Trait diversity across forest biomes

Trait-based mass-ratio and complementarity effects shape community structure, population dynamics, and ecosystem functioning. A question remains on how these processes interact in maintaining forest biomass along the elevation. Leaf element contents will be used to test these interactions since they are surrogates of ecosystem functioning. An extensive survey was conducted during 2017-2018 along a wide elevation gradient from the tropical forest (80 m a.s.l.) to the alpine treeline (4200 m a.s.l.) in Kangchenjunga, eastern Nepal Himalayas. We will assess the trait diversity of ten elements essential for plant development. Community-weighted trait averages (i.e., the mass-ratio effect) and trait divergence (i.e., the complementarity effect) in leaf elements will be calculated in 1859 trees belonging to 116 species. Our findings will suggest that biomass accumulation can be affected disproportionately by the elevation because of the interactions between mass-ratio and complementarity effects observed across the vegetation zones. The effect of the elevation in leaf elemental traits is a crucial component affecting the interactions among trees, which affects the ecosystem properties such as biomass and their responses to environmental changes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sergio Rossi

Student:

Partner:

Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing)

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Environmental Science and Technology; Life Sciences (not health); Forestry

University:

Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

Program: