Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Potential Effects of Elevated CO2 and Climate Change on Tropical Forest Soils and Biogeochemical Cycling

  • Chapter
Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Tropical Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

Tropical forests are responsible for a large proportion of the global terrestrial C flux annually for natural ecosystems. Increased atmospheric CO2 and changes in climate are likely to affect the distribution of C pools in the tropics and the rate of cycling through vegetation and soils. In this paper, I review the literature on the pools and fluxes of carbon in tropical forests, and the relationship of these to nutrient cycling and climate. Tropical moist and humid forests have the highest rates of annual net primary productivity and the greatest carbon flux from soil respiration globally. Tropical dry forests have lower rates of carbon circulation, but may have greater soil organic carbon storage, especially at depths below 1 meter. Data from tropical elevation gradients were used to examine the sensitivity of biogeochemical cycling to incremental changes in temperature and rainfall. These data show significant positive correlations of litterfall N concentrations with temperature and decomposition rates. Increased atmospheric CO2 and changes in climate are expected to alter carbon and nutrient allocation patterns and storage in tropical forest. Modeling and experimental studies suggest that even a small increase in temperature and CO2 concentrations results in more rapid decomposition rates, and a large initial CO2 efflux from moist tropical soils. Soil P limitation or reductions in C:N and C:P ratios of litterfall could eventually limit the size of this flux. Increased frequency of fires in dry forest and hurricanes in moist and humid forests are expected to reduce the ecosystem carbon storage capacity over longer time periods.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anderson, D. M.: 1995, ‘Decomposition of Organic Matter and Carbon Emissions from Soils’, in Lai, R., Kimble, J., Levine, E., and Stewart, B. A. (eds.), Advances in Soil Sciences: Soils and Global Change, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 165–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. M.: 1992, ‘Responses of Soils to Climate Change’, Adv. Ecol. Res. 22, 163–210.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. M. and Swift, M. J.: 1983, ‘Decomposition in Tropical Forests’, in Sutton, S. L., Whitmore, T. C., and Chadwick, A. C. (eds.), Tropical Rain Forest: Ecology and Management, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Boston, pp. 287–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. M., Proctor, J., and Vallack, H. W: 1983, ‘Ecological Studies in Four Contrasting Lowland Rain Forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak III. Decomposition Processes and Nutrient Losses from Leaf Litter’, J. Ecol 71, 503–527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnone III, J. A. and Körner, C.: 1995, ‘Soil and Biomass Carbon Pools in Model Communities of Tropical Plants under Elevated C02\ Oecology 104, 61–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloomfield, J., Vogt, K., and Vogt, D.: 1993, ‘Decay Rate and Substrate Quality of Fine Roots and Foliage of Two Tropical Tree Species in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico’, Plant Soil 150, 233–245.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bouwman, A. F., Fung, I., Matthews, E., and John, J.: 1993, ‘Global Analysis of the Potential for N20 Production in Natural Soils’, Global Biogeochem. Cyc. 7, 557–597.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: 1982, ‘The Storage and Production of Organic Matter in Tropical Forests and Their Role in the Global Carbon Cycle’, Biotropica 14, 161–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S., Hall, C. A. S., Knabe, W., Raich, J., Trexler, M. C., and Woomer, P.: 1993, ‘Tropical Forests: Their Past, Present, and Potential Future Role in the Terrestrial Carbon Budget’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 70, 71–94.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S., Iverson, L. R., and Lugo, A. E.: 1994, ‘Land-Use and Biomass Changes of Forests in Peninsular Malaysia from 1972–1982: A GIS Approach’, in Dale, V. H. (ed.), Effects of Land Use Change on Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations: South and Southeast Asia as a Case Study, Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 117–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canadell, J., Jackson, R. B., Ehleringer, J. R., Mooney, H. A., Sala, O. E., and Schulze, E.-D.: 1996, ‘Maximum Rooting Depth of Vegetation Types at the Global Scale’, Oecology 108, 583–595.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavelier, J.: 1992, ‘Fine Root Biomass and Soil Properties in a Semideciduous and a Lower Montane Rain Forest in Panama’, Plant Soil 142, 187–201.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Commins, H. N. and McMurtrie, R. E.: 1993, ‘Long-Term Response of Nutrient-Limited Forests to CO2 Enrichment: Equilibrium Behavior of Plant-Soil Models’, Ecol. Appl. 3, 666–681.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crews, T. E., Kitayama, K., Fownes, J. H., Riley, R. H., Herbert, D. A., Mueller-Dombois, D., and Vitousek, P. M.: 1995, ‘Changes in Soil Phosphorus Fractions and Ecosystem Dynamics across a Long Chronosequence in Hawaii’, Ecology 76, 1407–1424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuevas, E. and Medina, E.: 1986, ‘Nutrient Dynamics within Amazonian Forest Ecosystems 1. Nutrient Flux in Fine Litter Fall and Efficiency of Nutrient Utilization’, Oecology 68, 466–472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuevas, E. and Medina, E.: 1988, ‘Nutrient Dynamics within Amazonian Forests: 2. Fine Root Growth, Nutrient Availability and Leaf Litter Decomposition’, Oecology 16, 222–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuevas, E., Brown, S., and Lugo, A. E.: 1991, ‘Above-and Belowground Organic Matter Storage and Production in a Tropical Pine Plantation and a Paired Broad Leaf Secondary Forest’, Plant Soil 135, 257–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, E. A., Matson, P. A., Vitousek, P. M., Riley, R., Dunkin, K., Garcia-Mendez, G., and Maass, J. M.: 1993, ‘Processes Regulating Soil Emissions of NO and NO2 in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest’, Ecology 74, 130–139.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, R. K., Brown, S., Houghton, R. A., Solomon, A. M., Trexler, M. C., and Wisniewski, J.: 1994, ‘Carbon Pools and Flux of Global Forest Ecosystems’, Science 263, 185–190.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Emanuel, K. A.: 1987, ‘The Dependence of Hurricane Intensity on Climate’, Nature 326, 483–485.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eswaran, H., van den Berg, E., and Reich, P.: 1993, ‘Division S-5 Notes: Organic Carbon in Soils of the World’, Soil Sei. Soc. Amer. J. 57, 192–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewel, J., Berish, C., Brown, B., Price, N., and Raich, J.: 1981, ‘Slash and Burn Impacts on a Costa Rican Wet Forest Site’, Ecology 62, 816–829.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fosberg, M. A., Goldammer, J. G., Rind, D., and Price, C.: 1990, ‘Global Change: Effects on Forest Ecosystems and Wildfire Severity’, in Goldammer, J. G. (ed.), Fire in the Biota: Ecosystem Processes and Global Challenges, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 463–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gijsman, A. J., Oberson, A., Tiessem, H., and Friesen, D. K.: 1996, ‘Limited Applicability of the CENTURY Model to Highly Weathered Tropical Soils’, Agron. J. 88, 894–903.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldammer, J. G. and Seibert, B.: 1989, ‘Natural Rain Forest Fires in Eastern Borneo during the Pleistocene and Holocene’, Naturwissenschaften 16, 518–520.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldammer, J. G. and Seibert, B.: 1990, ‘The Impact of Droughts and Forest Fires on Tropical Lowland Rain Forest of East Kalimantan’, in Goldammer, J. G. (ed.), Fire in the Tropical Biota: Ecosystem Processes and Global Challenges, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 11–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, W. M.: 1990, ‘Strong Associateion between West African Rainfall and U.S. Landfall of Intense Hurricanes’, Science 249, 1251–1256.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grubb, P. J.: 1977, ‘Control of Forest Growth and Distribution on Wet Tropical Mountains with Special Reference to Mineral Nutrition’, Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 8, 83–107.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harmon, M. E., Whigham, D. F., Sexton, J., and Olmstead, I.: 1995, ‘Decomposition and Mass of Woody Detritus in the Dry Tropical Forests of the Northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico’, Biotropica 27, 305–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, A. and Proctor, J.: 1989, ‘Chemical Elements in Litter in Forests on Volcan Barva, Costa Rica’, in Proctor, J. (ed.), Mineral Nutrients in Tropical Forest and Savanna Ecosystems, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 255–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschel, G., Körner, Ch, and Arnon III, J. A.: 1997, ‘Will Rising Atmospheric CO2 Affect Leaf Litter Quality and In Situ Decomposition Rates in Native Plant Communities?’, Oecology 110, 387–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulme, M. and Viner, D.: 1995, A Climatic Change Scenario for Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Tropical Rain Forests, Climatic Research Unit for WWF(US) p. 34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, P. C., Cavelier, J., Goldstein, G., Meinzer, F. C., and Holbrook, N. M.: 1995, ‘Partitioning of Water Resources among Plants of a Lowland Tropical Forest’, Oecology 101, 197–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, R. B., Canadell, J., Ehleringer, J. R., Mooney, H. A., Sala, O. E., and Schulze, E. D.: 1996, ‘A Global Analysis of Root Distributions for Terrestrial Biomes’, Oecology 108, 389–411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, V. J. and Sanford Jr., R. L.: 1995, ‘Nutrient Cycling in Tropical Deciduous Forests’, in Bullock, S. H., Mooney, H. A., and Medina, E. (eds.), Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 346–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenny, H.: 1980, The Soil Resource: Origin and Behavior, Springer-Verlag, New York, p. 377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, C. F. and Escalante, G.: 1980, ‘Root Productivity in an Amazonian Rain Forest’, Ecology 61, 14–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, J. B. and Uhl, C.: 1990, ‘Interactions of Anthropogenic Activities, Fire, and Rain Forests in the Amazon Basin’, in Goldammer, J. G. (ed.), Fire in the Tropical Biota: Ecosystem Processes and Global Challenges, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 117–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, J. B., Cummings, D. L., Ward, D. E., and Babbitt, R.: 1995, ‘Fire in the Brazilian Amazon: 1. Biomass, Nutrient Pools, and Losses in Slashed Primary Forests’, Oecology 104, 397–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, M. and Matson, P. A.: 1994, ‘Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange of Trace Gases in the Tropics: Evaluating the Effects of Land Use Changes’, in Prinn, R. G. (ed.), Global Atmopheric-Biospheric Chemistry, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 103–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, M., Kaplan, W. A., and Wofsy, S. C.: 1986, ‘Emissions of N2O, CH4, and CO2 from Tropical Forest Soils’, J. Geophys. Res. 91, 11791–11802.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, M., Jacobs, D. J., Wofsy, S. C., and Harris, R. C.: 1991, ‘Effects of Tropical Deforestation on Global and Regional Atmospheric Chemistry’, Clim. Change 19, 139–158.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirschbaum, M. U.: 1995, ‘The Temperature Dependence of Soil Organic Matter Decomposition, and the Effect of Global Warming on Soil Organic C Storage’, Soil Biol. Biochem. 27, 753–760.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klinge, H.: 1973, ‘Root Mass Estimation in Lowland Tropical Rain Forests of Central Amazonia, Brazil. II–“Coarse Root Mass” of Trees and Palms in Different Height Classes’, Ann. Academia Brasileira de Ciencias 45, 595–599.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klinge, H.: 1975, ‘Root Mass Estimation in Lowland Tropical Rain Forests of Central Amazonia, Brazil. III. Nutrients in Fine Roots from Giant Humus Pools’, Tropic. Ecol. 16, 28–38.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koonce, A. L. and Gonzalez-Caban: 1990, ‘Social and Ecological Aspects of Fire in Central America’, in Goldammer, J. G. (ed.), Fire in the Tropical Biota: Ecosystem Processes and Global Challenges, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 135–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Körner, C. and Arnone III, J. A.: 1992, ‘Responses to Elevated Carbon Dioxide in Artificial Tropical Ecosystems’, Science 257, 1672–1675.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leigh Jr., E. G. and Windsor, D. M.: 1985, ‘Forest Production and Regulation of Primary Consumers on Barro Colorado Island’, in Leigh Jr., E. G., Rand, S., and Windsor, D. M. (eds.), The Ecology of a Tropical Forest, Seasonal Rhythms and Long-term Changes, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 111–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesack, L. F. W., Hecky, R. E., and Melack, J. M.: 1984, ‘Transport of Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Major Solutes in the Gambia River, West Africa’, Limnol. Oceanogr. 29, 816–830.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis Jr., W. M., Saunders III, J. F., Levine, S. N., and Weibezahn, F. H.: 1986, ‘Organic Carbon in the Caura River, Venezuela’, Limnol. Oceanogr. 31, 653–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lodge, D.: 1993, ‘Nutrient Cycling by Fungi in Wet Tropical Forests’, in Isaac, S., Frankland, J. C., Watling, and Whalley, A. J. S. (eds.), Aspects of Tropical Mycology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 85–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lodge, D. J., Scatena, F. N., Asbury, C. E., and Sanchez, M. J.: 1991, ‘Fine Litterfall and Related Nutrient Inputs from Hurricane Hugo in Subtropical Wet and Lower Montane Rain Forests of Puerto Rico’, Biotropica 23, 336–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lodge, D. J., McDowell, W. H., and McSwiney, C. P.: 1994, ‘The Importance of Nutrient Pulses in Tropical Forests’, TREE 9, 384–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lugo, A. E. and Brown, S.: 1986, ‘Steady State Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Global Carbon Cycle’, Vegetatio 68, 83–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lugo, A. E. and Brown, S.: 1992, ‘Tropical Forests as Sinks of Atmospheric Carbon’, Forest Ecol. Manage. 54, 239–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lugo, A. E. and Brown, S.: 1993, ‘Management of Tropical Soils as Sinks or Sources of Atmospheric Carbon’, Plant Soil 149, 27–41.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Yrizar, A.: 1995, ‘Biomass Distribution and Primary Productivity of Tropical Dry Forests’, in Bullock, S. H., Mooney, H. A., and Medina, E. (eds.), Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 326–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Yrizar, A., Maass, J. M., Perez-Jimenez, L. A., and Sarukhan, J.: 1996, ‘Net Primary Productivity of a Tropical Deciduous Forest Ecosystem in Western Mexico’, J. Tropic. Ecol. 12, 169–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matson, P. A. and Vitousek, P. M.: 1990, ‘Ecosystem Approach to a Global Nitrous Oxide Budget’, BioSci. 40, 667–672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matson, P. A., Vitousek, P. M., Ewel, J. J., Mazzarino, M. J., and Robertson, G. P.: 1987, ‘Nitrogen Transformations Following Tropical Forest Felling and Burning on a Volcanic Soil’, Ecology 68, 491–502.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGill, W. B. and Cole, C. V.: 1981, ‘Comparative Aspects of Cycling of Organic C, N, S, and P through Soil Organic Matter’, Geoderma 26, 267–286.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McKane, R. B., Rastetter, E. B., Melillo, J. M., Shaver, G. R., Hopkinson, C. S., and Fernandes, D. N.: 1995, ‘Effects of Global Change on Carbon Storage in Tropical Forests of South America’, Global Biogeochem. Cyc. 9, 329–350.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medina, E. and Cuevas, E.: 1989, ‘Patterns of Nutrient Accumulation and Release in Amazonian Forests of the Upper Rio Negro Basin’, in Proctor, J. (ed.), Mineral Nutrients in Tropical Forest and Savanna Ecosystems, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp. 117–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melillo, J. M., McGuire, A. D., Kicklighter, D. W., Moore III, B., Vorosmarty, C. J., and Schloss, A. L.: 1993, ‘Global Climate Change and Terrestrial Net Primary Production’, Nature 363, 234–240.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Milne, G.: 1935, Composite Units for the Mapping of Complex Soil Associations, Trans. 3rd Int. Congr. Soil Sci. 1, pp. 345–347 cited in Young, A: 1976, Tropical Soils and Soil Survey, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, H. A., Drake, B. G., Luxmoore, R. J., Oechel, W. C., and Pitelka, L. F.: 1991, ‘Predicting Ecosystem Responses to Elevated CO2 Concentrations’, BioSci. 41, 96–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller-Dombois, D. and Goldammer, J. G.: 1990, ‘Fire in Tropical Ecosystems and Global Environmental Change: An Introduction’, in Goldammer, J. G. (ed.), Fire in the Tropical Biota: Ecosystem Processes and Global Challenges, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, B. W., Kapos, V., Adams, J. B., Oliveira, W. J., Braun, O. P. G., and doAmaral, I. L.: 1994, ‘Forest Disturbance by Large Blowdowns in the Brazilian Amazon’, Ecology 75, 853–858.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nepstad, D. C., de Carvalho, C. R., Davidson, E. A., Jipp, P. H., Lefebvre, P. A., Negreiros, G. H., da Silva, E. D., Stone, T. A., Trumbore, S. E., and Vieira, S.: 1994, ‘The Role of Deep Roots in the Carbon Cycles of Amazonian Forests and Pastures’, Nature 372, 666–669.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parrotta, J. and Lodge, D. J.: 1991, ‘Fine Root Dynamics in Subtropical Wet Forest Following Hurricane Disturbance in Puerto Rico’, Biotropica 23, 343–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parton, W. J., Schimel, D. S., Cole, C. V., and Ojima, D. S.: 1987, ‘Analysis of Factors Controlling Soil Organic Matter Levels in Great Plains Grasslands’, Soil Sci. Soc. Amer J. 51, 1173–1179.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, J., Anderson, J. M., Fogden, S. C. L., and Vallack, H. W.: 1983a, ‘Ecological Studies in Four Contrasting Lowland Rain Forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak.: II Litterfall, Litter Standing Crop and Preliminary Observations on Herbivory’, J. Ecol. 71, 261–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, J., Anderson, J. M., and Vallack, H. W.: 1983b, ‘Comparative Studies on Forests, Soils and Litterfall at Four Altitudes in Gunung Mulu, Sarawak’, Malaysian Forester 46, 60–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, J., Lee, Y. F., Langley, A. M., Munro, W. R. C., and Nelson, T.: 1988, ‘Ecological Studies on Gunung Silam, a Small Ultrabasic Mountain in Sabah, Malaysia. I. Environment, Forest Structure and Floristics’, J. Ecol. 16, 320–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raich, J. W. and Nadelhoffer, K. J.: 1989, ‘Belowground Carbon Allocation in Forest Ecosystems: Global Trends’, Ecology 70, 1346–1354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raich, J. W. and Potter, C. S.: 1995, ‘Global Patterns of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Soils’, Global Biogeochem. Cyc. 9, 23–36.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raich, J. W. and Schlesinger, W. H.: 1992, ‘The Global Carbon Dioxide Flux in Soil Respiration and Relationship to Vegetation and Climate’, Tellus 44B, 81–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rastetter, E. B., McKane, R. B., Shaver, G. R., and Melillo, J. M.: 1992, ‘Changes in C Storage by Terrestrial Ecosystems: How C-N Interactions Restrict Responses to CO2 and Temperature’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 64, 327–344.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, R A.: 1976, Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics, J. Wiley, New York, p. 618.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanford, R. L., Saldarriaga, J., Clark, K. E., Uhl, C., and Herrera, R.: 1985, ‘Amazon Rain Forest Fires’, Science 227, 53–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders III, J. F. and Lewis Jr., W. M.: 1988, Transport of Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Carbon by the Apure River, Venezuela’, Biogeochem. 5, 323–342.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scatena, F. N., Silver, W., Siccama, T., Johnson, A., and Sanchez, M. J.: 1993, ‘Biomass and Nutrient Content of the Bisley Research Watersheds, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico, Before and After Hurricane Hugo 1989’, Biotropica 25, 15–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimel, D. S., Braswell, B. H., Holland, E. A., McKeown, R., Ojima, D. S., Painter, T. H., Parton, W. J., and Townsend, A. R.: 1994, ‘Climatic, Edaphic, and Biotic Controls over Storage and Turnover of Carbon in Soils’, Global Biogeochem. Cyc. 8, 279–293.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger, W. H.: 1977, ‘Carbon Balance in Terrestrial Detritus’, Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 8, 51–81.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger, W. H.: 1995, ‘An Overview of the Carbon Cycle’, in Lai, R., Kimble, J., Levine, E., and Stewart, B. A. (eds.), Advances in Soil Sciences: Soils and Global Change, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 9–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silver, W. L. and Vogt, K. A.: 1993, ‘Fine Root Dynamics Following Single and Multiple Disturbances in a Subtropical Wet Forest Ecosystem’, J. Ecol. 8, 729–738.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silver, W. L., Scatena, F. N., Johnson, A. H., Siccama, T. G., and Sanchez, M. J.: 1994, ‘Nutrient Availability in a Montane Wet Tropical Forest: Spatial Patterns and Methodological Considerations’, Plant Soil 164, 129–145.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silver, W. L., Brown, S., and Lugo, A. E.: 1996, ‘Effects of Changes in Biodiversity on Ecosystem Function in Tropical Forests’, Con. Bio. 10, 17–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silver, W. L., Lugo, A. E., and Keller, M.: ‘Soil Oxygen Availability and Biogeochemical Cycling along an Elevation and Topographic Gradient in Puerto Rico’, Biogeochemistry, in review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silver, W. L., Neff, J., Veldkamp, E., McGroddy, M., and Keller, M.: ‘Patterns in Soil Chemical Properties and Root Biomass along a Soil Texture Gradient in a Lowland Amazonian Tropical Forest’, Ecosystems, in review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sollins, P., Robertson, G. P., and Uehara, G.: 1988, ‘Nutrient Mobility in Variable-and Permanent- Charge Soils’, Biogeochemistry 6, 181–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava, S. C.: 1992, ‘Microbial C, N, and P in Dry Tropical Soils: Seasonal Changes and Influence of Soil Moisture’, Soil Biol. Biochem. 24, 711–714.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, N. M. and Jordan, C. F.: 1978, ‘Nutrient Retention by the Root Mat of an Amazonian Rain Forest’, Ecology 59, 434–37.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tiessen, H., Cuevas, E., and Chacon, P.: 1994, ‘The Role of Soil Organic Matter in Sustaining Soil Fertility’, Nature 371, 783–785.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tilman, D. and Downing, J. A.: 1994, ‘Biodiversity and Stability in Grasslands’, Nature 367, 363–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, A. R., Vitousek, P. M., and Holland, E. A.: 1992, ‘Tropical Soils Could Dominate the Short-Term Carbon Cycle Feedbacks to Increased Global Temperatures’, Clim. Change 22, 293–303.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, A. R., Vitousek, P. M., and Trumbore, S. E.: 1995, ‘Soil Organic Matter Dynamics along Gradients in Temperature and Land Use on the Island of Hawaii’, Ecology 76, 721–733.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trumbore, S. E.: 1993, ‘Comparison of Carbon Dynamics in Tropical and Temperate Soils Using Radiocarbon Measurements’, Global Biogeochem. Cyc. 7, 275–290.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trumbore, S. E., Davidson, E. A., Barbosa de Camargo, P., Nepstad, D. C., and Martinelli, L. A.: 1995, ‘Belowground Cycling of Carbon in Forests and Pastures of Eastern Amazonia’, Global Biogeochem. Cyc. 9, 515–528.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Uehara, G.: 1995, ‘Management of Isoelectric Soils of the Humid Tropics’, in Lai, R., Kimble, J., Levine, E., and Stewart, B. A. (eds.), Soil Management and the Greenhouse Effect, Advances in Soil Science, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 271–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uehara, G. and Gilman, G. P.: 1981, The Mineralogy, Chemistry and Physics of Tropical Soils with Variable Charge Clays, Westview Press, Boulder, CO. Uhl, C. and Kauffman, J. B.: 1990, ‘Deforestation, Fire Susceptibility and Potential Tree Responses to Fire in the Eastern Amazon’, Ecology 71, 437–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P. M. and Matson, P. A.: 1992, ‘Tropical Forests and Trace Gases: Potential Interactions between Tropical Biology and the Atmospheric Sciences’, Biotropica 24, 233–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P. and Sanford, R.: 1986, ‘Nutrient Cycling in Moist Tropical Forest’, Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 17, 137–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P. M., Walker, L. R., Whiteaker, L. D., Mueller-Dombois, D., and Matson, P. A.: 1987, ‘Biological Invasion by Myricafaya Alters Ecosystem Development in Hawaii’, Science 238, 802–804.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P. M., Aplet, G., Turner, D., and Lockwood, J. J.: 1992, ‘The Mauna Loa Environmental Matrix: Foliar and Soil Nutrients’, Oecology 89, 372–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P., Turner, D., Parton, W., and Sanford, R.: 1994, ‘Litter Decomposition of the Mauna Loa Environmental Matrix, Hawaii: Patterns, Mechanisms and Models’, Ecology 75, 418–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, K., Vogt, D., Brown, S., Tilley, J., Edmonds, R., Silver, W., andSiccama, T.: 1995, ‘Dynamics of Forest Floor and Soil Organic Matter Accumulation in Boreal, Temperate and Tropical Forests’, in Lai, R., Kimble, J., Levine, E., and Stewert, B. A. (eds.), Soil Management and the Greenhouse Effect, Advances in Soil Science, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 159–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, L. R., Brokaw, N. V. L., Lodge, D. J., and Waide, R. B.: 1991, ‘Ecosystem, Plant, and Animal Responses to Hurricanes in the Caribbean’, Biotropica 23, 1–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, T. W. and Syers, J. K.: 1976, ‘The Fate of Phosphorus during Pedogenesis’, Geoderma 15, 1–19.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Went, F. W. and Stark, N.: 1968, ‘Mycorrhiza’, BioSci. 18, 1035–1039.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford, W. G.: 1992, ‘Effects of Climate Change on Soil Biotic Communities and Soil Processes’, in Peters, R. L. and Lovejoy, T. E. (eds.), Global Warming and Biological Diversity, Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 124–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitmore, T. C.: 1984, ‘Gap Size and Species Richness in Tropical Rain Forests’, Biotropica 16, 239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wieder, R. and Wright, S.: 1995, ‘Tropical Forest Litter Dynamics and Dry Season Irrigation on Barro Colorado Island, Panama’, Ecology 16, 1971–1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, L.: 1990, Systat. The System for Statistics, Systat Inc. Evanston, IL, p. 677.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, J. C. and Insam, H.: 1991, ‘Microbial Biomass and Relative Contributions of Bacteria and Fungi in Soil Beneath Tropical Rain Forest, Hainan Island, China’, J. Tropic. Ecol. 7, 385–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, A.: 1976, Tropical Soils and Soil Survey, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 468.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecosystem Sciences Division, ESPM, University of California, 151 Hilgard Hall #3110, Berkeley, 94702, CA, USA

    Whendee L. Silver

  2. USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Call Box 25000, Rio Piedras, 00928, PR, USA

    Whendee L. Silver

Authors
  1. Whendee L. Silver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Energy and Climate Program, World Wildlife Fund, 1250 Twenty-Fourth Street NW, 20037-1175, Washington, DC, USA

    Adam Markham (Director) (Director)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Silver, W.L. (1998). The Potential Effects of Elevated CO2 and Climate Change on Tropical Forest Soils and Biogeochemical Cycling. In: Markham, A. (eds) Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Tropical Forest Ecosystems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2730-3_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2730-3_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5046-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-2730-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation