Contents Summary 366 I. Introduction 366 II. Testing ecological theory: effects of the
environment on lianas 369 III. A unified explanation for liana distribution and the …

Lianas are a key component of tropical forests; however, most surveys are too small to
accurately quantify liana community composition, diversity, abundance, and spatial …

Canopy disturbance explains liana abundance and distribution within tropical forests and
thus may also explain the widespread pattern of increasing liana abundance; however, this …

Reducing uncertainty of terrestrial carbon cycle depends strongly on the accurate estimation
of changes of global forest carbon stock. However, this is a challenging problem from either …

Negative density dependence (NDD) and habitat specialization have received strong
empirical support as mechanisms that explain tree species diversity maintenance and …

Lianas (climbing woody vines) are important structural parasites of tropical trees and may be
increasing in abundance in response to global‐change drivers. We assessed long‐term (∼ …

The seasonal growth advantage hypothesis posits that plant species that grow well during
seasonal drought will increase in abundance in forests with increasing seasonality of rainfall …

Treefall gaps are the “engines of regeneration” in tropical forests and are loci of high tree
recruitment, growth, and carbon accumulation. Gaps, however, are also sites of intense …

This chapter examines the pantropical patterns of liana abundance and species diversity
and their correlates with climatic characteristics to gain insight into which processes are …

Questions Secondary succession in the tropics can follow alternative pathways. Land‐use
history is known to engender alternative successional communities, but the underlying …