ArticleEcology and evolution2019
Disturbance and the elevation ranges of woody plant species in the mountains of Costa Rica.
Article in Ecology and evolution, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evolutionary history of endangered and relict tree speciesEcology and evolution · 2020Article
- Disturbance and the elevation ranges of woody plant species in the mountains of Costa Rica.Ecology and evolution · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo understand how disturbance-here defined as a transient reduction in competition-can shape plant distributions along elevation gradients. Theory suggests that disturbance may increase elevation ranges, especially at the lower range limits, through reduced competitive exclusion. Nevertheless, to date this relationship remains unclear. LOCATION: Mountains of Costa Rica.
methodsWe compared the elevation range of woody stems over 10 cm dbh ("trees") observed in plots along two transects spanning a range of elevations in secondary (regrowth) and old-growth forest (409 and 249 species, respectively). We also estimated these elevation ranges using nationwide data. In addition, we examined the influence of stem size and plot scale basal area (as a measure of competition) on species elevation range limits in the two gradients.
resultsIn general, tree species ranges increased with elevation. Species in the secondary forest had broader elevation ranges (100-318 m broader than species in the old-growth forest; Wilcoxon: MAIN
conclusionDisturbance relaxes the constraints imposed by competition and extends effective elevation ranges of species, particularly those in secondary forest, to warmer and cooler climates (minimum increase equivalent to about 0.6-1.4°C). Thus, suitable disturbance may assist species persistence under climate change. We believe this is the first study indicating a consistent relation between disturbance and woody plant species distributions along elevation gradients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.