Conceptual framework

Code 
library(DiagrammeR)

Context and motivation

  • Selectively logged forests are becoming the majority of tropical forests \(\rightarrow\) Importance of understanding their recovery process;

  • Disturbances such as logging have different effects on the demographic rates of species and can therefore change the species composition and biodiversity in the long term;

  • Demographic processes can therefore provide insights into forest resilience.

Research questions

  1. What is the contribution of demographic processes (growth, recruitment, mortality) to post-logging changes in biomass, biodiversity and composition?

  2. What is the link between biomass and biodiversity recovery processes?

  3. How do abiotic factors shape demographic processes of recovery?

General diagram

Code 
grViz("
digraph {

  rankdir=LR

  graph [overlap = true, fontsize = 10]

  subgraph cluster_ba{
    label='Basal area'; fontsize = 14;
    node [shape = box, fillcolor='coral', style=filled, fontsize=12]
    ba_stock [label='Stock']
    ba_in [label='Gain']
    ba_out [label='Loss']
  }

  node [shape = box, fillcolor='coral', style=filled]
  {rank=same
  cwm [label='Functional\ncomposition']
  div [label='Functional\ndiversity']
  }
  node [fillcolor='powderblue']
  env [label='Environmental\nvariables']
  intensity [label='Logging\nintensity']

  node [shape = ellipse, fillcolor='whitesmoke']
  {rank=same
  closure[label='Canopy\nclosure']
  vmax[label='Equilibrium\nturnover\nrate']
  }

  intensity -> closure
  closure -> {ba_in cwm}
  vmax -> {ba_out ba_in}
  env -> {cwm div vmax}
  cwm -> {ba_in ba_out div}
  ba_stock -> closure

  edge [style = bold]
  div -> ba_in

  edge [style = dashed]
  ba_in -> ba_stock
  ba_out -> ba_stock
}
")

Main analyses

For the moment, we focus on two main research questions:

  1. How long does logging affect demographic processes (productivity and mortality)?

  2. What is the contribution of demographic processes on changes in functional composition?