Life in the clouds: are tropical montane cloud forests responding to changes in climate?

• Published in: Oecologia Vol. 180; no. 4; pp. 1061 - 1073
• Main Authors: Hu, Jia, Riveros-Iregui, Diego A
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2016; Springer Science + Business Media; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: anthropogenic activities; Anthropogenic factors; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate Change; Climate effects; Cloud cover; Cloud forests; Concepts; CONCEPTS, REVIEWS AND SYNTHESES; Ecology; ecophysiology; Environmental conditions; environmental factors; Fog; Forests; Forests and forestry; Global temperature changes; humid tropics; Humidity; Hydrology/Water Resources; Interception; Life Sciences; Plant Sciences; Precipitation (Meteorology); Rain; Reviews and Syntheses; trees; Trees - physiology; Tropical Climate; Tropical environments; tropical montane cloud forests; Water - physiology; Weather; Climate change; C; Ecohydrology; Cloud forest; Isotopes; Dendrochronology; Tropics; O; 13C; 18O
• ISSN: 0029-8549; 1432-1939
• DOI: 10.1007/s00442-015-3533-x

The humid tropics represent only one example of the many places worldwide where anthropogenic disturbance and climate change are quickly affecting the feedbacks between water and trees. In this article, we address the need for a more long-term perspective on the effects of climate change on tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) in order to fully assess the combined vulnerability and long-term response of tropical trees to changes in precipitation regimes, including cloud immersion. We first review the ecophysiological benefits that cloud water interception offers to trees in TMCF and then examine current climatological evidence that suggests changes in cloud base height and impending changes in cloud immersion for TMCF. Finally, we propose an experimental approach to examine the long-term dynamics of tropical trees in TMCF in response to environmental conditions on decade-to-century time scales. This information is important to assess the vulnerability and long-term response of TMCF to changes in cloud cover and fog frequency and duration.