = 54 cameras, form. If the positive externalities of certification are considered as collective goods, and n = 25 plots) covering short and long post-logging times and also unlogged forests, and these labels are increasingly used in public policies, it becomes legitimate to supplement three surrounding community forests (n = 11 cameras, n = 6 plots). Plot data were collated market incentives with subsidies for the adoption of certification. Three measures can from three institutions (University of Yaoundé I – ENS), French National Research Institute be foreseen: (1) prioritisation in public procurement, (2) a reduction in forest royalties for for Sustainable Development (IRD) and Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège). certified companies, offset by international transfers to national budgets, (3) a pooling of Though they retained a relatively high tree species richness, specifically for pioneer species, the costs of certification audits through an allocation of certain revenues from the Forestry the community forests were found to be depauperate in animal diversity and showed a Funds. strong shift in animal species composition towards small-sized species (such as the giant pouched rat). Both indicate an already advanced defaunation process. Even if a great part of the animal diversity is retained inside the FSC-certified logging concession, the Dja Reserve holds the richest and most abundant animal communities with the occurrence of threatened species like the giant pangolin or chimpanzees. Finally, the forest structure, more than the composition, seemed to be influenced by the logging activity and showed THURSDAY 13:45 THURSDAY strong heterogeneity within and between managed and protected forests. 14:00 THURSDAY Selective logging done on a sustainable way seems to be a unique chance to combine wood production and biodiversity protection by connecting the current network of protected areas and acting like buffer areas around them as long as the forest access is strictly restricted and controlled.

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S27-O01 – FUTURE SCENARIOS FOR THE CONGO BASIN FUNCTIONAL SHIFTS WITHIN CENTRAL AFRICAN SESSION 27 RAINFORESTS

MULTISCALE FUTURE SCENARIOS FOR THE FORESTS OF Jean François Bastin1, Frederic Mortier2, Maxime Réjou-Méchain3, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury2, THE CONGO BASIN: WHAT WILL HAPPEN, WHY AND HOW Raphael Pélissier3, Claude Garcia5, Nicolas Bayol6, Guillaume Cornu2, Fabrice Benedet2, Jean- Louis Doucet4, Adeline Fayolle4 Chairs: Claude GARCIA, Jean-François BASTIN, Fabien QUETIER Contact: [email protected] 1ETH-Institute of Integrative Biology, Crowther Lab, Zurich, CH, [email protected] 2CIRAD, UPR F&S, Montpellier, FR The future of the forests of the Congo Basin is constrained by two processes: climate 3IRD-AMAP, Montpellier, FR change and land use change. An improved understanding of the drivers and pathways of 4Gembloux Agro Bio-Tech - Université de Liège, Gembloux, BE landscape change and a more realistic depiction of the decision-making processes of the 5ETH-Zurich, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Zurich, CH stakeholders involved would allow managers and land planners to better anticipate the 6FRM, Montpellier, FR ecological, social and economic impacts of human interventions. In this session, we report on the outcomes of the twin projects CoForTips/CoForSet, aimed Understanding the reaction of ecosystems to climate change at developing future scenarios for the forests of the Congo Basin. We identified ecological and anthropogenic pressure is a central question in ecology and transitions between forest types allowing managers to better anticipate the ecological environmental sciences. In the terrestrial tropics, theoretical and impacts of human interventions. We have shown that we can expect forest transitions empirical works suggest that once external disturbances have under the combined effect of climate and land-use change. Unless we change course, the reached a given threshold, forest-savanna systems can switch from future forests of the Congo Basin will be more fragmented, more deciduous and richer in one state to another. Considering the multiplicity of the tropical pioneer light demanding species. We described practices and norms that the women and forest systems, we make the assumption that numerous shifts may men living in the forested landscapes of the Congo Basin develop in response to change, actually occur within the forest itself, without changes in forest which in turn determine landscape trajectories. We documented that demography and cover but with risks of critical modifications in forest functioning. food-crop agriculture do not drive rapid changes of the system. Agricultural expansion and logging triggered by industries and infrastructure development, particularly roads To test this hypothesis, we used a finite mixture of regression models aiming at and mining, are the main drivers of sudden shifts. We have measured and documented simultaneously predicting and grouping forest functional profiles at the stand level with the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies forced by external drivers of respect to anthropogenic pressure, climate and soil. The model is built on a dataset of more change. than 140 000 plots of 0.5-ha each gathered from Central African forest companies. Forest We merged expert, local and scientific knowledge to develop models linking social, stand functions are analyzed through two key functional traits: the successional status - economic and environmental drivers. These models facilitate improved understanding of pioneer vs. non-pioneer trees- and the leaf phenology - evergreen vs. deciduous trees. the social and ecological system of the forests of the Congo Basin, highlighting drivers behind system change, and we developed theoretical models that highlight underlying Our model captured a significant part of variation in the functional composition over patterns of deforestation linked to small-scale agriculture. We developed precise and the study area and revealed how anthropogenic pressure, climate change, soils or their realistic simulations predicting changes in land cover for the next 50 years. We developed combination lead to profound modifications within the forests. In particular, we showed process-based role-playing games that allow stakeholders to grasp the complexity of the that shifts from evergreen to deciduous stands can be mediated both by anthropogenic system and devise new strategies and new forms of collective action. We have addressed pressure or climate change. the what, the how and the why of forest landscape change in the Congo Basin. These outputs allow stakeholders and decision makers to develop their own scenarios of land use This work shows for the first time how external forcing may jointly lead to multiple shifts

THURSDAY and biodiversity. Our methodologies, and in particular the role-playing games, can be used in the functional composition of tropical forests. Our model allowed to predict directional

at the village level to develop social capital and trust, while at the regional level they act changes in forest functioning according to anthropogenic pressure and climate thus 14:15 THURSDAY as negotiation tools, helping shape the future governance of the forests of the region. They opening new perspectives in theoretical ecology, global vegetation modelling and in the will help stakeholders make more informed decisions today and better anticipate future understanding of the vulnerability of tropical forests to global changes. outcomes.

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S27-O02 – FUTURE SCENARIOS FOR THE CONGO BASIN S27-O03 – FUTURE SCENARIOS FOR THE CONGO BASIN PLAYING THE GAME: DEFINING INDICATORS FOR INTACT CRITICAL CYCLES OF RESILIENCE FOR LAND USE IN THE FOREST LANDSCAPES IN THE CONGO BASIN CONGO BASIN

Claude Garcia1,2, Juliette Chamagne1, Helene Dessard1, Céline Dillmann2, Tina Cornioley2, Fabien Stephan A. Pietsch1, Bernard Bustier2, Johannes Pirker1, Aline Mosnier1 Quetier3 1IIASA-ESM, Laxenburg, AT, [email protected] 1CIRAD, Montpellier, FR 2MDN - Ministère de Défense Nationale, Libreville, GA 2ForDev / ETHZ, Zurich, CH, [email protected] 3Biotope, Mezes, FR Stability and resilience of Congo Basin landscapes are affected by a multitude of factors. Besides climate change and increasing inter annual climate variability, direct human land In 2014, the General Assembly of the FSC (Forest Stewardship use impact is a major driver of ecosystem productivity, related carbon balance issues and Council) adopted Motion 65 that called for the protection of the maintenance of ecosystem services provision. vast majority of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFL) in FSC certified concessions around the Globe. To comply with Motion 65, a Regional Within this research we assess the impact of land use intensification, climate variability on Working Group for the Congo Basin on High Conservation Values the resilience and stability of the Congo basin biomes, using (1) field data from ~ 200 field (HCV-RWG) was established in 2016. To support its decision-making plots, representing all typical land use types occurring in the region, (2) a calibrated and process, FSC invited a team of researchers as facilitators. validated BioGeoChemistry model (BGC-MAN) and (3) an analysis of respective ecosystem dynamics and the related shifts in stability, productivity and resilience. The facilitation team associated Companion Modelling and MineSet. Companion Modelling is a participatory approach based on the development and use of role-playing games to Results indicate sequences of tipping points, changes in ecosystem resilience and the support decision-making. MineSet, is a model of regional landscape change developed to long-term system memory of climate and human impacts. explore the future of tropical forest landscapes in Central Africa over the next decades. MineSet places players in the roles of CEOs of logging and mining companies, interacting with markets, the government and NGOs, planning their activities and developing strategies to cope with the environmental, economic and social impacts of their decisions. It features all the major underlying drivers of land use change in Central Africa: demographics, economic and finance signals, governance and transparency, technological changes, and cultural differences. As the game unfolds, the players discover the complexity of the system, and devise new rules and strategies to balance development and conservation.

The game and the discussion that follows enables stakeholders to share and confront their perceptions of the system, better grasp its complexities, explore alternative futures in a low-risk environment, and negotiate new forms of collective action. Taking on the role of a stakeholder has a profound impact on players’ awareness and understanding of the system, and has the potential to reshape their perception on the problem at hand. This experience is a critical component of the approach and central to the learning process.

Thanks to this combination, the RWG could unlock stalled negotiations, level the playing field between participants and move toward consensus. This example serves as THURSDAY 14:45 THURSDAY THURSDAY 14:30 THURSDAY proof of concept of the use of facilitation and games to address complex negotiations under conditions of high uncertainty and divergent interests. It shows a way to foster transformation in landscape management.

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S27-O04 – FUTURE SCENARIOS FOR THE CONGO BASIN WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE FORESTS OF THE CONGO BASIN, HOW AND WHY

Claude Garcia1,2, Laurene Feintrenie1,3,4

1CIRAD, Montpellier, FR 2ForDev / ETHZ, Zurich, CH, [email protected] 3CATIE, Turrialba, CR 4World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi, KE

Statements about the future do not fall under the constraints of classical logic. They are not true or false. They are undetermined, so-called future contingents. This unescapable uncertainty is a source of stress and discomfort for all, political leaders included. The use of scenario planning for decision-making is a way to reduce this discomfort, and to develop strategies that are better able to cope with surprise. However, the development of scenarios requires underlying mental models, however loose.

All models are wrong, with one exception. All others degrade the information to make it manageable with our cognitive limitations. This degrading is done across several dimensions. A useful framework proposes a trade-off between precision, realism and generality. Another major limitation is the representation of human agency in these models, a critical determinant of the dynamics of social and ecological systems. The manner in which agency is represented is often unsatisfactory. We present here how we overcame these trade-offs and obstacles, clarifying here the contribution of different forms of models to the development of narratives of possible futures.

To explore the futures of the forests of the Congo Basin, we developed theoretical, empirical and process-based models that merge expert, local and scientific knowledge, integrating social, economic, governance, ecological and geophysical processes. These models represent, predict and explain regional trajectories of landscape change at the time scale of 50 to 100 years. The scenarios explicitly address different management and policy options.

Taken together, these three types of models explain what will happen to the forests of the Congo Basin in the coming decades, how and why. As in any good crime story, this leaves only two questions unanswered: who? and when? But these are no longer questions scientists can explore. These belong to the realm of strategy and decision making. They belong to the realm political will, corporate commitments, and stakeholder livelihood

THURSDAY 15:00 THURSDAY strategies.

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S28-O01 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION USING UAVS AND PHOTOGRAMMETRY FOR ECOLOGICAL SESSION 28 ANALYSIS IN TEMPORARY ROCK POOLS OF COLOMBIAN GUIANA SHIELD FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION Ángela Aristizábal-Botero1, David Paez-Perez2, Emilio Realpe1 Chairs: Pierre-Michel FORGET, Catherine REEB Contact: [email protected] 1Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, CO, [email protected] 2Enjambre, Bogotá, CO

The Guiana shield is one of the most ancient bedrock formations on Earth with a variety of ecosystems like: tropical forests, flooding savannas and temporary rock pools. Temporary rock pools are one of the least studied systems in South America, even though there are a lot of physiological challenges for their highly diverse communities due to the seasonally and sub-seasonally desiccation caused by heat.

We identified the acquisition of spatial characteristics of the landscape as the first step in the investigation of the ecological processes governing the communities inhabiting this underexplored ecosystem. To this end, we employed a UAV (i.e., drone) with onboard RGB+NIR cameras to capture aerial images. These images were then processed using photogrammetry software to obtain high resolution digital terrain models (DTM), RGB and NDVI orthophotographs.

Based on the surveyed information, several analyses were performed. The morphometry analysis of pools yielded the relationship between their volume, depth and surface area. The connectivity analysis helped us determine the flow network that emerges during rain events; this is useful as an important parameter to understand dispersion dynamics of many species in this system. Using the morphometry of the pools, historical precipitation and evaporation data, a hydrologic model was implemented to simulate individual pool hydroregimes. RGB and NDVI images were used to measure the vegetation coverage over pools and estimate a photosynthetic rate. Lastly, human settlement patterns shown in multitemporal aerial images were associated with ecological indexes to inform conservation initiatives.

In conclusion, new technologies in UAVs, low cost onboard sensors, photogrammetry and GIS software offer the possibility to quickly survey any ecosystem, which result in a powerful set of tools for abiotic characterization in biological and ecological investigations. THURSDAY THURSDAY 13:30 THURSDAY

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S28-O02 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION S28-O03 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION WHAT MAKES RATS SUCCESSFUL INVADERS ON THREATENED BIRDS, DYNAMIC HABITATS AND MADAGASCAR? DISTURBANCE PROCESSES - CONSERVATION ECOLOGY IN ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST UNDERSTUDIED SAVANNA Melanie Dammhahn1,2, Toky M. Randriamoria3, Steven M. Goodman3,4 ECOSYSTEMS

1Animal Ecology, Zoological Institute & Museum, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, DE, Jo Kingsbury1, G. Matt Davies1, Chris Tonra1, Ross Macleod2 [email protected] 2Animal Ecology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, DE 1The Ohio State University, Columbus, US, [email protected] 3Association Vahatra, Antananarivo, MG 2University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK 4Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, US The Beni savannas of Northern Bolivia are one of the world’s Invasive species are a critical contemporary conservation threat because they change most remote, understudied and threatened grassland ecosystems. ecological interactions, modify ecosystem functionality, and even cause extinctions of Here, vegetation dynamics are driven by complex interacting indigenous species. Understanding what makes a successful invasive species as well environmental and agricultural disturbance processes, including as predicting the consequences of the introduction of non-indigenous organisms is of flooding, fire and cattle grazing. In turn, the distribution of major interest in ecology. Rodents of the genus Rattus are among the most pervasive bird communities is shaped by how these processes influence and successful invasive species worldwide. A broad and flexible generalist diet has been prevailing vegetation composition and structure. We explore how suggested as key to the invasion success of Rattus spp. the distribution and habitat use of avian grassland specialists is influenced by habitat structure and disturbance history along the cerrado-grassland Here, we used an indirect approach to better understand foraging niche width, plasticity, gradient with focus on three key conservation species, Alectrurus tricolor (cock-tailed and overlap within and between introduced Rattus spp. as well as overlap between invasive tyrant), Coryphaspiza melanotis (black-masked finch, andEmberizoides herbicola (wedge- Rattus spp. and native small mammals in anthropogenic habitats and natural humid tailed grass-finch). forests of Madagascar. Based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values measured in hair samples of individual rodents, we found that R. rattus had an extremely wide foraging Our results indicate that: (1) Cock-tailed tyrants specialize on specific disturbance-sensitive niche, encompassing the isotopic space covered by a complete endemic forest-dwelling micro-habitats within the cerrado-grassland ecotone, while black-masked finch and wedge- Malagasy small mammal community. Comparisons of Bayesian standard ellipses, as well tailed grass-finch are generalists but track available food resources that may be influenced as (multivariate) mixed-modeling analyses, revealed that the stable isotope niche of R. by the timing and severity of disturbance processes; (2) Black-masked finch and cock-tailed rattus tended to change seasonally and differed between natural forests and anthropogenic tyrants have greater sensitivity to grazing pressure and agricultural fire-management than habitats, indicating plasticity in feeding niches. In co-occurrence, R. rattus and R. the more common wedge-tailed grass-finch – a factor likely contributing to their current norvegicus partitioned feeding niches. Isotopic mismatch of signatures of individual R. high rates of global decline; (3) Prescribed burning is integral for the conservation of avian rattus and the habitat in which they were captured, indicate frequent dispersal movements communities within this region, but scale, timing and frequency are likely important for this species between natural forest and anthropogenic habitats. Since R. rattus are considerations due to their influence on key habitat resources; and (4) Management within known to transmit a number of zoonoses, potentially affecting communities of endemic protected areas that aims to retain a range of post-burn stages in a shifting mosaic could small mammals, as well as humans, these movements presumably increase transmission help to support wider avian communities. Our study develops a better understanding of potential. how disturbance processes influence biodiversity in this understudied region. Our results will be critical for strengthening management protocols in protected areas like the Barba Our results suggest that due to their generalist diet and potential movement between Azul Nature Reserve, and will help inform more sustainable approaches to agriculture in natural forest and anthropogenic habitats, Rattus spp. might affect native forest-dependent the wider Beni Savanna region. Malagasy rodents as competitors, predators, and disease vectors. The combination of these THURSDAY 13:45 THURSDAY effects helps explain the invasion success of Rattus spp. and the detrimental effects of this 14:00 THURSDAY genus on the endemic Malagasy rodent fauna.

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S28-O04 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION S28-O05 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION LAND-USE CHANGE AND CONSERVATION IN NORTH-EAST HUNTING IN TIMES OF CHANGE: INDIGENOUS STRATEGIES THAILAND IN THE COLOMBIAN AMAZON

James Moloney1, Wassana Phanurak2, Netchanok Khongthon1 Nicole Ponta1, Claude Garcia1,2, Nathalie van Vliet3

1James Cook University, Townsville, AU, [email protected] 1ETH Zürich, Zurich, CH, [email protected] 2Nakhon Ratchasima Rajhabhat University, Nakhon Ratchasima, TH 2CIRAD, Montpellier, FR 3CIFOR, Bogor, ID In this study, we investigate patterns and drivers of landscape change, and the consequent impacts on vertebrate biodiversity and The Amazon region, following a tropical pattern, is experiencing traditional resource use in Nakhon Ratchasima province, North-east socio-economic changes at an exceptionally high rate, generating Thailand. Firstly, we quantified regional landscape change from the pressure on the people that need to adapt to new settings. Despite the 1950s until the present from a combination of aerial photography and change, indigenous people still rely on the forest they are embedded satellite image analysis, and examined environmental correlates. in and – among other activities – do hunt and trade wildlife in order Secondly, bird, mammal and reptile assemblages were examined to meet their livelihood requirements. Their forest dependency across five different land-cover types using active searching, point- combined with added external pressures forces them to walk the counts, opportunistic recording and formal and informal interviews with local people. fine line between overhunting and exacerbated poverty. Individual Thirdly, interviews examine natural resource use and governance. strategies, shaped by the hunters’ values and ambitions as well as external conditions, need to cope with the novelty and evolve accordingly. For the effective implementation We found that significant areas of the original closed forest on floodplains had already been of conservation initiatives, we, as scientists, should acknowledge this delicate balance cleared by the 1950s. The last 35 years has seen increased clearance of woodland in drier and take into account people’ strategies with their underlying drivers and their adaptive areas as crops diversify. The most intact forest type is low woodland, which in some cases capabilities. Lacking the understanding that drives decision-making of the forest dwellers is managed. However, bird and mammal assemblages here are less diverse than within can lead to frustration and mistrust by both parties while at the same time delivering poor other, less protected forest types. In particular, the dry-season diversity of insectivorous outcomes hampering present and possibly future initiatives. birds and evergreen forest species as well as mammals is low within this more secure forest in comparison to outside, unprotected areas. Furthermore, many of the traditional To uncover hunting strategies in the Colombian Amazon and their evolution under the resources important to local people are found within unprotected and fast-disappearing current socio-economic transition, we co-designed a role-playing game together with the areas. While there is the possibility of land swaps and purchases to maintain ecosystem relevant stakeholders. The game simulates the mosaic of activities that hunters perform services, more coordinated planning is required to maintain functioning ecosystems. in the wet and dry season, while also allowing for specific hunting strategies. Conditions change while the game unfolds, opening up to alternative potential scenarios that have been suggested by the stakeholders themselves. Will hunters give up hunting when given the opportunity of an alternative income source? Will institutional changes affect their livelihoods? These are some of the questions that we have been able to explore through the game.

When it comes to coupled human-nature systems, the best way forward to produce just and resilient conservation strategies might be triggering an adaptive process of experiential learning and scenario exploration. It is about identifying the strings that pull the system and adjusting our strategies whatever direction we take. The use of games as “boundary THURSDAY 14:15 THURSDAY objects” helps us eliciting the plurality of those strategies, their drivers and how outside 14:30 THURSDAY change affect them.

Merian Award Applicant

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SCIENTIFIC POSTER SESSION ABSTRACTS

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 298 299

S02-P01 – MANGROVES FUNCTIONING AND MANAGEMENT S03-P01 – CONTINENTAL WETLANDS LANDSCAPE GENETIC METHOD TO EXPLAIN INTRA- AND EVOLUTION OF REFERENCES ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF INTER-ISLAND PROPAGULE TRANSPORT OF MANGROVE THE ECOLOGY OF TROPICAL WETLANDS IN THE INDIAN SPECIES OCEAN

Maki Thomas1, Yuichi Nakajima1, Matin Miryeganeh1, Satoshi Mitarai1 Georges Simon Andrianasetra1, Germain1

1Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, JP, [email protected] 1CIDST, Mahajanga, MG, [email protected]

Understanding migration systems is integral to design effective Research on the ecology of wetlands requires different scientific approaches and useful Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that will maintain population procedures for conducting monitoring and ecological studies. The object of this work is connectivity in the face of environmental changes. Applying (1) to provide information on the diversity of themes and references related to the ecology knowledge of migration systems in MPA design is especially of wetlands in the Indian Ocean region, and talk to diverse audiences such: students, important for fringe mangrove habitats in island systems where academics, professionals in continental wetlands and fans of the ecology of flora fauna mangrove population connectivity is maintained through dispersal of inland water. (2) to demonstrate the evolution of information upon the valorization by ocean currents and there is a high rate of habitat loss. of wetlands that permit to: inform, understand, act and protect wetlands based on their relationship with living things (flora) in the islands of the Indian Ocean. This project focuses on the migration system of Rhizophora stylosa, a mangrove species common throughout the Ryukyu Archipelago in the northern West Pacific region and a Thus, an inventory of all available documents (hardcopy as well as online versions) on the representative species of the family Rhizophoraceae, which is abundant throughout the ecology of continental wetlands will be fulfilled with the aim of establishing a catalog to Indo-West Pacific. We utilized landscape genetic methods to demonstrate how differences evaluate the evolution of knowledge and information on this topic. Exchanges between the in local habitat landscape affect the migration patterns among islands. To further different actors during this conference could be held, in order to improve and update the investigate the extent of connectivity among isolated populations and their dispersal different information and experiences on the tropical ecology of wetlands. As a perspective, patterns, we performed microsatellite analysis in chloroplast and nuclear genomes with a network of stakeholders on the ecology of wetlands could be established. samples collected from 22 coastal areas on four different islands, representing a spatial scale of over 500 km.

The genetic results were also compared with physical oceanographic data derived from the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and other obtained observational data. Discrepancies between genetic and oceanographically simulated connectivity may suggest that the mangrove propagule’s dispersal is limited dominantly by local hydrodynamics, including inner reef currents, wind or coastal wave driven forces, while coincidence between them may suggest rare but consistent inter population interactions.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 300 301

S03-P02 – CONTINENTAL WETLANDS S04-P01 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE RAFFIA AREAS IN WHERE DO THE NSENENE SWARMS COME FROM? THE BOENY REGION FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT AND ENHANCEMENT Anu Valtonen1, Robert Opoke1,2, Geoffrey Malinga1,2, Petra Junes1, Philip Nyeko3, Heikki Roininen1 Zolalaina Andriamanantena1, Hery Lisy Tiana Ranarijaona1 1Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, FI, 1Doctoral School Natural Ecosystems (EDEN), University of Mahajanga, Mahajanga, MG, [email protected] [email protected] 2Department of Biology, Gulu University, Gulu, UG 3Department of Forestry, Biodiversity and Tourism, Makerere University, Kampala, UG Madagascar, because of its insularity, is a country of megabiodiversity. The country’s fauna and flora are remarkably diverse and endemic. The edible grasshopper, Ruspolia differens (Serville) (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), locally The Boeny Region is also rich in forest resources such as dense called as “Nsenene”, is a widespread species swarming in grassland habitats across forests, savannahs, mangroves and raffia areas. Rafia farinifera, Afrotropics. It is an important source of food for humans in East Africa where they are a monoecious plant whose ideal ecology is the tropics. The raffia harvested with powerful lights from the natural populations during the two annual areas are managed by local grassroots communities or COBAs in swarming seasons. There are various traditional beliefs concerning the origins of the the fokontany of Ankilahila or managed by the local authorities or swarms but it is clear that the swarming dynamics is poorly understood and the source fokontany for the case of Beharafa Mangapaika or restored in the populations for swarms are so far unknown. raffia areas of Tanandava Mariarano. As a first step to reveal the origins ofR. differens swarms, we explored the host plants of R. This study was conducted to understand the potential of this ecosystem by conducting differens with both laboratory experiments (no-choice and multiple-choice experiments) ecological surveys. The Duvigneaud transect method and the Braun-Blanquet plating and a field monitoring study of a non-swarming population in Uganda. Our results show that method were adopted. The MARP method was carried out to complete the ecological R. differens accepts a wide range of grass and sedge species but has a clear preference for surveys in order to identify all the pressures and to provide recommendations for the local certain hosts. The most important host plants in our study location are grasses Brachiaria population as well as for VOI members and local and/or national authorities, in order to ruziziensis R.Germ. & C.M.Evrard, Panicum maximum Jacq., and Chloris gayana Kunth. It restore them. is therefore likely that R. differens swarms originate in grasslands where these hosts are available. In order to preserve viable natural populations of R. differens in East Africa in A total of 48 species belonging to 44 genera and 34 families with were identified in all the long-term, our results call special attention to sufficient protection of natural and semi- study sites. The floristic compositions of the areas according to their type of management natural grasslands from overgrazing and rapid urban expansion. are not similar. However, for raffia in the same study area, the floristic composition seems similar. The density of the raffia palms is very dense in the areas of management transfer and restoration areas but low in areas managed by the fokontany. The natural regeneration of raffia palm is important in areas where VOI is present. Many products from raffia palm are used for different purposes. It is the same for the associated plants with raffia palm. Anthropogenic pressures and natural pressures are the factors of degradation of these raffia areas. Despite these pressures on the raffia areas, the presence of the VOI in the study areas plays a key role in the preservation of these natural resources. However, for the sites managed by the local authorities or the fokontany, the degradation of the raffia areas is strongly noticed. To ensure the sustainability of raffia palm especially regeneration in the face of different pressures, protect, restore and train local population for sustainable development and biological conservation will be provided.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 302 303

S04-P02 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S04-P03 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS FACTORS CONTROLLING LONG-TERM SAVANNA DYNAMICS BIOMASS STOCKS, SPATIAL STRUCTURE AND FLORISTIC IN THE CAMPOS DE HUMAITÁ, MIDDLE MADEIRA RIVER COMPOSITION OF SAVANNAS IN THE BATEKE PLATEAU REGION, SOUTHWESTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA Paula Nieto-Quintano1, Edward T. A. Mitchard1, Casey M. Ryan1 Rogerio Gribel1, Dilce de Fatima Rossetti2, Luiz de Souza Coelho1 1University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences, Edinburgh, UK, [email protected] 1Brazilian Institute for Amazonian Research, Manaus, BR, [email protected] 2Brazilian Institute for Space Research, São Jose dos Campos, BR The Bateke Plateau in the Republic of Congo is one of the last frontiers for ecology, being among the botanically and structurally Disjointed savanna patches scattered in Amazonia and growing least known areas in Africa. Here we assess the biomass, floristic under the same climatic conditions than the rainforest, is still an diversity and spatial structure of this ecosystem. We established intriguing scientific question. The most frequent hypotheses for four large (25 ha) permanent sample plots at two savanna sites, these open formations are: (1) the expansion of savannas during inventoried all trees, and assessed shrub and grass species and drier periods of the Pleistocene, being the contemporary Amazonian biomass, as well as soil characteristics in subplots. savannas residual ecosystems; (2) possible environmental disturbances caused by extensive and recurrent anthropogenic fires Tree density was very low (41 stems/ha for DBH ≥ 10 cm), even though annual precipitation during the Holocene; and (3) changes in hydrological dynamics due is relatively high (1800 mm), probably due to the very sandy and nutrient poor soils. The to environmental changes, caused or not by tectonic forces, which could have influenced total plant carbon stocks (above-ground and below-ground dry matter) was 7.4 ± 0.3 MgC/ the characteristics of the substrates, thus leading to the establishment of different ha, with over half being grass biomass, and the remainder divided approximately equally vegetation types. between trees and saplings/shrubs. The carbon stock of the system is dominated by the top of the soil (SOC 16.7 ± 0.9 Mg/ha in 0-20 cm depth). We found significant spatial We reconstruct vegetation dynamics from an area in southwestern Amazonia based clustering of trees at scales of less than 240 meters (Moran’s I test). We identified 49 plant on the study of eight botanical plots combined with paleoenvironmental analysis of 20 species (4 tree species, 13 shrubs, 4 sedges, 17 herbs and 11 grass species), with an average lithostratigraphic profiles confined to three fluvial paleolandforms with open vegetation species richness of 23 per plot. There is tree hyperdominance of Hymenocardia acida in the middle Madeira River. The sedimentary evolution and history of vegetation change Tul. (Phyllantaceae), and a richer understory species composition dominated by Loudetia through time were built with basis on facies analysis integrated with radiocarbon dating, simplex and Hyparrhenia diplandra. The understory diversity is higher than expected as well as d13C and C/N analyses of sedimentary organic matter. given that the Bateke Plateau is surrounded by rainforest and has been isolated from other savannas for much of its history. The majority of the profiles evidenced flooding episodes and sedimentary deposition characteristic of paralic aquatic environments. Floristic studies showed that savannas in topographically lower terrains presented greater floristic similarity between them, suggesting that the duration of flooding has greater influence than soil characteristics in the species distribution. Small microtopographic variations at local scale also strongly affected the presence of tree species. C/N and radioisotope dating revealed that savannas had existed in the area for at least 20,000 years BP, particularly been located over fluvial paleolandforms represented by channel and lake deposits that were left behind over the fluvial terraces. Radioisotope dating in forest sites contiguous to savannas suggested the replacement of these by the formers in several events initiated during the mid and late Holocene. Our results reinforce the concept that, at least for the region of study, factors linked to sedimentary dynamics, and not to climate or anthropogenic fires, play a preponderant role in the distribution of the savannas.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 304 305

S04-P04 – SAVANNA FUNCTIONING AND DYNAMICS S05-P01 – DIVERSIFICATION OF AFRICAN FORESTS AN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF FOREST OF OF MAMMAL COMMUNITY ON FOREST DYNAMICS IN THE BRACHYSTEGIA LAURENTII (DE WILD.) LOUIS EX J. LÉON. IN CERRADO BIOME (BRAZIL) THE MAB YANGAMBI, IN DRC

Olivier Pays1, Franco L Souza2, Pierre-Cyril Renaud1, Cyntia C Santos1,2, Fabio de Oliveira Roque2, Hippolyte Nshimba Seya Wa Malale1, Bijou Lituka Yalufi1 Mauricio Silveira2, Erich Fisher2, Francisco Valente-Neto2, Ana Claudia Piovezan Borges2, Clarissa de Araujo Martins1,2, Damien Arvor3 1University of Kisangani, Kisangani, cd, [email protected]

1UMR 6554 CNRS - LETG-Angers, University of Angers, Angers, FR, [email protected] This study aims at analyzing the structure and composition of 2Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, InBio. Universidade Federal de Mato a forest dominated by Brachystegia laurentii in the Yangambi Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, BR Biosphere Reserve. To do this, two plots of 1 ha each, 50 × 200 m were 3UMR 6554 CNRS - LETG-Rennes, University of Rennes, Rennes, FR sampled in a forest near the Isalowe River.

Although land use changes in the tropical regions affect drastically A total of 89 species belonging to 69 genera and 40 families were biodiversity and ecological services, assessing their long-term identified in the two plots; 59 species, 54 genera and 35 families in impacts remains challenging and alarming. Defaunation of large the first plot and 54 species, 45 genera and 26 families in the second mammals may exacerbate the top-down or bottom-up control of plot. A total of 699 trees of dbh more than 10 cm were surveyed; an average density of 350

the communities in a context dependent way in relation to the land trees/ha; 328 trees in the P1 and 371 trees in the P2 with a basal area varying from a plot to

use changes. However, these predictions have never been tested another, i.e. 31 m²/ha in P1 and 35 m²/ha in P2. using a long-term integrated framework including observational

and experimental studies at landscape scale in the Cerrado hotspot. A clear dominance of Brachystegia laurentii (59 %) was found, 55 % in P1 and 62 % in P2. Thus, we designed experiments along a gradient of native vegetation loss on the Serra da Alongside this species, two species have distinguished themselves by their greater relative Bodoquena Plateau in selected areas with livestock and crop where there is a variation dominance, frequency and density than other species. These are Scorodophloeus zenkeri from 9 to 100 % of native vegetation cover. The effect of the agricultural matrix around the and Staudtia kamerunensis. A remarkable diversity was also highlighted. The Shannon-

fragments is particularly studied. We selected fragment of native vegetation typical from Weaver index gave a value of 3.089 for the P1 and 2.799 for the P2 and the Simpson index

Cerrado and set up two plots of 15 × 15 m, one that excludes mammals larger than 1 kg and gave 0.906 for the P1 and 0.844 for the P2. In both plots, species are distributed more or

another control. less equitably with a very close equitability index, 0.757 for P1 and 0.702 for P2. This study also revealed a predominance of Megaphanerophyts (56 %) and Mesophanerophyts (40 %) The ecological functions (regulation and supporting services) that are studied in relation in the forest studied. The diaspores barochores (39 %) and sarcochores (40 %) are better

to the resilience of native vegetation are the following: (1) forest dynamics including represented in the set of forest. The first type is better represented in P2 and the second

tree and understory community, seed and fruit dispersion and survival, seedling, (2) soil type is better represented in P1. Species of the phytosociological class of Strombosio- including nutrients cycling, decomposition (leaf and woods), soil and litter community, (3) Parinarietea, characteristic of terra firma natural forests, are also better represented. plant and animal diversity including phylogenetic and functional diversity and animal- plant interactions. The main questions that are investigated are: Is there any effect (and if so, what is the shape of the relationship) of native vegetation loss (i.e. attributes of forest fragments) and the studied functions? Is there any effect of the agricultural matrix around the forest fragments on the role of mammals on forest dynamics? Are pastures more permeable than crops to mammal community? Here we will present some primarily results on mammal community structure and the dynamics of land-use change of the studied area.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 306 307

S06-P01 – AUDIO AND VIDEO MONITORING S06-P02 – AUDIO AND VIDEO MONITORING ECOACOUSTIC SURVEYS PREDICT ALPHA AND BETA DEEP NETWORKS TAG THE LOCATION OF BIRD DIVERSITY IN SOUTHERN ECUADORIAN MONTANE FOREST VOCALISATIONS ON AUDIO SPECTROGRAMS

David C. Siddons1,2, Vinicio Santillán3, Martha Quitián3, Yvonne Tiede2, Christine I.B. Wallis2, Lefteris Fanioudakis1, Ilyas Potamitis (speaker)1 Pedro X. Astudillo1, Eike L. Neuschulz3, Matthias Schleuning3, Katrin Böhning-Gaese3, Roland Brandl2, Jörg Bendix2, Nina Farwig2 1Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, GR

1Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, EC, [email protected] Monitoring bird diversity in tropical forests provides essential 2Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, DE information for bird community composition and distribution. 3Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt (Main), DE Moreover, the appealing elegance of birds singing is an excellent means to raise public awareness about tropical conservation. This Effective biodiversity measurement and monitoring systems work focuses on reliable automatic detection and segmentation of across wide spatial and temporal scales is an important challenge bird vocalizations as recorded in the open field. Acoustic detection for conservation management under changing environmental of avian sounds can be used for the automatized monitoring of conditions. Assessing biodiversity traditionally requires multiple bird taxa and query in long-term recordings for species observational field studies that require both experts and time. of interest. Bird recognition requires a database containing a large number of example Ecoacoustics has the potential as an efficient tool to provide vocalizations. Bird vocalization recordings with exact boundaries are costly, rare and information on biodiversity and monitor change with minimal need uncommon for large datasets. Although it is relatively easy to annotate a small recording as for experts on the ground. having a bird vocalization or not based on visual inspection of its spectrogram it is costly to derive exact bounding boxes for all vocalizations it includes. On the contrary ‘weakly’ We tested the effectiveness of five ecoacoustic indices as proxies for traditional point count labeled data are abundant (see e.g. the Xeno-canto database). Weakly labelled in the context bird surveys in twelve montane forest sites with two levels of disturbance and two elevations of this work means that a recording is labeled as having a bird sound or not but there is no in southern Ecuador. We conducted point counts over two seasons and recorded point other metadata on where is the bird sound exactly located within the recording. Predicting counts on different occasions during the same periods. We compared species richness and the exact location of the vocalization allows different kind of measurements to be derived α-diversity indices calculated from the observational point counts to α-diversity indices e.g. bird activity per time -unit, extraction of the repertoire of vocalizations, recognition of calculated from the acoustic surveys using GLMM to account for possible autocorrelation. different species. We also calculated an Ecoacoustic β-diversity measure derived from an NMDS ordination of occupied frequencies and compared the results to an NMDS of the point counts using Our work focuses on automatic training procedures that require minor human supervision Procrustes analysis. and aims at inspecting large audio corpora. In this work, we use the Salience map as a by- product of Deep-nets that allows us to localize the vocalizations. The Salience map allows The Acoustic Diversity Index and Acoustic Evenness Index proved to correlate strongly with having a glimpse of where exactly the deep net basis its decision to classify a recording as several traditional α-diversity indices and species richness. The Ecoacoustic β-diversity having or not a bird vocalization. Thus, implicitly, the Salience map tags the spectrogram NMDS distinguished sites between elevations and was significantly correlated with the with the correct localization of birds’ vocalizations. Once we derive the Salience map of the traditional observed avian community NMDS, effectively predicting β-diversity. Our part of the available database having a positive label for birds, we apply bounding boxes on results show that Ecoacoustic indices have potential to be used as proxies for biodiversity the saliency blobs and then we apply state of the art Deep-learning detection algorithms

monitoring and assessment. (e.g. YOLO v2) to derive bounding boxes for the part of the test set classified by the DenseNet as having a bird. Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 308 309

S07-P01 – ADVANCES IN CANOPY SCIENCE S08-P01 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION SPATIAL PATTERNS OF LIANA SUCCESS IN MALAYSIA HABITAT-SPECIFIC EDAPHIC CONTROLS ON PALM COMMUNITY PHYLOGENETIC STRUCTURE IN THE WESTERN Chris Chandler1, Geertje van der Heijden1, Giles Foody1, Doreen Boyd1 AMAZON

1University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, [email protected] Robert Muscarella1, Henrik Balslev1

Tropical forests are highly productive, biologically rich and carbon 1Aarhus University, Aarhus, DK, [email protected] dense. As such, these ecosystems are critical to the global carbon balance and key in mitigating some of the effects of climate change. Palms are a diverse and iconic group in tropical forests with critical importance for Lianas are important components of tropical forests, where they ecological and human systems. Understanding patterns and drivers of palm diversity can have been shown to increase in abundance and biomass over the shed light on general mechanisms promoting tropical species diversity. We paired data on last decades. Lianas compete intensely with trees for above- and palm community composition from 541 transects located across two main habitat types below-ground resources, thus substantially limiting tree growth and in the western Amazon (seasonally inundated and non-inundated) with information on survival. Such increases in liana biomass may induce changes in soil chemistry, topography, climate, and phylogenetic relationships among palms to ask tree species composition and dynamics, which could have consequences for tropical forest (1) how does phylogenetic structure of palm communities vary along soil gradients within carbon storage in the future. and between major habitat types? And, (2) which clades primarily drive observed patterns in phylogenetic community composition? Studies on lianas have largely focused in the Neotropics, limiting our understanding of the drivers behind variation in liana infestation and the impact on carbon balance in Among non-inundated transects, palm communities tended to be more phylogenetically the Palaeotropics. Furthermore, although liana infestation varies greatly across forests, clustered in areas of low soil nutrient concentrations. In contrast, among seasonally the drivers of the broad-scale variation in liana pressure remains unexplored. Here, we inundated transects, phylogenetic clustering of palm communities was higher with therefore aim to map liana infestation in Bornean Malaysia with the use of airborne greater mean annual precipitation but varied less along measured soil gradients. In both hyperspectral imagery to (1) investigate whether the spatial patterns in liana infestation habitat types, phylogenetic clustering was largely due to co-occurring species from two are driven by variation in disturbance and/or forest structure and (2) test whether carbon genera: Geonoma and Bactris. This finding illustrates a key role for these two genera for sequestration and storage is affected by liana infestation on a regional scale. understanding palm community composition, and also provides insight to the potential drivers of diversification for these two hyper-diverse genera. Airborne hyperspectral imagery and LiDAR data were collected concurrently (Mark Cutler, Dundee). Preliminary results from ground measurements showed liana biomass and Our study demonstrates strong regional and edaphic controls on palm phylogenetic abundance were both greater in the primary forest in comparison to secondary forests. structure across the western Amazon, suggesting different mechanisms acting in different Comparison of liana infestation and forest structure revealed a canopy height maximum of habitat types. Understanding the mechanisms promoting diversity of this highly diverse 64.4 m for liana infestation. In addition, we find a clear difference in the spectral response and ecologically important group will serve to advance understanding general patterns of between lianas and trees. A neural network is able to accurately predict liana presence diversification in the tropics. across the hyperspectral imagery (82 % correctly classified). Additional training data may have the potential to predict liana infestation as a percentage of canopy cover on a continuous scale.

These results suggest that natural disturbance such as tree fall may be more frequent in the old-growth primary forest leading to increased liana recruitment and infestation. Furthermore, preliminary findings suggest that airborne hyperspectral imagery can provide a promising tool to identify liana infestation over large regions in tropical wet rainforests.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 310 311

S08-P02 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION S08-P03 – TROPICAL TREES ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION TREE REACTION TO DROUGHT IN A MONTANE RAINFOREST ECOLOGICAL GENOMICS OF NICHE EXPLOITATION AND IN SOUTHERN ECUADOR INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE IN TROPICAL FOREST TREES

Volker Raffelsbauer1, Achim Bräuning1 Sylvain Schmitt1, Myriam Heuertz2, Bruno Hérault3,4, Niklas Tysklind5

1Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, DE, [email protected] 1UMR Biodiversité Gènes et Communautés, Université de Bordeaux, Cestas, FR, [email protected] The eastern declivity of the Cordillera Real in southern Ecuador is covered by a highly 2UMR Biodiversité Gènes et Communautés, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), diverse mountain rainforest. Local climate is humid with around 2200 mm of annual rainfall, Cestas, FR and dry spells are rather rare but nevertheless a regular event during the “Veranillo del 3Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Yamoussoukro, CI Niño” (VdN) periods in October or November (Volland-Voigt et al. 2011). However, different 4UR Forêts et Société, Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le tree species might respond diverse to occasional drought stress, raising the question if Développement (CIRAD), Montpellier, FR some species might be better adapted to a higher frequency of dry periods that may occur 5UMR Écologie des Forêts de Guyane, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Kourou, under future climate conditions. FR

We monitored 43 individuals of eight different families with high-resolution electronic Understanding characteristics, causes and consequences of dendrometers and analyzed tree responses during dry intervals with a minimum length of biodiversity is a fundamental challenge in ecology and evolution. four consecutive days without rainfall during July 2007 to November 2010, and additionally Biodiversity presents three nested levels, from individuals, over during March 2015 to March 2017. We calculated the averaged stem shrinkage rates during species, to ecosystems. these periods, and compared the specific recovery times in consideration of plant families Intraspecific variability affects the individual level of biodiversity. and plant functional types. High levels of intraspecific variability, notably in ecologically important traits has been reported. Intraspecific variability is shaped Our results showed that the two deciduous broadleaved species Cedrela montana and by the interaction between (1) genetic variability, (2) environmental Tabebuia chrysantha showed the biggest loss of increment during dry spells, with up to heterogeneity and (3) stochastic factors. 2 mm stem shrinkage after 10 days of drought. However, the two species differ strongly However, we still know little about the effects of this variability on population dynamics, regarding growth rate and averaged daily increment change with +0.046 mm and +0.016 species interactions and ecosystem processes. Interestingly though, variability at the level mm respectively. Looking at the recovery time, Vismia tomentosa and Tapirira guianensis of genotypes and traits has been suggested to promote local adaptation of populations moved into focus. While Vismia recovered to the pre-drought circumference after only five and to promote species coexistence at the community level, thus suggesting a role for this days, Tapirira needed 52 days on average to restore its circumference. If such dry spells variability in the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. change in duration and frequency, this may result in an alteration of the forest composition. We here present the conceptual framework of the recently started PhD thesis of S. Schmitt. The main objective of the thesis is to further explore the genotype-environment interactions in shaping the intraspecific trait variability of biodiversity. The study site for the thesis is the lowland rainforest in the research station of Paracou, French Guiana, where detailed inventory and tree growth data, as well as environmental characterization are available. We specifically wish to consider the intraspecific genomic variability as a continuum within structured populations of closely related species, and measure its role on individual tree performance through growth over time, while accounting for effects of a finely-characterized environment at the abiotic and biotic level. Eventually, we expect to help building a theory of community ecology starting with individuals, because interactions with environment is based at the individual level.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 312 313

S10-P01 – TROPICAL SOIL ECOLOGY S10-P02 – TROPICAL SOIL ECOLOGY COMMUNITIES OF COLLEMBOLA ON RÉUNION ISLAND: BACTERIAL DIVERSITY IN THREE DIFFERENT FIRE RECOLONIZATION OF HABITATS DESTROYED BY LAVA INCIDENCE AREA IN MOPANE WOODLAND OF LIMPOPO FLOWS AND IMPACT OF EXOTIC PLANT SPECIES NATIONAL PARK

Sandrine Salmon1, Maxime Villers1, Adji Ami Diop1, Cyrille D’Haese1, Jean-François Ponge1, Ivete Maquia1,2, Denise Brito1, Natasha Ribeiro3, Nuno Duro4, Mário Da Costa4, Paula Fareleira5, Pierre-Michel Forget1, Dominique Strasberg2, Nathalie Machon3 Isabel Maria Videira e Castro5, Maria Manuela Ferreira Pinto4, Andrea Berruti6, Erica Lumini6, Ana I. F. Ribeiro-Barros4 1UMR 7179 MECADEV Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle-CNRS, Brunoy, FR, [email protected] 1Nova School of Business and Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, PT 2UMR PVBMT CIRAD-Université de La Réunion, Peuplements Végétaux et Bio-agresseurs en Milieu 2Biotechnology Center, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, MZ, [email protected] Tropical, Saint-Denis La Réunion, FR 3Faculty of Agronomy and Forest Engineering, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, MZ 3UMR 7204 CESCO Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle-CNRS, Paris, FR 4Plant Stress and Biodiversity Laboratory, Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, PT Natural recolonization of disturbed environments is a key issue 5Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Oeiras, PT for the maintenance of biodiversity, especially in a context of 6National Research Council Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, Torino, IT habitats threatened by exotic species. Recolonization by collembola of habitats destroyed by lava flows has never been documented. Mopane woodland represent the second most important forest These soil-dwelling arthropods provide an essential basis for the ecosystem in Southern Africa which is characterized by the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Our objective was to answer dominance of the woody legume Colosphosperum mopane, a specie the following questions: Which habitats (forests, crops) serve as of high socio-economic and medicinal value. Anthropogenic fires sources for collembola recolonization? Do exotic plant species are one of the major ecological risks compromising this ecosystem, influence this recolonization? Which traits allow rapid recolonization? and so far there have been few studies on the effect of fire on mopane microbial fauna, particularly on biological nitrogen fixers such as Our study was performed in the Reunion island, where several habitats have been Rizhobium. destroyed by lava flows and where 3500 introduced plant species threaten the functioning of ecosystems. Collembola were collected from soil, litter, herbaceous layer, moss and tree In the present study, the microbial diversity was analyzed in three types of mopane bark sampled from different habitats (lava flows, forests and sugarcane fields). They were woodlands soils of the Limpopo National Park (LNP) using the 16S rRNA marker. No identified at the species or morphospecies level. Their functional traits were measured. significant differences were observed between the microbial flora of the different soils. For the first time collembolan species were inventoried in forests, crops and lava flows on Regarding to nitrogen fixing bacteria, the following genera were identified: Firmicute (55 Reunion Island: 56 species and morpho-species belonging to 12 families were observed. %), Bacteroidetes (19 %), Proteobacteria (12 %), Tenericutes (8 %), Actinobacteria (3 %) and Species richness was increased in crops and forests compared to lava flows indicating that other bacterias. To analyse the presence of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, cowpea recolonization was incomplete. was inoculated with soils, and bacteria purified from the resulting nodules. Four different species were purified, namelyBradyrhizobium iriomotense, B. ingae, B. yuanmingense and Our results show that the recolonization of habitats destroyed by lava flows depends on Rhizobium freirei. These results indicate that fire does not interfere in the microbiology of many factors that differ according to the considered micro-habitat (vertical stratum). LNP soils. Although the formation of symbiotic nodules in C. mopane is not common, the Colonization was a function of the percentage of exotic plants, the distance to the nearest symbiotic capacity of isolated species will be studied in the near future. forest and the age of lava flow, in herbaceous layer, soil and litter, respectively. Dominant functional traits observed in lava flows were those belonging to edaphic species. The rapidity with which edaphic species colonized lava flows, added to the observation of many of these species on tree trunks, suggests that they could have benefited from air transport for settlement in lava flows.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 314 315

S11-P01 – MOLECULAR TAXONOMY AND CRYPTIC SPECIES IN SOILS S12-P01 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY USE OF ACOUSTICS FOR SPECIES DELIMITATION IN A TRANSCRIPTOMIC RESPONSES OF MANGROVE TREES TO NEOTROPICAL ANT SPECIES COMPLEX DIFFERENT STRESSFUL ENVIRONMENTS

Kenzy Peña-Carrillo1,2, Gianni Pavan3, Rubí Meza-Lazaro4, Alejandro Zaldivar-Riveron4, Jean-Paul Matin Miryeganeh1, Hidetoshi Saze1 Lachaud5,6, Gabriela Pérez-Lachaud1, Paul Devienne1, Chantal Poteaux1 1Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, JP, 1Laboratoire d’Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université Paris-Nord, Villetaneuse, FR, [email protected] [email protected] 2Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, General Terán, MX Mangroves are salt tolerant trees that grow in coastal saline water 3Centro Interdisciplinare di Bioacustica e Ricerche Ambientali, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e in tropics and subtropics and are adapted to harsh conditions with dell’Ambiente, Universita di Pavia, Pavia, IT high salinity, extreme tides, strong winds, high temperatures, and 4Colección Nacional de Insectos, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, anaerobic wetlands. They have developed specific morphological Ciudad de México, MX and physiological characteristics, such as breathing and support 5Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, CNRS-UMR 5169, Université de Toulouse UPS, roots, salt-excreting leaves, and viviparous seedlings. Despite Toulouse, FR increasing awareness of mangrove’s ecological importance, the 6Departamento de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Quintana Roo, MX molecular mechanisms underlying their adaptation to extreme habitats remain elusive. Mangrove communities show gradual phenotypic changes in Neotropics are well-known for its considerably high biodiversity. forest structure such as tree height and biomass that usually decrease due to increasing Several causes, both biotic and abiotic ones, have been proposed stress factors along the tidal gradients. to explain this extraordinary biodiversity, where a large number of species remained unnoticed due to the occurrence of cryptic We have set the study site in a mangrove forest located along the estuary of a river and species. coastal area of Pacific Ocean in Okinawa-Japan. This forest is consisted mainly of Ectatomma ruidum (Roger 1860) is a Neotropical ant species whose three mangrove species from the family Rhizophoraceae, and show highly developed distribution range extends from northern Mexico to Brazil, and is morphological adaptations to extreme conditions. We are investigating how gene one of the most common species of its genus. Recent phylogenetic expression varies among individuals from different habitats in different level of stress, and and species delimitation studies based on mtDNA and nuclear markers have revealed how this variation is correlated with their morphological differences. A detailed de novo that, though the morphology of E. ruidum is conserved along its distributional range, it annotation of genes based on RNA sequencing data was done and gene expression analysis actually represents a complex of three to four species (E. spp. 1-4), with two of them having identified remarkable genomic characteristics that are conserved within each group a wide geographic distribution along the Neotropics (E. spp. 1 and 2). However, the status but differ among them. Annotations of Gene Ontology also, revealed differences in the of one of these species is not supported by mitogenomic sequencing or by analyses of transcriptome profiles among the two populations. This study may contribute to a better cuticular hydrocarbons (E. sp. 4). Moreover, two of the species of this complex appear to understanding of the adaptive responses in plants and may help to evaluate the risk of hybridize in a restricted area in the state of Oaxaca, near the Itsmo de Tehuantepec, Mexico plant species in fluctuations of the environmental conditions and can make a good model (E. spp. 2 and 3), a region that is known for its complex evolutionary history and its rich system for studying genetic mechanisms related to abiotic stress adaptation in tropical biodiversity. Both hybridizing species are facultatively polygynous and have an infrequent forest trees. polymorphism in queen size, with some nests showing two morphotypes of reproductive females (miniaturized queens called microgynes and a normal one, called macrogyne). By contrast, no hybridization was reported between the two sympatric species with wide geographic distribution, with one of them not having microgynes. We hypothesized that reproductive isolation between E. spp. 2 and 3 could be broken due to the presence of microgynes that mated with males of different origin. Previous studies have shown that acoustic signals and morphology of the stridulatory apparatus could help for species delimitation in ants. Therefore, here we show the results of our study where we compare the produced sounds and the morphology of the stridulatory apparatus in castes of the species belonging to the E. ruidum complex as taxonomic tools to delimit its species boundaries. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 316 317

S12-P02 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY S12-P03 – TROPICAL MOLECULAR ECOLOGY GENETIC DIVERSITY AND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF THE EVIDENCE FOR RAPID ADAPTATION TO THE TROPICS IN THREATENED TREE SPECIES AFZELIA AFRICANA SM. AND CREOLE CATTLE GENOMES IMPLICATION FOR THE SPECIES CONSERVATION IN BENIN Dan Pitt1, Michael W Bruford1, Pablo Orozco-terWengel (speaker)1, Mario Barbato2, Rodrigo Thierry Houehanou1,2,3, Kathleen Prinz4, Frank Hellwig1,4, Achille Assogbadjo2,3, Jens Gebauer5, Martínez3, Natalia Sevane1 Romain Glele Kakaï3 1School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, [email protected] 1Laboratory of Ecology, Botany and Plant Biology; Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, 2Institute of Zootechnics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, IT Parakou, BJ, [email protected] 3Corporación Colombiana De Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica), Centro de investigaciones 2Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey Calavi, Tibaitatá, Bogotá, CO Abomey Calavi, BJ 3Laboratoire de Biomathématiques et d’Estimations Forestières, Faculté des Sciences The introduction of Iberian livestock species in the Americas after Columbus’ arrival Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey Calavi, Abomey Calavi, BJ imposed high selection pressures on a limited number of animals over a brief period 4Institute for Ecology and Evolution, Department for Systematic Botany with Hausknecht Herbarium of time. Knowledge of the genomic regions selected during this process may help in and Botanical Garden, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, DE enhancing climatic resilience and sustainable animal production. We first aimed to 5Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems with Special Focus on Horticulture, Faculty of Life determine taurine and indicine ancestry contributions on the genomic structure of tropical Sciences, Rhine- Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kleve, DE Creole cattle. Second, we inferred their demographic history using analytical approaches (approximate Bayesian computation -ABC-, linkage disequilibrium -LD- analysis, Ne Slope Afzelia Africana is a valuable and threatened tree species in its analysis -NeS-). Third, we performed whole genome scans for signatures of selection based occurrence range in Africa. Up to now, no information regarding on cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity tests (XP-EHH) and population molecular ecology is available to motive the conservation of this differentiation (FST) to disentangle the genetic mechanisms involved in adaptation and tree species in Africa in general and particularly in Benin. This phenotypic change by rapid and major environmental transition. To tackle both questions, study was then carried out to assess the genetic diversity and the we combined SNP array data in modern Creole cattle with modern day samples from breeds differentiation among populations of Afzelia afrcana from different comprising their putative Iberian ancestors. zones in Benin. 170 adults’ individuals from fifteen populations split in three different geographical subpopulations (Southern, Central Reconstruction of the population history of Creoles from the end of the 15th century to the and Northern) were analyzed at 12 microsatellite loci. present day featured a major demographic expansion until the introduction of zebu and commercial breeds into the Americas ~170 years ago, triggering a drastic Ne contraction. All loci were polymorphic with the number of alleles per locus ranging from 4 to 20. High levels Using the NeS approach provided insights into short-term complexity in population of genetic diversity were found over the three subpopulations. Mean values of observed/ change, undetected using ABC, and depicting a decrease/expansion episode at the end of expected heterozygosities were 0.818/0.752, 0.877/0.753 and 0.848/0.765 respectively in the ABC expansion period, as well as several recent fluctuations in Ne and the attainment Southern, Central and Northern subpopulations. We observed a weak but statistically of the current small Ne only towards the end of the 20th century. We detected selection significant genetic differentiation among geographical subpopulations regarding the signatures for tropical adaptation, including, importantly, for the slick hair coat phenotype, values of Fst (Value = 0.028; P= 0.001) and Rst (Value = 0.055; P= 0.001). Significant isolation identifying a new candidate gene (GDNF), as well as novel candidate regions involved in by distance was obtained with the Mantel test. The inbreeding coefficient was negative immune function, nervous and behavioural processes, iron metabolism and adaptation to suggesting an outbreeding but not significant in each subpopulation. Analysis of genetic new feeding conditions. The outcomes from this study will help in future-proofing farm diversity of juveniles in comparison to adults will confirm later the possible existence animal genetic resources (FAnGR) by providing molecular tools that allow selection for of inbreeding or not since only adults have been studied. In addition, the occurrence of improved cattle performance, resilience and welfare under climate change. geographical genetic differentiation at countryside involves those natural subpopulations to be conserved in situ in their geographical zones. Therefore, it is required to conserve a representative gene pool in a protected area of each geographical zone.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 318 319

S13-P01 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY S13-P02 – TROPICAL TREE ALLOMETRY THE IMPORTANCE OF TREE ALLOMETRY FOR LOCAL-SCALE EVOLUTION OF ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS OF DRY TROPICAL VARIATION IN ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS FOREST IN THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF MADAGASCAR IN RELATION WITH HUMAIN ACTIVITIES Grace Jopaul Loubota Panzou1, Ted Feldpausch2, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury3, Eric Forni3, Jean-Louis Doucet1, Joël Loumeto4, Adeline Fayolle (speaker)1 Tian Li1,2, Lantotiana Michel Eric Randriamanana3, Harimalalanirina Fabriella Camélias Rasoamanantenaniaina3, Nomenjanahary Zo Tahina3, Roger Edmond3, Faramalala Miadana3, 1Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, BE, [email protected] Hary Jeannoda Vololoniaina3, Annette Hladik4, Riera Bernard1,2 2University of Exter, Exeter, UK 3CIRAD, Montpellier, FR 1Mécanismes adaptatifs & évolution, Paris, FR, [email protected] 4University of Marien Ngouabi, Brazzaville, CG 2Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, FR 3Université d’Antananarivo, Département Biologie et Ecologie Végétale, Antananarivo, MG Aboveground biomass (AGB) plays a critical role in determining 4UMR 7206. Éco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, MNHN, CNRS et Université Paris-7., Paris, FR the long-term dynamics of carbon in tropical forests. Consequently, understanding what factors are important in controlling AGB in The dynamics of tropical dry forest woody plants was studied tropical forests has major implications for projecting the terrestrial in the protected area of Antrema, North-west Madagascar. Stem carbon stocks, in the context of an increasingly uncertain future. density, basal area, and above-ground biomass were estimated from two large permanent censuses of 3 plots, in the forests of Badrala, In this study, we aimed to explore the local-scale AGB variation in Ankoririaka and Ambanjabe. They were established on contrasting two forest sites in northern Congo, representative of contrasted locations and censused three times at Badrala, first in 2014, then forest types under the same climate but growing on vastly different soils and parent again in 2016 and another time in 2017 together with Ankoririka and material (quartzite substrate for CIB and sandstone substrate for Mokabi). Tree diameter Ambanjabe forest. was measured in 36 permanent forest plots of 1-ha in each site, and tree allometry (total tree height, height of the first branch and crown dimensions) was measured on a subsample of Mean stem density was 462 stems ha-1 in 2014, 460 stems ha-1 in 2016, 466 stems ha-1 in 2017 18 plots of 1-ha in each site. Allometric data were available for a total of 2202 trees (1040 in Badrala forest, with the basal area 11.9 m2 in 2014, 12.2 m2 in 2016, 13.3 m2 in 2017. Stem for CIB and 1162 for Mokabi) covering a large range of diameters (10-200 cm). We first mortality rate ranged between 0.65 % and 1.25 % y-1. In this plot, stem density increases developed site-specific allometric models that were used to estimate AGB at plot level. We slightly over the study period, on the contrary, the cut of stem has increased over the years. then explore the determinants of AGB variation at plot level using multiple regressions and In Ankoririka and Ambanjabe forests, stems density was 392 per ha-1 and 420 per ha-1, with mixed linear models. the basal area 6.73 m2 and 11,26 m2 in 2017, and in recent years 7 trees were cut in Ankoririka and 28 trees in Ambanjabe, which represent 10 % of total basal area. The difference in stem For a given diameter, trees tended to be taller and to have deeper crown in the Celtis forest density, basal area and stem cut is consistent with the hypothesis of different typologies of the CIB (rich soils), while they tended to have larger crown in the Manilkara forest of the of pedology and the distance between villages and Doany (sacred place for local people). Mokabi (sandy soils). Similar trends were reported within species for the sixteen species Even though in a protected area, the dynamic of forest suffers still a strong influence by shared by both sites, suggesting an environmental control of tree allometry. We found the ethnic people. that AGB strongly varied between the two forest sites, with greater AGB per hectare in the Celtis forest of the CIB site. Within-site AGB variation was positively related to basal area, Merian Award Applicant though between-site AGB variation was determined by tree allometry (height-diameter and crown allometries). These results have strong implications for forest biomass and carbon monitoring.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 320 321

S14-P01 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY S14-P02 – TROPICAL FOREST NUTRIENT ECOLOGY EFFECTS OF MODERATE NUTRIENT ADDITION ON SODIUM IN A TROPICAL MONTANE FOREST IN SOUTH TREE PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES. THE EXAMPLE OF ECUADOR: DEMAND OF PHYLLOSPHERE MICROORGANISMS ALCHORNEA LOJAENSIS IN SOUTHERN ECUADOR AND EFFECTS ON DECOMPOSITION

Susanne Spannl1, Achim Bräuning1,2, Erwin Beck1 Tobias Fabian1, Andre Velescu1, Tessa Camenzind2, Matthias C. Rillig2, Wolfgang Wilcke1

1University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, DE, [email protected] 1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe, DE, 2University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, DE [email protected] 2Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Biology, Berlin, DE In the humid tropics, availability of macro-nutrients like N and P is assumed to be the limiting growth factor for trees. Therefore, stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) in tree rings are Sodium is not an essential nutrient for plants and its effects on biota are mainly discussed in suitable proxies for plant physiological responses and functioning under changing view of salinity in arid ecosystems. However, current studies in tropical forests investigate environmental conditions, since those are susceptible for nutrient modifications. the hypothesis of Na being a limiting element in decomposition, thus affecting the carbon cycle. Na limitation of soil fauna may occur when Na inputs from the atmosphere and Within the framework of an ongoing Ecuadorian NUrient Manipulation EXperiment rock-derived Na concentrations in soils are low. Furthermore, Na might also be required (NUMEX), intra-annual variations of δ13C were combined with microscopic thin sections, by organisms of the phyllosphere, which might explain observations that deposited Na is cumulative growth rates, wood anatomical structures, light intensity and tree height of the retained in forest canopies. evergreen species Alchornea lojaensis (sample collection in April 2012). In our study on Na limitation in a tropical montane forest on the eastern cordillera of the Andes of South Ecuador, we investigated the hypotheses that (1) the study area is Although this innovate and new approach highlighted the species-specific responses characterized by low Na concentrations because of low atmospheric deposition, (2) soil to changing nutrient availability of nitrogen, it was not possible to detect growth ring organic matter decomposition processes are limited by Na restrictions of faunal and fungal boundaries utilizing intra-annual δ13C signals; as clear date marker points within the activity, and (3) Na is retained in the canopy because of Na limitation of microorganisms wood were missing at this time. Therefore, in 2017, same measurements were repeated in the phyllosphere. again to improve and expand our knowledge about growth mechanisms of A. lojaensis. Ecosystem Na fluxes have been monitored in a 9 ha-large catchment under an undisturbed A comparison of these two studies will be presented to assess the effects on materialistic montane forest since 1998. Results reveal low Na concentrations in the organic layer and manifestations of tree physiological activity after almost 10 years of continued nutrient the mineral soil. Lower Na fluxes with throughfall+stemflow than with bulk deposition fertilization. indicate Na retention in the canopy. Furthermore, Na input to the soil was higher than Na fluxes with litter leachate, suggesting Na retention in the organic layer in most of the 15 Merian Award Applicant observation years. To explore the role of phyllosphere microorganisms in Na retention, we conducted an experiment with fresh leaves having different degrees of phyllosphere cover and sprayed them with a NaCl solution containing 1 mg L-1 Na. Increasing phyllosphere cover led to enhanced Na retention, which was more pronounced on understory tree leaves than on leaves of the upper canopy. Effects of Na limitation on decomposition were tested by degradation of cellulose filter 2 papers soaked in different Na solutions (NaCl, NaH2PO4, Na SO4). Differential effects on soil microfauna and fungi were tested in a litterbag experiment set up in a factorial design. Our results revealed enhanced decomposition rates following Na additions in the presence of soil fauna. These results suggest a potential role of Na in regulating ecosystem processes.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 322 323

S15-P01 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT S15-P02 – ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT ECOLOGY OF BIRD COMMUNITIES ALONG AN ELEVATIONAL WOODY PLANTS ARE FLESHY-FRUITED IN THE LOWLANDS: TROPICAL GRADIENT IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS CONTROL FRUIT TYPES ON A HIGH-ELEVATION OCEANIC ISLAND Katerina Sam1,2, Bonny Koane3, Vojtech Novotny1,2 Albert Sébastien1, Olivier Flores1, Dominique Strasberg1 1Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, CZ, [email protected] 2University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Ceske Budejovice, CZ 1UMR PVBMT, Université de la Réunion, Saint-Pierre, RE, [email protected] 3The New Guinea BInatang Research Centre, Madang, PG We assessed the importance of abiotic factors in explaining the Elevational gradients continue to provide an attractive setting spatial distribution of fleshy-fruited (FF) and dry-fruited (DF) for biodiversity studies and serve as a heuristic tool and natural woody species on La Réunion (Mascarene archipelago). We used experiment in the study of community ecology. Here we present an historical dataset of 429 vegetation plots surveyed in well- robust quantitative data on bird communities along a complete preserved, native habitats between 50 and 3000 m. We assigned fruit undisturbed rainforest elevational gradient. Our aim was to describe types to 213 woody species. We calculated the FF and DF species bird communities in detail and inspect various aspects of their richness, and the proportion of FF species (pFF). We used general ecology and patterns along the gradient. linear models to measure the relationships between these response variables and abiotic factors (elevation, climatic and topographic variables), controlling for Mt Wilhelm gradient is located in the Central Cordillera of Papua New Guinea, spanning spatial autocorrelation. Phylogenetic signal and endemism were assessed to disentangle from the lowland floodplains of the Ramu river (200 m) to the tree line (3700 m). We collected assembly rules along environmental gradients. bird community data at eight sites (500 m elevational increment) during five independent surveys - in dry, wet seasons and extremely dry seasons (El Nino event). We used point Elevation was always the best predictor. pFF decreased from 82 % at 50 m to 0 % above 2350 counts, mist-netting and random walks throughout the area to survey birds. We divided m. Precipitation of the driest month had also a highly significant effect. pFF were higher all recorded birds (more than 40,000 individuals comprising 248 species) into five feeding on the windward where there was no precipitation seasonality. Topographic variables guilds. We examined patterns of species richness, density, range size and distribution of had an overall weak influence on response variables. Strong environmental filtering was birds. We further describe patterns in functional diversity and seasonal movements of highlighted at high elevations where single-island endemic DF plants dominated. The birds. striking relationship between elevation and pFF suggests a strong bottom-up control in communities, i.e. the availability of resources controls the fruit type composition. Data indicate that species richness and abundance of birds is highest at the lowest elevations Biogeographic constraints may mostly influence the composition of fruit types at high and decreases steeply for all birds together and for frugivores. However, the diversity and elevations because (1) the sources of preadapted FF lineages are scarce and distantly abundances of insectivores remains constant until 1700 m a.s.l. and then decreases with located, and (2) current FF lineages on La Réunion might lack the evolutionary potential to increasing elevation. The patterns in frugivore-insectivores and insectivore-nectarivores adapt to harsh high-elevation conditions. Finally, because fruit types are closely related to are more similar to those of insectivores rather than frugivores. We observe overall highest seed dispersal strategies, these results show that these strategies change radically along species turn-over at mid-elevations (between 1200-1700 m), and highest abundances of elevational gradients. In an island where all large frugivorous vertebrates are now extinct, insectivorous birds at 700-1700m. Extreme droughts during of El Nino even in 2015 had this raises the question of the future of FF species-rich communities. significant effect on bird communities, especially on frugivorous birds at lower elevations. Finally, we discuss malaria parasitemia in birds along the elevational gradient, and their elevational migrations.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 324 325

S16-P01 – ECOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF TROPICAL BRYOPHYTES S17-P01 – MANIPULATIONS OF TROPICAL FOOD WEBS EPIPHYTIC BRYOPHYTES RESPOND TO CHANGES IN FOREST EFFECTS OF MACROCONSUMERS ON INVERTEBRATE STRUCTURE FEEDING GROUPS ACROSS A GRADIENT OF VEGETATION LOSS IN TROPICAL KARST STREAMS Tinja Pitkämäki1, Johanna Toivonen2, Sanna Huttunen1 Elaine Corrêa1, Fabio Roque1, Ryan Utz2, Augusto Ribas1, Bruno Martínez1, Franco Souza1 1Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, Turku, FI, [email protected] 2Department of Biology, Turku, FI 1Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, BR, [email protected] 2Falk School of Sustainability, Chatham University, Gibsonia, US Increasing human impact threatens the forest biota of tropical Andes. The loss and degradation of forest habitat have been most dramatic Species loss resulting from human activities tends to in cloud forests (CFs) which, due to their exceptional biodiversity disproportionately affect consumers at the top of trophic networks, and valuable ecosystem services provided, have become a priority resulting in changes to community structure and ecosystem target for conservation. Both the plant diversity and ecosystem functioning across aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Few function in CFs are linked to high epiphyte loads. In particular, the studies have simultaneously and experimentally addressed the extensive cover of epiphytic bryophytes on tree trunks and branches effects of native vegetation depletion and macroconsumer loss on is a distinguishing feature of CFs. Previous studies have already invertebrate food webs in streams. demonstrated changes in epiphyte assemblages after disturbances such as logging. As full protection is not always an option, there is a need for sustainable management strategies to The aim of this study was to investigate how native riparian forest loss affects the prevent biodiversity loss and sustain ecosystem function: understanding the relationships interaction of macroconsumers such as fish and shrimp on composition of benthic between environmental variables and community composition of epiphytic bryophytes is invertebrate functional groups in tropical karst streams in Central-West Brazil. We the first step towards this goal. experimentally excluded macroconsumers from the benthic zone of seven streams that reflected a continuous gradient from 20 % to 100 % of riparian forest cover. We conducted a vegetation survey in primary and secondary cloud forests of Northern Peru to study the effects of forest structure on epiphytic bryophytes. In the studied forests, tree Across sites, the absence of macroconsumers appeared to promote an increase of density and basal area turned out to be good indicators of the degree of anthropogenic abundance of scraper (e.g. Leptophlebiidae) and predator (e.g. Tanypodinae and Odonata) disturbance. The biomass of epiphytic bryophytes decreased as the forests became more invertebrates, but did not alter collector or total invertebrate abundance. Additionally, the disturbed. Associated changes in the community composition suggest that communities effect of native vegetation loss on trophic interaction was variable and was site-specific. respond to altered microclimatic conditions following logging. Results are presented for Our results demonstrate the impact of native vegetation loss on the trophic interaction both taxonomic diversity and growth-form based functional diversity. of macroconsumers and invertebrate functional groups in tropical karstic streams. Such potential top-down effects have been poorly studied in tropical karstic streams to date.

Financial support: CAPES, PELD Planalto da Bodoquena: redes de interações em longo Prazo, CAPES-COFECUB and FUNDECT/CAPES.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 326 327

S18-P01 – TROPICAL NETWORKS S20-P01 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME THE ROLE OF UV REFLECTANCE IN THE POLLINATION DYNAMICS AND DIVERSITY OF A SUBTROPICAL FOREST SYSTEM OF HYPOXIS CAMEROONIANA ON MT. CAMEROON IN FUSHAN, TAIWAN: SIMULATION APPROACH VIA THE INDIVIDUAL-BASED TROLL MODEL Yannick Klomberg1,2, Raissa Dywou Kouede3, Michael Bartoš1,4, Robert Tropek1,5, Eric Fokam3, Štěpán Janeček1,4 E-Ping Rau1, Jérôme Chave1

1Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, CZ, 1Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique, Toulouse, FR, [email protected] [email protected] 2Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NL A major challenge in ecology is to understand processes that 3Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Buea, CM drive the high diversity and dynamics of tropical and subtropical 4Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, CZ forests, many of which are subjected to frequent cyclones. These 5Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, CZ episodic climatic disturbances have strong impact on tree growth and survival, but their effects on community structure have not Ultraviolet (UV) light reflectance has long been believed to play a role in predicting plant been extensively studied. Simulation with mechanistic models pollinators. UV reflection patterns on flowers act as specific guides to the flower or on a integrating plant functional traits represent a powerful tool to this smaller scale as nectar guides. The UV pattern is expected to alter the behaviour of insects end. and influence plant reproductive success. In this study, we applied individual-based TROLL model to a subtropical forest with We focused on the role of UV reflectance in the pollination of the pyrophytic species frequent typhoon visits, parametrizing with functional trait and climate data. We used Hypoxis camerooniana, a plant with UV reflecting petals on Mt. Cameroon. We filmed 54 both local climate data from meteorological stations and global re-analysis climate data flowering plants from opening till closing of the flower in the montane grasslands around from CRU-NCEP database, and evaluated their respective performance. We found that Mann Spring (± 2250 m), resulting in over 1000 hours of footage. Four treatments of UV global climate data showed less variability in precipitation and slightly lower temperature manipulation were applied, including the full or partial application of UV absorbing cream than local climate data, but the simulation results were not greatly affected by the type of and related controls treated with neutral cream. Moreover, we filmed non-treated flowers to climate data used. Results after simulations over 500 years showed adequate estimations see the effect of our experimental approach. We observed visitor’s behaviour and checked of forest structure (maximum height and biomass), underestimation of the number of small the interaction(s) with reproductive organs to distinguish potential pollinators. After trees and overestimation the number of large trees; species evenness was also largely recording, pistils were collected for analysis of germinated pollen tubes to test pollination overestimated. These discrepancies suggested the potential importance of typhoons in effectiveness. shaping forest structure and diversity.

Preliminary results show a general decrease of visitation rates in treated flowers, with UV In the future, we will attempt to improve the model by developing modules that capture blocked flowers showing the lowest visitation rates. Flies are the notable exception, since how disturbance events may influence forest dynamics, comparing across sites (Luquillo, they alone favour control treated flowers. Diurnal visitation patterns are not affected by BCI, etc.) with different climatic disturbance intensity, and incorporating spatial treatment. Night visitation was rare due to nyctinasty, the night visitor community was heterogeneity, in hopes of improving the generality of the model and providing fundamental mainly formed by harvestmen and crickets. Most visits occurred in the morning hours. Day understandings on processes shaping tropical forests. visitation was dominated by bees, with the second largest group being flies. Based on the pollen tube count we can conclude that treatment did not influence pollination success, since only trivial differences between all treatments and natural control were found

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 328 329

S20-P02 – TROPICAL FORESTS IN SPACE AND TIME S22-P01 – REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO SIMULATING SEED DISPERSAL TO REPRODUCE PAST TOWARDS LANDSCAPE SCALE METRICS OF ENSO-INDUCED DYNAMICS AND DISTRIBUTION OF AFRICAN TROPICAL TREE MORTALITY IN PRIMARY AND DISTURBED TROPICAL TREES FORESTS VIA REMOTE SENSING

Marie Dury1, Olivier J. Hardy2, Jérémy Migliore2,3, Alexandra-Jane Henrot1, Franck Trolliet1, Alain Doreen Boyd1, Liam Clark1, Giles Foody1, David Burslem2, Christopher Philipson3, Geertje van der Hambuckers4, Anne-Marie Lézine3, Joy Singarayer5, Louis François1 Heijden1, Catherine Waite1, Mark Cutler4

1Unit for Modelling of Climate and Biogeochemical Cycles, UR-SPHERES, University of Liège, Liège, 1University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, [email protected] BE, [email protected] 2University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK 2Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, BE 3ETH Zürich, ETH Zürich, CH 3Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat LOCEAN, Sorbonne Université, Paris, FR 4University of Dundee, Dundee, UK 4Behavioural Biology Unit, UR-SPHERES, University of Liège, Liège, BE 5Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK A commonly reported impact of drought affecting tropical forests is an increase in tree. Any loss of trees from drought has a significant impact upon ecosystem services, particularly Climate change and human pressure threaten species richness of African tropical forests. with respect to carbon dynamics and projected changes to the species composition of Understanding how the past climate changes have shaped the current distribution and forests as drought frequencies change. However, this critical factor in determining how composition of African rainforests can certainly help to the ecosystem conservation in the resilient forests are to short term drought (whether driven by ENSO or other factors) is future. This topic is addressed in the framework of the multi-disciplinary AFRIFORD project highly variable across both time and space, and poorly studied in logged forests in (Genetic and palaeoecological signatures of African rainforest dynamics: pre-adapted to particular. change?). The CARAIB dynamic vegetation model is applied at the level of representative African tropical tree species to reconstruct their past and present distributions in equatorial In this paper findings are presented from the NERC-funded STEED (Spatio-TEmporal Africa. To reproduce fully population dynamics, the results of the vegetation model are Dynamics of Forest Response to ENSO Drought) project which has used plots, UAV and combined with a seed dispersal model. satellite observations of Bornean tropical forests to measure ENSO-induced mortality. We show that there remain significant challenges in analysing these data not least because First, we simulate with the CARAIB DVM the changes over time in the potential distribution the relative youth of higher spatial resolution sensors (e.g. WorldView-3) means that ‘best of tree species studied in AFRIFORD taking competition between species into account. practice’ has yet to be established for how tree mortality, for instance, is best detected using From Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to present time, the vegetation model is forced with these data.

the 1-kyr snapshot outputs of the HadCM3 climate model, statistically downscaled at a spatial resolution of 0.5° and bias-corrected. The calculated distributions are essentially Furthermore, while the use of imagery taken from multiple sensors at multiple times is able in equilibrium with climate, except for small delay times associated with biomass growth. to elucidate forest response to perturbations (i.e., drought) at multiple spatial scales, factors These distributions are also compared directly with the potential (no dispersal limitation such as cloud cover present significant barriers. While it is possible to select imagery with either) distributions obtained from species distribution modelling (MaxENT) for the same limited cloud cover, this is rarely consistent across time. Work has been done to overcome set of tree species and with the same climate forcing. Then, to simulate tree species under these issues in other forest environments but very little in tropical environments. limitation by both climate and seed dispersal, we present preliminary results obtained Nonetheless, initial findings from the STEED project indicate that it is possible to identify with the dispersal module. Tests about the sensitivity of species dynamics to climate and incidences of tree mortality from imagery and this paper postulates how remote sensing competition are performed. Species dispersal is simulated on a sub-grid at 100 m resolution might be best employed for future ENSO events to ensure a fuller understanding of the from the LGM refugia identified by the DVM. The dispersal capacities are dependent on impact of drought across time and space. species productivity and survival simulated by the DVM under past climate conditions.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 330 331

S22-P02 – REMOTE SENSING FOREST RESPONSE TO ENSO S23-P01 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODEL FOR A MICRO-ENDEMIC CHALLENGES AND RISKS OF BUSHMEAT EXPLOITATION AT HUMMINGBIRD WITH VEGETATION INDICES AS A PREDICTOR KISANGANI REGION (DRC) OF HABITAT STRUCTURE Casimir Nebesse1, Guy-Crispin Gembu (speaker)1, André Malekani1, Olivier Basa1, Dudu Akaibe1, Edwin Zarate1,2, Pedro X. Astudillo1, David C. Siddons1,2, Roland Brandl2, Nina Farwig2, Jörg Erik Verheyen2 Bendix2 1Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, CD, [email protected] 1Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, EC, [email protected] 2Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, BE 2Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, DE Bushmeat exploitation in Kisangani area (Thsopos Province) is Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are very important tools to an increasingly activity, because it developed in the shadows predict geographic distribution of biodiversity via ecological niche and almost out of control. There are signs of the emergence of a modelling mainly using climatic information. The most used thriving business in Kisangani City. As part of the MRV project, information is data from the WorldClim Global Climate database. we conducted a study on bushmeat exploitation in the different However, the spatial resolution of these data is at best 1 km2 and markets of Kisangani City. interpolated, useful for relatively homogeneous areas. In areas such as Ecuador, bisected by the Andes mountain range, the climatic The study allowed us to measure the impact of hunting on the various variations are notable over short distances and ecosystems and wild species exploited and sold as bushmeat. The results of this work show that Kisangani landscapes also change abruptly. region is losing biodiversity through commercial bushmeat harvesting activities. At least To improve these predictions, it would be appropriate to work with finer scale climatic 45.65 % of bushmeat encountered in different markets of Kisangani are partially protected information, which is not always available for the areas of interest. For this reason, we species; 21, 73 % combine fully protected and unprotected species traded. Unfortunately, opted to model finer scale variation using Landsat remote sensing images as a proxy for this exploitation is irrational and remains poorly controlled as a result of weak governance, habitat variation rather than using climatic variation. We used texture analysis of NDVI the widespread lack of enforcement of laws and regulations that have all reinforced, to and NDWI indices as a proxy for habitat structure. We focused on southern Ecuador across varying degrees, over-hunting. the known distribution range of a micro-endemic hummingbird (Metallura baroni) found in páramo and shrub in high areas of the Andes, and developed an SDM using MAXENT. The This high demand for bushmeat increase poaching in the rural areas of Kisangani City results were promising (AUC = 0.957) and can be mapped to 1:50K, providing a cartographic through the use of homemade guns (calibre 12) and other prohibited hunting animals. tool for better planning and direct conservation decisions at a local scale. This hunting is practiced in an unsustainable and less selective way on the wildlife would in the long run the risks of: (1) local disappearance of certain large Mammals (ecological stakes); (2) impoverishment of the rural populations which practice the hunting and the reduction of incomes in their households (economic stakes), and (3) the difficult survival for households of hunters and bush meat sellers (social issue).

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 332 333

S23-P02 – REHABILITATION OF TROPICAL FOREST LANDSCAPES S25-P01 – HUMAN-MODIFIED TROPICAL FORESTS WHERE HAS THE PEAT GONE? DETERMINING REGIONAL- IMPACTS OF LOGGING GAPS ON SOIL MICROBIAL DIVERSITY SCALE CARBON LOSSES USING INSAR FROM TROPICAL AND FUNCTION IN BORNEO PEATLANDS Samuel Robinson1,2, Dafydd Elias2, Niall McNamara2, Nick Ostle1, Rob Griffiths3 Martha Ledger1, Sofie Sjögersten1, Andrew Sowter2, David Large3, Chris Evans4, Keith Morrison5 1Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK, [email protected] 1Department of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, 2Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster, UK [email protected] 3Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, UK 2Geomatic Ventures, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK 3Department of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Tropical forests provide a vital global carbon sink, resulting from complex biogeochemical 4Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor, UK processes driven by plant-soil interactions. Current rapid land-use change threatens to 5Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK alter the capacity of tropical forest soils to store carbon, with over 30 % of forest cover in Borneo being lost since the 1970’s due to logging and conversion to oil palm plantation. The 80 % of peatland in Indonesia and Malaysia are now drained for selective removal of large canopy-forming trees in addition to creation of logging roads production of pulp wood and palm oil. Associated increased peat dramatically affects forest structure, vegetation community and microclimate. Subsequent decomposition and large-scale forest fires are now significant alteration in plant inputs to the soil has downstream consequences for soil microbial contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. However, carbon communities and function. losses from these processes remain poorly quantified as assessing the impact of peatland drainage across SE Asia is extraordinarily Key foci for this research are to investigate linkages between structure of human-made difficult due to the challenging nature and scale of the environment. logging gaps, vegetation and microclimate/environmental characteristics, and soil microbial diversity, community structure and function (carbon and nutrient cycling) Space-based platforms offer the opportunity for regular and efficient pan-regional within logged-over forest in lowland dipterocarp rainforest across the Sabah region of monitoring. A transformative development in satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture northern Malaysian Borneo. 6 study plots were established inside logging gaps across two Radar (InSAR), a technique that measures surface motion, has the potential to solve sites in degraded forest (within the NERC BALI Project disturbance gradient) and sampled this problem. A new “intermittent small baseline subset” (ISBAS) modelling technique for: (1) soil chemical, physical and biological (microbial diversity through next-generation developed at Nottingham, provides excellent coverage across almost all land surfaces sequencing) properties; (2) gap size and shape (canopy cover, aerial photography and irrespective of ground cover. This enables long term measurement of peatland surface LiDAR); (3) vegetation cover and height, and (4) environmental and climate characteristics motion across whole catchments, regions and countries. Importantly, the ISBAS technique (air temperature, humidity, soil temperature and moisture content) in addition to installing is able to determine surface deformation under tropical forest canopy using C-band InSAR longer-term environmental data loggers. Sampling was repeated in paired co-located data. This enables continuously monitoring of surface motion ranging from 0.1 – 40 cm/yr control plots under adjacent closed-canopy forest for comparison. Metrics will be tested

at spatial scales ≥90x90m. Field-based subsidence measurements are a common approach between gap and forest plots, as well as spatial variation within gaps and across sites. for assessing carbon losses from peatlands. Thus, space-based InSAR-derived motions These data will also be used to inform ex-situ soil incubation studies investigating soil should directly relate to carbon loss, allowing pan-regional assessment of carbon loss from function (respiration) under controlled temperature and drought manipulations to provide otherwise inaccessible tropical peatlands. understanding of potential atmospheric feedbacks under future climate scenarios. This project aims to determine whether rate of subsidence of the peat surface measured by InSAR is a proxy for rate of carbon loss in tropical peatlands in SE Asia. To achieve this, we will combine InSAR and field measurements of subsidence, with peat carbon stock data using statistical regression modelling techniques to validate the use of subsidence as a proxy for carbon loss. This project will deliver, for the first time, regional C loss rates from tropical peatlands in SE Asia following land use change.

Merian Award Applicant

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 334 335

S28-P01 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION S28-P02 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION SUPPLEMENTARY FOOD ENHANCES THE NUMBER OF MULTIPLE-TAXA RESPONSES TO LAND USE CHANGES IN A BREEDING PAIRS IN A CAPE VULTURE COLONY BRAZILIAN SAVANNA LANDSCAPE

Dana Schabo1, Sonja Heuner1, Michael Neethling1, Sascha Rösner1,2, Roger Uys3, Nina Farwig Clarissa Araújo Martins1, Maurício Silveira1, Francisco Valente Neto1, Marciel Elio Rodrigues1, (speaker)1 Claudenice Faxina Zucca1, Erich Arnold Fischer1, Olivier Pays2, Pierre-Cyril Renaud2, Fabio Oliveira Roque1 1University of Marburg, Marburg, DE, [email protected] 2pixeldiversity GmbH, DE 1Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, UFMS, Campo Grande, MS, BR, 3Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, ZA [email protected] 2LETG-Angers, Université d’Angers, Angers, FR Vultures provide important ecosystem services, as they dispose carrion, maintain energy flows and prevent the spread of diseases. Processes underlying gradients of biodiversity are a fundamental At the same time, the number of vultures is declining worldwide yet unresolved topic in ecology. Intensification of land uses cause due to numerous threats, such as poisoning and collisions with species loss but may also change the phylogenetic structure of power-lines as well as the lack of adequate food sources. Vulture the communities. Understanding how land use changes in the restaurants, i.e. supplementary feeding stations, have become a tropical regions affect phylogenetic structure of communities widespread conservation tool aimed at supporting vulture colonies. is useful for setting regulatory limits and defining conservation However, the effect of vulture restaurants on population dynamics action. Community phylogenetic structure results in three basic of vulture species is still poorly understood. patterns: clustered, overdispersed and random. Based on classic ideas, phylogenetic clustering occurs when communities comprised of ecologically similar In our study, we used a 12-year dataset from a breeding colony of the Cape Vulture Gyps species are present at the same place and time as a result of environmental filtering, coprotheres and a nearby vulture restaurant in South Africa to investigate the effect whereas phylogenetic overdispersion results when limiting similarity occurs between of supplementary food on population dynamics and breeding success. We found a closely-related, and therefore competing, species. Within random phylogenetic structure, significantly positive effect of supplementary food during the nest-building stage on the the species tend to co-occur regardless of their phylogenetic relatedness. number of breeding pairs. However, breeding success, i.e. the proportion of successful nests, was not affected by supplementary food during the incubation and rearing stage. Our Our hypothesis is that as the percentage of native vegetation cover decreases in a results indicate that carefully managed vulture restaurants might stabilize vulture colonies landscape, the phylogenetic clustering pattern of the communities would increase due and can therefore aid vulture conservation. to the loss of phylogenetic related species. Using the Net Relatedness Index (NRI), we evaluated the phylogenetic community structure for birds, bat, aquatic macroinvertebrates and dragonflies along a gradient of loss of vegetation cover in a Cerrado hotspot region, Brazil. Our results did not show an evident pattern of increasing phylogenetic clustering pattern of the communities as the percentage of native vegetation cover decreases. There is no congruence of patterns in the response of the groups to the loss of native vegetation cover. Apparently, groups can respond idiosyncratically to land use.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 336 337

S28-P03 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION S28-P04 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION DEVELOPING LONG-TERM MONITORING OF NATURAL AREAS A NEW TOOL FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE GABONESE FOR A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE: STUDY CASE OF LA FLORA: THE THREATENED PLANT SPECIES OF GABON REUNION WEBSITE

Claudine Ah-Peng1, Olivier Flores1, Vincent Legros1, Benoit Lequette2, Jacques Rochat1, Mathieu Nicolas Texier1,2,3, Tariq Stevart2,3,4, Ehoarn Bidault3,5, Peter B. Phillipson3,5 Rouget3, Nicholas Wilding (speaker)1, Dominique Strasberg1 1Université Libre de Bruxelles, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology (EBE), Bruxelles, BE, 1University of La Réunion, Saint-Pierre, RE, [email protected] [email protected] 2Parc National de La Réunion, La Plaine-des-Palmistes, RE 2Université Libre de Bruxelles, Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique Africaine, Bruxelles, BE 3CIRAD, Saint-Pierre, RE 3Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa & Madagascar Department, St. Louis, US 4Jardin Botanique de Meise, Meise, BE La Réunion island, in the Mascarenes, has been recognized as a 5Institut de Systématique, Évolution, et Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris, World Heritage site for its Piton, Cirques and Remparts since 2010. Paris, FR The site, coinciding with the core zone of La Réunion National Park, represents 100000 ha, equivalent to 40 % of the island. These The concept of High Conservation Value (HCV) was developed by the Forest Stewardship dramatic landscapes of rugged terrain, impressive escarpments, Council to support sustainable forest management. It provides a standard that many forested gorges are dominated by three cliff-rimmed cirques and two Gabonese logging companies have employed to certify their production. The concept volcanoes ― a dormant massif forming the highest peak, Piton des is also used for the certification of sustainable palm groves and can also be directly Neiges (3069 m), and in the eastern part of the island lies the very transposed to the mining sector, two activities that have been expanding rapidly in recent active volcano, the Piton de la Fournaise (2632 m). The island harbours a wide variety of years in the country. In order to define priority sites for conservation, and thus to guide natural habitats (tropical montane cloud forests, subalpine shrublands, lowland forests, dry actions to ensure the conservation of the flora, taxonomic knowledge and risk of extinction forest…), now all remnant in the Mascarene archipelago, that host high levels of endemism assessments are essential prerequisites for the application of the HCV approach (under for both flora and fauna. Thereby, La Réunion is the most significant contributor towards criterion 1). However, for plants, only a small fraction of the flora has been assessed and a conservation of terrestrial biodiversity in the Mascarene islands. list of threatened species has not been available.

The Divines project (FEDER) aims at developing innovative methods for characterizing and To help remedy this shortcoming, we have developed a website, with a financial support of monitoring terrestrial biodiversity in the long term for conservation managers to ensure Prince Albert II de Monaco Foundation and WWF, to present the threatened plant species of the protection of this world heritage site. In this poster, a description of the goals, actions Gabon (http://www.tropicos.org/Project/Threatened_Plants_Gabon). The website is hosted and preliminary results of the DIVINES project will be described from gene to ecosystem as a project on Missouri Botanical Garden’s Tropicos platform and aims to provide all levels. stakeholders using the HCV concept or requiring the identification of endangered species, with information on threatened plant species present in Gabon. More specifically, for each species, it provides: a brief description; documents its phenology, distribution and habitat; proposes its preliminary conservation status according to the IUCN Red List criteria and cites the main literature associated with this species. Photos of live plants and/or scans of reference herbarium samples enrich these data, as well as a distribution map of known specimens. To date, 58 species have already been assessed and are presented on the website but more than 500 species have also been identified as potentially threatened and are currently under assessment.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 338 339

S28-P05 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION S28-P06 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION BAT HUNTING BODES HUMAN AND FOREST HEALTH THREAT ECOLOGICAL MODELLING OF AGGREGATION OF PARASITE IN CONGO BASIN RAINFOREST ACANTHOGYRUS SP. IN WILD NILE TILAPIA (OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS L.) Prescott Musaba1, Guy-Crispin Gembu1, Erik Verheyen2, Dudu Akaibe1, André Malekani1, Claude Mande1 Dana Vi Husana1, Jomar Rabajante1, Vachel Gay Paller1

1Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, CD, [email protected] 1University of the Philippines, Los Banos, PH, [email protected] 2Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, BE Parasite aggregation is a naturally occurring phenomenon whose implications in ecological Large and small mammals have been used as main animal protein studies range from coinfection dynamics of the parasites to stability of population source and even income source for many urban and rural families in dynamics and their effects on host community health. While several studies mainly the African lowland rainforest regions, like the Democratic Republic attribute overdispersion to differences in host susceptibility and aggregation of infective of the Congo (DRC). In the Tshopo Province (DRC), where the cattle stages in the environment, other possible factors include direct reproduction in hosts, and farming is not practiced, bat hunting is obviously one of the most accumulation with host trophic level or age. profitable commercial activities since their consumption have been increased among households with low incomes. Here, we present a discrete time model that shows the relationship between the age of the host and the degree of parasite aggregation. The model includes two parameters which can While bats provide an undeniable ecosystem service, they have nevertheless been proven be adjusted to fit different cases. One parameter is the force of infection which would vary the multi-host for human and wildlife pathogenic agent. This research aims to present for different host age groups while the other parameter represents the decrease of parasites cultural and socio-economic broad overview of bat dealers and consumers perception. due to treatment. Although the model is designed in the context of Acanthogyrus sp. in various age groups of Oreochromis niloticus found in Sampaloc Lake, Laguna, Philippines, From 2013 to 2016, overall 3,266 bat specimens were counted in Kisangani markets. it would be applicable for other host-parasite systems as a means of predicting other Among five frugivorous bat species mostly recorded on stands,Eidolon helvum (Kerr, 1792) scenarios related to parasite aggregation. Since the parameters can be adjusted, this serves specimens occurred nearly 92 % of the sold capital. While interviews with households in as an initial study upon which other models with new factors and further improvements Kisangani reveal that the strongest preference for E. helvum bushmeat is related to its flesh can be based on. taste, yet most families are unaware of the health risks associated with this consumption.

According to bat dealers and consumers, bats’ bushmeat activities are spread throughout the year with a peak profitability during high rainfall season (April to September), this leads to enough profit and to provide families with sufficient animal protein. Therefore, these findings imply that bat consumption is associated with human culture and the household incomes plummeting during the last decade. These indicators augur the eventual harmful consequences on human, fauna and the Congo basin rainforest health.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 340 341

S28-P07 – FREE SESSION: TROPICAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF NAEGLERIA FOWLERI UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE IN LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN, LOUISIANA

Samendra Sherchan1

1Tulane university, New Orleans, US, [email protected]

Brackish water samples from Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana were assessed for the presence of pathogenic amoeba Naegleria fowleri, which causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). It is an emerging pathogen and it is expected that the number of cases will increase due to climate change.

In our study, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods were used to determine N. fowleri, E. coli, and enterococci in water collected from Lake Pontchartrain. N. fowleri target sequence was detected in 35.4 % (56/158) of the water samples from ten sites around the lake. Statistically significant positive correlations between N. fowleri concentration and water temperature as well as E. coli (qPCR) were observed. Multiple linear regression (MLR) model shows seasonal factor (summer or winter) has significant effect on the concentration of N. fowleri, E. coli and enterococci (qPCR) concentration. Significant positive relationships between E. coli and enterococci was observed from both qPCR (r = 0.25) and culture based method (r = 0.54). Meanwhile, significant positive correlation between qPCR and culture based methods for enterococci concentration was observed (r = 0.33). In our study, water temperature and E. coli concentration were indicative of N. fowleri concentrations in brackish water environment. Future research is needed to determine whether sediment is a source of N. fowleri found in the water column.

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 342 343

INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS

Society for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Challenges in tropical ecology and conservation - global perspectives 344 345

INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS VENUE - CONFERENCE CENTRE ROOMS - CONFERENCE CENTRE CICSU

 The conference centre at Sorbonne Université (SU, 4 place Jussieu, entrance tour 44) is organized in two close buildings.  The conference centre is located in the Quartier Latin – Paris 5th Arrondissement: International Conference Center Sorbonne Université (CICSU)  To get to the registration room, please enter via “tour 44”, go up the stairs and follow the 4 place Jussieu, ENTRANCE TOUR 44, 75005 Paris signage.

 GPS coordinates: Lat. 48.84641/ Long. 2.35485  First floor in buildings 44-54/44-45 for registrations, the four parallel sessions, coffee breaks, and also side rooms (cloak room, meeting/working rooms GTÖ board room).  Served by many means of public transport: • Metro: lines 7 and 10 – Station “Jussieu”;  Auditorium under the patio 44-55 (basement level) for opening and closing ceremonies, • Bus: lines 24 and 63 – Stop “Université Paris 6”, lines 67 and 89 – Stop “Jussieu” plenary talks, public lecture, and GTÖ membership assembly. Lobby for posters session • Railway station (SNCF station, French National railway company): Gare d’Austerlitz. and coffee breaks. You have then to cross the Jardin des Plantes to reach the campus (7-10 mn). • Free underground parking with 800 places. REGISTRATION DESK

 The registration desk is in Building 44-54, first floor, room 105. Enter the building via “Tour 44”. The registration will be open from Monday, 26th March 16:00 until Thursday, 29th March 14:00.

 Conference fees and additional bookings at the registration desk can be paid in cash and credit card (Master/Visa).

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INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS TALKS & POSTERS INTERNET

 For each oral presentation, there will be a 15 minutes time slot (12 min for the  Wireless lan access will be provided. presentation + 3 min for discussion). Please make sure to respect this time period. The conference room is equipped with a beamer and a Windows computer to allow PowerPoint presentations. It will not be possible to use your own computer. Please MEETING & WORKING ROOMS make sure that your PowerPoint presentation can run on a Windows computer, and prepare a PDF presentation to be sure…  Three working/meeting rooms are available in building 44-44, level 1 (rooms 110, 112 and 114). These rooms are opened to the participants during the week.  The IT desk will be located in the registration office in building 44-54, first floor (room 105). Speakers, please provide memory stick to our staff in charge of uploading presentations at the IT desk at registration time Monday from 16:00. This allows us LUNCH FACILITIES more time in case problems should occur. All the other presentations need to be handed over to the conference IT staff no later than the afternoon preceding the day the presentation is scheduled!

 Please put up your poster at registration time Monday 16:00 to 17:30. Posters should be on display from 18:00 on Monday 26 March 2018 until the end of the Conference on Thursday 29 March 2018, posters should be removed on Thursday by 17:00 as remaining ones will be disposed. Authors are expected to attend their poster whenever possible during breaks to facilitate interaction with participants and at the scheduled time slot Wednesday afternoon. Please consult the conference programme at https:// www.soctropecol-conference.eu/index.php?cat=program. Posters will have to be stuck to the hard top boards. Magnets will be supplied by the organisers. Each poster presentation will be allocated one display board. The dimensions of the poster should be in A0 portrait format (120 cm high and 85 cm wide).

 For further details please check the conference webpage https://www.soctropecol- conference.eu//index.php?cat=talksandposter

CLOAK ROOM  Restaurant L’Ardoise (SU campus, between buildings 25 and 26, level 0), offers two style lunches either in the self-service area the so-called Brasserie or the Restaurant where  We have established a cloak room in the registration office building 44-54, first floor you get served. Opened from 12:00 to 14:00. Payment methods accepted: Cash. (room 105). Please be aware that the university cannot take responsibility for any loss.  You can also find other snacks/café/restaurant around the SU – Jussieu campus.

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PARTNER - TROPIMUNDO TROPIMUNDO is unique in incorporating a 2nd semester (with theoretical courses THE ERASMUS MUNDUS MASTERS COURSE IN TROPICAL and a significant field course) in the tropics in Guadeloupe, France (Université des BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS – TROPIMUNDO Antilles – UdA), Cameroon (Université de Dschang – Udsch), Madagascar (University of Antananarivo – UNIVANTA), Malaysia (Universiti Malaysia Terengganu – UMT) or Hong Farid Dahdouh-Guebas1,2, Ludwig Triest2, Jean-Yves Dubuisson3, Bernard Riéra4, Giacomo Kong (University of Hong Kong – HKU). These institutions cover specialisations in Santini5, Sabrina Coste6, Daniel Imbert7, François Nguetsop8, Harisoa Ravaomanalina9, Aidy M Caribbean insular ecosystems, Central African terrestrial ecosystems, Malagasy forest Muslim10, Satyanarayana Behara10, Stefano Cannicci11 ecosystems, and Malaysian mangrove ecosystems and other South-East Asian terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, covering a wide choice of skills and qualifications in tropical 1Department of Organism Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles – ULB, Brussels, biodiversity and ecosystems. BE, [email protected] 2Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Furthermore TROPIMUNDO brings together European expert higher education institutes, – VUB, Brussels, BE with long-standing worldwide expertise in tropical rainforests and woodlands and in 3Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, Université Pierre et Marie Curie – UPMC, Paris, FR coastal ecosystems in Belgium (Université Libre de Bruxelles – ULB, Vrije Universiteit 4MECADEV UMR 7179 CNRS-MNHN, Muséum National d‘Histoire Naturelle, Département Brussel – VUB), France (Université Pierre et Marie Curie – UPMC c/o Sorbonne Université, Adaptations du vivant, Brunoy, FR Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle – MNHN and Université de Guyane – UdG) and Italy 5Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Firenze – UNIFI, Sesto Fiorentino, IT (Università degli Studi di Firenze – UNIFI). They integrate world class scientific education 6AgroParisTech-ENGREF, INRA, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, Université de Guyane – UdG, and research expertise on the aforementioned tropical ecosystems and experience in Kourou, GY designing and teaching in international MSc programs. The 1st semester primarily aims at 7Université des Antilles – UdA, Pointe-à-Pitre, GP teaching basic courses in Europe, whereas the 3rd semester focuses on specialised courses 8Department of Plant Biology, Université de Dschang – UDsch, Dschang, CM at one of the European partners. The 4th and final semester is dedicated to the thesis. 9Dept. of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Antananarivo – UNIVANTA, Antananarivo, MG Graduates obtain multiple degrees or a joint degree, a joint Europass Diploma Supplement, a 10MOE 7th Higher Institution Center of Excellence HICoE in Marine Science, Institut Oceanografi Dan Europass Mobility and a Europass Language Passport. TROPIMUNDO’s learning outcomes Sekitaran (INOS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu – UMT, Terengganu Darul Iman, MY stretch far beyond academic knowledge and insight, but also aim at demonstrating 11The Swire Institute of Marine Science and the School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong enhanced capabilities in effective analysis and communication, independence, creativity Kong – HKU, Hong Kong, HK and assertiveness, critical judgement, and ethical and social understanding.

TROPIMUNDO is an Erasmus During the two years of the Master program TROPIMUNDO students are able to concentrate Mundus Masters Course in on botany, zoology and integrative ecosystem approaches in institutions worldwide. Tropical Biodiversity and Multiple specialisations are included, such as the evolution of tropical flora and vegetation; Ecosystems funded by the faunistic assemblages; informatics tools to treat and manage biodiversity data and European Commission. It is the databases (biogeographical, genetic, geographical information systems) including the first MSc program (2 yrs, 120 ECTS) that integrates the knowledge and skills related to four management and conservation of historic collections such as herbarium sheets; the study adjacent interlinked tropical ecosystems under threat (tropical rainforests and woodlands, of diversity, dynamics and evolution of tropical and subtropical ecosystems (with a focus wetlands, - both terrestrial and coastal such as mangrove forests, seagrass beds and coral on four related systems, namely tropical rainforests and woodlands, mangrove forests, reefs). Study of these ecosystems is crucial to understand, protect and manage tropical seagrass beds and coral reefs, including the interactions between flora, fauna, man and biodiversity in an era characterised by an international biodiversity crisis with imminent the environment within and between each of these adjacent ecosystems);conservation risks of extinction of species due to global warming and anthropogenic impacts such as and restoration ecology of natural habitats and their biodiversity including competences habitat destruction and changes in land use. in sustainable management and governance of biodiversity, and finally, in tropical ethnobotany, exploitation and valorisation of the functions, goods and services of natural habitats and their resources, and conservation of traditional ecological knowledge.

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TROPIMUNDO maximises the inclusion of European languages by offering a content and language integrated learning program (English or English + French), and it is delivered in a society that is French, English, Dutch, Italian or Spanish-speaking, which is valorised using buddy programs and Tandem Learning. This aims at improving the students’ language capabilities for which facilities are provided by all partners.

TROPIMUNDO management is handled by a multi-level and shared responsibility involving 4 decision bodies (Steering, Selection, Internal Evaluation and External Evaluation), and 1 main execution structure (Coordination Office), all operating with equal commitment by the partners. A series of Associated Partners, including scientific institutes, governmental and non-governmental organisations responsible for conservation or management of tropical ecosystems and their biodiversity, and public authorities, agreed to advertise the program, to provide or to communicate existing placements, jobs, internships or thesis perspectives and scholarships, and to assist in evaluating the program. This links TROPIMUNDO to the real and professional world.

References www.tropimundo.eu

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SIDE EVENT MINIFORUM COPED - ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES

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SIDE EVENT MINI FORUM COPED: PROGRAM

DIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION OF 09:30 Auger, P. W elcome from the COPED President, Académie des Sciences. AFROTROPICAL FORESTS 09:35 Forget, P.-M., Taquet, P. Intr oduction: content and goal of the miniforum COPED. DIVERSITE ET CONSERVATION DE LA FORET 09:45 Pulcherie B., Sosef, M. S. M., Chatrou, Lars W. Biogeography of Campylospermum Tiegh. and its TROPICALE AFRICAINE center of diversity in tropical Africa. 10:00 Missoup, A.D., Nicolas, V., Colyn, M., Keming Chung, E., Hutterer, R., Wendelen, W., Denys, C. Chairs: Pierre-Michel FORGET, Philippe TAQUET Systématique et biogéographie des rongeurs des milieux forestiers afrotropicaux. Contact: [email protected] 10:15 Gonmadje, C., Doumenge, C. McKey, D. Biodiv ersity and conservation value of an Atlantic central African forest: the Ngovayang Massif (Cameroon). 10:30 Break and Posters The side event ‘Miniforum COPED’ is organized by Pierre-Michel Forget, Professor 11:00 Ntie, S., Davis, A. R., Hils, K., Mickala, P., Thomassen, H. A., Morgan, K., Vanthomme, H., Gonder M. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, and by Philippe Taquet, Member of the Académie K., Anthony, N. M. P atterns of evolutionary diversification among Central African duikers (subfamily des sciences, as well as by COPED (Standing Committee for Developing Countries) of the Cephalophinae). Académie des sciences. The side event has two main objectives. First, the COPED aimed at 11:15 Nyirambangutse, B., Zibera, E., Dusenge, M. E., Nsabimana, D., Pleijel, H., Uddling, J., Wallin, G. Canopy nutrient cycling in Afromontane tropical forests at different successional stages. inviting lead African scientists to communicate about their research in the field of plant 11:30 Kenfack, D. CTFS and permanent plots in African Rainforests. and animal diversity, ecology and dynamic and conservation of afrotropical forests during 11:45 Abernethy, K., Koumba Pambo, A. F., Jeffery, K. Scientific capacity building and the videncee base the European Conference of Tropical Ecology (gtoe18) at CICSU, Paris. Second, the COPED for change in Central African forests. aimed at organizing an international meeting in March 2019 in Central Africa targeting 12:00 Forget, P.-M., Taquet, P. Conclusion and invitation for discussion meetings (28 afternoon and 29 “Preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity of tropical forests”. Therefore, COPED morning). invited scientists to contribute to two discussion sessions in order to establish the academic 11:15 Nyirambangutse, B., Zibera, E., Dusenge, M. E., Nsabimana, D., Pleijel, H., Uddling, J., Wallin, G. Canopy nutrient cycling in Afromontane tropical forests at different successional stages. and scientific committee, and to discuss the content of the program of COPED2019. The Miniforum also benefitted from the help from the French Embassy in the United States that supported travel of one speaker (D. Kenfack).

Three themes have been provisionally proposed to stimulate the exchanges between participants of the miniforum: (1) biodiversity: inventory and conservation of natural resources; (2) management and sustainable use: forestry, commercial timber, natural resources, climate and health; (3) monitoring and management of forests: observatory, satellite, arboretum, education, ecotourism, tree atlas. As a start, the oral communications of the side event are fulfilling those themes.

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SE-O01 – SIDE EVENT – MINIFORUM COPED – ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES SE-O02 – SIDE EVENT – MINIFORUM COPED – ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES BIOGEOGRAPHY OF CAMPYLOSPERMUM TIEGH. AND ITS SYSTEMATICS AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF RODENTS FROM CENTER OF DIVERSITY IN TROPICAL AFRICA AFROTROPICAL FORESTS

Pulcherie Bissiengou1, Marc S. M. Sosef2, Lars W. Chatrou3 Alain Didier Missoup1, Violaine Nicolas2, Marc Colyn3, Ernest Keming Chung4, Rainer Hutterer5, Wim Wendelen6, Christiane Denys2 1Herbier National du Gabon, IPHAMETRA-CENAREST, Libreville, GA, [email protected] 2Botanic Garden Meise, Meise, BE 1Department of Animal Biology Organisms, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, Douala, CM, 3Wageningen University and Research, Biosystematics group, Wageningen, NL [email protected] 2Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB - UMR 7205 - CNRS, MNHN, EPHE, Sorbonne The genus Campylospermum belongs to the family Ochnaceae s.l., Université, Paris, FR which is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical forests and 3UMR CNRS 6553 ECOBIO, Station Biologique de Paimpont, Plelan Le Grand, FR savannas of the Old and New World. It is a family of trees and shrubs 4Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, Kumbo, CM or rarely herbs and consists of about 500 species in 27 genera. The 5Section of Mammals, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, DE highest species richness is found in the Neotropics, where 250–300 6Zoology Department, RMCA-Tervuren, Tervuren, BE species and 15 genera are present. In Africa, including Madagascar, about 150 species and nine genera occur, while the lowest diversity With more than 2200 species already described, rodents represent is observed in Southeast Asia, hosting only 20 species and 8 nearly half of the biodiversity of mammals. Tropical areas in sub- genera. The majority of the genera is confined to a single continent, exceptions being Saharan Africa host an important part of this biodiversity: 89 genera Campylospermum and Ochna, both with an Old World distribution. have been reported, for a total of 469 species. With the discovery of a cryptic diversity within the group, several species have been The continental African species of the genus Campylospermum occur from Senegal to described during the last decade, by combining morphological, Angola and from Ethiopia to Zambia, with highest diversities in regions covered by evergreen molecular and cytogenetic data. New evidences on diversification forest. They are distributed within three biogeographic areas, the Congolian region, the patterns in tropical Africa have been reported. Sudanian region and the Zambezian region. Widespread species such as C. reticulatum and C. vogelii are found in all three biogeographic regions, but most are restricted to only one. Our studies in collaboration with several European museums including the National No species is restricted to the Sudanian region; the occurrences there all relate to outlier Museum of Natural History of Paris have permitted, by using an integrative approach populations of more drought-resistant species that have their main distribution centre combining morphological and genetic data, to test the systematic position and to confirm within the Congolian region. Relatively few species, such as C. bukobense, C. lunzuensis the geographical distribution of several taxa. Phylogenetic data also allowed us to discuss and C. plicatum, are distributed across the Congolian and Zambezian region. Five species on mechanisms promoting the biodiversity in afrotropical forests. The role of several WEDNESDAY 09:45 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 10:00 WEDNESDAY (C. andongensis, C. lutambensis, C. sacleuxii, C. scheffleri, C. warneckei) are endemic to barriers among which mountain ranges and fluvial systems in the diversification processes, the Zambezian region while the majority (38 species, about 81 %) of Campylospermum as well as the effect of Plio-Pleistocene climatic oscillations and Miocene volcano-tectonic species is restricted to the Congolian region. The latter is subdivided into three subregions: activities were particularly highlighted. It would be interesting to check the status and the Guinea, Congo and Shaba. Eighteen species are restricted to the Congo subregion while geographical distribution of other taxa in further works using an integrative systematic three species (C. amplectens, C. congestum and C. schoenleinianum) are endemic to the approach. New data on the climatic niche modelling and the analysis of genetic data at the Guinea subregion. No endemics are known to occur in the Shaba subregion. Species such population level would be also helpful for a better understanding of processes promoting as C. calanthum, C. duparquetianum, C. dybovskii, C. elongatum, C. flavum and C. sulcatum the diversification in tropical Africa but also for a conservation purpose. are more widely distributed and found in both the Guinea and Congo subregions.

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SE-O03 – SIDE EVENT – MINIFORUM COPED – ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES SE-O04 – SIDE EVENT – MINIFORUM COPED – ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION VALUE OF AN ATLANTIC PATTERNS OF EVOLUTIONARY DIVERSIFICATION AMONG CENTRAL AFRICAN FOREST: THE NGOVAYANG MASSIF CENTRAL AFRICAN DUIKERS (SUBFAMILY CEPHALOPHINAE) (CAMEROON) Stephan Ntie1, Anne R. Davis2, Katrin Hils3,4, Patrick Mickala1, Henri A. Thomassen4, Katy Christelle Gonmadje1,2, Charles Doumenge2, Doyle McKey3 Morgan2, Hadrien Vanthomme5, Mary K. Gonder6, Nicola M. Anthony2

1Department of Plant Biology, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, CM, [email protected] 1Département de Biologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku, Franceville, GA, 2CIRAD, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, FR [email protected] 3Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR CNRS 5175, Montpellier, FR 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, US 3Cheetah Conservation Fund, Otjiwarongo, NA The Ngovayang Massif of southern Cameroon is a range of small hills 4Comparative Zoology, Institute for Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, DE near the Atlantic coast, in the Lower Guinea floristic region. This 5Département Écologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS region is known to harbor forests with high levels of biodiversity and UMR 7179, Brunoy, FR endemism, but this Massif is botanically poorly known. We assessed 6Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, US tree species diversity and level of endemism of the Ngovayang forest, comparing it with other sites in Central Africa. Fifteen 1-ha Duikers are an important component of the mammal community permanent plots within old-growth forests of the Ngovayang Massif throughout the whole Congo basin. However very little is known about were censused. their ecology and drivers of diversification. Meanwhile, duikers are a significant source of proteins for local people and are increasingly A total of 7967 individuals with dbh ≥ 10 cm were recorded, belonging to 583 species, 267 threatened by hunting pressure and habitat alteration. The present genera and 71 families. The mean number of stems was 532 ± 75 stems ha-1. The mean study set out to assess patterns of evolutionary diversification in Fisher’s alpha index was 42.4 ± 6.5. Taking into account other data available, the list of central African duikers (genera Cephalophus and Philantomba). vascular plants known in the Massif reaches a total of 1497 species. We found 224 species They constitute good markers for tropical diversification because of high conservation value, including Cameroon endemics and other rare and threatened they are highly tied to forested habitat. The sampling strategy consisted of collecting geo- species. Species richness and endemism are comparable to those of the richest known sites referenced duiker feces across 43 sites and seven countries across Central Africa. Analyses in Central African forests. Topographic heterogeneity, high precipitation and atmospheric of historical and contemporary population genetic structure were carried out on the humidity owing to the proximity of the ocean, and permanence of a forest cover during past three most abundant species (C. dorsalis, C. callipygus, and P. monticola) in our sampling geological times probably all contribute to explaining the Massif’s high tree diversity and area using a ~ 650 bp mitochondrial fragment of the control region and 12 polymorphic endemism. This study highlights the botanical importance of the poorly studied Ngovayang microsatellite loci. WEDNESDAY 10:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:00 WEDNESDAY forest within the Lower Guinea region, justifying efforts for improved assessment of this value and for the development of suitable national conservation strategies. These data show that (1) the highlands of southwest Nigeria and southwest Cameroon comprise genetically distinct populations of C. callipygus and P. monticola species, (2) environmental variation explains most of the nuclear genetic differentiation in both C. callipygus and P. monticola, (3) signatures of demographic expansion for all three taxa are broadly coincident with a history of post-glacial expansion, and (4) the Sanaga, Ogooué and Sangha rivers may constitute partial riverine barriers and/or act as fluvial refugia.

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SE-O05 – SIDE EVENT – MINIFORUM COPED – ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES SE-O06 – SIDE EVENT – MINIFORUM COPED – ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES CANOPY NUTRIENT CYCLING IN AFROMONTANE TROPICAL CTFS-FORESTGEO AFRICA PROGRAM: AN INITIATIVE FORESTS AT DIFFERENT SUCCESSIONAL STAGES TOWARDS THE LONG-TERM MONITORING OF AFRICAN FORESTS Brigitte Nyirambangutse1, Etienne Zibera1, Mirindi Eric Dusenge1,2, Donat Nsabimana1, Håkan Pleijel3, Johan Uddling3, Göran Wallin3 David Kenfack1

1Department of Biology, University of Rwanda, Butare, RW, [email protected] 1Africa Program Coordinator, CTFS – ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PA, 2Biology Department, The University of Western Ontario, London, CA [email protected] 3Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, SE, [email protected] Deforestation and climate change is impacting African forests by threatening its biodiversity and its ability to provide ecosystem Canopy nutrient composition and cycling control biogeochemical processes and tree goods and services. A network of long-tern monitoring plots is being growth in forests. However, the understanding of nutrient limitations and cycling in tropical established across the main vegetation types of the continent to montane forests (TMF) is currently limited, in particular for Afromontane forests. In this document how these forests respond to global change. study we investigated leaf nutrient composition and resorption, canopy nutrient cycling and soil carbon and nutrient content in 15 permanent plots at different successional stages The program was initiated in 1994 and now comprises five large in a TMF (elevation 1950 to 2550 m a.s.l.) in Rwanda, Central Africa. Leaf concentrations of (20 – 120 ha) plots in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, 12 elements were analysed in attached green leaves as well as in shed leaves of 10 early (ES) Gabon, Kenya, and Nigeria. The plots represent four of eight main vegetation types in and 10 late (LS) successional tree species. Africa and monitor the growth and survival of over one million individual trees in over 1400 species. These plots use standardized protocols and are part of a global network Leaf nutrient concentrations mostly did not differ between ES and LS species (exception: coordinated by the Center for Tropical Forest Science – Forest Global Earth observatory K was 20 % higher in ES), but the ratios of P, K and Mg to N were significantly higher in ES (CTFS-ForestGEO) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Within the plots all free species. Mean resorption efficiencies of N (37 %), P (48 %) and K (46 %) were much higher standing trees ≥1 cm diameter are measured, tagged, mapped, and identified. Subsequent than for other nutrients. Nutrient resorption efficiency exhibited very large interspecific re-measurements every five year provide data on growth, mortality, recruitment of different variation, did not differ between ES and LS species, and was not related to the leaf species, information that is critical to forest conservation and understanding how global concentration of the respective element. Total leaf litterfall was on average 4.9 t.ha-1.yr-1 change is impacting African forests. (66 % of total litterfall) and was independent of the successional stage of the forest. The total content of C, N, P and K in leaf litterfall did not differ between ES and LS stands. Ground litter turnover rates of C and N were 0.98 and 0.78 y-1, respectively. High leaf N WEDNESDAY 11:15 WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 11:30 WEDNESDAY concentrations, intermediate N:P ratios and low resorption efficiencies compared to values reported for other TMFs indicate high fertility and likely co-limitation by N and P, however progressively increasing towards P limitation during the course of succession. Our results further demonstrate that resorption efficiency and canopy litterfall inputs to soil mostly do not differ between ES and LS species in Afromontane tropical forests.

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SE-O07 – SIDE EVENT – MINIFORUM COPED – ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES SCIENTIFIC CAPACITY BUILDING AND THE EVIDENCE BASE FOR CHANGE IN CENTRAL AFRICAN FORESTS

Katharine Abernethy1,2, Aurelie Flore Koumba Pambo3,4, Kathryn Jeffery1,3

1University of Stirling, UK, [email protected] 2Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale, GA 3Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux, GA 4CENAREST, GA

Monitoring change over time in tropical biomes is a crucial part of planning conservation policies and evaluating whether the actions taken are effective. As global climate change advances and the time for mitigation of change reduces, the need for accurate estimations of biome response becomes more acute. Although suites of indicators of ecosystem health, such as the Essential Biodiversity Indicators, have been developed over the past decade, using them on the ground requires extensive resources in staff training, equipment organization and funding and uptake of the data can be very poor, if results are not easily accessible to decision-makers.

We look at the challenges of the 21st century for adequate surveillance and management of Central African environments and the resources that have so far been channeled to meet these challenges. We cover the emergence of remote-sensing databanks, publically available databases, internet education tools and digital books and discuss the provision of a robust evidence base for the state of the central African biomes. We analyze the gaps in 2018 in our ability to undertake and use adequate monitoring of environmental change, and propose some pathways to improving the available evidence base. WEDNESDAY 11:45 WEDNESDAY

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SOCIAL EVENTS

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SOCIAL EVENTS SOCIAL EVENTS WELCOME RECEPTION

 Date: Monday, 26th March, 2018  Time: From 19:00 to 21:30  Venue: CICSU - Jussieu Campus, Auditorium lobby  Open to all participants!

Meet your friends and colleagues and everybody you haven‘t seen since the last European Conference for Tropical Ecology/gtö…

PUBLIC LECTURE

 Date: Tuesday, 27th March, 2018  Time: From 18:00 to 19:30  Venue: CICSU - Jussieu Campus, Auditorium lobby  Sebastian Lotzkat - Species revisited – catching (up on) the cornerstones of biology (Abstract in the beginning of the book)  Open to everyone!

CONFERENCE DINNER

 Date: Wednesday, 28 March, 2018  Time: From 18:30 to 21:00  Venue: Aquarium Tropical – Palais de la Porte Dorée, 293 avenue Daumesnil, 75012 Paris  Access by public transport: Metro line 8 (station „Porte Dorée“), Tram T3a (station „Porte Dorée“), or Bus line 46 (stop „Porte Dorée“).  Access from the conference centre – SU: Take the metro line 7 attention take the 7 which goes direction „Mairie d’Ivry“ get off at the station „Porte d’Italie“ leave the metro, cross the road and walk to tram stop few meters and take the tram T3a, direction „Porte de Vincennes“ get off at the stop „Porte Dorée“. Attention you have to use a new ticket as you have left the metro. Please allow approximately 40 min for getting to the Aquarium Tropical. Allow 2 tickets per trip (the connection between metro and tram is not possible with the same ticket).  Fee: Euro 50.00. Registration mandatory.

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ALL ABOUT PARIS

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ALL ABOUT PARIS ALL ABOUT PARIS

TRANSPORTS IN PARIS Paris taxi drivers are not known for their flawless knowledge of the Paris street map; if you have a preferred route, say so. Taxis can also be hard to find, especially at rush hour or early  Public transport in the morning. Your best bet is to find a taxi rank (station de taxis, marked with a blue sign) Most public transport in Paris is organised by the RATP. The network includes metro lines, on major roads, crossroads and at stations. A white light on a taxi’s roof indicates the car is trains RER A and B, trams and buses. Maps of the network are available free of charge from free; an orange light means the cab is busy. There is a service charge of €2.10. The rates are the information desks at the metro stations. then based on zone and time of day: RATP website: https://www.ratp.fr/en A: 10am-5pm Mon-Sat central Paris, €0.82 per km. Timetables: on weekdays, the metro and RER operate from 5:30 a.m. to about 1:15 a.m. B: 5pm-10am Mon-Fri, 5pm-midnight Sat, 7am-midnight Sun central Paris; 7am-7pm Mon- Consult the time tables shown at the metro stations or bus stops. Sat inner suburbs and airports, €1.10 per km. C: midnight-7am Sun central Paris; 7pm-7am Mon-Sat, all day Sun inner suburbs and Where to buy a metro ticket? airports; all times outer suburbs, €1.33 per km. Metro tickets cost € 1.90 each (€14.50 for 10 [ask for ‘un carnet’]). You can buy tickets at Most journeys in central Paris cost €6-€12; there’s a minimum charge of €5.60, plus €1 automatic ticket machines in metro stations, in tobacconists and on the website for each piece of luggage over 5kg or bulky objects, and a €0.70 surcharge from mainline Metro tickets are valid in zone 1 and 2 only for journeys within Paris city limits. stations. Most drivers will not take more than three people, although they should take a couple and two children. There is an additional charge of €2.75 for a fourth adult passenger. Metro Map: https://www.ratp.fr/en/plans-lignes/plan-metro Don’t feel obliged to tip, although rounding up to the nearest euro is polite. Taxis are not Attention! Special rates for airports as there are outside zone 1 and 2, please visit: allowed to refuse rides if they deem them too short and can only refuse to take you in a https://www.ratp.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/airport-tickets. certain direction during their last half-hour of service (both rules are often ignored). If you More detailed information about public transport, metro, trams and busses can be found want a receipt, ask for un reçu or la note. Complaints should be made to the Bureau de la here: réglementation publique, 36 rue des Morillons, 75732 Paris Cedex 15. https://en.parisinfo.com/practical-paris/how-to-get-to-and-around-paris/public-transport These firms take phone bookings 24/7; you also pay for the time it takes your taxi to reach  Bike rental you. If you wish to pay by credit card, mention this when you order. Thanks to the policy of the Paris City Council, the bicycle is gaining ground: today 700 • Alpha 01.45.85.85.85, www.alphataxis.fr kilometres of bike paths are available to cyclists. • G7 01.47.39.47.39, www.taxisg7.com Near to the main train stations and the principal tourist routes, you’ll find companies • Taxis Bleus 08.91.70.10.10, www.taxis-bleus.com renting bicycles for a day, a weekend or a week. (cf. list below)

Vélib’: Set up by the City of Paris, Velib’ is a self-service bicycle sharing scheme. It is very HEALTH INFORMATION affordable, and bikes are available throughout Paris (and beyond the city limits) 24 hours a day. It is the ideal way to get around Paris. More information here:  Useful phone numbers https://www.velib-metropole.fr/#/ Fire, medical emergency or ambulance: 18 or 15 and from a mobile phone: 112 Police: 17  Taxis information Fire brigade: 18 How to get a taxi? SAMU medical urgences: 15 • By hailing one in the street (it is free if the sign on the roof is lit up and green), • At a taxi rank, Anti-poison centre: 01 40 05 48 48 ([email protected] or • By calling one of the main taxi firms. www.centres-antipoison.net/paris) 24/7 urgent medical aid and advice on drugs, medication, poisons, etc. Centre Antipoison The Taximètre: Fare comparison and taxi booking hotline. Please see: et de Toxicovigilance de PARIS. https://www.letaximetre.fr/ Hôpital Fernand WIDAL 200 rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75475 Paris Cedex 10

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ALL ABOUT PARIS ALL ABOUT PARIS

 Hospitals in Paris  Post Office The 39 hospitals of the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, located in various parts of A postcard or a letter to send? You can post them in one of the yellow letter boxes found on Paris and the Île-de-France, provide a service for all the public, 24 hours/24 and 7 days/7. most street corners. Stamps can be bought in post offices or tobacconists. They account for 25 general emergency departments. Most post offices are open from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to midday on Each hospital also has its own specialist consultations. A doctor will direct you to the Saturday. Closed on public holidays. one that is most appropriate to your needs. During the hospitalization of a child or loved one, some hospitals may also offer you accommodation or give you information about a  Clothing specialist agency. In March, bring warm clothes, and it is always a good idea to pack an umbrella and a rain Some of the major Parisian hospitals are: La Pitié Salpêtrière, the Hôtel-Dieu, Lariboisière, coat. Necker and Bichat.  Electricity  For urgent consultations in English A.C. 220 volts - 50 cycles. Plugs are of the round 2-pin type. Many practitioners at the American Hospital, the Institut Franco-Britannique and the Hôpital Foch are perfectly bilingual. It is also possible to contact SOS Médecins France  Phone country code on +33 (0) 1 47 07 77 77: operators will direct you, when possible, to an English-speaking 0033 doctor.

 Pharmacies PARIS WAY OF LIFE Chemists are usually open all day from 8am to 8pm. They close on a rota basis on Sunday and sometimes on Monday. But when one chemist is closed, the addresses of the nearest  Eating out open chemists are listed on the door. Paris ‘Capital of Gastronomy’ invites travellers from all over the world to have a feast! Choose and book your restaurant via PARISINFO: https://en.parisinfo.com/where-to-eat-in-paris PRACTICAL INFORMATION  Discovering Paris  Bank card lost or stolen Paris is multifaceted and there are numerous ways of discovering it. As well as the top Cardstop: 0 825 000 222 (0.15 € TTC for 1 minute) and 24/7. sights, there are many other amazing places. Here are our suggestions: From outside: +33 388 39 85 71 https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris

 Banks  Walks in Paris There is a multitude of banks in Paris, both French and foreign. They are generally open Mythical, trendy, popular, unusual… Paris has many aspects to reveal in the course of a from 9am to 5pm, or 6pm, from Monday to Friday, sometimes from Tuesday to Saturday. variety of itineraries: https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/walks-in-paris Certain branches may close at lunchtime, between 12.30pm and 2pm. Even though you may find some banks who will accept your currency in exchange for  Shopping in Paris euros, you are more likely to come across exchange bureaux, which specialize in this type Luxury, ready-to-wear, gastronomy, antiques, lifestyle… shopping addresses galore: of transaction. Make sure you have some ID with you. https://en.parisinfo.com/shopping

Your credit card will enable you to withdraw cash in euros 24 hours a day at the hundreds of automatic cashpoints in the city. They often give you the choice of instructions in French, English or other languages. The majority of international cards are accepted by cash dispensers at the principal French and foreign banks. However, not all banks provide a currency exchange service.

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ALL ABOUT PARIS

 Paris Information Please find here very useful links for your stay in Paris: • Discover Paris in a few days: https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/paris-for-the-first-time/ paris-in-1-2-or-3-days • Paris, 10 must see: https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/themed-guides/Paris-a-fabulous-heritage/ paris-10-must-sees/Paris-10-must-see • Famous moments to visit in Paris: https://en.parisinfo.com/what-to-see-in-paris/monuments/ famous-monuments-or-monuments-to-discover • What to do in Paris in March-April 2018? https://en.parisinfo.com/discovering-paris/major-events/what-to-do-in-paris/ in-march-april-it-s-springtime-in-paris/what-to-do-in-paris-in-march-and-april

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 Conference management: Heike KUHLMANN, KCS Kuhlmann Convention Service; Rue ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS des Chênes 12, CH-2800 Delémont; Phone: 0041-32-4234384; Fax: 0041-32-4234385; Email: [email protected]

 Helpers: Jean-Philippe AKPOUE, Marion BARBE, Mouna CHAMBON, Paul CHATELAIN, Raphaël DE LAAGE DE MEUX, Boris DEMENOU, Julie DESMIST, Manon DUCRETTET, Héloïse DUPRAT, Blandine GAILLARD, Clément GROS, Laurent GRUMIAU, Tian LI, Aboubacar MAIGA, Jérémy MIGLIORE, Lantotiana RANDRIAMANANA, Marie SEGUIGNE, Shabnam TAHERI, Félicien TOSSO, Julie ZALKO

 We are grateful also to the CICSU for their logistic help.

 Session Chairs: Luc ABBADIE, Nikolay AGUIRRE, Louise ASHTON, Selene BAEZ, Sébastien BAROT, Jean-François BASTIN, Thomas COUVREUR, Mark CUTLER, Julian DONALD, Lise DUPONT, Marianne ELIAS, Adeline FAYOLLE, Rico FISCHER, Colin FONTAINE, Pierre-Michel FORGET, Claude GARCIA, Jacques GIGNOUX, Sandrine GROUARD, Eric GUILBERT, Sven GÜNTER, Damien Daniel HINSINGER, Jürgen HOMEIER, Alice C. HUGHES, Andreas HUTH, Sanna HUTTUNEN, Patrick A. JANSEN, Marion KARMANN, Jean-Christophe LATA, Moses LIBALAH, Elina MÄNTYLÄ, Vincent MEDJIBE, Tarik MEZIANE, Emma MICHAUD, Udo NEHREN, Violaine NICOLAS-COLIN, Pablo OROZCO-TERWENGEL, Pete B. PHILLIPSON, Fabien QUETIER, Ute RADESPIEL, Claudia RAEDIG, Hery Lisy Tiana RANARIJAONA, Catherine REEB, Malika RENE-TROUILLEFOU, Virginie ROY, Katerina SAM, Joeri Sergej STRIJK, Jérôme SUEUR, Piotr SZEFER, Franziska TAUBERT, Yit Arn TEH, Franck TROLLIET, Rizza Karen VERIDIANO.

 Photos credits: CNRS Photothèque – Thomas VIGNAUD, Erwan AMICE_LEMAR & Pierre-Michel FORGET

 AND SPECIAL THANKS TO YOU

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INDEX OF PARTICIPANTS

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Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page name name Abernethy Katharine Institut de Recherches en GA [email protected] 362 Bretagnolle François University of Burgundy, UMR FR francois.bretagnolle@u- Ecologie Tropicale Biogéosciences bourgogne.fr Akodewou Amah CIRAD / AgroParisTech / FR [email protected] 84 Bryja Josef Institute of Vertebrate Biology CZ [email protected] 89 Université de Lomé of the Czech Academy of Aldana Ana NA CO [email protected] Sciences Alebrahim Mohammad University of Mohaghegh IR [email protected] Budde Katharina Université de Bordeaux / INRA FR katharina-birgit.budde@u- (119), 122 Taghi Ardabili Birgit bordeaux.fr Andrianasetra Georges Centre d'Information et de MG [email protected] 299 Caillaud Anne IUCN France FR [email protected] 60 Simon Documentation Scientifique et Cárate Daisy Escuela Politécnica del EC [email protected] 171 Technique Tandalla Chimborazo Araujo Clarissa UFMS BR [email protected] 336 Chandler Chris University of Nottingham UK chris.chandler@nottingham. 250, 308 Martins ac.uk Aristizábal Ángela Universidad de los Andes CO a.aristizabal331@uniandes. 291 Chapman Philip Imperial College London UK [email protected] 278 edu.co Chatelain Paul Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] 182 Arnaud Marie Leeds University UK [email protected] 58 Naturelle Ashton Louise University of Hong Kong HK [email protected] 143 Chatrou Lars Wageningen University NL [email protected] 118, (356) Bader Maaike University of Marburg DE maaike.bader@uni-marburg. 188, (190), Chellaiah Darshanaa Monash University Malaysia MY [email protected] 258 de (193) Chen Chunfeng Xishuangbanna Tropical CN [email protected] 137 Báez Selene Escuela Politécnica Nacional EC [email protected] (171), 172 Botanical Garden, Chinese del Ecuador Academy of Science Barot Sébastien iEES Paris - Sorbonne Université FR [email protected] (79), (82) Corrêa Elaine Universidade Federal de Mato BR [email protected] 325 cc 237 Grosso do Sul Bastin Jean-Francois ETH-Zurich, Institute of CH [email protected] 166, 285 Couteron Pierre Institut de Recherche pour le FR [email protected] (162) Integrative Biology, Crowther Développent (IRD) Lab Couvreur Thomas Institut de Recherche pour le FR [email protected] (87), (88), Beck Erwin University of Bayreuth, Dept. DE [email protected] (320) Développent (IRD) (159) Plant Physiology Cragg Simon University of Portsmouth UK [email protected] 62 Bendix Joerg University of Marburg DE [email protected]. (306), (330) Cutler Mark University of Dundee UK [email protected] (233), 247, de (248), (329) Beng Kingsly Chuo Xishuangbanna Tropical CN bengkingsly2000@yahoo. 134 DHaese Cyrille MECADEV, UMR 7179 CNRS FR [email protected] 148 Botanical Garden, Chinese com / MNHN Academy of Sciences Dahdouh- Farid Université Libre de Bruxelles / BE [email protected] 59, 348 Bertucci Frédéric Centre de Recherches FR [email protected] 101 Guebas Vrije Universiteit Brussel Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement, USR3278 Dahl Chris Biology Centre of Czech CZ [email protected] 201 Academy of Science, Institute of Biscarini Filippo Cardiff University UK [email protected] 153 Entomology Bissiengou Pulcherie Herbier National du Gabon GA [email protected] 356 Dammhahn Melanie University of Greifswald / DE melanie.dammhahn@ 292 Blanchard Fabian Ifremer / UMR LEEISA GF [email protected] (52) Animal Ecology uni-greifswald.de Boissier Olivier Independent FR [email protected] 215 Damtew Mesfin Vrije Universiteit Brussel / BE [email protected] 69 Bolanos Pablo Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] 99 Ecology and Biodiversity Naturelle Dantas de Mateus Helmholtz Centre for DE [email protected] (223), 225 Boom Arthur Université Libre de Bruxelles BE [email protected] 91 Paula Environmental Research - UFZ (ULB-EBE) Dellinger Agnes University of Vienna AT [email protected] 178 Bousquet- Anne Institut Méditerranéen de FR anne.bousquet-melou@ 55, (63) Demenou Boris Université Libre de Bruxelles BE [email protected] (121), 216 Mélou Biodiversité et d'Ecologie, imbe.fr (ULB-EBE) Aix-Marseille Université Dirberg Guillaume Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] Boyd Doreen University of Nottingham UK doreen.boyd@nottingham. 329 Naturelle ac.uk Donald Julian University of the West of FR [email protected] 113 Boyle Michael Imperial College London UK michael.boyle11@imperial. 277 England Bristol / Evolution, ac.uk Diversité Biologique Toulouse Bräuning Achim University Erlangen-Nürnberg / DE [email protected] (274), (310), Dossa Gbadamassi Kunming Institute of Botany, CN [email protected] 138 Institute of Geography (320) G.O. Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page name name Doucet Jean-Louis Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech / Liège BE [email protected] (93), (165), Forget Pierre-Michel Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] (312), 354 University (216), (285), Naturelle (MNHN) (318) Frotté Lou Université des Antilles GP [email protected] 49 Doumenge Charles CIRAD FR [email protected] (93), (121), Gaese Carl-Friedrich TH Köln DE carl-friedrich.gaese@th-koeln. 265 (358) de Dubuisson Jean-Yves Sorbonne Université FR [email protected] (348) Garcia Claude CIRAD / ETHZ CH [email protected] (285), 286, Dubuisson Elodie Sorbonne Université / MNHN FR [email protected] (195) 288, (295) / Isyeb Garcia-Ulloa John ETH Zurich CH [email protected] 132, (214) Dueñas Juan Free University Berlin, DE [email protected] 170 Gasc Amandine Institut de recherche pour le FR [email protected] 105 Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of dévelopement (IRD) Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB) Gebert Friederike University of Würzburg DE friederike.gebert@uni- 184 wuerzburg.de Dunthorn Micah Department of Ecology, DE [email protected] 147 University of Kaiserslautern Gebrekirstos Aster World Afgroforestry Centre KE [email protected] Dupont Lise Université Paris Est Créteil FR [email protected] 149 Gembu Guy Crispin Université de Kisangani CD [email protected] 331, 338 (UNIKIS) Duprey Nicolas Max Planck Institute for DE [email protected] 50 Chemistry Gignoux Jacques Institut d'Ecologie et de FR [email protected] 73 Sciences de l'Environnement de Dury Marie University of Liège BE [email protected] 136, (242), Paris - UPMC - cc 237 328 Glotin Hervé UMR LIS CNRS Université de FR [email protected] 98, (100), Ebenye Seraphine University of Buea CM [email protected] Toulon (110) Mokake Gonmadje Christelle University Yaoundé I CM [email protected] 358 Eguiguren Paul Thunen Institute - Germany DE [email protected] 254 Gradstein Robbert Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] 187 Elias Marianne Institut de Systématique, FR [email protected] 125, (182) Naturelle (MNHN) Evolution, Biodiversité Grafe Ulmar Faculty of Science, Universiti BN [email protected] 208 Elias Dafydd Centre for Ecology & Hydrology UK [email protected] 276 Brunei Darussalam wuerzburg.de Exbrayat Jean-François School of GeoSciences, UK [email protected] 227, 237 Groenendijk Jessica San Diego Zoo Global Peru PE jessica.groenendijk@gmail. University of Edinburgh com Fabian Tobias Karlsruher Institut für DE [email protected] 173, 321 Grouard Sandrine Muséum National FR [email protected] 51 Technologie d'Histoire Naturelle, Faivre Valentin Agence Mensam FR [email protected] UMR7209 Archéozoologie, Farwig Nina University of Marburg DE [email protected] (177), (306), Archéobotanique: Sociétés, (330), 334 Pratiques, Environnements Fauvelot Cécile Institut de Recherche pour le FR [email protected] 38 Guilbert Eric UMR7179 CNRS / MNHN FR [email protected] (182) Développement (IRD) Guimarães Elza Laboratory of Ecology and BR elzaguimaraes.bot@gmail. Faye Adama Institut de Recherche pour le FR [email protected] 88 evolution of plant-animal com Développement (IRD) interactions, São Paulo State University Fayolle Adeline Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech BE [email protected] (93), (156), 161, (165), Günter Sven Thünen Institute of International DE [email protected] (254) (283), (285), Forestry and Forest Economics (318) Guzman Valeria Biodiversity, Macroecology DE [email protected] 183 Fernandez Catherine Institut Méditerranéen de FR [email protected] 63, (55) Jacob Biogeography Biodiversité et d'Ecologie, Guzmán Q. J. Antonio Center for Earth Observation CA [email protected] 108 Aix-Marseille Université Sciences, Department of Earth Finckh Manfred University of Hamburg / DE manfred.finckh@uni- 77, (78) and Atmospheric Sciences, Biodiversity, Evolution and hamburg.de University of Alberta Ecology of Plants Guzmán Lorena University of Applied Sciences, DE [email protected] 266 Fischer Fabian CNRS Toulouse FR [email protected] 228 Wolfhard Valeria Institute for Technology and Resource Management in the Fischer Rico Helmholtz Centre for DE [email protected] 223, (274) Tropics and Subtropics Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ Gvozdik Vaclav National Museum CZ [email protected] 94 Fonteyn Davy University of Liège, Gembloux BE [email protected] 283 Hardy Olivier Université Libre de Bruxelles BE [email protected] (90), (91), Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Research (ULB-EBE) (93), (121), Centre, Central African Forests (136), (156), (159), (216), (328)

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Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page name name Hazelwood Kirstie University of Stirling UK [email protected] 202 Kingsbury Joanne School of Environment and US kingsbury.20@buckeyemail. 293 Henrot Alexandra- UMCCB, UR-SPHERES, BE [email protected] (136), 242, Natural Resources, The Ohio osu.edu Jane University Liège (328) State University, Heuertz Myriam INRA FR [email protected] 119, (122), Kiswanto Kiswanto The Mulawarman University ID [email protected] 244 (311) Kittel Isabell University Bremen, Center for DE [email protected] Heymann Eckhard W. Deutsches Primatenzentrum DE [email protected] 128 Jasmin Tropical Research Hilje Branko Earth and Atmospheric CA [email protected] 102 Kleinschroth Fritz ETH Zürich CH [email protected] 67 Sciences Department, Klomberg Yannick Charles University CZ [email protected] 209, 326 University of Alberta Koffi Kouamé Sorbone Université - Université CI [email protected] 79 Hiltner Ulrike Helmholtz-Centre for DE [email protected] 274 Fulgence Nangui Abrogoua Environmental Research Konaré Sarah Institute of Ecology and FR sarah.konare@courriel. 74 GmbH - UZF/ Dept. Ecological Environmental Sciences-Paris upmc.fr Modelling Kosecka Monika Laboratory of Applied ES [email protected] 97 Hinsinger Damien Guangxi University CN damien.hinsinger@yahoo. Bioacoustics, Technical com Univrsity of Catalonia, Homeier Jürgen University of Goettingen DE [email protected] (170), (171), BarcelonaTech (UPC) (172), (174), Kurz Holger BfBB DE [email protected] 175, (181), (207) Lata Jean- Sorbonne Université / Institute FR [email protected] (79), 81, (82) Christophe of Ecology and Environmental Houehanou Thierry Faculty of Agronomy, University BJ thierryhouehanou@gmail. 130, 316 Sciences - Paris of Parakou, Benin com Law Stephanie University of Liverpool UK [email protected] 112 Hughes Alice Xishuangbanna Tropical CN ach_conservation2@hotmail. 37 Botanical Garden, Chinese com Le Bienfaiteur Sagang University of Yaoundé 1 CM [email protected] 164 Academy of Sciences Takougoum Husana Dana Vi University of the Philippines PH [email protected] 339 Le Guen Annaig CNRS LEEISA FR [email protected] Husana Daniel Edison University of the Philippines PH [email protected] 210 Le Maho Yvon Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert FR [email protected] 53 Los Baños Curien, CNRS Strasbourg and Scientific Center of Monaco Huth Andreas Helmholtz Centre for DE [email protected] 222, (223), Environmental Research GmbH (224), (225), Ledger Martha University of Nottingham UK martha.ledger@nottingham. 332 (274) ac.uk Huttunen Sanna Univeristy of Turku FI [email protected] 196, (192), Leponce Maurice Royal Belgian Institute of BE maurice.leponce@ 234 (324) Natural Sciences naturalsciences.be Irvine Kenneth IHE Delft NL [email protected] 131 Li Tian Mécanismes adaptatifs & FR [email protected] 319 évolution Iskandar Eka Naturalis Biodiversity Center NL [email protected] 194 Libalah Moses Systematic and Ecology CM [email protected] (161), 162, Jackson Toby University of Oxford UK tobias.jackson@linacre. 109 Laboratory (164), (283) ox.ac.uk Lichtenberg Silke Technische Hochschule Köln DE [email protected] 268 Jain-Poster Ketan Stanford University US [email protected] Ligot Gauthier University of Liège / Gembloux BE [email protected] 165 Jakovac Catarina International Institute for BR [email protected] 259 Agro-Bio Tech / TERRA Sustainability Research Center, Central African Jansen Patrick Wageningen University NL [email protected] 251 Forests Jaramillo- Juan P. Institute of Ecology, Universidad MX [email protected] 116 Link Roman Georg-August-University DE [email protected] 163 Correa Nacional Autónoma de México Mathias Göttingen Jones Isabel University of Stirling UK [email protected] 273 Lissambou Brandet- Université des Sciences et GA lissamboujuniorbrandet@ 159 Jozefowicz Stefan Laboratory of Remote Sensing PL [email protected] 243 Junior Techniques de Masuku gmail.com and Modelling of Environment Logatoc Eugene Plant Biology Division, Institute PH [email protected] Juergens Norbert Universität Hamburg DE [email protected] 70 Lorence of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Karmann Marion Forest Stewardship Council DE [email protected] 281 Los Baños International Lopez Pascal Jean UMR BOREA FR [email protected] (48) Karsenty Alain CIRAD FR [email protected] 282 Lotzkat Sebastian Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut DE [email protected] 43 Kearsley Elizabeth Ghent University BE [email protected] 241 Frankfurt Kenfack David Smithsonian Tropical Research US [email protected] 361 Lührs Mia-Lana Büro Renala DE [email protected] Institute Majd Roghayyeh University of Mohaghegh IR [email protected] Ardabili

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Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page name name Mäntylä Elina Biology Centre of Czech CZ [email protected] 200 Mwampamba Tuyeni Institute of Ecosystems and MX [email protected] 41 Academy of Science, Institute of Sustainability Research / Entomology National Autonomous University Maquia Ivete Biotechnology Center Eduardo MZ [email protected] 313 of Mexico Mondlane University Ndri-Kone Aya Brigitte University Nangui Abrogoua CI [email protected] 80, (82) Marçal Rosa Ana Clara University of Campinas BR [email protected] Nehren Udo Technische Hochschule Köln DE [email protected] (263), (268) (UNICAMP) Neji Mohamed Université Libre de Bruxelles TN [email protected] 156 Marfleet Kate University College London and UK [email protected] (ULB-EBE) Natural History Museum Neuschulz Eike Lena Senckenberg Biodiversity DE [email protected] 207 Margrove James ETH Zurich CH james.margrove@usys. 231 and Climate Reserach Centre ethz.ch Frankfurt Mayr Antonia University of Würzburg DE antonia.mayr@uni-wuerzburg. 179 Nevo Omer University of Ulm / Institute DE omer.nevo@evolutionary- 213 de of Evolutionary Ecology and ecology.de McGuire Krista University of Oregon US [email protected] 40 Conservation Genomics McKey Doyle Centre for Functional and FR [email protected] (121), (358) Neyret Margot Institut de Recherche pour le FR [email protected] 141 Evolutionary Ecology, University Développement (IRD) of Montpellier Nicolas-Colin Violaine Museum National d'Histoire FX [email protected] 92, (357) Mezaka Anna Marburg Univrsity, Faculty of DE [email protected] 190 Naturelle, UMR 7205 Geography, Ecological Plant Niekisch Manfred Zoo Frankfurt DE manfred.niekisch@stadt- Geography Group frankfurt.de Mendes Clarissa Technishe Universitat DE [email protected] 127 Nieto Paula University of Edinburgh UK [email protected] 303 Knoechel- Kaiserslautern/ Universidade Quintano mann Federal de Pernambuco Njovu Henry Department of Animal Ecology DE [email protected] 126 Meunier Félicien Ghent University, Cavelab BE [email protected] 220 and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, Meyer Christoph University of Salford UK [email protected] 129 University of Wuerzburg Meziane Tarik Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] Novotny Vojtech Biology Centre, Czech Academy CZ [email protected] 199, (201), Naturelle (MNHN) of Sciences (203), (322) Michaud Emma National Center of scientific FR [email protected] Nshimba Hippolyte Université de Kisangani, Faculté CD hippolytenshimba@gmail. 305 Research-Environmental Marine Seya Wa des Sciences, Dpt Ecologie com Sciences laboratory Malale et gestion des ressources végétales (EGREV), Laboratoire Migliore Jérémy Université Libre de Bruxelles BE [email protected] 90, (91), de S.O.S FORET (ULB-EBE) / CNRS-Sorbonne (121), (136), Université (LOCEAN) (216), (242), Ntie Stephan Université des Sciences et GA [email protected] 359 (328) Techniques de Masuku Miryeganeh Matin Okinawa Institute of Science JP [email protected] 315 Nunoo Isaac Kwame Nkrumah University of GH [email protected] and Technology / Plant Science and Technology Epigenetics Unit (Saze unit) Nyiram Brigitte University of Rwanda RW [email protected] 360 Missoup Alain Didier University of Yaoundé 1 CA 357 240, 294 bangutse Moloney James James Cook University AU [email protected] 57 Ocampo- Natalia ETH Zurich CH [email protected] 214 Penuela Monsalve Alejandra Universidad Nacional de CO [email protected] 57 Colombia Orozco- Pablo Cardiff University UK [email protected] 154, (317) terWengel Monthe Franck Université libre de Buxelles BE [email protected] 121, (159), (ULB-EBE) (216) Oslisly Richard ANPN /IRD GA [email protected] Morel Alexandra University of Oxford, School of UK alexandra.morel@ouce. 256 Palmeirim Jorge Faculdade de Ciencias, PT [email protected] 180 Geography and the Environment ox.ac.uk Universidade de Lisboa Mota de Sylvia Naturalis Biodiversity Center NL sylvia.motadeoliveira@ 189, (194) Pardini Matteo German Aerospace Center DE [email protected] 229 Oliveira naturalis.nl (DLR) Moudingo Jean Hude University of Douala CM [email protected] 56 Parolin Pia University of Hamburg, BEE DE [email protected] 68 Ekindi hamburg.de Muellner-Riehl Alexandra Leipzig University DE [email protected] 39 Parra Edicson Imperial College London UK [email protected] Sanchez Muscarella Robert Aarhus University DK [email protected] 123, 309 Pays Olivier UMR 6554 CNRS - LETG-Angers FR [email protected] 304, (335) Muttaqin Anwari Nur Boston University US [email protected] - University of Angers

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Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page name name Peña Carrillo Kenzy Laboratoire d'Ethologie FR [email protected] 314 Rossetti Dilce INPE BR [email protected] 133, (302) Expérimentale et Comparée, Rowe Karen Museums Victoria AU [email protected] 104 Université Paris 13 Roy Virginie Université Paris-Est Créteil FR [email protected] (149) Peyre Gwendolyn Universidad de los Andes CO [email protected] 239 / Institute of ecology and Pfeifer Marion Newcastle University UK [email protected] 249, (277) environmental sciences - Paris Philipson Christopher ETH Zürich CH [email protected] 233 Ruiz Pinzon César Institut Méditérannéen de FR [email protected] 47 Pierick Kerstin Georg-August University of DE [email protected] 174 Augusto Biodiversité et Ecologie marine Göttingen et continentale Pietsch Stephan A. International Institute of Applied AT [email protected] 221, 287 Salazar Laura Universidad Tecnologica EC [email protected] 181 Systems Analysis Indoamerica Piratelli Augusto Universidade Federal de Sao BR [email protected] 264 Salmon Sandrine Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] 312 Carlos/Departamento de Naturelle, UMR 7179 Mecadev Ciencias Ambientais Sam Katerina Biology Centre of Czech CZ [email protected] 203, 322 Pitkämäki Tinja University of Turku FI [email protected] 192, 324 Academy of Science, Institute of Entomology Polania Jaime Universidad Nacional de CO [email protected] 57 Colombia Sede Medellin San Miguel Anitza Valencia College; Conservacion US asanmiguel2@ de la Naturaleza Amazonica del valenciacollege.edu Ponta Nicole ETH Zurich CH [email protected] 295 Peru, A.C. Potamitis Ilyas Technological Educational GR [email protected] 307 Sanchewska Karolina Fulbright Poland-Botanical PL [email protected] Institute of Crete Institute in Krakow Poteaux Chantal Laboratoire d'Ethologie FR [email protected] 151, (314) Santiago Louis University of California US [email protected] 120 Expérimentale et Comparée Santos Cyntia Université de Angers and BR [email protected] 76 Pozsgai Gabor Fujian Agriculture and Forestry CN [email protected] UFMS-Brasil University Sattler Dietmar Leipzig University, Institute of DE [email protected] 267 Pröhl Hjördis Heike Institute of Zoology, University DE heike.proehl@tiho-hannover. 155 Geography of Veterinary Medicine de Schleuning Matthias Senckenberg Biodiversity and DE matthias.schleuning@ 238 Radespiel Ute Institute of Zoology, University DE ute.radespiel@tiho-hannover. 158 Climate Research Centre senckenberg.de of Veterinary Medicine de Hannover Schmitt Sylvain Université de Bordeaux / Unité FR sylvain.schmitt@ 311 Mixte de Recherche Biodiversité agroparistech.fr Raedig Claudia TH Köln DE [email protected] 263, (264), Gènes et Communautés (266) Schumacher Nils-Christian University of Wuerzburg DE nils-christian.schumacher@ 83 Raffelsbauer Volker Friedrich-Alexander-University DE [email protected] 310 stud-mail.uni-wuerzburg.de Erlangen-Nuremberg Schweizer Daniella Ecosystem Management ETH CH daniellaschweizer@gmail. Rau E-Ping Laboratoire Écologie & Diversité FR [email protected] 327 com Biologique Sébastien Albert Université de la Réunion, UMR RE [email protected] 323 Ravaloha- Maholy The Aspinall Foundation MG [email protected] 260 PVBMT rimanitra Madagascar Segovia Ricardo School of GeoSciences / UK [email protected] 117 Reeb Catherine Université Pierre et Marie FR [email protected] 195 University of Edinburgh Curie, Institut de Systématique, evolution, biodiversité Sethi Sarab Imperial College London UK [email protected] 111 René- Malika UMR BOREA Université des GP malika.trouillefou@univ- 48 Sfair Julia Universidade Federal de BR [email protected] 275 Trouillefou Antilles antilles.fr Pernambuco Renner Marion Institute of Plant Sciences CH [email protected] 255 Sherchan Samendra Tulane university US [email protected] 340 Riutta Terhi University of Oxford / School of UK [email protected] 271, (278) Shrestha Ramesh Evironment Nepal NP [email protected] Geography and the Environment Babu Robinson Samuel Lancaster University and Centre UK [email protected] 333 Siddons David Universidad del Azuay EC [email protected] 306, (330) for Ecology & Hydrology Silva de Pedro Luiz The University of Edinburgh UK [email protected] 144 Rodrigues Fatima Universidade Federal de Sao BR [email protected] 253, (264) Miranda Carlos/Departamento de Sommer Simone Evolutionary Ecology and DE [email protected] 157 Ciencias Ambientais Conservation Genomics Rodríguez Eyvar Elias Autonomous University of DE [email protected] 193 Spannl Susanne University of Bayreuth DE Susanne.Spannl@uni- 320 Quiel Chiriqui, Panama bayreuth.de Romero Arias Johanna Univeristé Libre de Bruxelles BE Johanna.Romero.Arias@ 142 Srikan- Tharaniya Sorbonne FX tharaniya.srikanthasamy@ (79), 82 (ULB-EBE) ulb.ac.be thasamy Université,UPMC,iEES-Paris upmc.fr

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Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page Family First name Organisation E-Mail Ref. Page name name Strijk Joeri Guangxi University CN [email protected] Waite Catherine University of Nottingham UK catherine.waite@nottingham. 107, 248, Sueur Jerome Muséum National d'Histoire FR [email protected] (99), (103), ac.uk (329) Naturelle (MNHN) (105) Wang Yunxia University of Leeds UK [email protected] 232 Szefer Piotr Biology Centre, Czech Academy CZ [email protected] 204 Wantzen Karl M. UNESCO Chair FX [email protected] of Sciences, Institute of Wilding Nicholas Université de La Réunion, UMR RE [email protected] 191, 336 Entomology Peuplements vegetaux et Taubert Franziska Helmholtz Centre for DE [email protected] 224 bioagresseurs en milieu tropical Environmental Research - UFZ Wölfel Mirco Leibniz Centre for Tropical DE mirco.woelfelschneider@ 61 Teh Yit Arn University of Aberdeen UK [email protected] (143), (271), schneider Marine Research (ZMT) leibniz-zmt.de 272 Wu Junen Xishuangbanna Tropical CN [email protected] 257 Thomas Maki Okinawa Instititute of Science JP [email protected] 298 Botanical Garden, Chinese and Technology Academy of Sciences Thornton Ann University of Southampton UK [email protected] 64 Zarate Edwin Universidad del Azuay EC [email protected] 330 Tiede Yvonne Philipps-Universität Marburg, DE [email protected]. 177 Zigelski Paulina Universität Hamburg DE [email protected] (77), 78 Biologie de Zolalaina Andria- Doctoral School Natural MG [email protected] 135, 300 Tiwari Rakesh University of Leeds UK [email protected] manantena Ecosystems Tom-Dery Damian University of Hamburg, Applied DE damian.tom-dery@uni- 75 Plant Ecology hamburg.de Tosso Félicien TERRA Research Centre, Central BE [email protected] 93 African Forests, Gembloux Agro- Bio Tech, University of Liège Tripathi Hemant University of Edinburgh, UK [email protected] 85 Department of GeoSciences Trolliet Franck Forest Stewardship Council DE [email protected] (136), (242), International (281), (328) Trone Marie Valencia College; Conservacion US [email protected] (98), 100, 110 de la Naturaleza Amazonica del Peru, A.C. Turkovska Olga International Institute for AT [email protected] 230 Applied Systems Analysis Ulloa Juan ISYEB, UMR 7205 CNRS MNHN FR [email protected] 103 Sebastian UPMC EPHE Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle - Université Paris-Sud Valadou Bénédicte Agence Française pour la FR benedicte.valadou@ Biodiversité afbiodiversite.fr Vallée Vincent Ifremer Guyane, Fisheries FR [email protected] 52 Biodiversity Unit Valtonen Anu Department of Environmental FI [email protected] 301 and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland Velescu Andre Karlsruher Institut für DE [email protected] 16, (173), Technologie (174), (321) Veranso- Marie Claire Institut für Molekulare CM [email protected] 87 Libalah und Organismische Evolutionsbiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Verbeeck Hans Ghent University, CAVElab BE [email protected] 167, 219, (220), (241) Veridiano Rizza Karen Thuenen Institute for DE [email protected] International Foresty and Forest Economics Visser Marco Department of Ecology and US [email protected] 226 Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University

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