Multi-Stemmed Habit in Trees Contributes Climate Resilience in Tropical Dry Forest

Ian M. Ware, Rebecca Ostertag, Susan Cordell, Christian P. Giardina, Lawren Sack, Camila D. Medeiros, Faith Inman, Creighton M. Litton, Thomas Giambelluca, Grace P. John and Christine Scoffoni
Additional contact information
Ian M. Ware: Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 60 Nowelo Street, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
Rebecca Ostertag: Department of Biology, University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
Susan Cordell: Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 60 Nowelo Street, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
Christian P. Giardina: Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 60 Nowelo Street, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
Lawren Sack: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Camila D. Medeiros: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Faith Inman: Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 60 Nowelo Street, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
Creighton M. Litton: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Thomas Giambelluca: Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Grace P. John: Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Christine Scoffoni: Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Understanding how environmental adaptations mediate plant and ecosystem responses becomes increasingly important under accelerating global environmental change. Multi-stemmed trees, for example, differ in form and function from single-stemmed trees and may possess physiological advantages that allow for persistence during stressful climatic events such as extended drought. Following the worst drought in Hawaii in a century, we examined patterns of stem abundance and turnover in a Hawaiian lowland dry forest (LDF) and a montane wet forest (MWF) to investigate how multi-stemmed trees might influence site persistence, and how stem abundance and turnover relate to key functional traits. We found stem abundance and multi-stemmed trees to be an important component for climate resilience within the LDF. The LDF had higher relative abundance of multi-stemmed trees, stem abundance, and mean stem abundance compared to a reference MWF. Within the LDF, multi-stemmed trees had higher relative stem abundance (i.e., percent composition of stems to the total number of stems in the LDF) and higher estimated aboveground carbon than single-stemmed trees. Stem abundance varied among species and tree size classes. Stem turnover (i.e., change in stem abundance between five-year censuses) varied among species and tree size classes and species mean stem turnover was correlated with mean species stem abundance per tree. At the plot level, stem abundance per tree is also a predictor of survival, though mortality did not differ between multiple- and single-stemmed trees. Lastly, species with higher mean stem abundance per tree tended to have traits associated with a higher light-saturated photosynthetic rate, suggesting greater productivity in periods with higher water supply. Identifying the traits that allow species and forest communities to persist in dry environments or respond to disturbance is useful for forecasting ecological climate resilience or potential for restoration in tropical dry forests.

Keywords: tropical dry forest; resprouting; aboveground carbon; persistence; drought; photosynthesis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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