The contributions of lightning to biomass turnover, gap formation, and plant mortality in a tropical forest

Lightning is a common source of disturbance, but its ecological effects in tropical forests are largely undescribed. Here we quantify the contributions of lightning strikes to forest turnover and plant mortality in a lowland Panamanian forest using a real-time lightning monitoring system. We examined 2195 lightning-damaged trees distributed among 93 different strikes. None exhibited scars or fires. On average, each strike disturbed 451 m2 (95% CI: 365-545 m2), created canopy gaps of 304 m2 (95% CI 198-454 m2), and caused 7.36 Mg of woody biomass turnover (CI: 5.36-9.65 Mg). Cumulatively, we estimate that lightning strikes in this forest create canopy gaps equaling 0.39% of forest canopy area, representing 20.1% of annual gap area formation, and are responsible for 16.1% of total woody biomass turnover. Trees, lianas, herbaceous climbers, and epiphytes were killed by lightning at rates 8-29 times greater than their baseline mortality rates in undamaged control sites. The likelihood of li...