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Floristic and structural changes during old-field succession in the Mexican tropics in relation to site history and species availability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Silvia E. Purata
Silvia E. Purata
Affiliation:
Institute of Ecological Botany, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Abstract

Community patterns along a successional sequence of abandoned fields within a tropical rain forest environment are described in terms of floristic composition and structure. Temporal patterns were summarized and main axes of variation extracted by multivariate methods.

External factors – length of cropping period, regrowth age, and proportion of the perimeter occupied by forest communities or remnants (here called forested perimeter) – were related to floristic and structural data on 40 sites. Multivariate direct gradient analysis showed overall floristic development to be positively related to regrowth age and forested perimeter, and negatively related to length of cropping period.

Structural development was shown by multiple regression to be positively related to regrowth age and negatively to length of cropping period; but forested perimeter had no significant relation to site structure. The type of crop grown showed no significant relation with floristic or structural development of the regrowth.

These results indicate that the conditions of the vegetation around a site have a great effect on community recovery, particularly in its species composition, whilst structure seems to be affected more directly by parameters which imply time.

Resumen

Se describe la composición florística y la estructura en una serie de comunidades que representan una secuencia sucesional en cuarenta terrenos agrícolas y pastizales abandonados.

Los datos florísticos y estructurales de las comunidades fueron relacionados con algunos factores extemos tales como la duración del período de cultivo, el período de abandono y la proporción del perímetro del sitio ocupado por selvas o comunidades arboreas derivadas de esta.

Un análisis multivariado directo de gradientes, demostró que los cambios florísticos estan relacionados positivamente con el tiempo de abandono y el contacto con comunidades forestales y negativamente relacionado con la duración del período de cultivo.

Por medio de regresión múltiple se demostró que el desarrollo estructural está positivamente relacionado con el período de abandono y negativamente con la duración del período de cultivo; el contacto con comunidades forestales no tuvo sin embargo, relación significativa con la estructura de las comunidades. El tipo de cultivo previo al abandono tampoco mostró tener relación significativa con la composición florística o con la estructura.

Los resultados indican que la vegetatión que rodea a los campos abandonados tiene gran influencia en la secuencia sucesional, particularmente en lo que se reflere a la composición florística, mientras que la estructura parece estar mas directamente afectada por el período de abandono.

Keywords

direct gradient analysisdisturbanceMexicomultivariate methodssecondary successionspecies availabilitytropical rain forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , August 1986 , pp. 257 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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