Metal‐rich soils increase tropical tree stoichiometric distinctiveness

Elevated night-time temperatures increase growth in seedlings of two tropical pioneer tree species.

Increased night-time temperatures, through their influence on dark respiration, have been implicated as a reason behind decreasing growth rates in tropical trees in the face of contemporary climate change. Seedlings of two neo-tropical tree species (Ficus insipida and Ochroma pyramidale) were grown in controlled-environment chambers at a constant daytime temperature (33°C) and a range of increa...

Increase in biodegradation of paclobutrazol in soils

Background Paclobutrazol is a regulator of vegetal growth that remains active in the soil and can affect the growth and the development of subsequent cultures. Experiments in two soils (A and B) with and without addition of inoculum or mineral medium were performed to investigate the biodegradation of paclobutrazol. The inoculum contained a mixed culture of three strains of bacteria isolated by...

Genomics of Tropical Fruit Tree Crops

Tropical Tree Richness and Resource-Based Niches

In assessing the role of treefall gaps in maintaining species richness in a tropical forest, S. P. Hubbell et al. (1) provide a test of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, which predicts greater species richness in gaps than in mature forest. Hubbell et al. find more tree species per quadrat in gaps than in mature forest, but reject the richness difference as “spurious” after showing that ...

Improving Phosphorus Fertility in Tropical Soils through Biological Interventions

Astrid Oberson, Else K. Bünemann, Dennis K. Friesen, I.M. Rao, Paul C. Smithson, Benjamin L. Turner, and Emmanuel Frossard, Institute of Plant Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT) and International Q1 Fertili...