Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:25:21.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Repeated disturbances and canopy disturbance regime in a tropical semi-deciduous forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2008

Renato A. Ferreira de Lima ,
Adriana M. Zanforlin Martini ,
Sérgius Gandolfi  and
Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
Renato A. Ferreira de Lima*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia e Restauração Florestal (LERF), Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, ESALQ/USP. Av. Pádua Dias, 11, Caixa Postal 9, CEP 13.418-900, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
Adriana M. Zanforlin Martini
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Diadema. Rua Prof. Artur Riedel, 275, Bairro Eldorado, CEP 09972-270. Diadema, SP, Brazil
Sérgius Gandolfi
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia e Restauração Florestal (LERF), Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, ESALQ/USP. Av. Pádua Dias, 11, Caixa Postal 9, CEP 13.418-900, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia e Restauração Florestal (LERF), Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, ESALQ/USP. Av. Pádua Dias, 11, Caixa Postal 9, CEP 13.418-900, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The canopy disturbance regime and the influence of gap methods on the interpretation of forest structure and dynamics were evaluated in a tropical semi-deciduous forest in south-eastern Brazil. We encountered a gap density of 11.2 gaps ha−1 and an average size which varied from 121 to 333 m2 depending on the gap delimitation method considered (minimum gap size was 10 m2). Although average size was slightly higher, the median value obtained (78 m2) was comparable to other tropical forest sites and the gap size-class distribution found supported the pattern described for such forest sites. Among 297 gap makers, snapping and uprooting were the most common modes of disturbance. The number and basal area of gap makers were good predictors of gap size. Almost 25% of all gaps suffered from repeated disturbance events that brought about larger gap sizes. Such processes, along with delimitation methods, strongly influenced the estimation of turnover rate and therefore the interpretation of forest dynamics. These results demonstrated the importance of further studies on repeated disturbances, which is often neglected in forest studies.

Keywords

Canopy gapscomplex gapsgap sizesouth-eastern Braziltreefallsturnover rate
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 85 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ABE, S., MASAKI, T. & NAKASHIZUKA, T. 1995. Factors influencing sapling composition in canopy gaps of a temperate deciduous forest. Vegetatio 120:21–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ARRIAGA, L. 2000. Types and causes of tree mortality in a tropical montane cloud forest of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 16:623–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BONGERS, F., POPMA, J., CASTILLO, J. M. & CARABIAS, J. 1988. Structure and floristic composition of the lowland rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Vegetatio 74:55–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BROKAW, N. V. L. 1982a. The definition of treefall gap and its effect on measures of forest dynamics. Biotropica 14:158–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BROKAW, N. V. L. 1982b. Treefalls: frequency, timing, and consequences. Pp. 101–108 in Leigh, E. G., Rand, A. S. & Windsor, D. M. (eds.). The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long-term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
BUSING, R. T. 2005. Tree mortality, canopy turnover, and woody detritus in old cove forests of the Southern Appalachians. Ecology 86:73–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CAREY, E. V., BROWN, S., GILLESPIE, A. J. R. & LUGO, A. E. 1994. Tree mortality in mature lowland tropical moist and tropical lower montane moist forests of Venezuela. Biotropica 26:255–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHANDRASHEKARA, U. M. & RAMAKRISHNAN, P. S. 1994. Vegetation and gap dynamics of a tropical wet evergreen forest in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:337–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CLARK, D. B. 1990. The role of disturbance in the regeneration of neotropical moist forests. Pp. 291–315 in Bawa, K. S. & Hadley, M. (eds.). Reproductive ecology of tropical forest plants. UNESCO, Paris.Google Scholar
DENSLOW, J. S. 1980. Gap partitioning among tropical rainforest trees. Biotropica 12:47–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DENSLOW, J. S. & HARTSHORN, G. S. 1994. Tree-fall gap environments and forest dynamic processes. Pp. 120–127 in McDade, L. A., Bawa, K. S., Hespenheide, H. A. & Hartshorn, G. S. (eds.). La Selva: ecology and natural history of a neotropical rain forest. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.Google Scholar
GRAU, H. R. 2002. Scale-dependent relationships between treefalls and species richness in a Neotropical montane forest. Ecology 83:2591–2601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GREEN, P. T. 1996. Canopy gaps in rain forest on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: size distribution and methods of measurement. Journal of Tropical Ecology 12:427–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HARTSHORN, G. S. 1978. Tree falls and tropical forest dynamics. Pp. 617–638 in Tomlinson, P. B. & Zimmermann, M. H. (eds.). Tropical trees as living systems. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
HUBBELL, S. P. & FOSTER, R. B. 1986. Canopy gaps and the dynamics of a neotropical forest. Pp. 77–96 in Crawley, M. J. (ed.). Plant ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
JANS, L., POORTER, L., VAN ROMPAEY, R. S. A. R. & BONGERS, F. 1993. Gaps and forest zones in tropical moist forest in Ivory Coast. Biotropica 25:258–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KAPOS, V., PALLANT, E., BIEN, A. & FRESKOS, S. 1990. Gap frequencies in lowland rain forest sites on contrasting soils in Amazonian Ecuador. Biotropica 22:218–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LAWTON, R. O. & PUTZ, F. E. 1988. Natural disturbance and gap-phase regeneration in a wind-exposed tropical cloud forest. Ecology 69:764–777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LERTZMAN, K. P. & KREBS, C. J. 1991. Gap-phase structure of a subalpine old-growth forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 21:1730–1741.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LIEBERMAN, D., LIEBERMAN, M., PERALTA, R. & HARTSHORN, G. S. 1985. Mortality patterns and stand turnover rates in a wet tropical forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology 73:915–924.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LIMA, R. A. F. 2005. Gap size measurement: the proposal of a new field method. Forest Ecology and Management 214:413–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LIMA, R. A. F. & MOURA, L. C. 2007. Gap disturbance regime and composition in the Atlantic montane rain forest: the influence of topography. Plant Ecology (in press).Google Scholar
MARTINEZ-RAMOS, M., ALVAREZ-BUYLLA, E., SARUKHÁN, J. & PINERO, D. 1988. Treefall age determination and gap dynamics in a tropical forest. Journal of Ecology 76:700–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MARTINI, A. M. Z., LIMA, R. A. F., FRANCO, G. A. D. C. & RODRIGUES, R. R. 2007. The need for full inventories of tree modes of disturbance to improve forest dynamics comprehension: an example from a semi-deciduous forest in Brazil. Forest Ecology and Management (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGILL, R., TUKEY, J. W. & LARSEN, W. A. 1978. Variations of box plots. The American Statistician 32:12–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POORE, M. D. E. 1968. Studies in the Malaysian rain forest: I. The forest on Triassic sediments in Jengka Forest Reserve. Journal of Ecology 56:143–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POORTER, L., JANS, L., BONGERS, F. & VAN ROMPAEY, R. S. A. R. 1994. Spatial distribution of gaps along three catenas in the moist forest of Tai National Park, Ivory Coast. Journal of Tropical Ecology 10:385–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POPMA, J., BONGERS, F., MARTINEZ-RAMOS, M. & VENEKLAAS, E. 1988. Pioneer species distribution in treefall gaps in neotropical rain forest: a gap definition and its consequences. Journal of Tropical Ecology 4:77–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PUTZ, F. E., COLEY, P. D., LU, K., MONTALVO, A. & AIELLO, A. 1983. Uprooting and snapping of trees: structural determinants and ecological consequences. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 13:1011–1020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RIERA, B. & ALEXANDRE, D. Y. 1988. Surface des chablis et temps de renouvellement en forêt dense tropicale. Acta Oecologica 9:211–220.Google Scholar
ROCHA, F. T. 2003. Levantamento florestal na Estação Ecológica dos Caetetus como subsídio para laudos de desapropriação ambiental. M.Sc. dissertation, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Piracicaba. 155 pp.Google Scholar
RUNKLE, J. R. 1982. Patterns of disturbance in some old-growth mesic forests of Eastern North America. Ecology 63:1533–1546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RUNKLE, J. R. 1990. Gap dynamics in an Ohio Acer-Fagus forest and speculations on the geography of disturbance. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 20:632–641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RUNKLE, J. R. 1992. Guidelines and sample protocol for sampling forest gaps. Forest Service (PNW-GTR-283), Portland. 44 pp.Google Scholar
SANFORD, R. L., BRAKER, H. E. & HARTSHORN, G. S. 1986. Canopy openings in a primary neotropical lowland forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 2:277–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TANAKA, H. & NAKASHIZUKA, T. 1994. Fifteen years of canopy dynamics analyzed by aerial photographs in a temperate deciduous forest, Japan. Ecology 78:612–620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAN DER MAAREL, E. 1993. Some remarks on disturbance and its relations to diversity and stability. Journal of Vegetation Science 4:733–736.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAN DER MEER, P. J. & BONGERS, F. 1996a. Patterns of tree-fall and branch-fall in a tropical rain forest in French Guiana. Journal of Ecology 84:19–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAN DER MEER, P. J. & BONGERS, F. 1996b. Formation and closure of canopy gaps in the rain forest at Nouragues, French Guiana. Vegetatio 126:167–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAN DER MEER, P. J., BONGERS, F., CHATROU, L. & RIERA, B. 1994. Defining canopy gaps in a tropical rain-forest – effects on gap size and turnover time. Acta Oecologica 15:701–714.Google Scholar
YAVITT, J. B., BATTLES, J. J., LANG, G. E. & KNIGHT, D. H. 1995. The canopy gap regime in a secondary neotropical forest in Panama. Journal of Tropical Ecology 11:391–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
YOUNG, T. P. & HUBBELL, S. P. 1991. Crown asymmetry, treefalls, and repeat disturbance of broad-leaved forest gaps. Ecology 72:1464–1471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar