Elizabeth Gusmán Montalván

Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja | UTPL · Departamento de Ciencias Naturales

Increases in the abundance of woody species have been reported to affect the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands worldwide. However, it is virtually unknown how multiple biotic and abiotic drivers, such as climate, grazing, and fire, interact to determine woody dominance across global drylands. We conducted a standardized field survey in...

The dry forests of southern Ecuador are characterized by a great floristic variety and high endemism rates in different taxonomic groups; however, these forests are disappearing at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic disturbances. Epiphytic cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens) are important in seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) and, due to th...

Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity¹ that is at risk from ongoing global changes2,3. However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change4–6—shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity1,7. Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemic...

Mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) constitutes a major fraction of global soil carbon and is assumed less sensitive to climate than particulate organic carbon (POC) due to protection by minerals. Despite its importance for long-term carbon storage, the response of MAOC to changing climates in drylands, which cover more than 40% of the global...

Although chronic disturbance is widely recognized as a main driver of biodiversity loss in tropical dry forests, their consequences beyond the taxonomic loss perspective (i.e the functional dimension of diversity) still need to be clarified, especially in those plant traits associated with dispersal. Here, we evaluated the effects of chronic distur...

Perennial plants create productive and biodiverse hotspots, known as fertile islands, beneath their canopies. These hotspots largely determine the structure and functioning of drylands worldwide. Despite their ubiquity, the factors controlling fertile islands under conditions of contrasting grazing by livestock, the most prevalent land use in dryla...

Although chronic disturbance is widely recognized as a main driver in the loss of diversity of tropical forests, their consequences in other attributes of the diversity such as functional dimensions still need to be clarified, especially in those traits associated with the dispersal process of plants. Here, we evaluated the effects of chronic distu...

Understanding plant-soil interactions within an ecosystem can be valuable for land management. At species level, legumes promote biotic interactions and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) conservation within dry tropical ecosystems. The objective of this research was to determine if Vachellia macracantha (Humb. & Bonpl. Ex Willd) Seigler & Ebinger in...

Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that in...

Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure, climate, soil properties, and biodiversity may occur but have never been addressed simultaneously. Using a standardized survey at 98 sites across six continents, we show that in...

Background : Changes in climate and the intensity of agriculture expansion can alter plant population dynamics and community composition and structure of dry shrublands. Aims : We tested how temperature and moisture along an elevation gradient, grazing, and nutrient addition in soil affected demographic attributes of Croton shrubs and the composit...

Global change pressures are jeopardizing the functioning and structure of most tropical forests and clouding the future for their biodiversity and provided services. Although the impact of direct destruction through deforestation and fragmentation is currently in the research portfolio, overgrazing, which is more diffuse and generalized but chronic...

Tropical and subtropical dry forests make up the world’s largest terrestrial ecosystem. However, these forests have been used to establish several productive activities, such as growing crops, rearing livestock, and using the forest resources, due to their ease of access and climatic conditions, which has led to this ecosystem becoming highly threa...

Multiple ecosystem functions need to be considered simultaneously to manage and protect the several ecosystem services that are essential to people and their environments. Despite this, cost effective, tangible, relatively simple and globally relevant methodologies to monitor in situ soil multifunctionality, that is, the provision of multiple ecosy...

Pollinators are crucial for ecosystem functionality; however, little is known about the plant species used by some of these, such as stingless bees. In this study, for the first time, pollen resources used by Melipona mimetica Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and Scaptotrigona sp. Moure (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) were identified t...

Dispersal, physical conditions and biotic interactions contribute to determine the spatial distribution of individuals in plant populations. Much of what we know has been learned from studies that retrospectively posit mechanisms presumed to have generated the observed spatial patterns. Here we present a prospective approach. We start by measuring...

The dry forest of southern Ecuador and northern Perú (called the Tumbesian region) is known for its high diversity, endemism, and healthy conservation state. Nevertheless, the forest is exposed to many threats linked with human activities. To understand the effects of these threats, which have not been appropriately assessed, we pose two questions:...

El estudio de la distribución y reservas de carbono (C) y nitrógeno (N) en el suelo es de crucial importancia para todos los ecosistemas terrestres, particularmente en zonas secas de montaña donde encontramos alta heterogeneidad debido a las diferencias en suelos, clima y vegetación en relación con la altitud. El objetivo de esta investigación fue...

Phyllopeltula steppae and Reimnitzia santensis from dry forest of southern Ecuador were collected for the first time in Ecuador. The collections constitute the first records of the genera Phyllopeltula and Reimnitzia in the country. We provide information about ecology and distribution of the species.

Phyllopeltula steppae and Reimnitzia santensis from dry forest of southern Ecuador were collected for the first time in Ecuador. The collections constitute the first records of the genera Phyllopeltula and Reimnitzia in the country. We provide information about ecology and distribution of the species.

Dryland vegetation is characterized by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These “fertile islands” are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale. We conducted...

1. Dryland vegetation is characterized by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These "fertile islands" are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale. 2. We cond...

Dispersal, population spatial structure and intraspecific density-dependent processes are critical determinants of plant population dynamics. However, we lack empirical data on how the interplay between these factors changes across the plant species life cycle, particularly for long-lived plants. This is in great part due to the difficulty in imple...

Understanding how diversity is maintained in species‐rich communities, such as tropical forests, remains a challenge in ecology. Recent work suggests that the controversy between competing theories could be better resolved by considering the spatial scale at which different processes rule community assembly. Here we use individual species–area rela...

Síntesis de avances en la implementación de REDD + en los países participantes de la Red IBERO REDD+ en América Latina

The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems1. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these elemen...

The biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are interlinked by primary production, respiration and decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. It has been suggested that the C, N and P cycles could become uncoupled under rapid climate change because of the different degrees of control exerted on the supply of these element...