{
  "abstract": "Lianas are an integral component of tropical forests, and their increasing abundance may alter forest structure and function. Whether infested host trees are shorter and smaller-crowned because lianas suppress them, or because lianas preferentially colonise already small trees, has remained unresolved. We used a longitudinal dataset of individual liana infestation histories spanning fourteen years (2011-2025), combined with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)-derived structural metrics for 251 trees across 67 species on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Bayesian analyses showed that persistently infested trees were shorter (11.0%), with smaller crown projected area (22.3%) and crown volume (25.9%) than never-infested trees; the 95% credible intervals for these effects excluded zero. Pre-infestation crown architecture did not credibly predict subsequent colonisation. These patterns are more consistent with persistent infestation imposing lasting architectural legacies than with strong pre-existing architectural susceptibility, suggesting rising liana abundance may progressively reduce forest stature and canopy density, with implications for tropical carbon storage projections.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of Oxford"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "R. Young"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. C. Muller-Landau"
    },
    {
      "name": "F. Meunier"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. Verbeeck"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. M. Krishna Moorthy"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. Salguero-Gomez"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/20gaz22k9je5d.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.18.752529",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752529v1.full",
  "id": "20gaz22k9je5d",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752529v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "ecology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2309|Forest ecology and management"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213592496",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752529v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-18",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/20gaz22k9je5d.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:07Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.18.752529",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752529v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:ecology",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Long-term liana infestation leaves architectural legacies in host trees",
  "title_text": "Long-term liana infestation leaves architectural legacies in host trees",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:07Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/20gaz22k9je5d",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}