Topic 3.1. Tropical forest plants

Content

Topic Introduction

In this topic we will introduce you to some of the incredible diversity of plants that exists in tropical forests. It is the plants within tropical forests that create the habitat for everything else, and so a sound understanding of the different components that make up a tropical forest flora is important. We will not be able to cover all plants, as there is such a broad range. However, we will examine some of the more important and some of the more interesting groups.

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

Describe the major plant groups found in tropical forests.
Compare the many different forms the tropical vegetation takes.
Illustrate, using example, the many different life strategies adopted by plants in tropical forests.
Contrast mechanisms to deal with the particular challenges of existence in the tropical forest environment.
Evaluate the relative importance of different growth forms.

Topic Readings

Required Readings

Ghazoul, J. and Sheil, D. 2010. Tropical Rain Forest Ecology, Diversity, and Conservation. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 516 pp. Chapters 2 and 3.

Optional Readings

Bell, A.D. 2008. Plant form. An illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, USA. 431 pp.
Christenhusz, M.J.M., Fay, M.F. and Chase, M.W. 2017. Plants of the world. An illustrated encyclopedia of vascular plants. Kew, Kew Publishing, and Chicago, University of Chicago Press. 792 pp. This is a very useful reference work. It contains a helpful overview of all the plant families of the world.
Turner, I.M. 2001. The Ecology of Trees in the Tropical Rain Forest. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 298 pp. Chapters 1 and 2.

Graded Assignment (For certification)

Six Sentence Answer #3

If you are not familiar with the Six Sentence Answer (6SA) format, please refer to the course pages on graded assessments to see details of the 6SA exercise. You should not attempt to do this assessment until you have read and fully understood the requirements.

The Case

In Week 2, we presented the situation that you are a member of a major international forest consultancy firm that specializes in doing surveys of forests around the world. You have access to field teams and the latest surveying equipment, include LiDAR. Your company has taken on a contract with the UN-REDD (United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) to survey the forests on a very large island in South-East Asia, and you have the full cooperation of the government.

By now, you have a produced a map of the island’s forests, and assessed the growing stock. Your field teams have done on-the-ground surveys to develop the allometric equations that you needed to produce estimates of the carbon stored in different types of forest on the island. You have found major differences, as you might expect, between the moist tropical forests on the west of the island and the dry forests in the rain shadow of the volcano on the east of the island. You have identified that the trees in the tropical moist forest are much smaller than those on the island of Borneo, located only a few hundred kilometres to the west and you have found a plausible explanation for this.

Your CEO, who is an accountant with very little practical knowledge of forests, has been asked to give a presentation explaining the diversity of forests that that you have found on the island. This has to be done in a Board meeting that is also examining many other issues and so only a few minutes have been allocated to your project. Using the 6SA format, please provide a recommendation on the key points that should be included in the presentation.

Remember to follow the structure of the 6SA outlined in the section on graded assessments.

Formatting:

Double-space the text.
12-point font in New Times Roman or Calibri.
Put your name (Family or last name, followed by your first name), student number, the title “Topic 2.2 assignment”, and the date at the top of the first page.
Name the e-file: your Family or last name_your first name_ Topic 2.2_Assignment.doc (or .docx). Example: Innes_John_Topic 2.2_Assignment (or .docx).
Standard English usage, clear writing style.
The assignment should be submitted through Canvas before the deadline.

Topic Summary

This topic introduces you to the world of tropical forest plants. Tropical plants are incredibly complex, and just the experience of entering a tropical forest, especially a tropical rain forest, can be bewildering. Dry forests tend to be simpler and have fewer species, but can be difficult to work in because of the seasonal nature of the forest and various mechanisms that plants have adopted to defend against browsing and grazing animals. For example, parts of the “spiny forest” on Madagascar’s west coast are almost impenetrable.

Topic Self-review (For self learning)

To review what you have learned in the topic, you are encouraged to use the following reflection questions as a study guide to do a self-review for the topic:

What are some of the features of a tropical forest that would not expect to find in other forest types?
How high do the trees in tropical rain forests normally grow?
Which region in the tropics has the greatest tree diversity?
Are all tropical forests equally diverse?
How many species would one expect to find in a 50 ha plot of tropical rain forest?
Would you expect to find gymnosperms in a tropical forest? If so, what from families?
To what extent does the leaf size of tropical plants vary? Can you name any of the different sizes?
In the context of forest ecology, what are drip tips?
Why does leaf colour vary in tropical forests?
What are buttresses, and what is their role?
What are stilt roots, and what is their role?
Why are some species crown shy?
What is the importance of epiphytes in tropical forests?

FODE 008-01