Publications by authors named "Annette Hladik"
Madagascar's emblematic traveller's tree is a monospecific genus within Strelitziaceae, the family of the South African bird of paradise. Until now, this endemic genus consisted of a single species: Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn., which is grown everywhere in the tropics as an ornamental plant.
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- The study highlights the uncertainty in how tropical forests' carbon storage responds to climate change, particularly the effects of long-term drying and warming.
- Analysis of 590 permanent plots across the tropics finds that maximum temperature significantly reduces aboveground biomass, affecting carbon storage more in hotter forests.
- The results indicate that tropical forests have greater resilience to temperature changes than short-term studies suggest, emphasizing the need for forest protection and climate stabilization for long-term adaptation.
Article Synopsis
- Structurally intact tropical forests contributed significantly to global carbon sequestration in the 1990s and early 2000s, absorbing about 15% of human-caused CO2 emissions.
- A study comparing African and Amazonian forests found that while African forests have maintained a stable carbon sink over three decades, Amazonian forests are experiencing a long-term decline in carbon absorption due to increased tree mortality.
- Recent trends suggest a potential increase in carbon losses in African forests post-2010, indicating that both regions are facing different challenges regarding their carbon sinks and may experience declines in the future.
Folivorous primate biomass has been shown to positively correlate with the average protein-to-fiber ratio in mature leaves of tropical forests. However, studies have failed to explain the mismatch between dietary selection and the role of the protein-to-fiber ratio on primate biomass; why do not folivores always favor mature leaves or leaves with the highest protein-to-fiber ratio? We examined the effect of leaf chemical characteristics and plant abundance (using transect censuses; 0.37 ha, 233 trees) on food choices and nutrient/toxin consumption in a folivorous lemur (Propithecus verreauxi) in a gallery forest in southern Madagascar.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbove-ground biomass and structure of 260 African tropical forests.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
March 2014
We report above-ground biomass (AGB), basal area, stem density and wood mass density estimates from 260 sample plots (mean size: 1.2 ha) in intact closed-canopy tropical forests across 12 African countries. Mean AGB is 395.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe response of terrestrial vegetation to a globally changing environment is central to predictions of future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The role of tropical forests is critical because they are carbon-dense and highly productive. Inventory plots across Amazonia show that old-growth forests have increased in carbon storage over recent decades, but the response of one-third of the world's tropical forests in Africa is largely unknown owing to an absence of spatially extensive observation networks.
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