Papers by Fernando Casanoves
Scientific Data
Here we provide the ‘Global Spectrum of Plant Form and Function Dataset’, containing species mean... more Here we provide the ‘Global Spectrum of Plant Form and Function Dataset’, containing species mean values for six vascular plant traits. Together, these traits –plant height, stem specific density, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen content per dry mass, and diaspore (seed or spore) mass – define the primary axes of variation in plant form and function. The dataset is based on ca. 1 million trait records received via the TRY database (representing ca. 2,500 original publications) and additional unpublished data. It provides 92,159 species mean values for the six traits, covering 46,047 species. The data are complemented by higher-level taxonomic classification and six categorical traits (woodiness, growth form, succulence, adaptation to terrestrial or aquatic habitats, nutrition type and leaf type). Data quality management is based on a probabilistic approach combined with comprehensive validation against expert knowledge and external information. Intense data acquisition a...
Soils in the Amazon Basin that have been disturbed by petroleum extractions are in dire need of r... more Soils in the Amazon Basin that have been disturbed by petroleum extractions are in dire need of restoration. However, many of the soil restoration projects already undertaken in the area have had limited success, mainly due to the fact that no prior analyses have been conducted to determine the suitability and performance of the forest species selected for these projects. This study explores the performance of plants from 20 tree species transplanted onto three sites disturbed by petroleum extractions [(an oil-platform (PP), mud and drill cutting cells (MDC), and contaminated soil treatment units (CSTU)], and one undisturbed site (W), and analyzes the development of soil characteristics two years after the reforestation took place (Figure 1).
Ciência e Agrotecnologia, 2008
Objetivou-se, neste estudo, determinar se as populações das minhocas são alteradas em função do m... more Objetivou-se, neste estudo, determinar se as populações das minhocas são alteradas em função do manejo do café (Coffea arabica) em Turrialba, CostaRica. Os seguintes sistemas de cultivo do café foram estudados: a pleno sol (PS) e sombreado com eritrina, Erythrina poeppigiana (E); terminalia, Terminalia amazonia (T) e cashá, Chloroleucon eurycyclum (Ab). A hipótese foi de que o manejo orgânico do café e o fornecimento da serapilheira de melhor qualidade favoreceria a diversidade, a densidade e a biomassa das minhocas. As populações das minhocas foram alteradas, em função do manejo com insumos sintéticos ou orgânicos , sendo a densidade menor no café a pleno sol. Entre as espécies utilizadas no sombreamento, a eritrina parece limitar a abundância das minhocas. Contudo, favorece a diversidade das mesmas, tendo sido registradas duas espécies de minhocas com papéis ecológicos diferenciados, Pontoscolex corethrurus, endogeica e Metaphire californica, anécica; ao contrário dos demais trata...
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
![Research paper thumbnail of Efectos de las rasgos morfologicos y ecofisiologicos de arboles neotropicales en laransferencia de agua y nutrientes al suelo [Effect of morphological and eco-physiological traits of neotropical tree species on water and nutrients transference to soil]](https://a.academia-assets.com/images/blank-paper.jpg)
El proposito del estudio fue evaluar el efecto de rasgos morfologicos y ecofisiologicos de varias... more El proposito del estudio fue evaluar el efecto de rasgos morfologicos y ecofisiologicos de varias especies de arboles en la cantidad de lluvia y nutrientes transferidos desde la copa al suelo. Las especies evaluadas fueron Albizia saman, Coccoloba caracasana, Coccoloba floribunda, Crescentia alata, Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Guazuma ulmifolia y Tabebuia rosea. Se evaluaron 28 arboles dispersos en potreros durante la estacion lluviosa entre los meses de mayo a septiembre del 2011; ademas, se analizaron 39 muestras de agua de lluvia (28 muestras compuestas recolectadas bajo las copas y 11 muestras control) con el fin de determinar el contenido de nutrientes en el agua de la primera lluvia registrada al inicio de la epoca lluviosa. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en la cantidad de lluvia transferida a traves de la copa arborea de las diferentes especies. El rasgo funcional que mayor correlacion presento con dicha variable fue el tamano de la hoja (area foliar). La fuerza tensil de la hoja, la longitud del peciolo y el area foliar se correlacionaron positivamente con la diferencia entre el contenido de nutrientes en el agua recogida bajo y fuera de la copa.
Revista de biología tropical, 2008
Richness and abundance of birds in riparian forest belts of varied breadths at the Sesesmiles riv... more Richness and abundance of birds in riparian forest belts of varied breadths at the Sesesmiles river microwatershed, Copan, Honduras. Riparian forests protect many species of plants and animals. We studied bird communities in riparian forest belts of the Sesesmiles river microwatershed, Copan, Honduras (140 degrees 43' 12" - 140 degrees 58' 35" N, 88 degrees 53' 23" - 89 degrees 14' 17" W). The main goal was to explore the effects of belt breadth on the richness and abundance of avian species visiting these forests. We selected 20 belts, and randomly established 30 observation points to monitor bird presence in the dry (March-April 2005) and rainy (June-July 2005)…
Existe actualmente una tendencia de las estaciones experimentales agropecuarias de INTA a realiza... more Existe actualmente una tendencia de las estaciones experimentales agropecuarias de INTA a realizar ensayos en campos de productores. (Experimentación adaptativa). El objetivo de la experiencia considerada consistió en el estudio del comportamiento de nitrógeno, fósforo y guano, en montes de duraznero, en los departamentos de Junín y San Martín, en la provincia de Mendoza. Para esto se realizó una repetición completa de los tratamientos (Según un arreglo factorial 3x3x2) en cada una de cuatro fincas distintas. Inicialmente se consideró a las fincas como bloques, aunque el investigador esperaba un comportamiento diferente de los tratamientos en cada finca, debido a las diferencias culturales y ambientales. Se detectó una fuerte falta de aditividad tratamiento-finca que no pudo superarse mediante transformaciones. Para cada finca se adaptó el método propuesto por Daniel (1959) para conocer la importan-cia de las distintas interacciones, con el fin de obtener, de ser posible, una estimación del error. Luego de realizar el análisis de las fincas por separado, teniendo en cuenta la homogeneidad de varianzas entre ellas, se repitió el análisis para las cuatro fincas en conjunto, con los tratamientos anidados en las fincas, luego de reparametrizar el modelo. Finalmente se simuló la situación en la cual no existiera ningún efecto nulo que permitiera estimar el error para validar el método gráfico de Daniel.
Biotropica, 2009
We compared the functional type composition of trees Z10 cm dbh in eight secondary forest monitor... more We compared the functional type composition of trees Z10 cm dbh in eight secondary forest monitoring plots with logged and unlogged mature forest plots in lowland wet forests of Northeastern Costa Rica. Five plant functional types were delimited based on diameter growth rates and canopy height of 293 tree species. Mature forests had significantly higher relative abundance of understory trees and slow-growing canopy/emergent trees, but lower relative abundance of fast-growing canopy/emergent trees than secondary forests. Fast-growing subcanopy and canopy trees reached peak densities early in succession. Density of fast-growing canopy/ emergent trees increased during the first 20 yr of succession, whereas basal area continued to increase beyond 40 yr. We also assigned canopy tree species to one of three colonization groups, based on the presence of seedlings, saplings, and trees in four secondary forest plots. Among 93 species evaluated, 68 percent were classified as regenerating pioneers (both trees and regeneration present), whereas only 6 percent were classified as nonregenerating pioneers (trees only) and 26 percent as forest colonizers (regeneration only). Slow-growing trees composed 72 percent of the seedling and sapling regeneration for forest colonizers, whereas fast-growing trees composed 63 percent of the seedlings and saplings of regenerating pioneers. Tree stature and growth rates capture much of the functional variation that appears to drive successional dynamics. Results further suggest strong linkages between functional types defined based on adult height and growth rates of large trees and abundance of seedling and sapling regeneration during secondary succession.
… 17. 2002 09 19, 19 de …, 2002
SIDALC - Servicio de Informacion y Documentacion Agropecuaria de las Americas.
Forest Ecology and Management, 2021
Abstract Tropical forests play a fundamental role in mitigating climate change through storage of... more Abstract Tropical forests play a fundamental role in mitigating climate change through storage of carbon in above- and below- ground biomass. Their mitigation potential is, however, affected by significant greenhouse gas emissions through tropical deforestation or forest degradation. Mitigating degradation caused by conventional logging is therefore an important challenge for silvicultural management, and various reduced impact logging techniques seek to reduce biomass loss and other logging impacts during forest logging activities. Little knowledge exists about the potential of sustainable management for maintaining and restoring the climate change mitigation capacity of tropical forests. Our research contributes to knowledge about this potential, as our aim is to evaluate the above-ground biomass (AGB) stock of tropical forests managed for sustainable timber production and compare it with that of intact primary forests. We also determine the environmental and spatial factors that influence AGB. We estimated the AGB of 141 permanent sampling plots in Costa Rican tropical forests (71 plots set up in areas managed for timber production forests and 70 plots set up in areas with intact primary forests) using data for the 2000–2015 period. We compared the AGB of timber production forests with that of primary forest using linear mixed models and examined the relationship between forest AGB and climate, soil fertility and spatial variables (PCNM eigenvalues) using variation partitioning (VARPART) and multiple linear regression in the mixed model framework. Mean AGB was higher in forest plots set up in areas managed for timber production than in plots set up in areas with intact primary forests. In VARPART, spatial variables had the strongest effect on AGB with a small but significant effect of soil fertility. Regression showed potassium levels in the soil to be positively related to AGB. There was no significant effect of climate, probably because of the short temperature and precipitation gradients. Sustainable forest management in these Costa Rican forests managed for timber production has enabled them to store as much carbon in biomass as primary forests, due to the low intensity logging and sustainability criteria stipulated by the country’s forestry legislation. As a result, sustainable forest management, in addition to providing a sustainable timber ecosystem service, is also a natural climate solution, maintaining the mitigation potential of Costa Rica’s tropical forests in the current climate context.
Se estudiaron las caracteristicas estructurales de tres especies forestales y su efecto sobre la ... more Se estudiaron las caracteristicas estructurales de tres especies forestales y su efecto sobre la productividad primaria neta aerea y la composicion floristica de pastizales naturales en el tropico seco de Nicaragua. Las especies arboreas consideradas fueron carao (Cassia grandis), roble (Tabebuia rosea) y guacimo (Guazuma ulmifolia). Los resultados evidencian que la productividad de la pastura se redujo en un 31,8%, bajo carao, una especie perennifolia de copa grande y densa, 12,5% bajo arboles de guacimo y 4,9% bajo arboles de roble. Sin embargo, las tres especies cumplen funciones diferentes y complementarias en las fincas ganaderas: el carao contribuye a reducir el estres termico del ganado en la epoca seca y de fuertes temperaturas; el guacimo aporta forraje y frutos para la alimentacion del ganado y el roble es una fuente importante de madera. Por lo tanto, en la seleccion de especies arboreas para el diseno de sistemas silvopastoriles se deben considerar las caracteristicas estructurales de la especie, su efecto sobre la productividad de la pastura y sus beneficios productivos y ambientales para el sistema.
Journal of Economic Entomology, 2013
Importation of live nursery plants, like Dracaena marginata Lamoureux (Ruscaceae), can provide a ... more Importation of live nursery plants, like Dracaena marginata Lamoureux (Ruscaceae), can provide a signiÞcant pathway for the entry of foliar pests from overseas into the United States. We studied the abundance of foliar pests of quarantine importance found on Costa Rican-grown D. marginata. These include Þve genera of leafhoppers (Heteroptera: Cicadellidae, Oncometopia, Caldweliola, Diestostema, Gypona, and Empoasca), Florida red scale (Heteroptera: Disapididae, Chrysomphalus aoinidum (L.)), katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), and a snail (Succinea costarricana von Martens (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora, Succineidae)). In our Þrst study, we examined the rationale behind size restrictions on Dracaena cuttings imported into the United States from Costa Rica. When comparing plant size, no differences were found in the abundance of quarantined pests on small (15Ð 46 cm), medium (46 Ð 81 cm), and large (81Ð152 cm) propagules. In a second study, we estimated monthly abundances of pests in production plots for 1 yr to determine their relationship to rates of interception at U.S. ports. In any given month, Ͻ6% of the marketable shoots standing in the Þeld were infested with at least one quarantine pest. There was no relationship between the average monthly frequencies of pest detection in the Þeld and in U.S. inspection ports. Pest detections increased during the 1 mo when average monthly shipments were abnormally high. Our data suggest that off-shore postprocessing efforts to remove pest-infested material from the market stream need to be adjusted to accommodate sharp increases in the volume of shipped plants.
Journal of Environmental Management, 2013
We propose a methodology to estimate the environmental service (ES) value of small farms in Chiap... more We propose a methodology to estimate the environmental service (ES) value of small farms in Chiapas, Mexico, involving trained farmers-promoters in field sampling. We considered the ways in which the landscape's principal organisms, the trees, contribute to ES. We proposed a species functional value (FV) index based on their functional traits and key ecological characteristics, and estimated each site's ES value using FV weighted by the dimensions and abundance of individuals in different land uses (LU). Tree contribution to carbon storage (C) was defined using species wood density and biodiversity conservation value (BD) using food and habitat provision for wildlife and species existence (non-use) value (EX). Many species and individuals had high C, as wind-dispersed species with dense wood were common, but low BD prevailed, with high BD species common only in riparian forests. Few species and fewer individuals had high EX conferred by dense wood, large size, harvesting pressure and animal dispersal, among others. High variance in value within LU types, suggested that LU is a poor estimator of ES value, and that the measurement of species FV and tree dimensions is essential. This tool accurately reflects the ecological values of farm tree cover, allowing negotiation of compensation for environmental services. This methodology could be implemented combining open-access regional traits databases and field sampling by local people, and can easily be adapted for the measurement of other ES, and to other ecological and cultural contexts.
Journal of Tropical Ecology, 2014
Land-use change in tropical forests can affect the micro-environment for decomposition under modi... more Land-use change in tropical forests can affect the micro-environment for decomposition under modified canopies. In turn, decomposition may have consequences for soil fertility and ecosystem sustainability. The effects of the conversion from primary forest to pastures on leaf-litter decomposition and its recovery in secondary forests 20 y after pasture abandonment were evaluated using litterbags and a general mixed model approach. Litterbags containing leaf-litter of two contrasting qualities were placed in those three ecosystems and the mass remaining after 90 d was quantified. The mass remaining was 50% lower in high-than in low-quality leaves. The effects of the decomposition environment depended on the substrate quality. Although differences among ecosystems were not significant for low-quality leaves, high-quality leaves decomposed more slowly in pastures than in forests (mean dry mass remaining was 38% in pastures, 14% in secondary and 12% in primary forest). The decomposition of common substrates did not differ among forests. Results show that the conversion of primary forest to pasture may produce conditions for slower decomposition; however, these conditions appear be restored to a great extent in 20-y-old secondary forests.
Maydica, 2000
Limited information is available in maize (Zea mays L.) with respect to the application of differ... more Limited information is available in maize (Zea mays L.) with respect to the application of different selection criteria to adapt exotic germplasm to a particular area. A comparison among different selection criteria could give important information for the efficiency of the selection process. The study was designed to compare the responses to different mass selection criteria for adaptation applied over the same original population. Four cycles of selection were completed for an exotic maize population. Selection was based on six criteria. PEG (prolificacy, ear length and grain length); RTO (individual plant yield); PRE (early silk emergence): HI (harvesi index); PE (prolificacy and ear length), and ASI (anthesis-silking interval). The original population and four cycles corresponding to each criterion were tested for grain yield response during three consecutive years. Ten random families derived from each four-selection criterion were evaluated for morphological characters during ...
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Papers by Fernando Casanoves