Tree Flora Research Articles

Evidence for a Miocene pulse of diversification of the tropical American clade of the Brazil nut family (Lecythidaceae)

ABSTRACT The tropical American species of the Brazil nut family, Lecythidaceae, are abundant in the tree flora, with some economically important species. Yet, the phylogenetic relationships and pace of diversification within this family are understudied. Here, we used shotgun sequencing data for 86 of the 228 currently accepted species in the exclusively tropical American subfamily Lecythidoideae in a phylogenomic context. For each sampled species, we built the full plastid DNA sequence, and also extracted nuclear DNA for 571 regions using the new bioinformatics pipeline REFMAKER, which we used to produce a time-calibrated phylogenetic hypothesis. Our analysis shows that phylogenetic inference from plastid and nuclear DNA alignments resulted in different topologies. The nuclear DNA topology strongly suggests that genus Lecythis should be split into at least four genera. Samples of the genus Eschweilera formed a monophyletic group, with the exception of one sampled species (Eschweilera amazoniciformis S.A.Mori). The Bertholletia clade, which contains the majority of the Lecythidoideae species, and all Lecythis and Eschweilera species, started diversifying around 27.5 Ma, with an accelerated rate of diversification starting in the middle Miocene (c. 12 Ma). The clade sister to Bertholletia (including Corythophora, Eschweilera, and Corrugata, Chartacea and Poiteaui clades) includes at least 124 species and it has diversified less than 10 Ma. This time frame of diversification coincides with major changes in tropical American landscapes and climate associated with the Andean uplift.

The biogeography of the Amazonian tree flora

We describe the geographical variation in tree species composition across Amazonian forests and show how environmental conditions are associated with species turnover. Our analyses are based on 2023 forest inventory plots (1 ha) that provide abundance data for a total of 5188 tree species. Within-plot species composition reflected both local environmental conditions (especially soil nutrients and hydrology) and geographical regions. A broader-scale view of species turnover was obtained by interpolating the relative tree species abundances over Amazonia into 47,441 0.1-degree grid cells. Two main dimensions of spatial change in tree species composition were identified. The first was a gradient between western Amazonia at the Andean forelands (with young geology and relatively nutrient-rich soils) and central–eastern Amazonia associated with the Guiana and Brazilian Shields (with more ancient geology and poor soils). The second gradient was between the wet forests of the northwest and the drier forests in southern Amazonia. Isolines linking cells of similar composition crossed major Amazonian rivers, suggesting that tree species distributions are not limited by rivers. Even though some areas of relatively sharp species turnover were identified, mostly the tree species composition changed gradually over large extents, which does not support delimiting clear discrete biogeographic regions within Amazonia.

Diversity of tree flora in the forest galleries of four ponds in the Comoé National Park (north-east Ivory Coast)

The riparian forest galleries of the ponds in the Comoé National Park (CNP) constitute microhabitats colonised by a specific plant and animal community. These plant formations are of great research interest. These initiatives could lead to efficient management of these biomes in the short, medium and long term. This study is part of an effort to make the most of plant resources in forest galleries. The aim of this study is to assess the diversity of riparian species in the ponds of the CNP. The information was collected using the surface survey method combined with the roving inventory method. The inventory identified 78 species divided into 63 genera and 30 families. The buffalo pond forest gallery has the highest species richness, with 39 species in 33 genera and 19 families. The study also showed that for trees with DBH ≥10 cm, the species Diospyros mespiliformis (25.89%), Mitragyna inermis (17.11%), Khaya senegalensis (12.27%), Piliostigma thonningii (11.65 %), Cola gigantean (11.16 %), Vitellaria paradoxa (10.90 %) and Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (10.84%)) are the most abundant in riparian pond formations. The Fabaceae and Rubiaceae families are the most represented in terms of number of species, demonstrating that the flora of the forest galleries in Comoé National Park is of major ecological interest.

The effects of electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) on tourists’ decisions to visit the Magetan Refugia Garden (indigenous tree flora) in the COVID-19 pandemic era

The effects of electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) on tourists’ decisions to visit the Magetan Refugia Garden (indigenous tree flora) in the COVID-19 pandemic era

Meeting Linnean, Wallacean, and Darwinian shortfalls in global biodiversity hotspots: A model study from the Indian Himalayan Region

AbstractDespite recent efforts to make large‐scale biodiversity datasets available, several data shortfalls still exist that preclude our progress in achieving global conservation and sustainability goals. In this study, we present a comprehensive native tree dataset (1689 species) from the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)—home to two global biodiversity hotspots—assembled from an extensive data synthesis. Based on this database, we investigate the geographic patterns and drivers of α‐ and β‐taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of the native trees among 13 different provinces of IHR. Our results revealed a considerable variation in the α‐ and β‐taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity among the provinces of IHR, with the highest values in eastern provinces. We found phylogenetic clustering mostly in the western provinces, and phylogenetic dispersion in the eastern provinces. We found a positive correlation between the taxonomic and phylogenetic dissimilarity across the IHR. Also, the different sets of explanatory variables explained the variation of tree species richness, standardized effect size of phylogenetic diversity, net relatedness index, and nearest taxon index, with maximum contribution by temperature seasonality (Bio4). Furthermore, temperature‐related climatic distance individually explained most of the variation in the taxonomic and phylogenetic dissimilarity between the provinces of IHR. Overall, our findings unveil the patterns of taxonomic, biogeographic, and phylogenetic dimensions of tree flora in the IHR, which in turn can help in formulating scientific data‐based regional policy and conservation strategies. Looking forward, we presented a model study for bridging the Linnean, Wallacean, and Darwinian shortfalls in the globally data‐deficient biodiversity‐rich regions.

Widespread introduced species dominate the urban tree assemblage on the endemic-rich tropical island of São Tomé.

The Afrotropics are experiencing some of the fastest urbanisation rates on the planet but the impact of city growth on their rich and unique biodiversity remains understudied, especially compared to natural baselines. Little is also known about how introduced species influence β-diversity in these contexts, and how patterns coincide with native ranges of species. Here we investigated how tree assemblages of the endemic-rich Afrotropical island of São Tomé differed between urban, rural and natural zones. These were primarily characterised by urban greenspaces, shade plantations, and old-growth forests, respectively. Based on 81 transects, we assessed biodiversity metrics of endemic, native and introduced species. Tree abundance and species richness were highest in the natural zone, where the composition was most different from the urban zone. The tree community of the rural zone was the most uneven and had the least variation among transects, representing the lowest β-diversity. The urban zone was dominated by introduced species (57.7%), while the natural zone hosted almost exclusively native species (93.3%), including many endemics (26.1%). The biogeographic realms that species originated from were particularly diverse in the urban zone, with few species from the Afrotropics. In contrast to native and endemic trees, introduced trees were clearly associated with urban and rural expansion, as they were much more abundant and species-rich in these zones than in the natural zone, facilitating biotic homogenisation. These findings highlight how urban and rural environments are affecting the native tree flora of São Tomé, and the need for conservation measures geared towards globally threatened and endemic tree species. Importantly, these require the protection of natural forests, despite the rising land demands for settlements and agriculture. Ultimately, such action to conserve endemic trees will contribute to global efforts to prevent further biodiversity declines.

Environmental drivers of tree species richness in the southernmost portion of the Paranaense forests

BackgroundThe Rio de la Plata grassland region is dominated by temperate grasslands, with the scarce natural forests, influenced floristically by adjacent biogeographical provinces. Uruguay represents the southern limit for many tree species of the Paranaense Province, several of which inhabit the hillside forests. With many species shifting poleward due to climate change, we do not yet know how current environmental factors, particularly climatic ones, are linked to the tree diversity of this flora nowadays. The aim of this study is to understand the geographic pattern of tree richness in the hillside forests of Uruguay, evaluating the water–energy and the environmental heterogeneity hypotheses. The distribution of the hillside forest trees was obtained by compiling and updating the herbaria database and distribution maps of woody plants of Uruguay. The presence/absence of each species, and then the species richness, were georeferenced over a grid that covers Uruguay with 302 cells (660 km2). Over the same grid were compiled environmental variables associated with climate and environmental heterogeneity. The relationship between richness and environmental variables was studied by applying general linear models (GLM). As a strong autocorrelation was detected, a residuals auto-covariate term was incorporated into the GLM, to take into account the species richness spatial structure.ResultsThe tree flora of the hillside forest was composed mainly by Paranaense species that show a latitudinal gradient, with two high richness cores, in the east and northeast of Uruguay. The final model including the environmental variables and the spatial term explained 84% of the variability of tree richness. Species richness showed a positive relationship with precipitation, forest cover, potential evapotranspiration and productivity, while a negative effect of temperature variation was found. The spatial component was the primary predictor, accounting for a 30% of spatial pattern of tree richness.ConclusionsThis study accounts for a large proportion of the environmental and spatial variations of the tree richness pattern of the Paranense flora in its southernmost portion. It brings support to both water–energy and environmental heterogeneity hypotheses, emphasizing the role of climate and its variation and the habitat availability on the hillside forest diversity.

Tree Flora of Jhalawar District (Rajasthan) - with Reference to Floristic Diversity and Phytogeography

Tree Flora of Jhalawar District (Rajasthan) - with Reference to Floristic Diversity and Phytogeography

ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone.

Globally, treelines form a transition zone between tree-dominated forest downslope and treeless alpine vegetation upslope. Treelines represent the highest boundary of "tree" life form in high-elevation mountains and at high latitudes. Recently, treelines have been shifting upslope in response to climate warming, so it has become important to understand global tree diversity and treeline distributions. However, to the best of our knowledge, no global database on tree flora of treelines exists, which limits our capacity to undertake macroecological analyses. Here, for the first time, we present a global data set on the trees of the treeline ecotone, supported by an online ToTE database. We synthesized the database from 1202 studies published over the last 60 years (1962 to 2022) following the Preferred Reporting Items in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol. We classified the tree species in the database into three categories: treeline tree (TL) species, near to treeline (NTL) tree species, and tree species with an upper montane range limit (TUMR). The ToTE Version-1 presents a total of 208 tree taxa, including 189 species, five subspecies, and 14 varieties, belonging to 54 genera and 26 families distributed across 34 mountain regions worldwide that either grow exactly at the treeline or have a range limit below the treeline. Of the total taxa, 155, 14, and 39 belong to TL, NTL, and TUMR, respectively. Genera such as Abies, Picea, Pinus, Larix, and Juniperus are more represented in the treeline tree category. On the other hand, Acer, Prunus, Populus, and Quercus have more representatives in the near to treeline category, whereas Erica, Nothofagus, and Polylepis contribute more tree species with an upper montane range limit. Furthermore, families such as Rosaceae and Pinaceae include trees that occur both at the treeline and with an upper montane range limit, whereas Sapindaceae includes trees that occur exclusively near to treeline. Our database also includes information on the global distribution patterns of treeline tree species richness across mountains and biomes. The mountains with the highest number of tree species are the Andes (39) followed by the Himalaya (37). Close to 67% of tree species show restricted distributions in different mountains, with the highest endemism in the Andes and the Himalaya. In terms of tree species distribution, Pinus sylvestris was widespread, with a distribution across nine mountain regions, followed by Picea glauca and Fagus sylvatica, both distributed across five mountain regions. In terms of species' distribution across biomes, the temperate biome harbors the highest treeline tree species richness (152 species), which may reflect the fact that the majority of studies are available from the temperate regions of the world. The remaining 56 species are distributed within five other biomes, with the least in dry tropical and subarctic (four species each). Furthermore, currently 40 treeline tree species fall under different International Union for Conservation of Nature threat categories. We anticipate that our database will help advance research on macroecological, biogeographic, evolutionary, climate-change, and conservation aspects of the treeline on a global scale. The data are released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international license. Please cite this data paper when the data are reused.

Fire facilitates ground layer plant diversity in a Miombo ecosystem.

Little is known about the response of ground layer plant communities to fire in Miombo ecosystems, which is a global blind spot of ecological understanding. We aimed: (1) to assess the impact of three experimentally imposed fire treatments on ground layer species composition and compare it with patterns observed for trees; and (2) to analyse the effect of fire treatments on species richness to assess how responses differ among plant functional groups. At a 60-year-long fire experiment in Zambia, we quantified the richness and diversity of ground layer plants in terms of taxa and functional groups across three experimental fire treatments of late dry-season fire, early dry-season fire and fire exclusion. Data were collected in five repeat surveys from the onset of the wet season to the early dry season. Of the 140 ground layer species recorded across the three treatments, fire-maintained treatments contributed most of the richness and diversity, with the least number of unique species found in the no-fire treatment. The early-fire treatment was more similar in composition to the no-fire treatment than to the late-fire treatment. C4 grass and geoxyle richness were highest in the late-fire treatment, and there were no shared sedge species between the late-fire and other treatments. At a plot level, the average richness in the late-fire treatment was twice that of the fire exclusion treatment. Heterogeneity in fire seasonality and intensity supports diversity of a unique flora by providing a diversity of local environments. African ecosystems face rapid expansion of land- and fire-management schemes for carbon offsetting and sequestration. We demonstrate that analyses of the impacts of such schemes predicated on the tree flora alone are highly likely to underestimate impacts on biodiversity. A research priority must be a new understanding of the Miombo ground layer flora integrated into policy and land management.

Valuation of Ecosystem Services for Driving Community-assisted Forest Landscape Restoration in Endane Biodiversity Corridor, Sri Lanka

The ecosystem services: direct or indirect benefits of ecosystems to human well-being, need to be recognized in conservation and restoration decision-making. In the human-dominated southwest Sri Lanka, we have established a forest landscape restoration project (Endane Biodiversity Corridor) linking a peripheral forest reserve to Sinharaja Rainforest Complex. The ecosystem services provided by tea monocultures, abandoned tea lands, and lowland home gardens were estimated employing a range of methods for estimating respective ecosystem service values with data collected from household surveys, key stakeholder interviews, and survey of tree flora in 20 m × 20 m plots for estimating aboveground carbon stock. The benefit transfer approach was used to value the supporting and regulating services. The total value of ecosystem services provided by this forest corridor landscape was 6,465 USD ha/yr in 2021. This amount included: provisioning services of 1,950 USD ha/yr, supporting services of 645 USD ha/yr, regulating services of 3,807 USD ha/yr, and cultural services of 38.8 USD ha/yr. Overall, our forest corridor landscape of 59.3 ha provided 382,362 of USD of ecosystem services a year. In comparison to tea monoculture, species-rich home gardens generate a high amount of provisioning services. Our study site is prone to ecosystem degradation due to human activities like forest land encroachment, illegal gem mining, and over-harvesting of forest products. However, we recognize the opportunity of enhancing the biodiversity of monoculture tea gardens and home gardens of the corridor following the principles of agroforestry and enrichment planting. These results i.e., the ecosystem service values among different land uses, are imperative for financing and encouraging community participation for forest restoration activities.
 Keywords: Forest resources assessment, Forest restoration, Common-based restoration

Valuation of Ecosystem Services for Driving Community-assisted Forest Landscape Restoration in Endane Biodiversity Corridor, Sri Lanka

The ecosystem services: direct or indirect benefits of ecosystems to human well-being, need to be recognized in conservation and restoration decision-making. In the human-dominated southwest Sri Lanka, we have established a forest landscape restoration project (Endane Biodiversity Corridor) linking a peripheral forest reserve to Sinharaja Rainforest Complex. The ecosystem services provided by tea monocultures, abandoned tea lands, and lowland home gardens were estimated employing a range of methods for estimating respective ecosystem service values with data collected from household surveys, key stakeholder interviews, and survey of tree flora in 20 m × 20 m plots for estimating aboveground carbon stock. The benefit transfer approach was used to value the supporting and regulating services. The total value of ecosystem services provided by this forest corridor landscape was 6,465 USD ha/yr in 2021. This amount included: provisioning services of 1,950 USD ha/yr, supporting services of 645 USD ha/yr, regulating services of 3,807 USD ha/yr, and cultural services of 38.8 USD ha/yr. Overall, our forest corridor landscape of 59.3 ha provided 382,362 of USD of ecosystem services a year. In comparison to tea monoculture, species-rich home gardens generate a high amount of provisioning services. Our study site is prone to ecosystem degradation due to human activities like forest land encroachment, illegal gem mining, and over- harvesting of forest products. However, we recognize the opportunity of enhancing the biodiversity of monoculture tea gardens and home gardens of the corridor following the principles of agroforestry and enrichment planting. These results i.e., the ecosystem service values among different land uses, are imperative for financing and encouraging community participation for forest restoration activities.
 
 
 
 
 Keywords: Forest resources assessment, Forest restoration, Common-based restoration
 
 
 

Assessment of carbon sequestration rate and tree diversity in a model urban green cover study using a college campus in Mangalore city

The extant green cover in a 140-year-old St Aloysius College campus in Mangalore, Karnataka, India, was used as a model to study tree diversity and carbon-sequestering rate (CSR), using a non-destructive biostatistics-based method. The results of the study indicated that the campus constituted a highly diverse tree flora with a Shannon Diversity index of 4.07. A total of 169 different tree species were found on the campus with an average population size of 9.98 per species. The green cover of 4.67 ha of the total area of the campus had a tree density of 361.03 trees/ha. Five tree species, namely Polyanthia longifolia, Cocos nucifera, Tectona grandis, Terminalia catappa, and Areca catechu, dominated the area. Using allometric equations, the total green cover in the campus area with biomass of 4594.6 Kg, which sequestered 8431.1 Kg of carbon at a carbon sequestration rate of 84.31 Kg per year was deduced. Olea europaea and Phoenix dactylifera, with the highest CSR of 0.09 and 0.08, respectively, were the most effective in sequestering 12.54 Kg and 11.19 Kg of carbon. The highest amount of Carbon sequestered (CS) per tree was in Olea europaea (12.54 Kg) and Phoenix dactylifera (11.19 Kg), followed by Acacia auriculiformis (10.44 Kg), and Adenanthera pavonina (10.08 Kg). It was observed that the amount of carbon sequestered decreased with the decrease in tree girth.

How well do trees fit the city? Lessons from an urban tree survey in Córdoba, Argentina.

Background and aim: Urban tree composition is generally highly diverse and largely non-native in origin. Species selection, however, should consider not only future predicted climate and species' environmental requirements, but also the regional invasion risk assessments and the respiratory health potential of species. Here, we assessed the suitability of the most frequent urban tree species by using available online databases. M&M: Suitability was assessed by analysing tree attributes in relation to their invasive status in the study area, the respiratory health potential of the species given by their known pollination strategy and the bioclimatic match of species with the plantation zone. We grouped species according to their nativeness as non-native, regionally native and local native. After filtering those with undesirable characteristics (i.e., invasive species and/or with anemophilous pollination strategy) we analysed three bioclimatic variables: annual temperature, annual precipitation and precipitation seasonality. Results: Results showed that the composition of Córdoba's street trees is heavily biased towards non-native species, many of which are invasive, have an anemophilous pollination strategy and/or exhibit high bioclimatic mismatch. In addition, the strong bias in the current tree composition towards species from more humid, temperate regions is evident. Conclusions: Our results highlight the importance of revising current policy decisions to adjust urban tree flora in the face of climate change.

Carbon Stock Environment of Mapping Vegetation in UMMAT Education Forest West Rinjani

Indonesia is a country that has a role as carbon sink which is very influential on climate change in the Southeast Asian region, on the island of Lombok there are clusters that stretch forest hills from West Rinjani to East Rinjani. This Forest Protected or Educational Forest which has been controlled has an area of ​​more than 90 hectares with based on Minister Environment and forest Republic Indonesia SK 405/MENLHK/Setjen/PLA.0/6/2016 in couple years ago are diversity of flora and several types of plants and trees. Land fires or forest areas in Mount Rinjani National Park on the eve of the 78th Indonesian independence along the Aik Berik hiking trail were caused by humans or due to negligence. The community thinks about the condition, the destruction as well as the benefits of Protected Forest/Edu Forest, residents have perceptions about carbon storage and the benefits of Protected forest as a carbon store as well as people’s perceptions about climate change that is happening. The Data was obtained systematically have marked 9 plots divers growth stage 20x20 m for tree shape, 10x10m for poles, 5x5m for saplings, 2x2m for seedlings, 1x1m for wet grass. The form of balance and harmony that is still protected by Muslims the bond between human and Allah, and their environment. The Universe of God’s gave gift to manage and maintain it, so that it remains sustainable and good. In the Al-Qur’an it is explicitly stated that all forms of damage that exist on this earth are the result of human activities in interacting with their environment. That the universe was created by Allah as a form of His love for humans. Allah created and this nature for the benefit of humans. Nature is made a verse or a sign of the existence and omnipotence of Allah. Realizing that the universe is God’s creation, then taking care of the earth and preserving it is part of the consequences of this monotheistic belief. The primary data used is hill mapping, settlements and watershed observations of perceptions about carbon storage to vegetation, while the purpose of the activity or research is to carry out an analysis of identifying community perceptions of carbon storage and forest vegetation in Batu Bolong Village.

Restoration plantings in the Atlantic Forest use a small, biased, and homogeneous set of tree species

Investigating which species are planted in active restoration initiatives is useful for identifying underrepresented species and functional groups, which in turn can inform and improve the practice and policies of forest restoration. The Atlantic Forest is one of the global hotspots for biodiversity conservation and a region where many forest restoration initiatives have been carried out in recent decades. We conducted a taxonomic and functional analysis of a database with 1073 forest restoration plantings implemented from 2002 to 2018 in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We assessed how well restoration plantings represent the dispersal syndromes, successional groups, and the ratio of nitrogen-fixing, and threatened species, based on a comparison with 268 Atlantic Forest remnants. Comparisons were made for the entire biome as well as three subtypes: Atlantic Rainforest, Araucaria Forest and Seasonal Forest. We found 423 tree species planted in the restoration efforts, which represent less than 8 % of the Atlantic Forest tree flora. In comparison with the forest remnants, restoration plantings have a greater proportion of nitrogen-fixing tree species (17 % in plantings vs. 9 % in remnants) but underrepresent non-pioneer (67 % vs. 85 %), animal-dispersed (56 % vs. 74 %), and threatened species (18 species found in plantings vs. 83 in remnants). Our results indicate a bias towards N-fixing, non-animal-dispersed, and pioneer species in restoration plantings and towards using the same set of species across different regions of the Atlantic Forest. We recommend actions to increase the representation of the native tree flora in Atlantic Forest restoration plantings, especially concerning inclusion of animal-dispersed and threatened species and groups of species that are less likely to colonize restoration sites, such as large-seeded animal-dispersed species.

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution.

Native Metallophytes on Ultramafic Wooded Grassland in Sta Cruz, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines: Insights Into Phytostabilization and Forest Restoration

<p>The native metallophytes species are the optimum choice to restore degraded areas on ultramafic soil. However, a limited restorative floristic survey on the wooded grassland of Mindoro Occidental had been reported. Four 20 m x 20 m plots were established to rapidly assess the plant diversity of a wooded grassland on ultramafic soil in Sta. Cruz, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines. Diversity index (H`), relative density, relative dominance, and importance value (IV) were computed. Physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal contents of the soil in the site were analytically determined. We identified 43 morpho-species of plants belonging to 25 families. Thirty-six of the morpho-species identified are Philippine natives and typically grow on ultramafic forests. Nine species out of the top 10 trees with the highest IV are native ones, with <em>Buchanania arborescens</em> Blume as the most dominant. The estimate of Relative Cover (%) also showed native species. Poles and sapling dominated the area, suggesting that active regeneration is taking place. Further, 72.94% of the ground cover were represented by tree flora recruits (e.g., <em>B. arborescens</em>, <em>Alstonia macrophylla</em>). The sites have overall moderate diversity (H` index of 2.7). The soil contains a high amount of Nickel, Chromium, Iron, and Manganese. There were no Nickel hyperaccumulators but 22 native species showed Aluminum and Silicon hyperaccumulation. Therefore, the study revealed that the surveyed area is home to important metallophytes that have the potential for phytostabilization and reforestation.</p>

Сибсовое потомство карельской березы на Заонежской лесосеменной плантации

The article reports the results of studies on the growth and development of curly birch sibs progeny (produced through controlled pollination) aged 35 and 15 years growing in the Zaonezhye forest seed orchard (sites 1 and 2, respectively) in south-eastern Karelia, Medvezhyegorsky District. The number of trees with signs of wood figure in the seed progeny of curly birch in site 1 was 67 % by the age of 20 years, and by the age of 35 years – almost 80 %. This can probably be attributed to the genetic characteristics of the parent (plus) trees on one hand and to the favorable conditions in the forest seed orchard during the first years of the sibs progeny development on the other. Four of the 36 hybrid families (selected to include forward- and backcrossing products) were used for the case study of the growth and development patterns in stands of different age. The sibs progeny of these hybrid families was dominated by high-stemmed plants, but the main trunk shape in the 15-year-old stand was one with necks and muffs, while in the 35-year-old stand – with small protuberances. The rate of height growth in the trees decreased notably with age, whereas radial (stem diameter) growth, on the contrary, accelerated. As the bark grew thicker, however, the formerly bulgy surface “smoothed down”. We have also identified specific features of the ground vegetation formed under the effect of curly birch plantations of different age (15- and 35 years old). A conclusion drawn from the study is that good results from targeted cultivation of curly birch with figured grain (e.g., for sliced veneer) can be achieved already by the age of 20–35 years. Furthermore, considering the number of trees and their origin, this forest seed orchard constitutes an essential part of the valuable gene pool of curly birch, which may turn into a source for expanded reproduction of the resources of this unique member of the European forest tree flora. For citation: Vetchinnikova L.V., Titov A.F., Kostina E.E., Zhigunov A.V. Sibs Progeny of Curly Birch at the Zaonezhye Forest Seed Orchard. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 5, pp. 9–26. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-5-9-26

Precipitation gradients drive high tree species turnover in the woodlands of eastern and southern Africa

Savannas cover one‐fifth of the Earth's surface, harbour substantial biodiversity, and provide a broad range of ecosystem services to hundreds of millions of people. The community composition of trees in tropical moist forests varies with climate, but whether the same processes structure communities in disturbance‐driven savannas remains relatively unknown. We investigate how biodiversity is structured over large environmental and disturbance gradients in woodlands of eastern and southern Africa. We use tree inventory data from the Socio‐Ecological Observatory for Studying African Woodlands (SEOSAW) network, covering 755 ha in a total of 6780 plots across nine countries of eastern and southern Africa, to investigate how alpha, beta, and phylogenetic diversity varies across environmental and disturbance gradients. We find strong climate‐richness patterns, with precipitation playing a primary role in determining patterns of tree richness and high turnover across these savannas. Savannas with greater rainfall contain more tree species, suggesting that low water availability places distributional limits on species, creating the observed climate‐richness patterns. Both fire and herbivory have minimal effects on tree diversity, despite their role in determining savanna distribution and structure. High turnover of tree species, genera, and families is similar to turnover in seasonally dry tropical forests of the Americas, suggesting this is a feature of semiarid tree floras. The greater richness and phylogenetic diversity of wetter plots shows that broad‐scale ecological patterns apply to disturbance‐driven savanna systems. High taxonomic turnover suggests that savannas from across the regional rainfall gradient should be protected if we are to maximise the conservation of unique tree communities.