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      Tree mortality in response to typhoon-induced floods and mudslides is determined by tree species, size, and position in a riparian Formosan gum forest in subtropical Taiwan

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          Abstract

          Global warming-induced extreme climatic changes have increased the frequency of severe typhoons bringing heavy rains; this has considerably affected the stability of the forest ecosystems. Since the Taiwan 921 earthquake occurred in 21 September 1999, the mountain geology of the Island of Taiwan has become unstable and typhoon-induced floods and mudslides have changed the topography and geomorphology of the area; this has further affected the stability and functions of the riparian ecosystem. In this study, the vegetation of the unique Aowanda Formosan gum forest in Central Taiwan was monitored for 3 years after the occurrence of floods and mudslides during 2009–2011. Tree growth and survival, effects of floods and mudslides, and factors influencing tree survival were investigated. We hypothesized that (1) the effects of floods on the survival are significantly different for each tree species; (2) tree diameter at breast height (DBH) affects tree survival–i.e., the larger the DBH, the higher the survival rate; and (3) the relative position of trees affects tree survival after disturbances by floods and mudslides–the farther trees are from the river, the higher is their survival rate. Our results showed that after floods and mudslides, the lifespans of the major tree species varied significantly. Liquidambar formosana displayed the highest flood tolerance, and the trunks of Lagerstoemia subcostata began rooting after disturbances. Multiple regression analysis indicated that factors such as species, DBH, distance from sampled tree to the above boundary of sample plot (far from the riverbank), and distance from the upstream of the river affected the lifespans of trees; the three factors affected each tree species to different degrees. Furthermore, we showed that insect infestation had a critical role in determining tree survival rate. Our 3-year monitoring investigation revealed that severe typhoon-induced floods and mudslides disturbed the riparian vegetation in the Formosan gum forest, replacing the original vegetation and beginning secondary succession. Moreover, flooding provided new habitats for various plants to establish their progeny. By using our results, lifecycles of trees (including death) can be understood in detail, facilitating riparian vegetation engineering in forests severely disturbed by typhoon-induced floods and mudslides.

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          Most cited references51

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          The increasing intensity of the strongest tropical cyclones.

          Atlantic tropical cyclones are getting stronger on average, with a 30-year trend that has been related to an increase in ocean temperatures over the Atlantic Ocean and elsewhere. Over the rest of the tropics, however, possible trends in tropical cyclone intensity are less obvious, owing to the unreliability and incompleteness of the observational record and to a restricted focus, in previous trend analyses, on changes in average intensity. Here we overcome these two limitations by examining trends in the upper quantiles of per-cyclone maximum wind speeds (that is, the maximum intensities that cyclones achieve during their lifetimes), estimated from homogeneous data derived from an archive of satellite records. We find significant upward trends for wind speed quantiles above the 70th percentile, with trends as high as 0.3 +/- 0.09 m s(-1) yr(-1) (s.e.) for the strongest cyclones. We note separate upward trends in the estimated lifetime-maximum wind speeds of the very strongest tropical cyclones (99th percentile) over each ocean basin, with the largest increase at this quantile occurring over the North Atlantic, although not all basins show statistically significant increases. Our results are qualitatively consistent with the hypothesis that as the seas warm, the ocean has more energy to convert to tropical cyclone wind.
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            Responses of woody plants to flooding and salinity

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              Response and adaptation by plants to flooding stress.

              Stress on plants imposed by flooding of the soil and deeper submergence constitutes one of the major abiotic constraints on growth, species' distribution and agricultural productivity. Flooding stress is also a strong driver of adaptive evolution. This has resulted in a wide range of biochemical, molecular and morphological adaptations that sanction growth and reproductive success under episodic or permanently flooded conditions that are highly damaging to the majority of plant species. However, even seemingly poorly adapted species possess some short-term resilience that is important for overall success of these plants in various habitats. The papers contained in this Special Issue address these topics and emphasize molecular, biochemical and developmental processes that impact on flooding tolerance. Most of the articles are based on lectures given to the 8th Conference of the International Society for Plant Anaerobiosis (ISPA), held at the University of Western Australia, Perth, 20-24 September, 2004. Reviews and research papers are presented from the leading laboratories currently working on plant responses to flooding stress.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: ResourcesRole: SupervisionRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: InvestigationRole: SoftwareRole: Writing – original draft
                Role: Funding acquisitionRole: InvestigationRole: ResourcesRole: Writing – original draft
                Role: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: InvestigationRole: ResourcesRole: SoftwareRole: Writing – original draft
                Role: Data curationRole: InvestigationRole: SoftwareRole: Writing – original draft
                Role: Data curationRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: ResourcesRole: SoftwareRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS ONE
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )
                1932-6203
                5 January 2018
                2018
                : 13
                : 1
                : e0190832
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Department of Forestry, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
                [2 ] Experimental Forest Management Office, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
                [3 ] Deptartment of Sustainable Tourism, Graduate Institute of Environmental Resources Management, TransWorld University, Douliou, Yunlin, Taiwan
                University of Waikato, NEW ZEALAND
                Author notes

                Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4818-5465
                Article
                PONE-D-17-17164
                10.1371/journal.pone.0190832
                5755898
                29304149
                c39217ab-99be-4e5a-af4b-9bdbe82d2d86
                © 2018 Tzeng et al

                This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 4 May 2017
                : 20 December 2017
                Page count
                Figures: 9, Tables: 2, Pages: 22
                Funding
                Funded by: Nantou Forest District, Forestry Bureau of the Republic of China, Taiwan
                Award ID: Nos. 98407A011, 99407A08, and 100407A19
                Award Recipient :
                The authors thank the Nantou Forest District, Forestry Bureau of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially supporting this study under contract Nos. 98407A011, 99407A08, and 100407A19.
                Categories
                Research Article
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Trees
                Earth Sciences
                Hydrology
                Flooding
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Ecology
                Ecosystems
                Forests
                Ecology and Environmental Sciences
                Ecology
                Ecosystems
                Forests
                Ecology and Environmental Sciences
                Terrestrial Environments
                Forests
                Earth Sciences
                Marine and Aquatic Sciences
                Bodies of Water
                Rivers
                Ecology and Environmental Sciences
                Aquatic Environments
                Freshwater Environments
                Rivers
                Earth Sciences
                Marine and Aquatic Sciences
                Aquatic Environments
                Freshwater Environments
                Rivers
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Population Biology
                Population Metrics
                Death Rates
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Ecology
                Forest Ecology
                Ecology and Environmental Sciences
                Ecology
                Forest Ecology
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Plant Science
                Plant Anatomy
                Wood
                Bark
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Animals
                Invertebrates
                Arthropoda
                Insects
                Beetles
                Custom metadata
                All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

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