Relaciones entre gradientes de diversidad de árboles, carbono y clima en bosques neo-tropicales (Colombia)
- Autores: Esteban Álvarez Dávila
- Directores de la Tesis: José María Rey Benayas (dir. tes.), Pablo R. Stevenson (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad de Alcalá ( España ) en 2018
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Miguel Ángel de Zavala Gironés (presid.), Juan Antonio Oliet Palá (secret.), Alicia Ledo (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Ecología. Conservación y Restauración de Ecosistemas por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid; la Universidad de Alcalá; la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid y la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
- Materias:
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
- Resumen
Tropical forest is key to biodiversity and the climate system, at global scales. In this way we must know the spatial patterns and climatic drivers of its structure and function. The present Doctoral Thesis has as general objective to know the spatial distribution of forest carbon and tree diversity and their relationship with climatic gradients in the Colombian forests. Colombia is a mega-diverse country where wide climatic gradients are present and where the biota of the Amazon, the Andes, the Chocó and the Caribbean converge. These conditions encourage the development of a wide variety of forests with high biodiversity, among the largest in the world. With this doctoral thesis we contribute to broaden knowledge about the effect of climate and other environmental factors on the spatial distribution of forest carbon and tree diversity in Colombia. We use for the analyses a set of 700 trees (DAP > 5 cm) felled and weighed in the field to construct new allometric models to estimate biomass more accurately. We also use more than 200 forest inventories (between 0.25 and 1 ha), containing 3.500 species and 150.000 trees with DAP > = 10 cm, to quantify carbon stocks, tree richness, dispersal systems, and their relationship to climate. The results show a high variation in the carbon stocks and diversity of Colombia's forests. These two attributes clearly respond to climatic variation, especially water availability. In addition, other factors such as the availability of dispersants or the relationship between carbon and biodiversity are important determinants of the spatial conformation of these forests. The wide variation in the attributes of forests and the factors that determine them must be taken into account when developing specific forest management plans. Predictions of rising temperatures and declining rainfall in the region point to changes in the structure and dynamics of these forests. Finally, the results indicate that the double benefits related to biodiversity conservation and carbon storage can be enhanced as a result of the implementation of emission reduction projects avoiding deforestation. Key words: Amazonia, Andean forest, Chocó, Climate change, Ecosystem services, Forest carbon, Orinoquia, Tree biodiversity, REDD + projects, Tropical dry forests.
