Global importance of large-diameter trees

James A. Lutz; Tucker J. Furniss; Daniel J. Johnson; Stuart J. Davies; David Allen; Alfonso Alonso; Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira; Ana Andrade; Jennifer Baltzer; Kendall M.L. Becker; Erika M. Blomdahl; Norman A. Bourg; Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin; David F.R.P. Burslem; C. Alina Cansler; Ke Cao; Min Cao; Dairon Cárdenas; Li Wan Chang; Kuo Jung Chao; Wei Chun Chao; Jyh Min Chiang; Chengjin Chu; George B. Chuyong; Keith Clay; Richard Condit; Susan Cordell; Handanakere S. Dattaraja; Alvaro Duque; Corneille E.N. Ewango; Gunter A. Fischer; Christine Fletcher; James A. Freund; Christian Giardina; Sara J. Germain; Gregory S. Gilbert; Zhanqing Hao; Terese Hart; Billy C.H. Hau; Fangliang He; Andrew Hector; Robert W. Howe; Chang Fu Hsieh; Yue Hua Hu; Stephen P. Hubbell; Faith M. Inman-Narahari; Akira Itoh; David Janík; Abdul Rahman Kassim; David Kenfack; Lisa Korte; Kamil Král; Andrew J. Larson; Yi De Li; Yiching Lin; Shirong Liu; Shawn Lum; Keping Ma; Jean Remy Makana; Yadvinder Malhi; Sean M. McMahon; William J. McShea; Hervé R. Memiaghe; Xiangcheng Mi; Michael Morecroft; Paul M. Musili; Jonathan A. Myers; Vojtech Novotny; Alexandre de Oliveira; Perry Ong; David A. Orwig; Rebecca Ostertag; Geoffrey G. Parker; Rajit Patankar; Richard P. Phillips; Glen Reynolds; Lawren Sack; Guo Zhang M. Song; Sheng Hsin Su; Raman Sukumar; I. Fang Sun; Hebbalalu S. Suresh; Mark E. Swanson; Sylvester Tan; Duncan W. Thomas; Jill Thompson; Maria Uriarte; Renato Valencia; Alberto Vicentini; Tomáš Vrška; Xugao Wang; George D. Weiblen; Amy Wolf; Shu Hui Wu; Han Xu; Takuo Yamakura; Sandra Yap; Jess K. Zimmerman

doi:10.1111/geb.12747

Global importance of large-diameter trees

James A. Lutz, Tucker J. Furniss, Daniel J. Johnson, Stuart J. Davies, David Allen, Alfonso Alonso, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Ana Andrade, Jennifer Baltzer, Kendall M.L. Becker, Erika M. Blomdahl, Norman A. Bourg, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, David F.R.P. Burslem, C. Alina Cansler, Ke Cao, Min Cao, Dairon Cárdenas, Li Wan Chang, Kuo Jung ChaoWei Chun Chao, Jyh Min Chiang, Chengjin Chu, George B. Chuyong, Keith Clay, Richard Condit, Susan Cordell, Handanakere S. Dattaraja, Alvaro Duque, Corneille E.N. Ewango, Gunter A. Fischer, Christine Fletcher, James A. Freund, Christian Giardina, Sara J. Germain, Gregory S. Gilbert, Zhanqing Hao, Terese Hart, Billy C.H. Hau, Fangliang He, Andrew Hector, Robert W. Howe, Chang Fu Hsieh, Yue Hua Hu, Stephen P. Hubbell, Faith M. Inman-Narahari, Akira Itoh, David Janík, Abdul Rahman Kassim, David Kenfack, Lisa Korte, Kamil Král, Andrew J. Larson, Yi De Li, Yiching Lin, Shirong Liu, Shawn Lum, Keping Ma, Jean Remy Makana, Yadvinder Malhi, Sean M. McMahon, William J. McShea, Hervé R. Memiaghe, Xiangcheng Mi, Michael Morecroft, Paul M. Musili, Jonathan A. Myers, Vojtech Novotny, Alexandre de Oliveira, Perry Ong, David A. Orwig, Rebecca Ostertag, Geoffrey G. Parker, Rajit Patankar, Richard P. Phillips, Glen Reynolds, Lawren Sack, Guo Zhang M. Song, Sheng Hsin Su, Raman Sukumar, I. Fang Sun, Hebbalalu S. Suresh, Mark E. Swanson, Sylvester Tan, Duncan W. Thomas, Jill Thompson, Maria Uriarte, Renato Valencia, Alberto Vicentini, Tomáš Vrška, Xugao Wang, George D. Weiblen, Amy Wolf, Shu Hui Wu, Han Xu, Takuo Yamakura, Sandra Yap, Jess K. Zimmerman

Plant and Microbial Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

236 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aim: To examine the contribution of large-diameter trees to biomass, stand structure, and species richness across forest biomes. Location: Global. Time period: Early 21st century. Major taxa studied: Woody plants. Methods: We examined the contribution of large trees to forest density, richness and biomass using a global network of 48 large (from 2 to 60 ha) forest plots representing 5,601,473 stems across 9,298 species and 210 plant families. This contribution was assessed using three metrics: the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), all trees ≥ 60 cm DBH, and those rank-ordered largest trees that cumulatively comprise 50% of forest biomass. Results: Averaged across these 48 forest plots, the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm DBH comprised 50% of aboveground live biomass, with hectare-scale standard deviation of 26%. Trees ≥ 60 cm DBH comprised 41% of aboveground live tree biomass. The size of the largest trees correlated with total forest biomass (r² =.62, p <.001). Large-diameter trees in high biomass forests represented far fewer species relative to overall forest richness (r² =.45, p <.001). Forests with more diverse large-diameter tree communities were comprised of smaller trees (r² =.33, p <.001). Lower large-diameter richness was associated with large-diameter trees being individuals of more common species (r² =.17, p =.002). The concentration of biomass in the largest 1% of trees declined with increasing absolute latitude (r² =.46, p <.001), as did forest density (r² =.31, p <.001). Forest structural complexity increased with increasing absolute latitude (r² =.26, p <.001). Main conclusions: Because large-diameter trees constitute roughly half of the mature forest biomass worldwide, their dynamics and sensitivities to environmental change represent potentially large controls on global forest carbon cycling. We recommend managing forests for conservation of existing large-diameter trees or those that can soon reach large diameters as a simple way to conserve and potentially enhance ecosystem services.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	849-864
Number of pages	16
Journal	Global Ecology and Biogeography
Volume	27
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12747
State	Published - Jul 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Grant/Award Number: 1153; National Natural Science Foundation of China; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 1354741 and 1545761

Funding Information:
Funding for workshops during which these ideas were developed was provided by NSF grants 1545761 and 1354741 to SD Davies. This research was supported by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah State University, and approved as journal paper number 8998. Acknowledgements for the global support of the thousands of people needed to establish and maintain these 48 plots can be found in Supporting Information Appendix S4. References to locations refer to geographical features and not to the boundaries of any country or territory.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Keywords

Smithsonian ForestGEO
forest biomass
forest structure
large-diameter trees
latitudinal gradient
resource inequality

Publisher link

10.1111/geb.12747

http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520109/1/N520109PP.pdf

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Lutz, J. A., Furniss, T. J., Johnson, D. J., Davies, S. J., Allen, D., Alonso, A., Anderson-Teixeira, K. J., Andrade, A., Baltzer, J., Becker, K. M. L., Blomdahl, E. M., Bourg, N. A., Bunyavejchewin, S., Burslem, D. F. R. P., Cansler, C. A., Cao, K., Cao, M., Cárdenas, D., Chang, L. W., ... Zimmerman, J. K. (2018). Global importance of large-diameter trees. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 27(7), 849-864. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12747

Lutz, JA, Furniss, TJ, Johnson, DJ, Davies, SJ, Allen, D, Alonso, A, Anderson-Teixeira, KJ, Andrade, A, Baltzer, J, Becker, KML, Blomdahl, EM, Bourg, NA, Bunyavejchewin, S, Burslem, DFRP, Cansler, CA, Cao, K, Cao, M, Cárdenas, D, Chang, LW, Chao, KJ, Chao, WC, Chiang, JM, Chu, C, Chuyong, GB, Clay, K, Condit, R, Cordell, S, Dattaraja, HS, Duque, A, Ewango, CEN, Fischer, GA, Fletcher, C, Freund, JA, Giardina, C, Germain, SJ, Gilbert, GS, Hao, Z, Hart, T, Hau, BCH, He, F, Hector, A, Howe, RW, Hsieh, CF, Hu, YH, Hubbell, SP, Inman-Narahari, FM, Itoh, A, Janík, D, Kassim, AR, Kenfack, D, Korte, L, Král, K, Larson, AJ, Li, YD, Lin, Y, Liu, S, Lum, S, Ma, K, Makana, JR, Malhi, Y, McMahon, SM, McShea, WJ, Memiaghe, HR, Mi, X, Morecroft, M, Musili, PM, Myers, JA, Novotny, V, de Oliveira, A, Ong, P, Orwig, DA, Ostertag, R, Parker, GG, Patankar, R, Phillips, RP, Reynolds, G, Sack, L, Song, GZM, Su, SH, Sukumar, R, Sun, IF, Suresh, HS, Swanson, ME, Tan, S, Thomas, DW, Thompson, J, Uriarte, M, Valencia, R, Vicentini, A, Vrška, T, Wang, X, Weiblen, GD, Wolf, A, Wu, SH, Xu, H, Yamakura, T, Yap, S & Zimmerman, JK 2018, 'Global importance of large-diameter trees', Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 849-864. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12747

@article{ac885eab332c4ada9ebf9c6e239ff498,

title = "Global importance of large-diameter trees",

abstract = "Aim: To examine the contribution of large-diameter trees to biomass, stand structure, and species richness across forest biomes. Location: Global. Time period: Early 21st century. Major taxa studied: Woody plants. Methods: We examined the contribution of large trees to forest density, richness and biomass using a global network of 48 large (from 2 to 60 ha) forest plots representing 5,601,473 stems across 9,298 species and 210 plant families. This contribution was assessed using three metrics: the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), all trees ≥ 60 cm DBH, and those rank-ordered largest trees that cumulatively comprise 50% of forest biomass. Results: Averaged across these 48 forest plots, the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm DBH comprised 50% of aboveground live biomass, with hectare-scale standard deviation of 26%. Trees ≥ 60 cm DBH comprised 41% of aboveground live tree biomass. The size of the largest trees correlated with total forest biomass (r2 =.62, p <.001). Large-diameter trees in high biomass forests represented far fewer species relative to overall forest richness (r2 =.45, p <.001). Forests with more diverse large-diameter tree communities were comprised of smaller trees (r2 =.33, p <.001). Lower large-diameter richness was associated with large-diameter trees being individuals of more common species (r2 =.17, p =.002). The concentration of biomass in the largest 1% of trees declined with increasing absolute latitude (r2 =.46, p <.001), as did forest density (r2 =.31, p <.001). Forest structural complexity increased with increasing absolute latitude (r2 =.26, p <.001). Main conclusions: Because large-diameter trees constitute roughly half of the mature forest biomass worldwide, their dynamics and sensitivities to environmental change represent potentially large controls on global forest carbon cycling. We recommend managing forests for conservation of existing large-diameter trees or those that can soon reach large diameters as a simple way to conserve and potentially enhance ecosystem services.",

keywords = "Smithsonian ForestGEO, forest biomass, forest structure, large-diameter trees, latitudinal gradient, resource inequality",

author = "Lutz, {James A.} and Furniss, {Tucker J.} and Johnson, {Daniel J.} and Davies, {Stuart J.} and David Allen and Alfonso Alonso and Anderson-Teixeira, {Kristina J.} and Ana Andrade and Jennifer Baltzer and Becker, {Kendall M.L.} and Blomdahl, {Erika M.} and Bourg, {Norman A.} and Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin and Burslem, {David F.R.P.} and Cansler, {C. Alina} and Ke Cao and Min Cao and Dairon C{\'a}rdenas and Chang, {Li Wan} and Chao, {Kuo Jung} and Chao, {Wei Chun} and Chiang, {Jyh Min} and Chengjin Chu and Chuyong, {George B.} and Keith Clay and Richard Condit and Susan Cordell and Dattaraja, {Handanakere S.} and Alvaro Duque and Ewango, {Corneille E.N.} and Fischer, {Gunter A.} and Christine Fletcher and Freund, {James A.} and Christian Giardina and Germain, {Sara J.} and Gilbert, {Gregory S.} and Zhanqing Hao and Terese Hart and Hau, {Billy C.H.} and Fangliang He and Andrew Hector and Howe, {Robert W.} and Hsieh, {Chang Fu} and Hu, {Yue Hua} and Hubbell, {Stephen P.} and Inman-Narahari, {Faith M.} and Akira Itoh and David Jan{\'i}k and Kassim, {Abdul Rahman} and David Kenfack and Lisa Korte and Kamil Kr{\'a}l and Larson, {Andrew J.} and Li, {Yi De} and Yiching Lin and Shirong Liu and Shawn Lum and Keping Ma and Makana, {Jean Remy} and Yadvinder Malhi and McMahon, {Sean M.} and McShea, {William J.} and Memiaghe, {Herv{\'e} R.} and Xiangcheng Mi and Michael Morecroft and Musili, {Paul M.} and Myers, {Jonathan A.} and Vojtech Novotny and {de Oliveira}, Alexandre and Perry Ong and Orwig, {David A.} and Rebecca Ostertag and Parker, {Geoffrey G.} and Rajit Patankar and Phillips, {Richard P.} and Glen Reynolds and Lawren Sack and Song, {Guo Zhang M.} and Su, {Sheng Hsin} and Raman Sukumar and Sun, {I. Fang} and Suresh, {Hebbalalu S.} and Swanson, {Mark E.} and Sylvester Tan and Thomas, {Duncan W.} and Jill Thompson and Maria Uriarte and Renato Valencia and Alberto Vicentini and Tom{\'a}{\v s} Vr{\v s}ka and Xugao Wang and Weiblen, {George D.} and Amy Wolf and Wu, {Shu Hui} and Han Xu and Takuo Yamakura and Sandra Yap and Zimmerman, {Jess K.}",

note = "Funding Information: Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Grant/Award Number: 1153; National Natural Science Foundation of China; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 1354741 and 1545761 Funding Information: Funding for workshops during which these ideas were developed was provided by NSF grants 1545761 and 1354741 to SD Davies. This research was supported by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah State University, and approved as journal paper number 8998. Acknowledgements for the global support of the thousands of people needed to establish and maintain these 48 plots can be found in Supporting Information Appendix S4. References to locations refer to geographical features and not to the boundaries of any country or territory. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd",

year = "2018",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1111/geb.12747",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "27",

pages = "849--864",

journal = "Global Ecology and Biogeography",

issn = "1466-822X",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "7",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Global importance of large-diameter trees

AU - Lutz, James A.

AU - Furniss, Tucker J.

AU - Johnson, Daniel J.

AU - Davies, Stuart J.

AU - Allen, David

AU - Alonso, Alfonso

AU - Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J.

AU - Andrade, Ana

AU - Baltzer, Jennifer

AU - Becker, Kendall M.L.

AU - Blomdahl, Erika M.

AU - Bourg, Norman A.

AU - Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh

AU - Burslem, David F.R.P.

AU - Cansler, C. Alina

AU - Cao, Ke

AU - Cao, Min

AU - Cárdenas, Dairon

AU - Chang, Li Wan

AU - Chao, Kuo Jung

AU - Chao, Wei Chun

AU - Chiang, Jyh Min

AU - Chu, Chengjin

AU - Chuyong, George B.

AU - Clay, Keith

AU - Condit, Richard

AU - Cordell, Susan

AU - Dattaraja, Handanakere S.

AU - Duque, Alvaro

AU - Ewango, Corneille E.N.

AU - Fischer, Gunter A.

AU - Fletcher, Christine

AU - Freund, James A.

AU - Giardina, Christian

AU - Germain, Sara J.

AU - Gilbert, Gregory S.

AU - Hao, Zhanqing

AU - Hart, Terese

AU - Hau, Billy C.H.

AU - He, Fangliang

AU - Hector, Andrew

AU - Howe, Robert W.

AU - Hsieh, Chang Fu

AU - Hu, Yue Hua

AU - Hubbell, Stephen P.

AU - Inman-Narahari, Faith M.

AU - Itoh, Akira

AU - Janík, David

AU - Kassim, Abdul Rahman

AU - Kenfack, David

AU - Korte, Lisa

AU - Král, Kamil

AU - Larson, Andrew J.

AU - Li, Yi De

AU - Lin, Yiching

AU - Liu, Shirong

AU - Lum, Shawn

AU - Ma, Keping

AU - Makana, Jean Remy

AU - Malhi, Yadvinder

AU - McMahon, Sean M.

AU - McShea, William J.

AU - Memiaghe, Hervé R.

AU - Mi, Xiangcheng

AU - Morecroft, Michael

AU - Musili, Paul M.

AU - Myers, Jonathan A.

AU - Novotny, Vojtech

AU - de Oliveira, Alexandre

AU - Ong, Perry

AU - Orwig, David A.

AU - Ostertag, Rebecca

AU - Parker, Geoffrey G.

AU - Patankar, Rajit

AU - Phillips, Richard P.

AU - Reynolds, Glen

AU - Sack, Lawren

AU - Song, Guo Zhang M.

AU - Su, Sheng Hsin

AU - Sukumar, Raman

AU - Sun, I. Fang

AU - Suresh, Hebbalalu S.

AU - Swanson, Mark E.

AU - Tan, Sylvester

AU - Thomas, Duncan W.

AU - Thompson, Jill

AU - Uriarte, Maria

AU - Valencia, Renato

AU - Vicentini, Alberto

AU - Vrška, Tomáš

AU - Wang, Xugao

AU - Weiblen, George D.

AU - Wolf, Amy

AU - Wu, Shu Hui

AU - Xu, Han

AU - Yamakura, Takuo

AU - Yap, Sandra

AU - Zimmerman, Jess K.

N1 - Funding Information: Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Grant/Award Number: 1153; National Natural Science Foundation of China; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Number: 1354741 and 1545761 Funding Information: Funding for workshops during which these ideas were developed was provided by NSF grants 1545761 and 1354741 to SD Davies. This research was supported by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah State University, and approved as journal paper number 8998. Acknowledgements for the global support of the thousands of people needed to establish and maintain these 48 plots can be found in Supporting Information Appendix S4. References to locations refer to geographical features and not to the boundaries of any country or territory. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

PY - 2018/7

Y1 - 2018/7

N2 - Aim: To examine the contribution of large-diameter trees to biomass, stand structure, and species richness across forest biomes. Location: Global. Time period: Early 21st century. Major taxa studied: Woody plants. Methods: We examined the contribution of large trees to forest density, richness and biomass using a global network of 48 large (from 2 to 60 ha) forest plots representing 5,601,473 stems across 9,298 species and 210 plant families. This contribution was assessed using three metrics: the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), all trees ≥ 60 cm DBH, and those rank-ordered largest trees that cumulatively comprise 50% of forest biomass. Results: Averaged across these 48 forest plots, the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm DBH comprised 50% of aboveground live biomass, with hectare-scale standard deviation of 26%. Trees ≥ 60 cm DBH comprised 41% of aboveground live tree biomass. The size of the largest trees correlated with total forest biomass (r2 =.62, p <.001). Large-diameter trees in high biomass forests represented far fewer species relative to overall forest richness (r2 =.45, p <.001). Forests with more diverse large-diameter tree communities were comprised of smaller trees (r2 =.33, p <.001). Lower large-diameter richness was associated with large-diameter trees being individuals of more common species (r2 =.17, p =.002). The concentration of biomass in the largest 1% of trees declined with increasing absolute latitude (r2 =.46, p <.001), as did forest density (r2 =.31, p <.001). Forest structural complexity increased with increasing absolute latitude (r2 =.26, p <.001). Main conclusions: Because large-diameter trees constitute roughly half of the mature forest biomass worldwide, their dynamics and sensitivities to environmental change represent potentially large controls on global forest carbon cycling. We recommend managing forests for conservation of existing large-diameter trees or those that can soon reach large diameters as a simple way to conserve and potentially enhance ecosystem services.

AB - Aim: To examine the contribution of large-diameter trees to biomass, stand structure, and species richness across forest biomes. Location: Global. Time period: Early 21st century. Major taxa studied: Woody plants. Methods: We examined the contribution of large trees to forest density, richness and biomass using a global network of 48 large (from 2 to 60 ha) forest plots representing 5,601,473 stems across 9,298 species and 210 plant families. This contribution was assessed using three metrics: the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), all trees ≥ 60 cm DBH, and those rank-ordered largest trees that cumulatively comprise 50% of forest biomass. Results: Averaged across these 48 forest plots, the largest 1% of trees ≥ 1 cm DBH comprised 50% of aboveground live biomass, with hectare-scale standard deviation of 26%. Trees ≥ 60 cm DBH comprised 41% of aboveground live tree biomass. The size of the largest trees correlated with total forest biomass (r2 =.62, p <.001). Large-diameter trees in high biomass forests represented far fewer species relative to overall forest richness (r2 =.45, p <.001). Forests with more diverse large-diameter tree communities were comprised of smaller trees (r2 =.33, p <.001). Lower large-diameter richness was associated with large-diameter trees being individuals of more common species (r2 =.17, p =.002). The concentration of biomass in the largest 1% of trees declined with increasing absolute latitude (r2 =.46, p <.001), as did forest density (r2 =.31, p <.001). Forest structural complexity increased with increasing absolute latitude (r2 =.26, p <.001). Main conclusions: Because large-diameter trees constitute roughly half of the mature forest biomass worldwide, their dynamics and sensitivities to environmental change represent potentially large controls on global forest carbon cycling. We recommend managing forests for conservation of existing large-diameter trees or those that can soon reach large diameters as a simple way to conserve and potentially enhance ecosystem services.

KW - Smithsonian ForestGEO

KW - forest biomass

KW - forest structure

KW - large-diameter trees

KW - latitudinal gradient

KW - resource inequality

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U2 - 10.1111/geb.12747

DO - 10.1111/geb.12747

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85046535962

SN - 1466-822X

VL - 27

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EP - 864

JO - Global Ecology and Biogeography

JF - Global Ecology and Biogeography

IS - 7

ER -

Global importance of large-diameter trees

Abstract

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