Supplemental protocol for liana censuses

Abstract

Lianas affect many aspects of tropical forest dynamics and thus the study of their ecology is critical for a comprehensive understanding of tropical forest ecology. Recently, we initiated a complete census of all lianas =1 cm diameter in the 50 ha forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama using the census protocol developed by Gerwing et al. [Gerwing, J.J., Schnitzer, S.A., Burnham, R.J., Bongers, F., Chave, J., DeWalt, S.J., Ewango, C.E.N., Foster, R., Kenfack, D., Martinez-Ramos, M., Parren, M., Parthasarathy, N., Perez-Salicrup, D.R., Putz, F.E., Thomas, D.W., 2006. A standard protocol for liana censuses. Biotropica 38, 256-261]. This protocol marked an important advance in the study of lianas by providing a standard methodology that can be used for liana censuses worldwide, thereby making accurate comparisons among studies possible. During the course of our census, however, we encountered a number of recurring situations that were critical for accurate and repeatable liana censuses, but were not covered in the protocol of Gerwing and colleagues. In this paper, we present a supplemental protocol that covers these additional situations. Our supplement, combined with the protocol developed by Gerwing et al., provides a more complete set of methods with provisions for situations commonly encountered in liana censuses