Dear Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Researchers,
As a part of an NSF-funded research coordination network on tropical montane
science and
ecology ("CloudNet", http://cloudnet.agsci.colostate.edu), we are organizing a
global multi-site
study to assess variation in plant functional traits across different tropical
montane forests (TMFs),
with an emphasis on including cloud-affected areas or cloud forest. We are
interested in
examining trait variation across large geographic scales (i.e. Hawaii versus
Peru) as well as within
sites along environmental gradients (microclimate, land use, soil fertility
etc.).
Such an effort will help evaluate the commonalities and diversity within
particular TMFs while also
serving to synthesize research across as many TMFs as possible.
Participants at a recent CloudNet meeting in Panama were polled to gauge our
collective interest in
particular traits. The idea was to choose a few key traits most important in
explaining variation in
plant ecological strategies across our sites and that are inexpensive and
relatively easy to measure.
With these objectives in mind, we have chosen to collect data on the following
traits:
1) Specific Leaf Area
2) Leaf Nutrients (N/C/P)
3) Stomatal Density
4) Wood Density
5) Seed Dispersal Mode
6) Seed Mass
7) Cuticular Conductance
We have a detailed methods protocol for collecting the data for these seven
traits. If you are
interested in joining this collaborative research effort, we ask that you
measure at least the first
three traits (and more if you can) on the five most dominant canopy tree
species along
environmental gradients in your study sites. All contributing researchers will
be granted authorship
on manuscripts that are produced as a result of this work.
We are interested in both collaborating with researchers who can collect data
at their cloud forest
sites in the next year as well as those who have already collected data on
these traits.
We plan to have all data collected by September 1, 2016 and will submit two
manuscripts in the
Spring of 2017.
*** If you are interested in participating in this global study or have
questions about the specifics
of the protocol, please respond to Sybil Gotsch ([email protected]) or Jürgen
Homeier
([email protected])***
We welcome all in this effort, so feel free to pass this request along to any
researcher who might
not be on this listserv but would be interested in participating. Thanks for
your time!
