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Tropical Forest Ecology - Science topic

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MODIS-NPP algorithm is valid for biomass assessment in tropical forests? or are there any better remote sensing products? (except the Vegetation Dynamics Models to estimate NPP)
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Hi all,
I am trying to find reference values on annual soil rhizodeposition rates for different kinds of forests, with a particular interest for tropical rainforests.
Do we have an idea of the amount of organic material deposited annually in the soil for this kind of ecosystems?
I am doing a literature search in parallel and will share my findings in this post.
Feel free to contribute and to use this question as a data compilation nexus!
Best wishes,
Thomas
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Mangroves have the ability to absorb up to four times more carbon dioxide by area than upland terrestrial forest ecosystems, carbon dioxide is stored as blue Carbon in the sediment of the mangroves swamps and marshes and green carbon in the soils of the terrestrial forest floors, and that carbon sink forms the carbon pool, but the result obtained from the analysis of the sediment samples of both types of ecosystems doesn't reflect that quantity, the organic carbon of the mangroves swamps ranges from 36 to 69%, whereas, the organic carbon content of the soils of the terrestrial forest ecosystems varies from 16 to 66%, then where and how the extra carbon stored in the mangroves sediments as blue Carbon which is four times more than that of the green carbon of the forest soil?
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Convey my thanks for such a relevant article that nicely elaborated of the carbon draining from the terrestrial forest floors arrested in the mangroves ecosystems and that is seen at a glance, I will go through the paper later on and use as citation in my work
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In case it helps to answer this question, we are intending to have 60 plots, spread across a climate gradient of 270-2100m.
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If you want to capture geology, aspect, soils, slope etc. the RAPELD system will work well, especially if you plan to include bigger trees or other variables in the future. The explanation in the book that can be downloaded from the PPBio site explains in detail the advantages of long thin (modified Gentry) plots over many small plots, but if you do many small plots they can be placed at equal intervals along the center line of a RAPELD plot and they will still answer many questions.
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Seeking methods for restoration of tropical dry forest in the Lesser Antilles, including site preparation, species composition, plant spacing, and watering requirements. Thank you.
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Good project....We're in the same target...Good luck Natalia Collier
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Pheidologeton diversus ants and, I presume, other species in the genus, often carry seeds of many types along their trails and columns. Some of these seeds are quite large (< 20 mg, possibly more). The columns can be 10s of meters long. What happens to these seeds in the end? Are they eaten? buried? discarded where they can germinate? If they don't eat them, why do they carry them?
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The answer to your question in short is yes. Please have a look at this link.
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Secondary forest plots in Sabah, Borneo with various degree of destruction after multiple logging.
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Gentlemen, also have a look at Attached PDF.
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With climate change, there is a shift in time and season of food production in Tropical Forests. For example, a tree that produces in December may now produce in February. A particular example in Nigeria is the fact that maize and African pear ( Dacryodes edulis) mature around the same period because they are consumed together but this has been altered due to climate change. I am in need of literature to backup this phenomena.
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In the Bolivian Amazon the 2017 brazil nut harvest (from natural forests) showed really low volumes. This phenomenon has been linked to changes in precipitation linked to changing hydrology cycles due to climate change and regional deforestation and degradation. The following text (in Spanish I’m sorry) gives more information on this subject.
Vos. V.A. 2017. Propuesta para el componente productivo de los planes de mitigación de la crisis de la castaña de la Amazonía boliviana, Aporte técnico como insumo para los planes de emergencia. Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado Regional Norte Amazónico. Riberalta, Bolivia. Pp. 79. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316120830_Propuesta_para_el_componente_productivo_de_los_planes_de_mitigacion_de_la_crisis_de_la_castana_de_la_Amazonia_boliviana_-_aporte_tecnico_como_insumo_para_los_planes_de_emergencia
We’ve seen similar effects in many other products, including cacao. We’ve noticed the delay and unpredictable start of the rainy season causes the cacao trees to abort flowers and young fruits, while the relatively few fruits that do manage to grow tend to be small and still immature at the end of the rainy season. Many fruits thus mature incompletely affecting cacao quality. I’m afraid this information has not been documented well yet: so far it’s only been written down tentatively in project reports. But I’m currently trying to write down more details in a more scientific description of adaptations and practices to improve climate change resilience in regional cacao production. Please feel free to write me at vincentvosbolivia@gmail.com.
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I am studying on the effect of fragmentation on tree species composition in subtropical forest.
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On the edge of the Chinese tropics, Liu Jia-Jia found that fragmentation effects were small in recent (< 50 years old) fragments, presumably because trees mostly live longer than this (Liu, J. -J. & Slik, J. W. F. Forest fragment spatial distribution matters for tropical tree conservation. Biol. Conserv. 171, 99–106 (2014)). These fragments were not managed but I think you might get the same result, with management effects larger in younger fragments which have not yet had time for edge-related mortality and regeneration failures to have an impact.
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Please, give tips and the methods for classifications?
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I agree with all that Simon says, but would add that it is often extremely difficult to get enough data to do a formal IUCN assessment for tropical forest trees, which is why so few - I'd guess less than 1-2% - have been evaluated. The IUCN document makes clear that it is better to classify a species on the basis of the best available information than to not classify it at all, but in practice people seem to be very reluctant to do this, particularly for plants. For canopy trees, Asma's suggestion of remote sensing data is an attractive idea, but although Greg Asner's group has shown that identifying trees to species may be possible, I have never seen it used in a conservation assessment. I'd guess that if a species was very distinctive in some way that was detectable from space this would be possible.
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Generally viviparous condition is key character for true mangroves but in few species does not show that character is it right or wrong?
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Please follow this PDF attachment.
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We are adding seed traps to our CTFS forest plot at Ngel Nyaki, Nigeria. However a predator free trap is difficult to make, we know rats and lizards can get into most traps. 
Ideas for the best design would be appreciated. Thanks.
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You need to experiment. Add edible seeds to your traps and use camera-traps to identify who removes them. Most researchers in the Neotropics seem to use open traps and apparently don't lose many seeds to seed predators. In tropical Asia, in contrast, murid rats can climb even plastic supports and selectively remove preferred seeds, so you need either very frequent emptying of traps, or some form of rat excluder. In Hong Kong, where we had no very large seeds, we used a 1.5 X 1.5 cm wire mesh, which worked fine. We tested it with peanuts and sunflower seeds placed in traps. However, a mesh this size might exclude some larger seeds and wind-dispersed fruits, so you need to experiment yourself and see what works locally. But don't follow Neotropical practices without trials: they don't have murid rodents! Seed traps in Asian tropical forests also have problems with macaques, which are too intelligent and strong to exclude in any practical trap design, so you just have to make allowances. And elephants don't like any form of construction in their habitat....
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I'm looking for literature on tropical dry forest restoration worldwide. If you know of any projects, I would be very grateful if you could let me know about them. Thank you all
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I found this to be quite informative.
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Dear Researches I would like to do a SDM of vegetation in tropical forest I am in a bottle neck situation of which model to chose, would like to have few suggestions with modeling using presence only data I have gone through models like MaxEnt, BRT, RF, Biomapper, MARS,GARP, LIVES, BIOCLIM and DOMAIN, I would also like to know any other viable models that can be used and compared ..
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One option is to build a ensemble model, but even with this you will need some pseudo-absences in some of the models. As far as I know the only one that do not need any kind of absences is the BIOCLIM.
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The upper surface of teak (Tectona grandis) leaves is rough. In bamboos and wheat this is caused by the silica content. It seems this is not the case for teak.
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The wood of teak tree has also high silica content.
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Usually the dry and wet season last for around 6 months each, because in this period it is included the transition period. So, I need know how to identify this transition.
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The transition period between dry and humid seasons is not my topic. I am working on the regulation of insect development/reproduction by day-length; particularly on the resumption of photoperiodic response after completion of diapause of adults - recurrent photoperiodic response (e.g. Carabus yaconinus [Psyche 2012: Adult diapause in Coleoptera].
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We are going to estimate population size of some amphibians species in tropical rain forest, México
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I would suggest that there is no single answer to what is the best method: it depends on the life-history of the species. For example, for a species that has a 1;1 sex ratio and breeds only once a year, one can count spawn masses, For a species believed to have only a small home range, mark recapture (or recognition of individual differences using photos) using pitfalls or artificial cover objects will be effective. I recommend Dodd, CK (ed) 2010 Amphibian Ecology and Conservation as giving an excellent summary of the techniques and their limitations.
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there are different mistletoe species in the reserve and I want to compare the abundance of the species between the edge of the main forest and fragments as a proxy for habitat preference (between main forest edge and fragment). the transect lengths are the same for both habitat types but it cannot go round the forest because it is a really huge forest.
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You should try a stratified sampling approach. Then you select which habitats what to include as factors. That will help you in future analyses.
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Comparing patterns of diversity and community structure with the aid of morphological data, what would be the most ideal statistical tool to use in studying anuran patterns of diversity in montane forests?
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I would suggest to use PCA  as a first step. I don"t know which environmental variables are you considering in your research? 
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This time, I am currently search some good topic to be study about Seed Ecology and Physiology. This field gives me a curiosity in order to learn. And, if I already conceptualize your suggested topic, I will make a Propose Research Goals and Interest for M.Sc. study.
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Also you can focused on schizocarp seed.
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Different plants have different colonization history based on its economics.How rattan (family-Palmacea or Aracacea)  colonization connected with the historical era?
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Rattans are monocotyledons close to bamboo and other grasses has role as pioneer species in serial ecological succession. they are colonizers in early serial stage in humid / sub-humid climate.
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Hello Foresters and Botanists working in the Sal (Shorea robusta) forest: I am wondering about natural tree fall in sal forests. I observed very large gaps in sal forest caused by fall of mature Sal trees. In a  quiet day, I observed fall of a standing tree, which looked healthy. Other people reported several cases of such kind. I doubt the if the tree fall is associated with the occasional swampyness of the forest floor.   Larger gaps in the protected forest may be associated with abrupt fall of trees.  Any idea about the phenomenon?
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Yes such situation is very much common in Sal (Shorea robusta) forest, but such falling is common manly in mature tree stand, not in young tree or pole. Also, if you look to the stem it looks like a humepipe. Though no specific cause is reported yet, I think, it might be due to heartwood borer (as said by Sreejith Ashtomoorthy) or maybe some age-related phenomenon or root affecting organism or maybe all. So, more research is needed in this field. 
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I am Currently working on a Bachelor thesis with the Title:
Functional Traits in Evergreen Tropical Forests
The Basic of my thesis is the Comparison of two Forest!
(both: located in Neotropis, evergreen, elevation 1000-1500,water available throughout the year. One being located in a nutrients rich enviroment one at a poor side)
My spezial aim is to find traits that indicate the absence of nutrients as driving evolutionary factor for the Nutrient poor Side. Then Traits that are able to enhance fitness for light competition at the nutrient rich side.
In the end i try to make assumptions about the Tradeoffs being made at the sides predicting that the species composition will contain a higher percantage of conservative species at the poor side and aquisitive species at the rich side.
My Traits so far. 
Light: Specific Leaf area, Leaf Nitrogen Cont., Leaf Phosporus Cont, Max Canopy Height, Crown Leaf area Index
Nutrients: Wood Density, Max Canopy Height., Lifespan of Individual, rooting depths, relative root lenght
I am asking for a small feedback on the existing traits and maybe suggestions at all levels. (Papers which i should read, Traits i schould add/eliminate, general links fo the Topic)
I hope you enjoy the question.
Mfg Felix
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Felix -
Interesting study - I have done similar work that is closely related, and may change how you think about the problem (see attached).  Make sure you think through sampling and replication issues thoroughly in addition to traits: you need to have more than N=1 replicate of each forest type.
On your question, there is perhaps no "correct" list of traits, but certain traits are more closely linked to conservative vs. acquisitive growth strategies than others.  Your list includes some but not all of the Leaf Economics Spectrum traits (i.e., you have leaf N, leaf P, SLA, and leaf lifespan, but are missing photosynthetic capacity and leaf dark respiration).  I would argue that some measure of whole-plant light compensation point is the best direct measure of shade tolerance (and thus of conservative vs. acquisitive growth strategies), but this is also difficult to measure.  Along these lines crown-level leaf area index is very difficult to measure, and there are in fact very few data published on this in the literature.  It is much more feasible to measure canopy gap fraction, but even that is laborious (see second paper attached).
Vielen glück!
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We need semi-permanent tags or marks for tropical tree seedings and juveniles. They need to be numbered and last for at least 10 years (3-4 year censuses).  The only tags I've been able to find are tree tags, which are a bit big for our purpose.  We were looking for something approximately 2x1 cm or similar.  We also need to purchase over 2000 of them, so price is a key issue.  Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. If you have experience with long term plant surveys, other suggestions would be welcomed too.
thanks to all \\  eric,
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Hello Eric:
In our dry forest plots we have tagged saplings > 30 cm with aluminum Dymo tape. After trying several options this has been by far the best. The Dymo machine itself is a bit expensive but the rolls of aluminum tape are relatively cheap. We attach them to the plants with wire but if you intend to permanently mark very small seedlings this may not be the best way to go. Of course, in this dry forest site we have not faced problems like algae growing on our tapes!
Cheers,
Jorge
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Hi everyone. Does anybody knows how to set a sound level meter to record the sound constantly within the time interval for instance every 10 minutes so that it can just be installed at the area to record. Thank you in advance
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Greetings,
as mentioned in the comments above,
if you want to record the ambient sound levels remotely you first need to make sure whether the device you are using is capable in doing so. There are many drawbacks in using a handheld sound level meter as a permanent “station”. Even battery life could be a problem. I believe that you have already checked the specifications of your sound level meter and you have already read the manual. Apart from how to calibrate your device and set the frequency weightings (A or C) and response time (Fast or Slow) you should be able to find out whether you could schedule datalogging sampling rates.
If not, what I would suggest, is the creation of a “smart” sound level sampling protocol that you could follow (by conducting the measurements yourself) in the area under consideration.          
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Given the importance value index and others as Shannon, Simpson etc, used since the last century, they have become ambiguous and sketchy for information about tropical plant resources in the region, especially in functional aspects. For this reason I want to know through you, what methods are being used in other tropical ecositemas to analyze data from research and evaluate diversity, richness and structure in tropical forests and agroecosystems.
Best regards
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Hi Oswaldo
What I can share with you is that the use of diversity indices is sometimes uncritical. Many students choose to follow the fashion of using either index, without stopping to analyze their research objectives. Today there are numerous texts about the assumptions of each index, the type of data required and even ecological interpretation. If you are familiar with using the R program, you can find multiple routines for the diversity indices, such as vegan, biodiversityR and others. You can follow a lot of argument downloading vegan library written by Oksanen (2013) or biodiversityR library written by Kind(2015)
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Archaeometric techniques are dependent on the environmental conditions where they are used. The tropical high forest conditions to consider are: average temperature 14 degrees Celsius. More than 70% moisture. Important vegetation cover (mostly moss and lichens).
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Dear Carlos,
Hope the following papers are useful to you.
1.Strontium isotopes from the earth to the archaeological skeleton: a review
RA Bentley - Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2006 - Springer
2.Shell-gathering from mangroves and the seasonality of the Southeast Asian Monsoon using high-resolution stable isotopic analysis of the tropical estuarine bivalve (Geloina erosa) from the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak: methods and reconnaissance of molluscs of early Holocene and modern times,Mark Stephensa, , , David Matteyb, David D. Gilbertsonc, Colin V. Murray-Wallaced
3.137Cs diffusion in the highly organic sediment of Hidden Lake, Fraser Island, Queensland,T Torgersen, ME Longmore - Marine and Freshwater Research, 1984 - CSIRO
4.Dendrochronology and other applications of tree-ring studies in archaeology
PI Kuniholm - Handbook of archaeological sciences, 2001 - arts.cornell.edu
Best regards
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Does any one have articles about thermal conductivity of wood in tropical growing species?
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Dear Twinawe
You can read these papers.
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We are working on a project to assess land use intensification and its impacts on a tropical rainforest over a 40 year period.We are particular interested in knowing if the forests have changed,what has changed and what is pushing this change?We are as well interested in knowing the livelihood adaptive capacities of the indigenous communities as per these changes if any.
Thank you.
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Hello Mukete,
It is important to keep in mind that the procedures and methods used to detect change and monitor an area of interest can be different for highly vegetated areas (such as your site I believe) than for those used in not so highly vegetated sites (e.g., arid to semi-arid landscapes).  At times change detection may be more successful if the analyses includes looking at not only differences in the spectral characteristics but also the spatial characteristics at local, intermediate, and regional scales (with the same spatial resolution images; for example, using Landsat TM --- or World View or whatever --- look at the spatial information of a 5x5, 31x31, and 101x101 pixel windows --- so not different resolution data sets).
One last thing: for change detection radiometric calibration (including atmospheric corrections) can be very important (can be absolute or relative).  Below are links to two  papers within research gate related to =: 1)  spatial variability differences in the NIR and Visible bands and 2) atmospheric correction and how a simple DOS can be as good as, or better, than most other methods for highly vegetation areas.
Shows that the spatial variability in highly vegetated areas is higher in the NIR band than the Visible bands --- this is important when the area of interest is highly vegetated and the application is for both spatial and change detection analyses:
Image based atmospheric COST correction model and shows that for highly vegetated areas that a simple DOS type correction does as good as, and at times better, than most other techniques for visible bands --- important for change detection using visible bands for highly vegetation areas of interest:
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Anguilan Marmorata borniensis now is rare spesies in Kalimantan (Borneo), difficult to get any reference about population behavior and distribution of this species
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Dear Aditya,
Have a look at the paper given below:
On the Identities of Anguilla borneensis, A. malgumora, and Muraena malgumora
By  Shun Watanabe, Jun Aoyama, and Katsumi Tsukamoto
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I am looking for a comparative analysis of the age of tropical forests more specifically forests in the Congo, Amazon and South and Southeast Asia.
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Firstly you must ask, what do you mean by 'tropical forests' I call tropical forests 'megathermal forests' as their present day restriction to the tropics is an artefact of living in an interglacial during the Quaternary, when the limit of frosts in areas of wet climate approximately coincide with the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. In glacials, this boundary was more equatorward and in the Eocene thermal maximum and also at other times during the Cenozoic much more poleward. Then, are you thinking of rain forests, or forests with a closed canopy? My understanding is that it is the development of a closed canopy which makes rain forests so special and different from other forests. The closed canopy creates a special microclimate and additional niches which help make megathermal rain forests such a harbour for the establishment of new species. My understanding is that such forests first appeared in Western Gondwana (areas such as Gabon or Brazil) in the Late Cretaceous, sometime during the Campanian (84-74 Ma) and then in India as it drifted into the equatorial zone. In N America, they appeared during the Paleocene, and in SE Asia, probably also became established well after their initial appearance in W Gondwana, explaining the low level of origination of angiosperm families in the Southeast Asian region.
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Farming is considered to be the first cause of deforestation in the tropics. Our research team is currently looking for farming solutions that may replace conventional small- and large-scale farming in Brazilian rainforests. Our current assumption is that vertical farming, mainly conceived for urban areas, may be an alternative that has a much smaller impact on the forest because of their small footprint and diffuse spatial distribution (vertical farms scattered around the forest, instead of being clustered), thus drastically reducing deforestation. We are confronted with the following questions:
- Is there any knowledge on how productive vertical farms are in tropical forests?
- What kind of new problems would vertical farms bring for farmers?
- Can current farming products be stacked vertically?
- Can vertical farming be realised with low-tech solutions?
We would highly appreciate any feedback on these questions.
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Nature has created vertical as well as horizontal layers of farming.
In a complex forest Leaf Area Index (LAI) is about 12-14. This means that in one meter square land area you have 14 meter square leaf area. In this forest you have halophytes and sciophytes along with facultative halophytes and facultative sciophytes. These plants have favourable on unfavourable associations. This canopy makes use of solar radiation which has 680 nm wave length and 700 nm wave length.
The multi tiered canopy has capacity to produce biomass 2.5 times more than the mono cultured crop. If the biomass is to be used as raw material for fulfilling human requirements in that case plant species useful to human beings should be selected.
We have got wonderful results on this experiments. If the demand is of food we have hundreds of forest trees having capacity to feed human race. Examples are Madhuka longifolis (Mahua) it gives carbohydrates, Fatty acids and protein to lesser extent; Phoenix sylvestris (Wild date palm) can be perennial source of sucrose fibres and fruits. There are hundreds of tuberous crops (as and under story of forest canopy) which can feed millions of people. It includes different kinds of yams and kudzu. The list is endless and every ecosystem will have its own flora and fauna.
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It is often the case that  researchers who work  on topics unique to the tropical regions of the world try to publish their work in journals based in the developed temperate countries. This frequently leads to their papers being rejected on grounds that they are only of regional interest. Hence, its best if we support our own regional journals so that these journals will become better known and of high quality by having good papers submitted and published in them.
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 I'm semi-retired so have the luxury of ignoring impact factors, but my younger colleagues don't have that choice because university administrators and other gatekeepers have become obsessed with supposedly "objective" indicators of "quality." It's perverse, unfair, and stupid, but it's reality.
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I need a key to identify Pouteria (Sapotaceae) of Amazon rainforests.
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Parece, Ymber, que ya tiene la respuesta.  Pero si no, avise p.f. y tataré de averiguar.
Antonio
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I'm currently working my conceptual framework on regeneration dynamics of dipterocarps species. I'm having difficulties on finding related studies that could help improve my study.
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Yes Appanah & Turnbull published by CIFOR is a good start. There is also the 'Proceedings Fifth Roundtable Conference on Dipterocarps' held at Chiang Mai in 1994 and published by FRIM 1996; this was edited by Appanah and Khoo. FRIM would be your best bet for up to date knowledge on dipterocarp ecology and silvics.
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The accuracy of areas of peat fires are important component will be impact on the result of emission from peat fires. Most of the approaches used in the determination of peatfires areas based on burnt areas that derived from hotspot. The problem, burnt area just represent areas burnt scar in the above ground, we didn't know these of peat fire or no.
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Just using burnt area as measure of peat fire can be underestimation rather. Because, peat fires can be active for long time underneath. Peat fires are difficult to detect directly through remote sensing as there could be forest cover obscuring the direct detection as heat anomaly. The smoke product can be taken as surrogate to peat fire in such cases where direct detection of active fire is not possible. Burnt area can be used in cases where it suits anyway. Regards
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The deciduous forest is a important habitat for insectivorous bats, they prey activity are depending by the availability of preys and consequently the abundance of insects is dependent on the vegetative state forests (growth state). Does anyone know of some good papers about this subject?
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You are welcome. 
But, do not forget the role of waterbodies ;). 
There are many papers which showed that the presence of waterbodies were a keystone in the bat activity. Probably, these waterbodies are important areas for insect. 
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Color-banding related question: I'm studying Hispaniolan Woodpeckers in mid-elevation (~550-700 m) tropical, fairly open habitat, and I have had some issues with Darvic color bands (specifically, a large number of my Darvic bands inexplicably opened by themselves in my banding kit- a plastic tackle box). I'm considering incorporating Acetal color-bands (http://www.avinet.com/avi_order.taf?_function=view&ct_id=101) to supplement the striped celluloid bands I'm already using.
Has anyone run into major issues using Acetal bands in tropical climates? Do they have to be sealed shut? Is there a method other than application of heat that can be used to seal the bands? 
Thanks!
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I've had darvic bands open up because they were subjected to really hot temperatures in a car (left on a dashboard or on a seat). Usually they are ok in a banding kit away from the sun, but it can get pretty hot in a closed up car. Keep bands out of direct sun and hot temps and you should be fine. 
I'm not sure if I used acetal colors with the birds I banded in the tropics, but I use them in my current project in temperate climates. They're just like darvic bands. I only seal depending on the bird species. Cardinals and blackbirds will take a band off so they get sealed. Chickadees, warblers etc. don't usually bother with trying so I don't seal and just press shut. If you need to make cut the band smaller (which with a woodpecker I imagine you don't), I would definitely seal. I used a high temp cautery loop tip to seal this summer and it worked great, but I broke it quickly. I imagine you could use super glue too (with caution to not attach to the bird's leg, I don't particularly like doing this), but I don't believe it will melt with acetone like other material. 
Hope this helps. 
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In general and from my experience, the Casuarina Plantation does not allow underground plant forms. The exact reason for such observation not address well. I think it may be heavy shadow effect and thick litter layer. I also think that any allelopathic effects?
If any one know the reason please respond it and possible any literatures or research findings...
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Two factors that affect vegetation are (a) resource competition and (b) allelopathic effects.
Resource requirement of Casurina is  very parsimonious, thatswhy it is used in sandy coastal areas as wind break and for other purposes. Moreover in plantations, resource competition is not very intense.
There are some studies that describes the allelopathic effect of Casurina. They attribute diminished understory layer development in Casurina stands to release of phenolic and tannins from decomposing leaf and branch litter.
You can get more in formation on this through these papers.
1. Role of Allelopathy in Regulating the Understorey Vegetation of Casuarina Equisetifolia by Daizy R. Batish, Harminder Pal Singh. Environmental Forest Science
Forestry Sciences Volume 54, 1998, pp 317-323
2. Pinyopusarerk, Khongsak, and Alan Pennock Newton House. Casuarina: an annotated bibliography of C. equisetifolia, C. junghuhniana and C. oligodon. International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), 1993.
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I have been observing that when monsoon moisture moves over certain tropical forests located in SE Asia or India, rain clouds with very long streaks form.  Has anyone studied if this is caused by Pseudomonas bacteria that live on particular species of tropical trees, and if so which tree species produce the most rain clouds?  Attached is a satellite image from August 2014 showing these particular clouds forming over the forests along the SW coast of India.
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Pseudomonas type of bacteria species  is a common ice nuclei (IN) positive bacteria found among many other bacteria in clouds. There are several findnings on Pseudomonas syringae over the globe.  In India, we have collected Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Northern part of India and tested the ice nucleating characteristics of this particular bacteria over Indian subcontinent.
Bio-aerosol like bacteria can be nucleated at higher temperature and lower super saturation value that may helps to initiate cloud glaciations more quickly in terms of precipitation.
see "Study of ice nucleating characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa” A. Hazra, M. Saha, U. K. De, J. Mukherjee and K. Goswami,; Journal of Aerosols Science, vol, 35, pp 1405-1414, 2004."
see "“Parameterizing ice nucleation rates using Contact Angle and Activation Energy Derived from Laboratory Data” by J-P Chen  A. Hazra, Z. Levin, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 8, 7431-7449, 2008."
see "“A classical-theory-based parameterization of heterogeneous ice nucleation by mineral dust, soot and biological particles in a global climate model”, Hoose, C.,J. E. Kristjánsson, J.-P. Chen and A. Hazra (2010): Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 67, 2483-2503."
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Especially the caterpillar stage remains for how many days, can anybody tell me?
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ITS LIFECYCLE IS OF 38 TO 42 DAYS...
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I am using a huge dataset to access the relationship of socio-economic and bio-geophysical factors with deforestation in a tropical forest. Most of the variables are non normally distributed. I was wondering if one can give some suggestion on the analysis that are currently used for this purpose.
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Hi Lisiana, your doubts seem to me to be related to statistical methods and not to the typology used in classifying proximate causes and underlying drivers of deforestation/LUCC, which is clearly explained in several studies by Geist and Lambin (e.g. 2002). As they did this kind of meta-analysis, I think that your best bet will be to dialogue with them or the other scholars that worked in team with them in several other articles and try to define a methodology that can be used from now on by scholars doing a similar research.
best
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I am working on the Spanish forest colonial economy between 1900 and 1968 and I would like to know about other such cases.
Sincerely
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It's worth looking at the Dutch, too. They were major tropical colonists in Indonesia. An excellent collection of colonial-era maps is available at http://maps.library.leiden.edu/apps/s7
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What are the possible projects?
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The IMAFLORA http://www.imaflora.org/ and the IMAZON http://www.imazon.org.br/pagina-inicial-en?set_language=en&cl=en are important centers for Climate Chance Investigations in Brazilian Amazon.
At the same time the Federal University of Amazonas (Brazil) is developing a project with traditional communities in Amazonas State. The aim is to promote resilients and productive agricultural systems (such as agroforestry) to reduce and mitigate the C+ emissions. The project is in the beginning (started this year), but we can talk about it.
best regards 
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In Ngel Nyaki montane forest we are noticing large  apparent mis-matches between number of adults and number of saplings (recruiting generation). It seems in some species there are almost nil saplings (and few seedlings)  but 'lots' of adults. Is it safe to conclude this will lead to a shift in species composition? Can anyone recommend literature on this? 
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I agree with Graeme that it is highly species specific. In Hawaiian tropical forests the two dominant canopy species (Acacia koa and Metrosideros polymorpha) have entirely different ratios.  Koa trees sprout not too often, grow into saplings virtually everytime, but then often die at the sapling stage.  Ohia on the other hand produce a remarkable amount of seedlings that very rarely make it to the sapling stage, but the saplings virtually will always survive into the tree stage.  Both represent healthy recruitment, even though the ratio of saplings to trees are entirely different because of the different recruitment strategies of the two trees.  Using Gautamʻs framework then the healthy recruitment for the two canopy trees looks like:
Koa - Seedling=Saplings>>Adult
Ohia - Seelings>>>Saplings<Adult
For subcanopy species the regeneration seems to be a little more consistent and follows Gautamʻs general statement of Seedlings>Saplings>Adult, but again shows  variation between species.
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I'm interested in how forests differ in their light regimen. Especially boreal and tropical forests in different ages. I think boreal forests are lighter than tropical forests, but I don`t find a paper.
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This was taken in tropical rain forest of Peru.
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The first one, maybe genus Discopus. The second one belonging to genus Polyrhaphis. But the best form to be sure is that a specialist see your material.
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Are there any standardized protocols for monitoring the health of tropical forest ecosystems? Is it possible to suggest forest management strategies based on forest health monitoring?
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Mr. Gopakumar,
In Europe and North America there are standardized protocols for forest monitoring, including crown condition assessments, published by ICP-Forests (click the link below).
There are some ICP member countries which assess evergreen broadleaves/conifer forests, and it's possible to adapt the protocols to tropical regions.
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We are evaluating the effect of tropical dry forest successional stages on water fluxes including water quality. Most of the literature comes from temperate forest and there is a lack of comprehensive information about tropical dry forest.
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Dear Julio, a very good question. I know there is no such data for the Pacific Islands or Australia.
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Due to availability of various methods and since soil degradation often composed of many processes, its difficult to select the best method to be utilized in its determination.
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Dear Dernie,
your question is quite broad, the methodology for assessing soil degradation will depend on which kind of degradation do you want to focus on e.g. physical, chemical and so on. In addition, it will depend on the scale you want to work with and the kind of method you want to use, as in qualitative, quantitative or semi-quantitative.
Here goes one paper that focus on the models for predicting soil erosion and sediment yield:
some of them are useful for assessing erosion risk by maps or indicators.
If you explain yourself a bit further, perhaps I can give you more specific options.
Regards,
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Share with me some specific methodology for this study.
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Richness and endemism are also very important measures. I suggest you to read the book "Measuring biological diversity" written by Anne Magurran (2004). There you will find many ways to answer to your question
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Past literature prove that both processes can operate on same functional trait of the species in a community (Cornwell and Ackerly 2009).
If I consider it for the same trait of the same species coexisting at a site, then what would be the ultimate result ?
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Hi Sonia, just some elaboration on what Madelon said, who made some very good points. Usually we measure what we call "soft" traits, i.e. some more or less easily measurable properties of the plants, that are thought to represent physiological responses to the environment. Given that the whole approach is based on the existence of niches, it seems to make sense to make a distinction between alpha and beta niche, where the beta niche is defined by environmental conditions that make up the habitat in which different species can coexist (i.e. environmental filtering) and the alpha niche is defined by the small scale variation in resource availability (like light and soil nutrients; i.e. limiting similarity).
However, given traits could be a response to either of the two opposing mechanisms, in which case it becomes really important what spatial scale (grain size) is being considered, as already mentioned by Madelon. So in response to your question, I would say that yes, it is possible that both mechanisms simultaneously act on a species even if the same trait is considered.
Another important thing to consider is how you are defining your species pool. If you just pool the species of your samples it is possible to detect trait convergence even if the process is competition.
A possible solution to this is to define your regional species pool not by pooling samples but by considering also species that can potentially live in the habitat but are not present in the samples (i.e. the dark diversity)
Hope this makes sense and is helpful.
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I'm interested in investigating novel ideas and methods for estimating/monitoring densities of shy ungulates in dense forests. Difficulties arise in standard distance sampling techniques due to small sample sizes (the target species are simply too difficult to observe). Capture-recapture techniques using fecal DNA are often too expensive. One could go down the camera trap occupancy route, but I'd love to hear any novel ideas people may have.
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Hello Matthew. As you mentioned, quantitatively robust methods for estimating densities in dense forest are often impractical (distance sampling) or prohibitively costly in resources (CMR) . Estimating density reliably is always data hungry whether in distance sampling or CMR which generally equates to being prohibitively costly in resources and time. The first question I have is if density estimates are absolutely necessary. If not, as you mentioned, you can apply occupancy modeling.
As you probably are aware of, if a measure of relative abundance would suffice for your needs, within the occupancy modeling realm you can think about site-abundance models, particularly the Royle n-mixture model. The Rowecliffe et al. Random encounter model is interesting, however, it does require additional data in the form of movement rates of study species in the study area which increases data needs and costs.
Of particular interest is a approach for Richard Chandler and Andrew Royle available from the Annals of Applied Statistics http://www.e-publications.org/ims/submission/index.php/AOAS/user/submissionFile/11634?confirm=eb4bf6bc. This approach allows for inferences on density using a spatially-explicit framework and count data. Personally I believe that this is an extremely promising area to be explored.
Multi-state occupancy models are a potential option which can possibly give you a relative measure of abundance (low, medium, high). This is something that I am employing towards getting around the cost issues and can be used with low-tech data (footprints, scat, etc.). I´m not sure if you are interested in single species or communities, what taxa you are interested in, and the research questions. With this info I perhaps could be of more help.
In the end there is no free lunch. To get reliable estimates of density, meaning that the effect of incomplete detection on estimates is taken into account, requires data on the detection process. Such data are costly in resources. If you don´t absolutely need to estimate density there are several options that are perhaps more logistically feasible for your needs.
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I am comparing forest (tree) structure and composition in one hecatre plots at tree different elevations
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Actually, the software for multi-variate methods - R program, Canoco, PCORD - most often are based on Sorensen index , and it is really simple and useful one.
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I currently want to try to use pitfall trap for small mammals, especially shrews. In your experience and knowledge, what is the best way of set up a pitfall trap in the tropical rainforest?
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I used 5l buckets as pitfall traps for shrews. As I was catching shrews in Western Europe, I dug a whole to put the bucket below ground level into the ground, the put a second bucket, which had some (small holes drilled into the bottom) into the first bucket, so it would be flush with the soil. This way, the water would drain from the pitfall, should it rain. I also added mealworms (and sardines) as food into the traps. Dry cat food should also work.
I also added some wood shavings (i.e. hamsterbedding into the traps).
As shrews are active throughout the 24-hour period, and have a very high metabolic rate, traps should be visited every 2-4 hours to avoid unnecessary casualties.
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I've worked with Culicidae and Phlebotominae in an Tropical Rain Forest in Brazil, and I expected to have a higher number of specimens collected. I've used CDC's ligth traps and active night Shannon capture. However, I don't think that's a matter of the capture technique, because I've got very good results with the same traps on other areas I've worked recently.
The enviroment the traps were placed on comprised very humid forest areas, nearby small lakes, flooded and swampy areas, besides the very high number of natural containers for Culicidae reproduction. I still don't have information about richness, because I've not identified the specimens yet, but it seems to be very low, as the abundance. Any idea about these bad results? Could they be considered normal?
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In the case of mosquitoes, carbon dioxide would be an essential ingredient in any trap method for nocturnal species while diurnal culicine species rely on visual queues. Anophelines are more likely to be attracted by UV sources than culicines, especially in conjunction with updraft suction traps but CO2 should improve your catch significantly. One possibility for the low yields you've experienced, apart from the excellent suggestions of others, is that forest mosquito species may be restricted to the tree canopy - this is certainly the case in Africa. However, you should still be able to trap some specimens at ground level. Otherwise, i would try near water courses where the tree canopy is low or in forest clearings. Forest species tend to be "container breeders", utilizing tree-holes, fruit husks and leaf axils. Perhaps you should try looking for larvae and pupae in such micro-habitats, in addition to trapping adults.