scholarly journals On the occurrence of bryophytes and macrolichens in different lowland rain forest types at Mabura Hill, Guyana

1990 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
J. H.C. Cornelissen ◽  
S. R. Gradstein
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
White Sand ◽  
Dry Evergreen Forest ◽  
Canopy Effect ◽  
Vertical Distributions

A floristic and ecological study of bryophytes and macrolichens in different lowland rain forest types around Mabura Hill, Guyana, South America, yielded 170 species: 52 mosses, 82 liverworts and 36 macrolichens. Lejeuneaceae account for about 30% of the species and are the dominant cryptogamic family of the lowland rain forest. Special attention was paid to the flora of the forest canopy, by using mountaineering techniques. It appeared that 50% of the bryophyte species and 86% of the macrolichens occurred exclusively in the canopy. Dry evergreen ‘walaba’ forest on white sand is particularly rich in lichens whereas the more humid ‘mixed’ forest on loamy soil is characterized by a rather rich liverwort flora. More species are exclusive to the mixed forest than to dry evergreen forest due to the ‘canopy effect’, i.e. the occurrence of xerophytic species in the outer canopy of both dry and humid forests. Furthermore, canopy species have wider vertical distributions on trees in the dry evergreen forest than in the mixed forest, due to the more open canopy foliage of the dry evergreen forest.

scholarly journals Species richness and phytogeography of the Bryophyte flora of the Guianas, with special reference to the lowland forest

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. Gradstein ◽  
D. Montfoort ◽  
J. H.C. Cornelissen
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
General Character ◽  
Lowland Forest ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Dry Evergreen Forest ◽  
Species Area ◽  
The Guianas

The Guianas (French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana) are probably one of the last areas of the world covered largely by virgin lowland rain forest. Species diversity of epiphytic bryophytes was investigated in dry evergreen forest and mixed forest using mountaineering techniques to ascend into the canopy. The results indicate that the lowland rain forest is richer in species than previously believed due to neglect of the canopy flora, which may hold more than 50% of the local species. The mixed forest holds the richest flora and on one single forest tree up to 67 bryophyte species were found (50 on average); 28 trees yielded 154 species. A species/area curve indicates that epiphytic bryophyte species are usually commonly distributed in the forest and a few trees may yield much of the local flora. A recent checklist of the Guianas includes over 600 species of bryophytes: 375 Hepaticae and 234 Musci. As the region lacks in altitude (except on Mt. Roraima) the general character of the bryophyte flora of the Guianas is typically lowland neotropical. Over 80% of the species are rather widespread in tropical America (Amazonian species included), and the remaining are Guayana Highlands, northern Amazonian or Caribbean elements. Endemism is very low: 2.5 %.

scholarly journals UAV Remote Sensing for Biodiversity Monitoring: Are Forest Canopy Gaps Good Covariates?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin B. Bagaram ◽  
Diego Giuliarelli ◽  
Gherardo Chirici ◽  
Francesca Giannetti ◽  
Anna Barbati
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Canopy Gaps ◽  
Forest Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Monitoring ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Turkey Oak

Forest canopy gaps are important for the ecosystem dynamics. Depending on tree species, small canopy openings might be also associated to intra-crown porosity and to space between crowns. Yet, little is known on the relationships between the fine-scaled pattern of canopy openings and biodiversity features. This research explored the possibility of i)- mapping forest canopy gaps from a very high resolution orthomosaic (10 cm), processed from a versatile imaging platform such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), ii)- to derive patch metrics that can be tested as covariates of variables of interest for forest biodiversity monitoring. This is attempted in a test area of 240 ha covered by temperate deciduous forest types in Central Italy and containing 50 forest inventory plots of about 530 m2. Correlation and linear regression techniques were used to explore relationships between patch metrics and understorey (density, development and species diversity) or forest habitat biodiversity variables (density of micro-habitat bearing trees, vertical species profile, tree species diversity). The results revealed that small openings in the canopy cover (75% smaller than 7 m2) can be faithfully extracted from UAV RGB imagery, using the red band and contrast split segmentation. Highest correlations were observed in the mixed forest (beech and turkey oak), while beech forest had the poorest ones and turkey oak forest displayed intermediate results. Moderate to strong linear relationships were found between gap metrics and understorey variables in mixed forest type, with adjusted R2 from linear regression ranging from 0.52 to 0.87. Equally good results, in the same forest types, were observed for forest habitat biodiversity variables (0.52<adjusted R2<0.79) with highest values found for density of trees with microhabitats and vertical species profile. In conclusion, this research highlights that UAV remote sensing can potentially provide covariate surfaces of variables of interest for forest biodiversity monitoring, conventionally collected in forest inventory plots. By integrating the two sources of data, these variables can be mapped over small forest areas with satisfactory levels of accuracy, at a much higher spatial resolution than would be possible by field-based forest inventory solely.

Rainfall interception in three contrasting lowland rain forest types in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

2007 ◽  
Vol 340 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 217-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.R.E. Vernimmen ◽  
L.A. Bruijnzeel ◽  
A. Romdoni ◽  
J. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Rainfall Interception ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Central Kalimantan

scholarly journals Carbon and Nutrient Inputs by Litterfall in Evergreen and Deciduous Forests in Korea

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byung Bae Park ◽  
Afroja Rahman ◽  
Si Ho Han ◽  
Woo Bin Youn ◽  
Hwa Ja Hyun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Mixed Forest ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Nutrient Fluxes ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
Temperate Deciduous Forest ◽  
Litterfall Production

Knowledge about carbon and nutrient fluxes by litterfall is important for understanding nutrient cycling in geologically unique ecosystems. However, the determination of forest litterfall production patterns is difficult due to many biophysical factors influencing the process. In this study, we (1) quantified the litterfall production and carbon and nutrient fluxes in warm-temperate evergreen forest stands in Jeju Gotjawal and (2) compared these values to those of a typical cool-temperate deciduous forest stand by forest types and climate differences. Litterfall from evergreen broadleaved forests at Cheongsu (CS) and Seonheul (SHb), a mixed forest at Seonheul (SHm) in Jeju Gotjawal, and a deciduous broadleaved forest at Chungnam National University Forest (CNU) was collected for a full two years using litter traps. Samples were sorted into leaves, twigs, barks, seeds, and unidentified materials, and then weighed and measured for C, N, P, K, Ca, and Mg fluxes by litterfall. Results showed that the mean annual litterfall (846.3 g m−2, average of CS, SHb, and SHm) at Jeju Gotjawal was similar to that of CNU (885.5 g m−2), but varied by site in Jeju Gotjawal: CS (933.1 g m−2) was significantly higher than the average of SHb and SHm (802.9 g m−2). Seasonal patterns of litterfall production differed by forest types; evergreen broadleaved forests showed a bimodal peak in fall and spring while deciduous broadleaved forests showed a unimodal peak in fall. Jeju Gotjawal had significantly higher total macronutrient concentrations and contents (except for K) than CNU and they also varied by site in Jeju Gotjawal: CS had higher N, P, Ca, and Mg contents than SHb and SHm. We conclude that litterfall production and nutrient fluxes differed by forest stand as influenced by forest types and climate. Further, our findings are important for understanding carbon and nutrient dynamics in the geologically unique ecosystem of Jeju Gotjawal and other areas with similar characteristics.

Ants accelerate litter decomposition in a Costa Rican lowland tropical rain forest

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrence P. McGlynn ◽  
Evan K. Poirson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Tropical Rain Forests ◽  
Rain Forests ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Litter Bags ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest

Abstract:The decomposition of leaf litter is governed, in part, by litter invertebrates. In tropical rain forests, ants are dominant predators in the leaf litter and may alter litter decomposition through the action of a top-down control of food web structure. The role of ants in litter decomposition was investigated in a Costa Rican lowland rain forest with two experiments. In a mesocosm experiment, we manipulated ant presence in 50 ambient leaf-litter mesocosms. In a litterbag gradient experiment, Cecropia obtusifolia litter was used to measure decomposition rate constants across gradients in nutrients, ant density and richness, with 27 separate litterbag treatments for total arthropod exclusion or partial arthropod exclusion. After 2 mo, mass loss in mesocosms containing ants was 30.9%, significantly greater than the 23.5% mass loss in mesocosms without ants. In the litter bags with all arthropods excluded, decomposition was best accounted by the carbon: phosphorus content of soil (r2 = 0.41). In litter bags permitting smaller arthropods but excluding ants, decomposition was best explained by the local biomass of ants in the vicinity of the litter bags (r2 = 0.50). Once the microarthropod prey of ants are permitted to enter litterbags, the biomass of ants near the litterbags overtakes soil chemistry as the regulator of decomposition. In concert, these results support a working hypothesis that litter-dwelling ants are responsible for accelerating litter decomposition in lowland tropical rain forests.

Yams and megapode mounds in the lowland rain forest of Papua New Guinea

Human Ecology ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Dwyer ◽  
Monica Minnegal
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document