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HURRICANE DAMAGE TO A HAWAIIAN FOREST: NUTRIENT SUPPLY RATE AFFECTS RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE
Author(s) -
Herbert Darrell A.,
Fownes James H.,
Vitousek Peter M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[0908:hdtahf]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - nutrient , primary production , productivity , resistance (ecology) , ecosystem , plant litter , litter , limiting , environmental science , agronomy , biology , ecology , leaf area index , zoology , mechanical engineering , economics , macroeconomics , engineering
Hurricane Iniki damaged a forest in which we had previously studied nutrient limitation to productivity. We had measured the response of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) to fertilizer applications and had found phosphorus to be limiting. Reductions of leaf area index (LAI) after the hurricane’s passage ranged from 3% to 59%, were correlated with prehurricane LAI, and were greatest in P‐amended treatments (+P). LAI recovered to near prehurricane levels by 9 mo after passage, and rates of recovery were unaffected by treatment. Mortality of fine roots ranged from 35 to 48% following the hurricane and recovered in 2 yr. Stem damage was largely branch removal, but some stems were partially uprooted or decapitated. Large trees were damaged with greater frequency than small trees, and severity of damage increased in +P treatments. Fine litterfall caused by the storm was 1.4 times the annual input, and nutrient transfers to the forest floor approximated that of a typical year. Stem diameter increment and aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) declined but returned to prehurricane values 2 yr later in +P treatments while remaining low in −P treatments (i.e., those without P supplementation). Rates of recovery to prehurricane stem growth and ANPP were greater in +P treatments and were accompanied by a much greater ANPP per unit leaf area ( E ). The results support hypotheses that ecosystem resistance and resilience are inversely related and that resistance decreases and resilience increases as supply rates of limiting resources increase. However, they also suggest that structural and functional components of resistance and resilience should be considered separately.