Floral Herbivory, Floral Phenology, Visitation Rate, and Fruit Set in Anaxagorea crassipetala (Annonaceae), a Lowland Rain Forest Tree of Costa Rica

1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Armstrong ◽  
David Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Floral Herbivory ◽  
Floral Phenology

Roost availability and population size of Thyroptera tricolor, a leaf-roosting bat, in north-eastern Costa Rica

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten J. Vonhof ◽  
M. Brock Fenton
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Habitat Availability ◽  
Occupancy Rate ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Closed Population ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Thyroptera Tricolor

Estimates of roosting habitat availability and population size using unbiased sampling regimes are completely lacking for any bat species. The use of conspicuous and accessible roosts in the developing, rolled leaves of Heliconia and Calathea plants by Thyroptera tricolor (Spix's disc-winged bat) provided an ideal opportunity to address this need. To assess roost availability and population size, the number of occupied and unoccupied leaves and bats in known areas in an area of lowland rain forest in north-eastern Costa Rica were quantified in 1998–99. A high density of leaves was available on any given day (mean: 43 leaves ha−1), but the density of roost leaves was low (mean: 2.5 leaves ha−1), corresponding with a low occupancy rate of 5.7 or 12% based on different methods of estimation. Developing leaves were available for 8–16 h in the preferred size range of leaves used by T. tricolor, and a maximum of 28–60 h, depending on the plant species. Using closed-population mark–recapture models, the 5.69-ha study area supported 261 individuals over a 4-mo period in 1998, corresponding to a density of 43 bats ha−1. These results have important implications for the results of studies on bat community structure and rarity, and for the behaviour and ecology of T. tricolor.

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 Composition and Structure of Lowland Rain-Forest Tree Communities on Ta'u, American Samoa

2006 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward L. Webb ◽  
Martin van de Bult ◽  
Wanlop Chutipong ◽  
Md. Enamul Kabir
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
American Samoa ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Tree Communities

Habitat-dependent fruiting behaviour of an understorey tree,Miconia centrodesma, and tropical treefall gaps as keystone habitats for frugivores in Costa Rica

1990 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Levey
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Lowland Rain Forest ◽  
Treefall Gaps ◽  
Forest Sites ◽  
Understorey Plants

ABSTRACTFruit production by an understorey tree,Miconia centrodesma, was monitored in treefall gaps and under intact canopy in a Costa Rican lowland rain forest. Trees in gaps displayed much less seasonality in fruit production than trees of intact forest sites. For example, ripe fruits were common on gap trees for a six month period (January-June) when few or no trees under intact canopy were in fruit. The frequent and aseasonal fruiting of gap trees demonstrates that they are not constrained by phenological cueing mechanisms; the influence of such cues is overridden by habitat. Trees in gaps also produced larger crops, had more extended fruiting episodes, and fruited more frequently than shaded conspecifics. This level of intraspecific variation in fruiting behaviour suggests that treefall gaps play an important role in determining the reproductive success ofM. centrodesma. A substantial proportion of an individual's lifetime seed output may be produced during the brief period it occupies a gap. In addition, the large and continuous supply of fruits produced in gaps byM. centrodesmaand other understorey plants, may mean that gaps function as ‘keystone habitats’ by providing resident frugivores with fruit during periods of general fruit scarcity.

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