Neighbourhood effects influence drought-induced mortality of savanna trees in Australia

Journal of Vegetation Science

Volumn 21, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 573-585

  Dwyer, John M ^a   Fensham, Rod J ^a,b   Fairfax, Russell J ^b   Buckley, Yvonne M ^a,c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND   (Australia)

^b QUEENSLAND HERBARIUM   (Australia)

^c CSIRO   (Australia)

Author keywords

Density dependence; Eucalyptus melanophloia; Logistic regression; Point pattern analyses; Resource heterogeneity

Indexed keywords

AUTOCORRELATION; DENSITY DEPENDENCE; DROUGHT STRESS; EVERGREEN TREE; MASS MORTALITY; POPULATION DENSITY; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; RESOURCE AVAILABILITY; SAVANNA; STEM; SURVIVAL;

AUSTRALIA; QUEENSLAND;

EUCALYPTUS; EUCALYPTUS MELANOPHLOIA;

EID: 77950984230     PISSN: 11009233     EISSN: 16541103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2009.01167.x     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Adams, H.D., Guardiola-Claramonte, M., Barron-Gafford, G.A., Villegas, J.C., Breshears, D.D., Zou, C.B., Troch, P.A. Huxman, T.E. 2009. Temperature sensitivity of drought-induced tree mortality portends increased regional die-off under global-change-type drought. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106 : 7063 7066.
2. Allen, C.D., Macalady, A.K., Chenchouni, H., Bachelet, D., McDowell, N., Vennetier, M., Kitzberger, T., Rigling, A., Breshears, D.D., Hogg, E.H., Gonzalez, P., Fensham, R., Zhang, Z., Castro, J., Demidova, N., Lim, J.-H., Allard, G., Running, S.W., Semerci, A. Cobb, N. A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest Ecology and Management, in press.
3. Anon. (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing) 2009. The R environment for statistical computing and graphics, Version 2.9.0. The R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available at Accessed 9 June 2009.
4. Baddeley, A. Turner, R. 2005. Spatstat: an R package for analyzing spatial point patterns. Journal of Statistical Software 12 : 1 42.
5. Bjørnstad, O.N. 2009. The ncf package: spatial nonparametric covariance functions. Version 1.1-3. accessed March, 2009.
6. Bonan, G.B. 1991. Density effects on the size structure of annual plant populations: an indication of neighborhood competition. Annals of Botany 68 : 341 347.
7. Breshears, D.D., Cobb, N.S., Rich, P.M., Price, K.P., Allen, C.D., Balice, R.G., Romme, W.H., Kastens, J.H., Floyd, M.L., Belnap, J., Anderson, J.J., Myers, O.B. Meyer, C.W. 2005. Regional vegetation die-off in response to global-change-type drought. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102 : 15144 15148.
8. Cahill, J.F. Casper, B.B. 2000. Investigating the relationship between neighbor root biomass and belowground competition: field evidence for symmetric competition belowground. Oikos 90 : 311 320.
9. Casper, B.B. Jackson, R.B. 1997. Plant competition underground. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 28 : 545 570.
10. Chesson, P., Gebauer, R.L.E., Schwinning, S., Huntly, N., Wiegand, K., Ernest, M.S.K., Sher, A., Novoplansky, A. Weltzin, J.F. 2004. Resource pulses, species interactions, and diversity maintenance in arid and semi-arid environments. Oecologia 141 : 236 253.
11. Connell, J.H. 1971. On the role of natural enemies in preventing competitive exclusion in some marine animals and in rain forest trees. In : Den Boer, P.J. Gradwell, G. (eds.) Dynamics of Numbers in Populations. Proceedings of the Advanced Study Institute. pp. 298 312. Center for Agricultural Publication and Documentation
12. Fensham, R.J. Fairfax, R.J. 2007. Drought-related tree death of savanna eucalypts: species susceptibility, soil conditions and root architecture. Journal of Vegetation Science 18 : 71 80.
13. Fensham, R.J. Holman, J.E. 1999. Temporal and spatial patterns in drought-related tree dieback in Australian savanna. Journal of Applied Ecology 36 : 1035 1050.
14. Fensham, R.J., Fairfax, R.J. Archer, S.R. 2005. Rainfall, land use and woody vegetation cover change in semi-arid Australian savanna. Journal of Ecology 93 : 596 606.
15. Fensham, R.J., Fairfax, R.J. Ward, D.P. 2009. Drought-induced tree death in savanna. Global Change Biology 15 : 380 387.
16. Fernandez-Illescas, C.P. Rodriguez-Iturbe, I. 2003. Hydrologically driven hierarchical competition-colonization models: the impact of interannual climate fluctuations. Ecological Monographs 73 : 207 222.
17. Goldberg, D. Novoplansky, A. 1997. On the relative importance of competition in unproductive environments. Journal of Ecology 85 : 409 418.
18. Goldberg, D.E., Rajaniemi, T., Gurevitch, J. Stewart-Oaten, A. 1999. Empirical approaches to quantifying interaction intensity: competition and facilitation along productivity gradients. Ecology 80 : 1118 1131.
19. Henderson, R.J.F. 2002. Names and distribution of Queensland plants, algae and lichens. Environmental Protection Agency
20. Hoerling, M. Kumar, A. 2003. The perfect ocean for drought. Science 299 : 691 694.
21. Janzen, D.H. 1970. Herbivores and the number of tree species in tropical forests. The American Naturalist 104 : 501.
22. Jeltsch, F., Milton, S.J., Dean, W.R.J., van Rooyen, N. Moloney, K.A. 1998. Modelling the impact of small-scale heterogeneities on tree-grass coexistence in semi-arid savannas. Journal of Ecology 86 : 780 793.
23. Jeltsch, F., Moloney, K. Milton, S.J. 1999. Detecting process from snapshot pattern: lessons from tree spacing in the southern Kalahari. Oikos 85 : 451 466.
24. Martens, S.N., Breshears, D.D., Meyer, C.W. Barnes, F.J. 1997. Scales of above-ground and below-ground competition in a semi-arid woodland detected from spatial pattern. Journal of Vegetation Science 8 : 655 664.
25. McIntire, E.J.B. Fajardo, A. 2009. Beyond description: the active and effective way to infer processes from spatial patterns. Ecology 90 : 46 56.
26. Meyer, K.M., Wiegand, K., Ward, D. Moustakas, A. 2007a. The rhythm of savanna patch dynamics. Journal of Ecology 95 : 1306 1315.
27. Meyer, K.M., Wiegand, K., Ward, D. Moustakas, A. 2007b. SATCHMO: a spatial simulation model of growth, competition, and mortality in cycling savanna patches. Ecological Modelling 209 : 377 391.
28. Meyer, K.M., Ward, D., Wiegand, K. Moustakas, A. 2008. Multi-proxy evidence for competition between savanna woody species. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 10 : 63 72.
29. Miller, T.E. Weiner, J. 1989. Local density variation may mimic effects of asymmetric competition on plant size variability. Ecology 70 : 1188 1191.
30. Mitchell-Olds, T. 1987. Analysis of local variation in plant size. Ecology 68 : 82 87.
31. Moustakas, A., Wiegand, K., Getzin, S., Ward, D., Meyer, K.M., Guenther, M. Mueller, K.H. 2008. Spacing patterns of an Acacia tree in the Kalahari over a 61-year period: how clumped becomes regular and vice versa. Acta Oecologica-International Journal of Ecology 33 : 355 364.
32. Noy-Meir, I. 1973. Desert ecosystems: environment and producers. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 4 : 25 52.
33. Packer, A. Clay, K. 2000. Soil pathogens and spatial patterns of seedling mortality in a temperate tree. Nature 404 : 278 281.
34. Phillips, O.L., Aragao, L., Lewis, S.L., Fisher, J.B., Lloyd, J., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Malhi, Y., Monteagudo, A., Peacock, J., Quesada, C.A., van der Heijden, G., Almeida, S., Amaral, I., Arroyo, L., Aymard, G., Baker, T.R., Banki, O., Blanc, L., Bonal, D., Brando, P., Chave, J., de Oliveira, A.C.A., Cardozo, N.D., Czimczik, C.I., Feldpausch, T.R., Freitas, M.A., Gloor, E., Higuchi, N., Jimenez, E., Lloyd, G., Meir, P., Mendoza, C., Morel, A., Neill, D.A., Nepstad, D., Patino, S., Penuela, M.C., Prieto, A., Ramirez, F., Schwarz, M., Silva, J., Silveira, M., Thomas, A.S., ter Steege, H., Stropp, J., Vasquez, R., Zelazowski, P., Davila, E.A., Andelman, S., Andrade, A., Chao, K.J., Erwin, T., Di Fiore, A., Honorio, E., Keeling, H., Killeen, T.J., Laurance, W.F., Cruz, A.P., Pitman, N.C.A., Vargas, P.N., Ramirez-Angulo, H., Rudas, A., Salamao, R., Silva, N., Terborgh, J. Torres-Lezama, A. 2009. Drought sensitivity of the Amazon rainforest. Science 323 : 1344 1347.
35. Rees, M., Grubb, P.J. Kelly, D. 1996. Quantifying the impact of competition and spatial heterogeneity on the structure and dynamics of a four-species guild of winter annuals. American Naturalist 147 : 1 32.
36. Rice, K.J., Matzner, S.L., Byer, W. Brown, J.R. 2004. Patterns of tree dieback in Queensland, Australia: the importance of drought stress and the role of resistance to cavitation. Oecologia 139 : 190 198.
37. Ripley, B.D. 1988. Statistical inference for spatial processes. Cambridge University Press
38. Sankaran, M., Hanan, N.P., Scholes, R.J., Ratnam, J., Augustine, D.J., Cade, B.S., Gignoux, J., Higgins, S.I., Le Roux, X., Ludwig, F., Ardo, J., Banyikwa, F., Bronn, A., Bucini, G., Caylor, K.K., Coughenour, M.B., Diouf, A., Ekaya, W., Feral, C.J., February, E.C., Frost, P.G.H., Hiernaux, P., Hrabar, H., Metzger, K.L., Prins, H.H.T., Ringrose, S., Sea, W., Tews, J., Worden, J. Zambatis, N. 2005. Determinants of woody cover in African savannas. Nature 438 : 846 849.
39. Schenk, H.J. Jackson, R.B. 2002. Rooting depths, lateral root spreads and below-ground/above-ground allometries of plants in water-limited ecosystems. Journal of Ecology 90 : 480 494.
40. Sharp, B.R. Bowman, D.M.J.S. 2004. Patterns of long-term woody vegetation change in a sandstone-plateau savanna woodland, Northern Territory, Australia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20 : 259 279.
41. Shima, J.S. Osenberg, C.W. 2003. Cryptic density dependence: effects of covariation between density and site quality in reef fish. Ecology 84 : 46 52.
42. Skarpe, C. 1991. Spatial patterns and dynamics of woody vegetation in an arid savanna. Journal of Vegetation Science 2 : 565 572.
43. Thackway, R. Cresswell, I.D. 1995. An interim biogeographic regionalisation for Australia: a framework for setting priorities in the National Reserves System Cooperative Program. Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Reserve Systems Unit
44. Walker, B.H. Langridge, J.L. 1997. Predicting savanna vegetation structure on the basis of plant available moisture (PAM) and plant available nutrients (PAN): a case study from Australia. Journal of Biogeography 24 : 813 825.
45. Ward, J.S., Parker, G.R. Ferrandino, F.J. 1996. Long-term spatial dynamics in an old-growth deciduous forest. Forest Ecology and Management 83 : 189 202.
46. Weiner, J., Wright, D.B. Castro, S. 1997. Symmetry of below-ground competition between Kochia scoparia individuals. Oikos 79 : 85 91.
47. Wiegand, K., Saltz, D., Ward, D. Levin, S.A. 2008. The role of size inequality in self-thinning: a pattern-oriented simulation model for arid savannas. Ecological Modelling 210 : 431 445.
48. Wiegand, T. Moloney, K.A. 2004. Rings, circles, and null-models for point pattern analysis in ecology. Oikos 104 : 209 229.
49. Williams, J., Prebble, R.E., Williams, W.T. Hignett, C.T. 1983. The influence of texture, structure and clay mineralogy on the soil moisture characteristic. Australian Journal of Soil Research 21 : 15 32.
50. Wylie, F.R. Bevege, D.I. 1981. Eucalypt dieback in Queensland. In : Old, K.M., Kile, G.A. Ohmart, C.P. (eds.) Eucalypt dieback in forest and woodlands. pp. 31 36. CSIRO