The effect of forest successional stage on seed removal of tropical rain forest tree species

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marielos Peña-Claros ◽  
Henneleen De Boo
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Secondary Forests ◽  
Seed Removal ◽  
Successional Stage ◽  
Successional Stages ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Number Of Seeds

Seed removal was evaluated at the macro- and micro-habitat level in areas differing in successional stage in the Bolivian Amazon. The successional stages consisted of secondary forests of 2, 10 and 20 years old and primary forest. Seeds of nine tree species were artificially dispersed and the number of seeds removed was evaluated over 7 weeks. Several stand characteristics were measured at the sites where seeds were dispersed. Seed removal at the end of the experiment varied from 50 to 100% depending on the species, and from 74 to 90% depending on successional stage. In general, the removal rate decreased with an increase in age of successional stage. The seed removal rate was related to liana density and not to litter thickness. Different microhabitat characteristics explained the seed removal rate of four species but microhabitat characteristics did not explain the decrease in seed removal rate with an increase in forest age. The results support the idea that post-dispersal seed removal reduces the number of seeds available for germination, consequently playing an important role in the regeneration of abandoned agricultural areas.

scholarly journals ASPECTOS FLORÍSTICOS DE TRÊS ESTÁGIOS SUCESSIONAIS DE MATA CILIAR EM ARROIO DO PADRE, EXTREMO SUL DA MATA ATLÂNTICA

FLORESTA ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Tiago Schuch Venzke ◽  
Sebastião Venâncio Martins
Keyword(s):  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Riparian Forest ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Successional Stage ◽  
Regeneration Time ◽  
Mature Forest ◽  
Successional Stages ◽  
South Of Brazil

 O objetivo foi caracterizar a composição e as relações florísticas de estágios sucessionais de uma mata ciliar em um fragmento de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual no Município de Arroio do Padre, extremo sul do Brasil. A área amostral foi 1,2 ha, dividida em 0,2 ha para capoeira (5 anos de regeneração), 0,5 ha para floresta secundária (45 anos de regeneração) e 0,5 ha de floresta madura. Em parcelas de 10 x 10 m, foram amostrados todos os indivíduos arbustivo-arbóreos com DAP ≥5 cm. A riqueza nos três estágios sucessionais revelou 72 espécies, distribuídas em 52 gêneros e 33 famílias. A capoeira apresentou menor número de táxons, enquanto na fase madura ocorreram maior quantidade (49) e riqueza de espécies exclusivas (20). A composição florística foi influenciada pelo estágio sucessional, e a classificação das parcelas pela análise de similaridade formou agrupamentos conforme a idade da regeneração. Isso reflete a adaptação da comunidade às condições ambientais proporcionadas pelo avanço da sucessão ecológica. Assim, recomenda-se que as estratégias de restauração florestal considerem as espécies adaptadas ao estágio sucessional, a fim de maximizar os projetos de reflorestamento e restauração ecológica.Palavras-chave: Pelotas; Floresta Estacional Semidecidual; sucessão florestal; ecologia florestal. AbstractFloristic composition of three successional stages of a riparian forest in the municipality of Arroio do Padre, very south of Brazil. This research aims to characterize composition and floristic relations of three successional stages of a Riparian Semi-deciduous Seasonal Forest, in the municipality of Arroio do Padre, South of Brazil. The sample area was divided into 0.2 ha for ‘capoeira’ (five years of regeneration), 0.5 ha for secondary forest (45 years for regeneration), and 0.5 ha for mature forest (primary forest). Richness in the three succession stages included 72 species distributed into 52 genera and 33 families. ‘Capoeira’ presented lower quantity of taxa, whereas in the mature forest occurred greater number of species (49) and exclusive species (20). The floristic composition was influenced by successional stage and classification of plots by the similarity analysis clusters formed as the regeneration time. Differences in floristic composition reflect community adaptation to the conditions provided along succession. These variations reveal that the age of the succession reflects in forest floristic, and strategies for forest restoration should consider species adapted to successional stages in order to maximize native forests reforestation projects.Keywords: Municipality of Pelotas; Semi-deciduous Seasonal Forest; forest ecology.

From forest to farmland: diversity of geometrid moths along two habitat gradients on Borneo

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAN BECK ◽  
CHRISTIAN H. SCHULZE ◽  
K. EDUARD LINSENMAIR ◽  
KONRAD FIEDLER
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Habitat Diversity ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Secondary Forests ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Habitat Gradients ◽  
Regional Species Pool ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Disturbed Habitats

Geometrid moths were collected on Mt. Kinabalu (Sabah, Malaysia) along two habitat gradients, ranging from primary rain forest to cultivated areas. During 135 nights' trapping in 1997, 4585 individuals representing 500 species were attracted by light. Primary forest samples and those from old-grown regenerated forest exhibited high diversity (Fisher's α = 75–128), while agricultural areas as well as most secondary forests had a significantly lower diversity (α = 34–61). One 15-y-old secondary forest with a rich undergrowth vegetation also housed a diverse geometrid community (α = 89). In three paired samples, diversity of geometrid moths in the canopy was equal to or lower than in the understorey. Of six habitat variables tested, only undergrowth plant species diversity emerged as a significant predictor of geometrid diversity. The NESS index, in combination with multi-dimensional scaling, was used to investigate patterns of between-habitat diversity. Of two dimensions extracted, one represented the degree of habitat disturbance, while the other separated the two study areas. Geometrid samples of strongly disturbed habitats did not converge between sites, indicating that apart from the degree of human interference the regional species pool was also important in determining similarity among local communities.

Intraspecific variation in seed size affects scatterhoarding behaviour of an Australian tropical rain-forest rodent

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tad C. Theimer
Keyword(s):  
Seed Size ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Seed Removal ◽  
Tropical Tree Species ◽  
Neotropical Rain Forest

Vertebrate seed dispersers could impact the evolution of seed size or alter the pattern of seedling recruitment if they responded differently to seeds of varying size (Jordano 1995). For example, models of seed caching by birds and mammals predict that seeds of higher nutritive value should be placed farther from parent trees and in lower densities than lower quality seeds (Clarkson et al. 1986, Stapanian & Smith 1978, Tamura et al. 1999). Comparisons of seed removal rates among tropical tree species in South-East Asia (Blate et al. 1998) and Australia (Osunkoya 1994) failed to show a relationship between seed size and removal rate, although the probability that a seed was scatterhoarded by agoutis (Dasyprocta punctata) in a neotropical rain forest increased with interspecific seed size (Forget et al. 1998).

Removal of seeds of Carapa procera (Meliaceae) by rodents and their fate in rainforest in French Guiana

1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 751-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Michel Forget
Keyword(s):  
Seed Predation ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
French Guiana ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
Seed Removal ◽  
Seed Fate ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Adult Trees ◽  
Carapa Procera ◽  
Monthly Variations

ABSTRACTExperiments were performed to investigate monthly variations in seed fate of Carapa procera (Meliaceae), a rodent-dispersed subcanopy tree species in French Guiana. A total of 600 thread-marked seeds were placed on the ground in mature forest under 20 adult trees during different months (March, April and May 1991) of the species' fruiting season. In 1991 the seed crop reached 1536 seeds in the study area, with a majority of seeds being produced in March and May. On average, seed removal rate steadily increased from March (23%) to May (96%). Of the seeds removed, the proportion eached almost doubled between March (28%)-April (25%) and May (48%), whereas the proportion eaten (gnawed) steadily declined between March (43%) and May (9%). Approximately 75–100% seed removal was therefore associated with intense scatterhoarding and low seed predation, especially in May. Greater seed dispersal rates occurred during the late wet season when fruit diversity decreased but when overall fruit biomass peaked because of fruiting occurrence of large-seeded species. The seasonal hoarding behaviour of rodents is discussed.

scholarly journals Evidence for alternate stable states in an Ecuadorian Andean Cloud Forest

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Mariscal Chávez ◽  
Daniel C Thomas ◽  
Austin Haffenden ◽  
Rocío Manobanda ◽  
Miguel Angel Chinchero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbance ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Ecological State ◽  
Tree Seedling ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Forest Sites

We analyzed a set of historical data from rapid vegetation inventories in a tropical montane cloud forest in northern Andean Ecuador. Trees in plots from several types of forest were counted and measured, including: (1) primary forest, including mature and recently closed-canopy sites and naturally formed gaps, (2) abandoned pasture, and (3) abandoned, intensively-farmed sites. The goal of the study was to understand in a specific period of time the similarities and differences among natural and anthropogenic disturbances and their potential long term effect on the forest plant community. We found that mature and intermediate close canopy sites are similar. Primary forest sites were observed as resilient to gap-forming disturbances: naturally-formed gaps are quickly colonized by old-forest-associated plant species, and return to an old-forest-type community of trees in a short time. In contrast, forests regenerating from anthropogenic disturbance appear to have multiple possible states: some regenerating forest sites where the anthropogenic disturbance were low are coming to closely resemble old-forest-type communities, but some where the anthropogenic disturbance was intense appear to be changing in a very different direction, which does not resemble any other vegetation community type currently in the forest. A major predictor of present ecological state is the type of land use before reforestation: pastures can occasionally transition back to the pre-disturbance state of forest. More intensively used sites were not observed to return to a pre-disturbance ecological state, instead forming a new and different kind of forest, dominated by a different community of trees. We examined tree-seedling communities to understand the trajectory of the forest into the future, and find that new forest types may be forming that do not resemble any existing associations. We also found that Los Cedros is extremely diverse in tree species. We estimate approximately 500 species of tree in only the small southeastern area of the reserve that has been explored scientifically. Additionally, the forest tree community shows extremely rapid distance decay (beta-diversity), approaching near complete turn-over in the limited spatial extent of the study. This suggests that many of other tree species remain to be observed in the reserve, in addition to the 350+ that are directly observed in the present study, including new observations of species with IUCN threatened-endangered status. We also highlight the conservation value of Reserva Los Cedros, which has managed to reverse deforestation within its boundaries despite a general trend of extensive deforestation in the surrounding region, and to protect large, contiguous areas of highly-endangered Andean primary cloud forest habitat.

scholarly journals Effects Of Climate Change On Main Forest Tree Species In Turkey

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Almira UZUN ◽  
Ayşe Gül SARIKAYA
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Change Models ◽  
Forest Tree Species ◽  
Living Things ◽  
The Future

Global warming and climate change threaten the future of world. The effects of climate change, which expresses the increase in the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide, and the differences in precipitation, are now felt all over the world, from the highest peaks to the ocean depths, from the equator to the poles. While climate change creates negative effects on forests, it also causes destruction in the natural carbon cycle. Primary forest trees and forest areas, which directly contribute to the economy, are also of vital importance for people and other living things that are part of the ecosystem. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of global climate change on main forest tree species through the climate change models of the future and present and to evaluate what kind of effects, problems and results emerge. As a result, it is seen that most of main tree species will not be able to adapt to climate change, the distribution areas of the species will decrease and even of them will face the danger of extinction.  

Fruiting of a 19-year old secondary forest in French Guiana

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIELA TORIOLA
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
French Guiana ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Pioneer Species ◽  
Forest Tree Species ◽  
Pioneer Plants

Although two studies (Loubry 1994, Sabatier 1985) have been conducted on the phenology of primary forest tree species in French Guiana, there exists little synthetic information on the phenology of a forest dominated by pioneer species. Charles-Dominique (1986) conducted zoological observations at ARBOCEL between 1981 and 1985, where he indicated the fruiting periods of certain species. However, stands of early pioneer plants such as Solanum spp. and Cecropia obtusa Trécul 9Cecropiaceae) have reduced in number or have completely disappeared from the study area since then (Larpin 1989, Toriola et al. 1998).

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