Impact of land use on Costa Rican tropical montane cloud forests: Sensitivity of cumulus cloud field characteristics to lowland deforestation

Abstract:Epiphytes and their associated decomposing litter and arboreal soils (herein, epiphytic material, EM) are ubiquitous features of tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) and play important roles in ecosystem function. EM intercepts water and nutrients from the atmosphere and from intercepted host tree sources, and may contribute significant inputs of these resources to the forest floor. Despite the importance of EM in the TMCF, a systematic review of the ecosystem roles of EM has not been compiled before. We have synthesized the literature that documents functions of EM in undisturbed TMCFs and discuss how these roles may be affected by disturbances, including changes in climate and land use. The range of EM biomass and water storage in the TMCF varies greatly across sites, with different amounts associated with stand age and microclimate. EM is important as habitat and food for birds and mammals, with over 200 species of birds documented as using EM in the Neotropics. Given its sensitivity to moisture, projected shifts in cloud base heights or precipitation due to changes in climate will likely have a large impact on this community and changes in EM diversity or abundance may have cascading impacts on the ecosystem function of the TMCF.

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Alerta en el bosque mesófilo de montaña veracruzano

UVserva ◽

10.25009/uvserva.v0i6.2587 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Marco A. Espinoza Guzmán ◽

Sabel Prieto Balan ◽

Carlos R. Cerdán Cabrera ◽

Margarito Paéz Rodriguez ◽

Gerardo Ortiz Ceballos

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Satellite Images ◽

Cloud Forest ◽

Economic Importance ◽

Cloud Forests ◽

Watershed Land Use ◽

Bosque Mesófilo De Montaña ◽

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests ◽

Coffee Cultivation

El desarrollo de actividades humanas dentro del Bosque Mesófilo de Montaña causa serias amenazas de importancia ambiental y económica que tiene este ecosistema en Veracruz. Esta nota presenta una estimación del área de bosque que se ha perdido a lo largo de 17 años, trabajo que se ha realizado con ayuda de imágenes satelitales de 1999, 2010 y 2016. La principal causa de pérdida de bosque es el cambio de uso de suelo hacia áreas de infraestructura.Palabras clave: Bosque mesófilo; cambio de uso de suelo; cafeticultura; cuenca La Antigua; imágenes satelitales AbstractHuman activities in tropical montane cloud forests cause serious threats to its environmental and economic importance in Veracruz. This note reports an estimate of how much cloud forest area has been lost over 17 years, research that has been done with the help of satellite images from 1999, 2010, and 2016. The main cause of cloud forest loss is land use change to infrastructure areas.Keywords: coffee cultivation, La Antigua watershed, land-use change, satellite images, tropical montane cloud forests

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Effects of land use change on biodiversity and ecosystem services in tropical montane cloud forests of Mexico

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2009.02.023 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 258 (9) ◽

pp. 1856-1863 ◽

Cited By ~ 142

Author(s):

M. Luisa Martínez ◽

Octavio Pérez-Maqueo ◽

Gabriela Vázquez ◽

Gonzalo Castillo-Campos ◽

José García-Franco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Cloud Forests ◽

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests ◽

Effects Of Land Use

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Biogeography of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. Part II: Mapping of Orographic Cloud Immersion

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology ◽

10.1175/2007jamc1819.1 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 47 (8) ◽

pp. 2183-2197 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Udaysankar S. Nair ◽

Salvi Asefi ◽

Ronald M. Welch ◽

D. K. Ray ◽

Robert O. Lawton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Cloud Forest ◽

United Nations Environment Programme ◽

Cloud Base ◽

Trade Wind ◽

Cloud Forests ◽

Study Region ◽

Modis Data ◽

Monitoring Centre ◽

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests

Abstract This study details two unique methods to quantify cloud-immersion statistics for tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs). The first technique uses a new algorithm for determining cloud-base height using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud products, and the second method uses numerical atmospheric simulation along with geostationary satellite data. Cloud-immersion statistics are determined using MODIS data for March 2003 over the study region consisting of Costa Rica, southern Nicaragua, and northern Panama. Comparison with known locations of cloud forests in northern Costa Rica shows that the MODIS-derived cloud-immersion maps successfully identify known cloud-forest locations in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) database. Large connected regions of cloud immersion are observed in regions in which the trade wind flow is directly impinging upon the mountain slopes; in areas in which the flow is parallel to the slopes, a fractured spatial distribution of TMCFs is observed. Comparisons of the MODIS-derived cloud-immersion map with the model output show that the MODIS product successfully captures the important cloud-immersion patterns in the Monteverde region of Costa Rica. The areal extent of cloud immersion is at a maximum during morning hours and at a minimum during the afternoon, before increasing again in the evening. Cloud-immersion frequencies generally increase with increasing elevation and tend to be higher on the Caribbean Sea side of the mountains. This study shows that the MODIS data may be used successfully to map the biogeography of cloud forests and to quantify cloud immersion over cloud-forest locations.

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