title: Large-scale patterns of turnover and Basal area change in Andean forests.
abstract: General patterns of forest dynamics and productivity in the Andes Mountains are poorly characterized. Here we present the first large-scale study of Andean forest dynamics using a set of 63 permanent forest plots assembled over the past two decades. In the North-Central Andes tree turnover (mortality and recruitment) and tree growth declined with increasing elevation and decreasing temperature. In addition, basal area increased in Lower Montane Moist Forests but did not change in Higher Montane Humid Forests. However, at higher elevations the lack of net basal area change and excess of mortality over recruitment suggests negative environmental impacts. In North-Western Argentina, forest dynamics appear to be influenced by land use history in addition to environmental variation. Taken together, our results indicate that combinations of abiotic and biotic factors that vary across elevation gradients are important determinants of tree turnover and productivity in the Andes. More extensive and longer-term monitoring and analyses of forest dynamics in permanent plots will be necessary to understand how demographic processes and woody biomass are responding to changing environmental conditions along elevation gradients through this century.
authors.affiliation: Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecoregión Andina (CONDESAN), Quito, Ecuador; Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Selene
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Báez
authors.affiliation: Consejo Nacional de Ciencias de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina.
authors.forename: Agustina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malizia
authors.affiliation: Consejo Nacional de Ciencias de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina.
authors.forename: Julieta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carilla
authors.affiliation: Consejo Nacional de Ciencias de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blundo
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Loja, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aguirre
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Loja, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Zhofre
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Aquirre
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Servicios Ecosistémicos y Cambio Climático, Jardín Botánico de Medellín, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Esteban
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecoregión Andina (CONDESAN), Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cuesta
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Duque
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Farfán-Ríos
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: García-Cabrera
authors.affiliation: Consejo Nacional de Ciencias de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grau
authors.affiliation: Plant Ecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Homeier
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Reynaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Linares-Palomino
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina; Fundación ProYungas, Jujuy, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lucio R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Malizia
authors.affiliation: Grupo de investigación en Biodiversidad y Dinámica de Ecosistemas Tropicales, Universidad del Tolima, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Omar Melo
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina.
authors.forename: Oriana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Osinaga
authors.affiliation: School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Oliver L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reynel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Miles R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Silman
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Botany, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Feeley
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D065928:Forests; D016014:Linear Models; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development