Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- 9 Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: current state of knowledge
- 10 Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)
- 11 Tropical lowland cloud forest: a neglected forest type
- 12 Altitudinal zonation and diversity patterns in the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- 13 The outstandingly speciose epiphytic flora of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest
- 14 Comparative structure, pattern, and tree traits of laurel cloud forests in Anaga, northern Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in lauro-fagaceous forests of central Japan
- 15 Temperature and humidity as determinants of the transition from dry pine forest to humid cloud forests in the Bhutan Himalaya
- 16 The importance of cloud forest sites in the conservation of endemic and threatened species of the Albertine Rift
- 17 The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): two charismatic, large mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests
- 18 Cloud forests in East Africa as evolutionary motors for speciation processes of flightless Saltatoria species
- 19 Diversity of geometrid moths in two Neotropical rain forests
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- References
13 - The outstandingly speciose epiphytic flora of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest
from Part II - Regional floristic and animal diversity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- 9 Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: current state of knowledge
- 10 Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)
- 11 Tropical lowland cloud forest: a neglected forest type
- 12 Altitudinal zonation and diversity patterns in the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- 13 The outstandingly speciose epiphytic flora of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest
- 14 Comparative structure, pattern, and tree traits of laurel cloud forests in Anaga, northern Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in lauro-fagaceous forests of central Japan
- 15 Temperature and humidity as determinants of the transition from dry pine forest to humid cloud forests in the Bhutan Himalaya
- 16 The importance of cloud forest sites in the conservation of endemic and threatened species of the Albertine Rift
- 17 The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): two charismatic, large mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests
- 18 Cloud forests in East Africa as evolutionary motors for speciation processes of flightless Saltatoria species
- 19 Diversity of geometrid moths in two Neotropical rain forests
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- References
Summary
ABSTRACT
An unprecedented total of 190 holo-epiphytic and five hemi-epiphytic vascular plant species were collected from the canopy and the trunk of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest. A large majority of the vascular species were rare in occurrence, suggesting a high proportion of patchily distributed species within the cloud forest. One hundred and fourteen of the vascular epiphyte species were orchids, 37 species were ferns, and 17 species were bromeliads. Seventy-three of the orchid species belonged to the Pleurothallidinae. Perú is one of the global strongholds of remaining unmodified tropical montane cloud forest. However, cloud forest studies on any topic emanating from Perú are relatively rare. The outstanding epiphyte species richness of a single tree highlights both the importance of cloud forests for global biodiversity, and the urgency for more research and conservation initiatives within the cloud forests of Perú.
INTRODUCTION
Peruvian montane cloud forests are one of the global strongholds of remaining unmodified tropical montane cloud forest (Mulligan, this volume). However, they have received comparatively little scientific attention until now (e.g. Frahm, 1987: Leo, 1995; Weng et al. 2004; Gomez-Peralta et al., 2008) and are under increasing threat of deforestation (Young and León, 1995; Mulligan, this volume). The extinction rate of plant species through cloud forest removal in Perú is unknown because most cloud forests have not been botanically prospected (Honorio and Reynel, 2004). Epiphyte flora makes up a large component of plant diversity in Andean forests (Gentry and Dodson, 1987a; Kelly et al., 1994; Bussmann, 2001; Nieder et al., 2001, cf. Gradstein et al., this volume; Krömer and Gradstein, this volume).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Tropical Montane Cloud ForestsScience for Conservation and Management, pp. 142 - 146Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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