Legume abundance along successional and rainfall gradients in Neotropical forests

The nutrient demands of regrowing tropical forests are partly satisfied by nitrogen-fixing legume trees, but our understanding of the abundance of those species is biased towards wet tropical regions. Here we show how the abundance of Leguminosae is affected by both recovery from disturbance and large-scale rainfall gradients through a synthesis of forest inventory plots from a network of 42 Neotropical forest chronosequences. During the first three decades of natural forest regeneration, legume basal area is twice as high in dry compared with wet secondary forests. The tremendous ecological success of legumes in recently disturbed, water-limited forests is likely to be related to both their reduced leaflet size and ability to fix N2, which together enhance legume drought tolerance and water-use efficiency. Earth system models should incorporate these large-scale successional and climatic patterns of legume dominance to provide more accurate estimates of the maximum potential for natural nitrogen fixation across tropical forests.Data from 42 chronosequence sites show a geater abundance of legumes in seasonally dry forests than in wet forests, particularly during early secondary succession, probably owing to legumes’ nitrogen-fixing ability and reduced leaflet size.

José Luis Hernández-Stefanoni | Juan Manuel Dupuy | Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa | Frans Bongers | Miguel Martínez-Ramos | Patricia Balvanera | Peter B Reich | Robert Muscarella | Julie S Denslow | José Luis Andrade | Daniel Piotto | Susan G. Letcher | Madelon Lohbeck | Michiel van Breugel | Marielos Peña-Claros | Lourens Poorter | W. Silver | J. Zimmerman | P. Balvanera | M. Uriarte | P. Reich | P. Brancalion | N. Swenson | F. Bongers | L. Poorter | J. Denslow | R. Chazdon | T. Aide | B. Finegan | Jefferson S. Hall | D. Kennard | G. Fernandes | Y. Nunes | D. Menge | J. Dupuy | J. Andrade | J. Hernández‐Stefanoni | I. Vieira | A. S. Almeida | M. Breugel | A. Sánchez-Azofeifa | D. Piotto | J. Powers | J. Sprent | D. Dent | E. Lebrija‐Trejos | J. Meave | E. A. Pérez-García | C. Reyes-García | J. Almeida-Cortez | Robert Muscarella | E. Marín-Spiotta | M. Peña-Claros | M. van Breugel | M. Martínez‐Ramos | J. Becknell | M. M. do Espírito Santo | S. Ochoa-Gaona | D. Rozendaal | George A. L. Cabral | Ben H. J. de Jong | S. DeWalt | Sandra M. Durán | R. César | A. B. Junqueira | Madelon Lohbeck | F. Mora | R. Muñoz | Edith Orihuela-Belmonte | J. Rodríguez-Velázquez | I. E. Romero-Pérez | N. Schwartz | Hans van der Wal | Maria D. M. Veloso | H. Vester | H. Wal | R. Ostertag | B. Sullivan | Susana Ochoa-Gaona | R. Cole | Nathan G Swenson | Robin L Chazdon | Susan G Letcher | Bryan Finegan | Jess K Zimmerman | T Mitchell Aide | Jefferson S Hall | Lucía Sanaphre-Villanueva | Maga Gei | Mira Garner | G. Colletta | V. G. Moser | A. S. de Almeida | Vanessa de Souza Moreno | Jennifer S Powers | Maria Uriarte | Francisco Mora | Maga Gei | Danaë M A Rozendaal | Janet I Sprent | Mira D Garner | Justin M Becknell | Pedro H S Brancalion | George A L Cabral | Ricardo Gomes César | Rebecca J Cole | Gabriel Dalla Colletta | Ben de Jong | Daisy H Dent | Saara J DeWalt | Sandra M Durán | Mário Marcos do Espírito Santo | G Wilson Fernandes | Yule Roberta Ferreira Nunes | Vanessa Granda Moser | André B Junqueira | Deborah Kennard | Edwin Lebrija-Trejos | Erika Marín-Spiotta | Jorge A Meave | Duncan N L Menge | Rodrigo Muñoz | Edith Orihuela-Belmonte | Rebecca Ostertag | Eduardo A Pérez-García | Casandra Reyes-García | Jorge Rodríguez-Velázquez | I Eunice Romero-Pérez | Lucía Sanaphre-Villanueva | Naomi B Schwartz | Arlete Silva de Almeida | Jarcilene S Almeida-Cortez | Whendee Silver | Vanessa de Souza Moreno | Benjamin W Sullivan | Hans van der Wal | Maria das Dores Magalhães Veloso | Hans F M Vester | Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira | Edwin Lebrija‐Trejos | H. van der Wal | M. D. E. Santo | Michiel van Breugel | S. Durán | Casandra Reyes-García | Jefferson S. Hall | E. A. PÉREZ-GARCÍA | Peter B. Reich | Ben de Jong | V. S. Moreno | Jennifer S. Powers | Lucía Sanaphre‐Villanueva | R. Muñoz | Vanessa S Moreno

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