Gap-phase regeneration in selectively logged lowland swamp forest, northeastern Costa Rica

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDWARD L. WEBB
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Structural Damage ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Swamp Forest ◽  
Gap Phase ◽  
Multiple Tree

For sustainable logging to be achieved in tropical forests, there must be successful gap-phase regeneration to restock the logged-over area. This study examined three aspects of gap-phase regeneration in selectively logged lowland swamp forest of northeast Costa Rica. First, logging gaps were censused immediately after extraction to determine the density of advanced regeneration. Stem density and basal area of residual trees ≥ 10 cm dbh in logging gaps was >85% lower than undisturbed forest, and all trees in gaps had sustained structural damage. The common canopy species Pentaclethra macroloba (Fabaceae) was the most abundant species in gaps whereas the timber tree Carapa nicaraguensis (Meliaceae) was absent from all censused gaps. This suggests that canopy replacement, particularly by Carapa, will depend on trees <10 cm dbh or by seed input into logging gaps. Second, the diversity of the understorey was compared with 6-y old single-tree and multiple-tree logging gaps. Multiple-tree logging gaps were the most diverse, but dominated by two ruderal species; however many shade-tolerant species were present in those gaps. This indicates that controlled selective logging can result in a localized shift in species composition, but that logging gaps should return to pre-logging composition with time under a carefully implemented, controlled harvesting regime. Finally, this study found a significant effect of a fringing Carapa tree on logging gap seedling density. Thus, seed arrival into gaps is a barrier to logging gap regeneration, particularly for a large-seeded tree species. Gap-phase regeneration by a large-seeded tree species in managed forest would benefit from seed broadcasting into gaps.

scholarly journals Tree Species Composition and Natural Regeneration Status of Southeast Region of Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Abir Dey ◽  
Aklima Akther
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Natural Regeneration ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Importance Value Index ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Large Trees

The study aimed to quantify and discuss the current condition of the tree species composition and natural regeneration of southeast parts of Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazar North Forest Division). A total of 121 stems having dbh ≥10cm and 3481 stems of regenerating tree species (dbh <10cm) per hectare were recorded. A large trees comprised of 17 species belonging to 10 families and 14 genera and 30 regenerating tree species belonging to 19 families and 27 genera have been found. The forests were highly non-uniform, with three or four species represented most of the stands. The values of diversity indices indicated limited plant diversity, which is dominated by two or three tree species. Stems of 10-30 cm dbh contributed almost 90% of the total stem density, whereas more than 80% of the total basal area still belonged to trees with dbh 100 cm or above. Dipterocarpus turbinatus was the most dominant species which have the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) with 135.82 and embodied 37.71% of the total stand density and 72.19% of total basal area. The study will provide scientific basis for the future implementation of forest conservation strategies in tropical forests of Southeast Asia, particularly in Bangladesh. This study may also pave the way to further research on regeneration potentials of the native species for conservation and enhancement of forests in future.

Secondary forest succession in a tropical dry forest: patterns of development across a 50-year chronosequence in lowland Bolivia

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEBORAH K. KENNARD
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Mature Forest

Stand structure, species richness and population structures of tree species were characterized in 12 stands representing 50 y of succession following slash-and-burn agriculture in a tropical dry forest in lowland Bolivia. Estimates of tree species richness, canopy cover and basal area reached or surpassed 75% of mature forest levels in the 5-, 8-, and 23-y-old stands respectively. Total stem density of the 50-y-old stand was almost twice that of the mature forest stand. This rapid recovery may be due to a high percentage of sprouting tree species, potentially high seed fall into abandoned fields, or the disturbance history of the mature stand. The even-aged size-class structures, dominance of long-lived pioneers, and presence of charcoal and pottery shards in soils of the mature forest stand suggest it formed after a severe disturbance, possibly fire of anthropogenic origin.

A re-assessment of effects of fire on miombo regeneration in the Zambian Copperbelt

1988 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. N. Chidumayo
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Fire Protection ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Miombo Woodland ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Canopy Species

ABSTRACTIn 1933/34 eight coppice plots were established in Brachystegia-Julbemardia (miombo) woodland at Ndola in the Copperbelt area of Zambia by the Forestry Department. These plots have been maintained under fire protection, annual early or late dry season burning since 1934/35. Before establishment stems over 20.3 cm girth at breast height were enumerated. Three of the eight plots (one fire protected and two annually early burnt) were enumerated in 1982, 48–49 years after establishment. In addition, a coppice plot at Chitwi, 16 km southwest of the Ndola plots, cleared in 1972 and left to regenerate naturally was enumerated in May 1982 and August 1986 to assess woody plant growth.The density of stems over 20.0 cm girth in the 13-year-old coppice at Chitwi was 2.5 times that in an adjacent shelterbelt woodland. The stem density in the fire protected plot at Ndola in 1982 was 86% of the pre-felling density while in one of the early burnt plots it was 95% of the pre-felling density. The protected plot had the lowest species diversity after 49 years, largely because of the loss of 11 understorey species that were present before felling.There were no significant differences in stem mean girth at breast height (gbh) of canopy species in the Ndola plots under fire protection and early burning regimes. Mean annual gbh increments of abundant species were estimated at 1.17–2.21 cm yr−1 and 0.59–1.42 cm yr−1 during 0–9 and 0–49 year age-periods, respectively. Estimated mean annual basal area increments for stems over 30 cm gbh were 0.35 m2 ha−1 for the 13-year-old coppice and 0.24–0.27 m2 ha−1 for the 49-year-old coppice. These results indicate a decrease in both gbh and basal area increment with increasing age of miombo coppice

scholarly journals Edge-Interior Disparities in Tree Species and Structural Composition of the Kilengwe Forest in Morogoro Region, Tanzania

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sylvester Kacholi
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Structural Composition ◽  
Forest Interior ◽  
Contrasting Habitats ◽  
Brachystegia Spiciformis

A survey to determine the variation in species and structural composition of trees along the edge-interior gradient was done in the Kilengwe forest in Morogoro region, Tanzania. The forest was categorized into three habitats, namely, edge (0–100 m), intermediate (100–200 m), and interior (>200 m) depending on the distance from the forest margin. A total of six plots of 0.04 ha each were randomly placed in each of the habitats whereby all trees with DBH ≥ 10 cm were inventoried. A total of 67 species representing 26 families were recorded. Fabaceae was the most speciose and abundant family. Brachystegia spiciformis was the most abundant species. Of the recorded species, 10.45% were common in the three habitats while 8.95%, 13.43%, and 26.86% occurred exclusively to the edge, intermediate, and interior habitats, respectively. The forest interior was significantly rich in terms of species richness, diversity, density, and basal area than the edge and intermediate habitats. The edge had significantly higher number of stumps/ha. In summary, the results suggest that edge/intermediate and interior are contrasting habitats in terms of tree species richness, diversity, and structural composition. Moreover, the forest edge and intermediate habitats were found to be characterized by high anthropogenic activities compared to the forest interior habitat.

scholarly journals Structure, composition and diversity of trees within the dry evergreen reserve forest of Kondapalli (Eastern Ghats, southern India)

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-36
Author(s):  
Pillutla Rama Chandra Prasad ◽  
Jasti Asha Kumari
Keyword(s):  
Basal Area ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Eastern Ghats ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Melia Azedarach ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Dry Evergreen Forest ◽  
Reserve Forest ◽  
High Species Richness

Abstract The dry evergreen forest of Kondapalli (Andhra Pradesh state, India) is declared as a forest reserve, but, despite of this, it is subjected to degradation resulting in loss of biodiversity. Thus, the current study was carried out to investigate the tree diversity of Kondapalli forest. A total of 566 ±16 trees (≥10 cm) representing 46±8 species from 40 genera and 21 families were recorded from the 0.36 ha area of Kondapalli forest. Mimosaceae was the most species rich family, while Rutaceae was the most abundant family. Atalantia monophylla was most frequent and abundant species and, with respect to basal area, Melia azedarach and Syzygium cumini were the dominant taxa. The recorded stem density was 1572 stems ha−1 and the mean forest basal area was 47.17 m2 ha−1. The results of cluster analysis revealed that Atalantia monophylla, characterised by a high ecological amplitude, had a wide distribution and was associated with species forming different communities. The study showed that Kondapalli forest is characterised by a fairly high species richness, which provides the baseline data on the floristic structure and diversity of this forest for better management and conservation.

scholarly journals Phytosociological observations on tree species diversity of an urban tropical dry deciduous forest of central India

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1029-1138
Author(s):  
Dharmendra Dugaya ◽  
PV Kiran ◽  
Rajnish Kumar Singh ◽  
Manmeet Kaur ◽  
Pradeep Chaudhry
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Central India ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Importance Value Index ◽  
Tree Community ◽  
Dry Deciduous Forest

We analyzed phytosociological characteristics of a tropical dry deciduous forest located in an urban environment of Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) Campus in the capital city of Bhopal of Madhya Pradesh state, Central India. A Comparison has been made among the tree community characteristics during the years 1988, 2002 and 2020 in terms of tree species composition, stem density, basal area and Importance Value Index (IVI). At the time of establishment of the institute in 1988, the forest area resembleda degraded dry scrubland. Due to continuous care/protection, plantation activities, degraded forest recovered remarkably, ecological processes evolved favorably with canopy cover reaching over 60% in some patches and about 50% in general over most part of the campus. During last two decades, tree density increased from 319 to 525 stem ha-1 indicating an increase of 64% whereas basal area increased from 18470.79 cm2 ha-1 to 29782.31 cm2 ha-1,an increase of about 61%. Leguminaceae family represented 26.4% of the tree community followed by Combretaceae (11.76%). Shannon-Weiner index (1.31), Simpson index (0.93) and evenness index (0.85) are within the reported ranges for similar forest type of dry deciduous nature in India. Theresults of the presentstudy will help forest managers in conservation planning of urban tropical forest ecosystem of central India.

Effects of canopy species dominance on understorey light availability in low-elevation secondary forest stands in Costa Rica

1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 779-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy P. Kabakoff ◽  
Robin L. Chazdon
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Light Transmittance ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Secondary Forests ◽  
Canopy Architecture ◽  
Species Dominance ◽  
Canopy Species

ABSTRACTThe effect of canopy species dominance on understorey light availability in secondary forests was examined for Pentaclethra macroloba and Goethalsia meiantha, two common tree species with contrasting canopy architecture at La Selva Biological Station in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. In each of six 12- to 16-year-old successional stands dominated by one of these species, relative abundance and basal area of the focal species were determined within a 20 m × 50 m plot. Light availability at 1 m height was measured within each plot using a Licor-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer at 27 locations and by analysing hemispherical photographs taken at 10 locations. Across stands, mean LAI values were significantly negatively correlated with canopy openness. Understorey microsites beneath Pentaclethra had significantly higher light availability than microsites beneath Goethalsia. Across stands, however, light availability was not correlated with either total basal area or stem density of trees ≥10 cm DBH. These results indicate that basal area and stem density of trees in the upper levels of the forest canopy are poor predictors of light penetration to the understorey. One hypothesis suggested here is that dense subcanopy and understorey vegetation in tropical secondary forests can strongly influence understorey light levels. Alternatively, light transmittance characteristics of the upper forest canopy may be influenced by species-specific differences in canopy architecture or foliage density that vary independently from tree diameter and density.

scholarly journals La densidad, riqueza y composición arbóreas definen parches detectados remotamente en una selva subperennifolia

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra del Pilar Ochoa-Franco ◽  
José René Valdez-Lazalde ◽  
Héctor Manuel De los Santos-Posadas ◽  
José Luis Hernández-Stefanoni ◽  
Juan Ignacio Valdez-Hernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Importance Value ◽  
Vegetation Patch ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Specific Composition ◽  
Vegetation Patches

A proposal for characterizing habitat of forests, obtained from an object-oriented classification of a RapidEye multiespectral imagery, based on dissimilarity matrices of vegetation structure, species diversity and composition is presented. The study area is a forested landscape mosaic after slash and burn agriculture (Ac: 8-23 years ago), selective logging (Fs: 43-53 years ago), and selective logging and forest fire (Fc: 21-28 years ago). The site is located in the central part of Quintana Roo, México, where three vegetation patches were delineated according to remotely sensed multiespectral imagery. Mean differences between vegetation structure properties of each vegetation patch were obtained through a permutational multivariate analysis of variance (p <0.001). Species richness, stem density per hectare, and the axis-1 scores of the non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination of specific composition were identified as the vegetation attributes more relevant to differentiate the vegetation patches by a multinomial logistic model. Fc vegetation patch is characterized by the greatest mean values on Shannon-Wiener index, species richness, and stem density. The Fs has the greatest mean values of canopy height, basal area and biomass at 80 percentile, and the Ac vegetation patch has the lowest values of all mentioned metrics. The species with the greatest relative importance value were: Ac: Bursera simaruba and Psidia psipula, Fs: Gymnanthes lucida andManilkara zapota, Fc: G. lucida and B. simaruba. The uncertainty associated with the metrics assessed by vegetation patch was smaller than the uncertainty of the whole area, because of the efficient variability aggregation of the field data. We conclude that multiespectral information is a reliable tool for distinguishing vegetation patches with specific features, as stem density, specific composition, and species richness.

scholarly journals Multiple Stable Dominance States in the Congo Basin Forests

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 553
Author(s):  
John M. Katembo ◽  
Moses B. Libalah ◽  
Faustin B. Boyemba ◽  
Gilles Dauby ◽  
Nicolas Barbier
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Positive Feedbacks ◽  
Strong Relation ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
Elevation Model

Understanding the dynamics of dominant tree species in tropical forests is important both for biodiversity and carbon-related issues. We focus on the Congo Basin (East of Kisangani) to investigate the respective roles of topographic/soil gradients and endogenous dynamics in shaping local variations in dominance. We used a dataset of 30 1-ha plots, in which all trees above 10 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were censused. Soil samples were analyzed for standard pedologic variables and a digital elevation model permitted to infer topography and hydromorphy. We found that this forest is characterized by variations in the abundance of three dominant species: Petersianthus macrocarpus (P.Beauv.) Liben (PM), Gilbertiodendron dewevrei (De Wild.) J.Leonard (GD) and Julbernardia seretii (De Wild.) Troupin (JS). These variations occur independently of substratum or topography variations. At plot level, the local relative abundance never reached 50%, the threshold for monodominance proposed in the literature, but rather progressively increased to reach higher values for canopy trees (>60 cm DBH), where this threshold could be exceeded. We found no sign of shifting compositional dynamics, whereby the dominant species would switch between the canopy and the undergrowth. Our results, therefore, support the possibility of the existence of stable dominance states, induced by endogenous processes, such as biological positive feedbacks fostering monodominance. We also document a strong relation between monodominance level and alpha diversity, when giving more weight to abundant species which is expected (R² = 0.79) but also when giving more weight to rare species (R² = 0.37), showing that monodominance influences tree species richness patterns. Structural differences existed between groups, with the PM group having more (and on average smaller) stems and lighter wood on average, but paradoxically also higher biomass and basal area.

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