Are lianas driving a trade-off between carbon and biodiversity in tropical forests?

This student-led project aims to determine whether lianas drive a trade-off between carbon uptake and biodiversity in tropical forests. Tropical forests store and sequester large amounts of carbon and play an important role in mitigating effects of increased atmospheric CO2. They are also the most biodiverse

terrestrial regions on the planet and provide a wealth of ecosystem services beyond carbon sequestration. Lianas (woody vines) are key components of tropical forests. Lianas hinder tree growth and fecundity, and they substantially reduce forest-level carbon sequestration. Liana cutting or thinning has therefore been proposed as a nature-based solution to climate change mitigation.

While the negative effects of lianas are well established, those of lianas on animal biodiversity and broader ecosystem functioning remain poorly understood. Lianas increase forest-level leaf litter production and quality, which may support greater abundance and diversity of litter dwelling arthropods

and soil micro-organisms. This, in turn, may facilitate ecosystem processes like decomposition and nutrient cycling. Liana cutting/thinning for climate change mitigation may therefore have negative consequences for other important ecosystem services, whilst safeguarding biodiversity. This novel interdisciplinary project (involving UoN Geography/Life Sciences, STRI and Conservation

International) will use a large-scale long-term liana removal experiment in Panama to establish the role that lianas play in biodiversity dynamics and ecosystem processes. The project outcomes will add to the theory of tropical ecosystem functioning and provide valuable information to forest managers on the

trade-offs between carbon uptake and biodiversity of liana cutting. The project will answer the following main research questions (RQ): RQ1. How do lianas alter leaf litter physical and chemical properties and microhabitat provision? RQ2. Do lianas affect ecosystem functioning of the forest floor, e.g. decomposition and carbon dynamics?

And if so, how? RQ3. Do the effects of lianas on forest floor carbon dynamics alter the diversity of soil and forest-floor dwelling organisms?