Unveiling the above-ground eukaryotic diversity supported by individual large old trees: the “Life on Trees” integrative protocol

Large tropical trees are rightly perceived as supporting a plethora of organisms. However, baseline data about the variety of taxa coexisting on single large tropical trees are lacking and prevent a full understanding of both the magnitude of biodiversity and the complexity of interactions among organisms in tropical rainforests. The two main aims of the research program “Life on Trees” (LOT) are (1) to establish baseline knowledge on the number of eukaryote species supported/hosted by the above-ground part of a single tropical tree and (2) to understand how these communities of organisms are assembled and distributed on or inside the tree. To achieve the first goal, we integrated a set of 36 methods for comprehensively sampling eukaryotes (plants, fungi, animals, protists) present on a tropical tree. The resulting LOT protocol was conceived and implemented during projects in the Andean Amazon region and is proposed here as a guideline for future projects of a similar nature. To address the second objective, we evaluated the microclimatic differences between tree zones and tested state-of-the-art terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and positioning technologies incorporating satellite and fixed base station signals (dGNSS). A marked variation in temperature and relative humidity was detected along a 6-zones Johansson scheme, a tree structure subdivision system commonly used to study the stratification of epiphytic plants. Samples were collected from these six zones, including three along the trunk and three in the canopy. To better understand how different tree components (e.g., bark, leaves, fruits, flowers, dead wood) contribute to overall tree biodiversity, we categorized observations into communities based on Johansson zones and microhabitats. TLS was an essential aid in understanding the complex tree architecture. By contrast, the accuracy of positioning samples in the tree with dGNSS was low. Comprehensively sampling the biota of individual trees offers an alternative to assessing the biodiversity of fewer groups of organisms at the forest scale. Large old tropical trees provide a wealth of microhabitats that encompass a wide range of ecological conditions, thereby capturing a broad spectrum of biodiversity.

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Publication Details

Journal
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Published
2024-08-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2024.1425492
Citations
7
Primary Topic
Plant and animal studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
7.20

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article

Unveiling the above-ground eukaryotic diversity supported by individual large old trees: the “Life on Trees” integrative protocol

Ángela Aristizábal‐Botero, Jacques Hubert Charles Delabie, Kim Calders, Claire Villemant et al.
7 citations
Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Plant and animal studies
7.20
article

Unveiling the above-ground eukaryotic diversity supported by individual large old trees: the “Life on Trees” integrative protocol

Ángela Aristizábal‐Botero, Jacques Hubert Charles Delabie, Kim Calders, Claire Villemant, Jochen Drescher, Rodolphe Rougerie, Vincent Rufray, Céline Leroy, Nabil Youdjou, Stefan Scheu, Barbara D’hont, Damien Ertz, Maurice Leponce, Germinal Rouhan, Jean‐François Carrias, Frédéric Melki, Alain Vanderpoorten, Johan Michaux, Eddy Poirier, Jhon César Neita‐Moreno, Jérôme Barbut, Yves Basset, Valérie Hofstetter, Philip T. Butterill, Glenda G. Cárdenas, Jürgen Schmidl, André Heughebaert, Olivier Pascal, Damien Catchpole, Noui Baïben, Bart Buyck
article en
7 citations

Abstract

Large tropical trees are rightly perceived as supporting a plethora of organisms. However, baseline data about the variety of taxa coexisting on single large tropical trees are lacking and prevent a full understanding of both the magnitude of biodiversity and the complexity of interactions among organisms in tropical rainforests. The two main aims of the research program “Life on Trees” (LOT) are (1) to establish baseline knowledge on the number of eukaryote species supported/hosted by the above-ground part of a single tropical tree and (2) to understand how these communities of organisms are assembled and distributed on or inside the tree. To achieve the first goal, we integrated a set of 36 methods for comprehensively sampling eukaryotes (plants, fungi, animals, protists) present on a tropical tree. The resulting LOT protocol was conceived and implemented during projects in the Andean Amazon region and is proposed here as a guideline for future projects of a similar nature. To address the second objective, we evaluated the microclimatic differences between tree zones and tested state-of-the-art terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and positioning technologies incorporating satellite and fixed base station signals (dGNSS). A marked variation in temperature and relative humidity was detected along a 6-zones Johansson scheme, a tree structure subdivision system commonly used to study the stratification of epiphytic plants. Samples were collected from these six zones, including three along the trunk and three in the canopy. To better understand how different tree components (e.g., bark, leaves, fruits, flowers, dead wood) contribute to overall tree biodiversity, we categorized observations into communities based on Johansson zones and microhabitats. TLS was an essential aid in understanding the complex tree architecture. By contrast, the accuracy of positioning samples in the tree with dGNSS was low. Comprehensively sampling the biota of individual trees offers an alternative to assessing the biodiversity of fewer groups of organisms at the forest scale. Large old tropical trees provide a wealth of microhabitats that encompass a wide range of ecological conditions, thereby capturing a broad spectrum of biodiversity.

Frontiers in Forests and Global ChangeVol. 7
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (PA), Meise Botanic Garden (BE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (FR), Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE), University of Turku (FI), University of Liège (BE), École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Université Clermont Auvergne (FR), Université de Montpellier (FR), AgroParisTech (FR), Institut Agro Montpellier (FR), Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute (CO), University of French Guiana (GF), Institute of Natural Sciences (BE), Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BE), Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (BR), Ghent University (BE), Sorbonne Université (FR), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (FR), Laboratoire Microorganismes Génome et Environnement (FR), Agroscope (CH), Direction Générale Déléguée aux Ressources (FR), Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (PE), Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane (GF), French Community of Belgium (BE), Comissão Executiva do Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira - Ceplac (BR), Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre (CZ), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), University of Göttingen (DE)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Plant and animal studies
7.20
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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