Hello, I have just finished a manuscript on subtropical forest tree strategies in Brazil, and would like to hear a second opinion. If my work's theme falls within your field of expertise, would you like to review it? I offer to review your work in return.
I would like to submitt the manuscript by the end of august, if possible. Find below the manuscript title and abstract, for you to have a better idea on what it is about. Best wishes, Alexandre Title In the lack of extreme pioneers: strategies, trait relationships, and ecological groups in subtropical trees Abstract We tested the general hypotheses (1) of the existence and nature of ecological strategies, (2) of the existence of a causal structure of traits that underlie such strategies, and (3) that species form discontinuities along trait variation gradients that form ecological groups. Data were collected in subtropical mixed conifer-hardwood forests in southern Brazilian. Leaf, size, and demographic traits were independent of the studied species’ phylogeny. Eleven tree trait variables measured for 66 large tree species were reduced to four principal components. The first axis had positive component loadings for mean growth, growth95, stem slenderness, leaf length, SLA, and a negative loading for mortality. The second axis had positive loadings for maximum height, crown depth, and wood density, and a negative loading for mortality. Seed size and seed dispersal mode appeared independently on the third and fourth axes, respectively. A path model fit the correlation structure between the trait and demographic variables. The model reinforced the two main ecological axes uncovered by the PCA because relationships between variables were segregated into two main sets of paths. The cluster analyses provided evidence of meaningful ecological types within the space of trait variance. Non-hierarchical k-means groups were more clearly and strongly related with the resource capture and height gradients depicted in the PCA than the groups formed by the hierarchical cluster analysis. We propose the recognition of seven ecological species groups in the studied forests. The lack of growth-mortality and wood density-stem slenderness trade-offs result from the fact that our studied forests lack extreme pioneers and have an over-representation of slow-growing hard-wood species. This means that the fastest-growing species do not grow so fast as to deeply incur in the costs of fast-growth and light wood, but enough to have the benefits of increased body size. Trait relationships and ecological groups may provide a useful approach for more realistically representing large and diverse sets of tree species in forest ecosystem models. Dr. Alexandre F. Souza Professor Adjunto II Departamento de Botanica, Ecologia e Zoologia Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) http://www.docente.ufrn.br/alexsouza Curriculo: lattes.cnpq.br/7844758818522706
