The tropical rain forest an ecological study pdf

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Oxford Tropical Communities eds. Newbery, H. Forestry Institute. Prins and N. Blackwell Hopkins, B. Ecological processes at the forest— Science. SAL3 off-campus storage. R34 R53 Available. More options. Find it at other libraries via WorldCat Limited preview. Paul Westmacott. Bibliography Includes bibliographical references p. Contents Preface 1.

Introduction Part I. Structure and Physiognomy: 2. Structure of primary forest 3. Regeneration 4. Trees and shrubs i Vegetative features 5. Trees and shrubs ii Reproductive biology 6. The ground herbs and the dependent synusiae Part II. The Environment: 7. Climate R. Walsh 8. Data collection Forest successional stages were selected based in their structure and composition according to Kalacska et al.

They describe the forest succession in SRNP in terms of forest structure: tree height, number of canopy layers, tree light tolerance, and plant types, using forest age as a descriptive characteristic of the forest development and not as a deterministic factor. The categories of estimated forest ages in for these stages according to Kalacska et al.

According to protocols described by Alvarez et al. The selection of forest patches was performed previously by Kalacska et al. The distance between plots ranged from to 1, m. In each plot, we measured and identified all trees with diameters at breast height DBH, i.

Breeding systems, pollination, and seed dispersal syndromes were determined for each species, and we supported our findings with literature review, scientific articles and species monographs.

We had advice from plant parataxonomists of SRNP, and we also checked in the field for some of the tree species pollination syndromes that are not well determined. Monoecious plants have male and female flowers on the same individual tree , including perfect flowers. Dioecious plants have flowers of one sex, male or female on different individuals [46]. We established the categories for pollination and seed dispersal syndromes according to Chazdon et al.

For pollination we established: entomophily insects, including the Orders Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera and other ; lepidopterophily Order Lepidoptera, moths, hawkmoths, and butterflies ; anemophily wind ; chiropterophily bats ; and ornithophily birds.

Since some species can have more than one pollination system, we categorized them by the most important for each of the species observed [48]. We then classified trees according to the following seed dispersal syndromes: anemochory wind ; autochory ballistic ; barochory gravity ; chiropterochory bats ; mastochory mammals other than bats ; ornithochory birds ; and saurochory reptiles.

We also determined tree species richness, species diversity, composition, and abundances for each successional stage. Both indexes have been used widely to compare tree species composition among forest stages [52, 54, 55].

Finally, we performed Chi- squares tests to compare breeding systems among successional stages. Results Species Composition and Diversity We measured a total of 1, trees in the nine successional plots. These trees were classified in 96 species, and grouped in 41 families Appendix 1.

Tree species richness was highest in the intermediate successional stage 72 species , followed by the late 61 species , and then early 32 species stages Appendix 1. Some endangered species such as Cocobolo Dalbergia retusa and Spanish cedar Cedrela odorata , and species with high risk of extinction like Mahogany Swietenia macrophylla [56, 57], were found in all three TDF successional stages with a low abundance e.

Swietenia macrophylla individuals percentage per stage: early: 0. The early forest stage is dominated by species well adapted to open habitats like Silk cotton tree Cochlospermum vitifolium , Madero negro Gliricidia sepium and Yayo Rehdera trinervis Appendix 1 [44, 58].

These are also sun-loving species heliophytes that have anemochory and autochory dispersal syndromes. Mexican jumping bean Sebastiana pavoniana and Cancerina Semialarium mexicanum are shade tolerant species that prevail in the late stage. In the early successional stage, there was a total of 20 families, the intermediate stage 35 families, and the late stage 36 families Appendix 1.

Some families were highly dominant in only one particular successional stage: Verbenaceae Some families were only present or at least more common in some stages, for example Burseraceae in late stage; Tiliaceae, Flacourtiaceae, Sterculiaceae and Boraginaceae in the intermediate stage Table 1.

Table 1. The diversity indices showed differences among the three stages late vs. Of 96 species in total, 17 species were common to all successional stages, while four species were exclusive to the early stage, 22 to the intermediate stage, and eight to the late stage Appendix 1. One group allocates the three early stages plots with an intermediate plot I3 and a late plot L2 , and the second groups two intermediate and two late stage plots Fig. The first group is based on the presence of four common species among the plots Yayo Rehdera trinervis , Silk cotton tree Cochlospermum vitifolium , Cancerina Semialarium mexicanum , and Nance Byrsonima crassifolia showing a dominance of pioneer species.

Most trees of these species are old trees that remain when forests become old. The cluster based on Morisita Index showed also two main groups Fig.

We determined five different pollination syndromes in the three TDF successional stages at SRNP entomophily, lepidopterophily, anemophily, chiropterophily, and ornithophily. Entomophily was the most frequent syndrome either by number of individuals or number of species, followed by lepidopterophily in all the successional stages Table 3. Anemophily was important in number of trees pollinated, but only few species are pollinated by wind Table 3.

Chiropterophily and ornithophily were important syndromes for some trees, but only few species rely on them. Some tree species are generalistic and depend on more than a single pollinator Appendix 1. Seven different dispersal syndromes were observed in all the TDF successional stages, wind and birds being the most important agents in number of individuals and number of species dispersed Table 4. Mastochory is also a very important syndrome in terms of number of species dispersed for all the successional stages, and bats are important for some particular species such as Gumbo-limbo Bursera simaruba , Nance Byrsonima crassifolia , Ojoche Brosimum alicastrum , and Jagua Genipa americana.

There are some tree species, Madero negro Gliricidia sepium , Spanish cedar Cedrela odorata , Bernardia nicaraguensis, and Casco de venado Bauhinia ungulata that do not depend on animals for seed dispersal e. Table 2. Pollination syndrome by tree individuals and species observed in three tropical dry forest successional stages in Santa Rosa National Park, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Seed dispersal syndrome by tree individuals and species observed in three tropical dry forest stages in Santa Rosa, National Park, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

According to this hypothesis, intermediate successional stages at the SRNP have in general a level of recovery that is a transition in structure, physiognomy, microhabitats, and microclimates between young and old-growth forests [59]. This transition makes the intermediate stage viable and suitable for tree species that reside in both young open habitats and old-growth forests.

However, the intermediate stage shares more species with the late stage than with the early stage, suggesting that the transition characteristics of the intermediate successional stage facilitate a higher colonization and establishment of species more adapted to older successional stages.

Pioneer tree species were mostly found in the early stage; these species are fast- growing and well-adapted to disturbed habitats with full sunlight exposure [44, 60]. Not surprisingly in our study, heliophitic plant families were dominant in the early successional stage e. Verbenaceae, Cochlospermaceae and Fabaceae. The late successional stage has a more shaded understory and forest floor, and more humid soils pers.

This may explain why some species are restricted to this stage, Huevos de caballo Stemmadenia obovata , Mexican jumping bean Sebastiana pavoniana , Quebracho Lysiloma divaricatum , Canelo Ocotea veraguensis , and Quina Exostema mexicanum.

Low abundances of valuable timber species, Ron ron Astronium graveolens , Cocobolo Dalbergia retusa , Spanish cedar Cedrela odorata , and Mahogany Swietenia macrophylla are related to past selective pressure from logging [, 61, 62]. Some important dry forest pioneer species like Cocobolo D. The low species similarity among successional stages shows that the stages are very different in tree species composition, suggesting that the plots evaluated for each forest successional can have a particular history of species colonization and establishment Fig.

This is also supported by the cluster analysis based on species composition and Tropical Conservation Science ISSN Tropicalconservationscience. We think this is a combination of species habits e. Two heliophytic wind-dispersed trees showed a high dominance in two early plots E1 and E2 , which had the highest species similarity.

In contrast, one late successional stage plot with the lowest species similarity is dominated by two shade-tolerant species that have anemochory, Quina Exostema mexicanum and possibly autochory Mexican jumping bean Sebastiana mexicanum, unknown dispersal syndrome [65]. Breeding systems Monoecy is the most common breeding system observed in this study in terms of number of individuals and number of species.

Monoecy is present in tree species with small flowers and not dependant on specific pollinators, while specific reliable pollinators are needed only for dioecious species to succeed [67, 68].

Even though dioecious plants are in relatively lower numbers, their out-crossing is much more effective than out-crossing of monoecious plants [46, 69]. Dioecy also avoids self-pollination and autonomous reproduction, and increases genetic variability in unpredictable environments [46, 70, 71]. This is supported by our findings for both pollination and dispersal syndromes, where the high frequency of strong winds allows tree species take advantage of this particular climatic condition.

Pollination syndromes Entomophily is one of the most common and important pollination syndromes in several biomes throughout the Neotropics [34, ]. Most of the tree species observed in our study have small inflorescences that seem to be adapted to pollination by small visitors such as insects.

In addition, SRNP has an enormous insect diversity of about 13, species with the potential to visit flowers and pollinate them. Wind pollination anemophily can be an important pollination agent in early forests open and disturbed where pollinators may be scarce due to increased distance from less disturbed forests. We have observed few wind-pollinated tree species in the early stage, but one species was highly dominant there, Yayo Rehdera trinervis Appendix 1.

Also, wind does not prevent insects completely from visiting flowers; however, evaluating the success of these visits was not part of this study. In our study, chiropterophily was a frequent syndrome in some tree species like Guapinol Hymenaea courbaril and Palanco Sapranthus palanga , but again, most of tree species surveyed in this study have small inflorescences that are more adapted for insect pollination.

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