Towards a liana plant functional type for vegetation models.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Forest Science
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Lianas (woody climbers) are vital to tropical forests, influencing carbon dynamics.
• Current vegetation models inadequately represent liana-tree interactions and diverse liana strategies.
• This limits accurate predictions of tropical forest function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review challenges and advances in mechanistically representing lianas in forest ecosystem models.
• To propose a path forward for effectively incorporating lianas into these models.
• To identify critical liana traits and processes for defining a liana plant functional type.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of liana representation in ecosystem models.
• Identification of key liana traits and ecological processes.
• Discussion of liana implementation strategies, data requirements, and computational costs.
• Case study illustrating model redesign for liana-tree dynamics.

Main Results:

• Defining a liana plant functional type is challenging due to high diversity and tree association.
• A redesign of tree-centric models is needed to capture liana growth and competition.
• A new liana functional trait database is introduced to centralize data and support model development.

Conclusions:

• Accurate liana representation in models requires addressing their unique life history and interactions.
• Significant data gaps exist, particularly long-term, pantropical demographic and functional data.
• The proposed modeling framework and new database aim to improve liana integration and research.