About this Research Topic
Lianas (woody vines) are an abundant and diverse plant group in tropical ecosystems. By using trees for support to reach the forest canopy, lianas enhance forest canopy connectivity and provide food and shelter for tropical fauna. However, as the competition between lianas and trees for water, nutrients and light can be severe, lianas negatively influence a wide range of ecosystem processes in tropical forests, such as forest regeneration, tree reproduction, and carbon sequestration and storage. Liana abundance and biomass are increasing in some parts of the tropics while they remain stable or are declining in others, though the drivers for those contrasting dynamics are currently unknown. Although the knowledge on lianas has developed substantially over the last decades, lianas remain an understudied lifeform, which makes predicting their impacts on ecosystems and global change difficult. A better understanding of the drivers of the spatial and temporal distribution of lianas, the effects of lianas on ecosystem processes and biodiversity, and more extensive knowledge of liana functional traits are, therefore, imperative to predict and explain the effects of lianas on tropical forests as a whole.
In this Research Topic, we aim to bring together a collection of outstanding manuscripts, including Original Research, Opinions and Review papers, covering the current state of research into lianas in tropical forest ecosystems. The aim of the collection is to provide novel insights into how lianas affect forest function and biodiversity, whether and how functional traits of lianas and trees differ, and the biogeographical patterns of liana distributions on both local and global scales.
We welcome submissions on a wide range of liana-focused research, but are particularly interested in the following themes:
● Liana-tree interactions
● Liana ecophysiology
● Relationship between lianas and forest biodiversity - both plants and animals
● Relationship between lianas and ecosystem processes
● Novel methodologies to study lianas and their impacts on tropical forests
● Temporal and spatial patterns of liana abundance and distribution
● Liana functional traits
In this Research Topic, we aim to bring together a collection of outstanding manuscripts, including Original Research, Opinions and Review papers, covering the current state of research into lianas in tropical forest ecosystems. The aim of the collection is to provide novel insights into how lianas affect forest function and biodiversity, whether and how functional traits of lianas and trees differ, and the biogeographical patterns of liana distributions on both local and global scales.
We welcome submissions on a wide range of liana-focused research, but are particularly interested in the following themes:
● Liana-tree interactions
● Liana ecophysiology
● Relationship between lianas and forest biodiversity - both plants and animals
● Relationship between lianas and ecosystem processes
● Novel methodologies to study lianas and their impacts on tropical forests
● Temporal and spatial patterns of liana abundance and distribution
● Liana functional traits
Keywords: Lianas, Forest Ecosystems, Tropical Forests, Functional Traits, Liana-tree interactions
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
