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liana

{{Short description|Type of vine}}

{{About|a plant growth form|other uses of liana|liana (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

File:Lianas.jpg]]

File:Lianas Udawattakele.jpg, Sri Lanka]]

File:Monkey Ladder Vine canopy.jpg that has formed over a monkey ladder vine (Bauhinia glabra) on Kauai, Hawaii]]

File:LianaIndia.jpg]]

A liana is a long-stemmed woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/338786/liana |title=liana|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}} The word liana does not refer to a taxonomic grouping, but rather a habit of plant growth – much like tree or shrub. It comes from standard French liane, itself from an Antilles French dialect word meaning to sheave.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

Ecology

Lianas are characteristic of tropical moist broadleaf forests (especially seasonal forests), but may be found in temperate rainforests and temperate deciduous forests. There are also temperate lianas, for example the members of the Clematis or Vitis (wild grape) genera. Lianas can form bridges in the forest canopy, providing arboreal animals — including ants and many other invertebrates, lizards, rodents, sloths, monkeys, and lemurs — with paths through the forest. For example, in the Eastern tropical forests of Madagascar many lemurs achieve higher mobility from the web of lianas draped among the vertical tree species. Many lemurs prefer trees with lianas because of their roots.{{cite journal |last1=Rendigs |first1=A. |last2=Radespiel |first2=U. |last3=Wrogemann |first3=D. |last4=Zimmermann |first4=E. |year=2003 |title=Relationship between microhabitat structure and distribution of mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) in northwestern Madagascar |journal=International Journal of Primatology |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=47–64 |doi=10.1023/A:1021494428294|s2cid=20661112 }}

Lianas do not derive nutrients directly from trees, but live on and indirectly derive nutrients at the expense of trees.{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/about.html#:~:text=A%20parasite%20is%20an%20organism,the%20expense%20of%20its%20host.|title=About Parasites |date=March 21, 2022 |website=CDC.gov |publisher=Centers for Disease Control|access-date=April 2, 2024 |quote="A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host."}}{{cite journal |last1=Schnitzer |first1=S. A. |last2=Bongers |first2=F. |year=2002 |title=The ecology of lianas and their role in forests |journal=Trends in Ecology and Evolution |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=223–230 |doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(02)02491-6|url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1743&context=bio_fac }} Specifically, they greatly reduce tree growth{{cite journal |last1=Schnitzer |first1=S. A. |last2=Carson |doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01480.x |pmid=20482581 |title=Lianas suppress tree regeneration and diversity in treefall gaps |journal=Ecology Letters |volume=13 |issue=7 |pages=849–857 |year=2010 |bibcode=2010EcolL..13..849S |url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/bio_fac/731 }} and tree reproduction,{{cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=S. J. |last2=Jaramillo |first2=A. M. |last3=Pavon |first3=J. |last4=Condit |first4=R. |last5=Hubbell |first5=S. P. |last6=Foster |first6=R. B. |s2cid=42171771 |year=2005 |title=Reproductive size thresholds in tropical trees: variation among individuals, species and forests |journal=Journal of Tropical Ecology |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=307–315 |doi=10.1017/S0266467405002294}} greatly increase tree mortality,{{cite journal |last1=Ingwell |first1=L. L. |last2=Wright |first2=S. J. |last3=Becklund |first3=K. K. |last4=Hubbell |first4=S. P. |last5=Schnitzer |first5=S. A. |year=2010 |title=The impact of lianas on 10 years of tree growth and mortality on Barro Colorado Island, Panama |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=879–887 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2745.2010.01676.x|url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/bio_fac/707 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010JEcol..98..879I }} prevent tree seedlings from establishing, alter the course of regeneration in forests,{{cite journal |last1=Schnitzer |first1=S. A. |last2=Dalling |first2=J. W. |last3=Carson |first3=W. P. |year=2000 |title=The impact of lianas on tree regeneration in tropical forest canopy gaps: Evidence for an alternative pathway of gap-phase regeneration |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=655–666 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00489.x|url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1692&context=bio_fac |doi-access=free |bibcode=2000JEcol..88..655S }} and ultimately decrease tree population growth rates.{{cite journal|last1=Visser|first1=Marco D.|last2=Schnitzer|first2=Stefan A.|last3=Muller-Landau|first3=Helene C.|last4=Jongejans|first4=Eelke|last5=de Kroon|first5=Hans|last6=Comita|first6=Liza S.|last7=Hubbell|first7=Stephen P.|last8=Wright|first8=S. Joseph|last9=Zuidema|first9=Pieter|title=Tree species vary widely in their tolerance for liana infestation: A case study of differential host response to generalist parasites|journal=Journal of Ecology|volume=106|issue=2|year=2018|pages=781–794|issn=0022-0477|doi=10.1111/1365-2745.12815|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018JEcol.106..781V |hdl=2066/176867|hdl-access=free}} For example, forests without lianas grow 150% more fruit, and trees with lianas have twice the probability of dying.{{cite news|last1=Landers|first1=Jackson|title=Tarzan's Favorite Mode of Travel, the Liana Vine, Chokes Off a Tree's Ability to Bear Fruit|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/tarzans-mode-travel-liana-vine-chocking-tropical-forests-180963636/|access-date=20 June 2017|work=Smithsonian|date=13 June 2017}}

Lianas are uniquely adapted to living in forests as they use host trees, for stability, to reach to top of the canopy. Lianas directly damage their hosts by mechanical abrasion and strangulation, render hosts more susceptible to ice and wind damage,{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} and increase the probability that the host tree falls.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} Lianas also provide support for weaker trees when strong winds blow by laterally anchoring them to stronger trees.{{cite journal |last1=Garrido-Pérez |first1=E. I. |last2=Dupuy |first2=J. M. |last3=Durán-García |first3=R. |last4=Gerold |first4=G. |last5=Schnitzer |first5=S. A. |last6=Ucan-May |first6=M. |year=2008 |title=Structural effects of lianas and hurricane Wilma on trees in Yucatan peninsula, Mexico |journal=Journal of Tropical Ecology |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=559–562 |doi=10.1017/S0266467408005221|s2cid=83919534 |url=http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/6978 }} However, this anchoring can also be destructive because when one tree falls, the connections made by the lianas can cause many other trees to fall. Because of these negative effects, trees that remain free of lianas are at an advantage; some species have evolved characteristics which help them avoid or shed lianas.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/2387889| jstor = 2387889| pages = 19–23| title = How trees avoid and shed lianas| journal = Biotropica| volume = 16| issue = 1| year = 1984| last1 = Putz | first1 = F. E.| bibcode = 1984Biotr..16...19P}}

Some lianas attain great length, such as Bauhinia sp. in Surinam which has grown as long as 600 meters (2000').{{cite book | last= Rohwer | first= Prof. Jens G.| date= 2000 | title= Tropical Plants of the World | location= New York | publisher= Sterling Pub. Co. Inc | page= 18}}{{cite book | last1= Sanderson | first1= Ivan T. | last2= Loth | first2= David | date= 1965 | title= Ivan Sanderson's Book of Great Jungles | location= New York | publisher= Simon and Schuster | page= 144}} Hawkins has accepted a length of 1.5 km (1 mile) for an Entada phaseoloides.{{cite book | last= Hawkins | first= R.E. editor | date= 1986 | title=Encyclopedia of Indian Natural History | location= Delhi | publisher= Oxford University Press | page= 199}} The longest monocot liana is Calamus manan (or Calamus ornatus) at 240 meters (787').{{cite book | last= Richards | first= Dr. Paul W. | date= 1952 | title= Tropical Rain Forest | location= Cambridge |page= 102}} quoting: Prof. Melchior Treub, Observations sur les Plantes Grimphantes de Jardin Botanique Buitenzorg, ANNALES de JARDIN BUITENZORG (1883) p. 175 Dr. Francis E. Putz states that lianas (species not indicated) have weighed "hundreds of tons" and been a half mile (0.8 km) in length.{{cite journal |last= Putz | first= Francis E. |date= October 1988 | title= Woody Vines and Tropical Forests |journal= Fairchild Tropical Garden Bulletin | volume= 43 | issue= 4 | page= 7 }} One way of distinguishing lianas from trees and shrubs is their stiffness, specifically, the Young's modulus of various parts of the stem. Trees and shrubs have young twigs and smaller branches that are quite flexible and older growth such as trunks and large branches that are stiffer. A liana often has stiff young growths and older, more flexible growth at the base of the stem.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.3732/ajb.92.8.1381 | title = Evolution of shrub-like growth forms in the lianoid subfamily Secamonoideae (Apocynaceae s.l.) of Madagascar: phylogeny, biomechanics, and development | year = 2005 | author = Lahaye, R. | journal = American Journal of Botany | volume = 92 | pages = 1381–96 | last2 = Civeyrel | first2 = L. | last3 = Speck | first3 = T. | last4 = Rowe | first4 = N. P. | issue = 8 | pmid = 21646158}}

Examples

Some families and genera containing liana species include:

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References

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External links

  • [https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/botany/research/lianas-and-climbing-plants-neotropics Lianas and Climbing Plants of the Neotropics]
  • [https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/botany/research/lianas-and-climbing-plants-neotropics/lianas-family-treatments Lianas and Climbing Plants of the Neotropics: Family Treatments]
  • 'Vines and Lianas' by Rhett Butler, at http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0406.htm
  • {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Lianas|short=x}}

See also

List of Longest Vines

{{botany}}

Category:Plant morphology

Category:Biology terminology

Category:Plant life-forms

Category:Plants by habit