The altitudinal zonation of forests on Mount Kerinci, Sumatra (3800 m) is described and compared with that in the temperate region of east Asia. Nine plots were selected between 1750 m in altitude and the upper limit of vegetation at 3250 m, at intervals of about 200 m in altitude. The plots are distinguished according to their main dominants, and the population structure of the dominant species is examined. The lower forests have species showing the whole range of size classes as well as solitary giants as dominants, but the upper forests lack these giants and are floristically poorer. Between 1750 m (the start of well preserved natural vegetation) and 2950 m (the forest limit) three forest zones are distinguished, and between 2950 and 3250 m a scrub zone. Upper forest zones tend to be dominated by species of the same genus or family which form important understory components of the zone below. Based on floristic comparisons with mountains of higher latitudes (i.e. Himalayas and Japan), the two lower forest zones (up to 2400 m) represent a subtropical zone, and the upper forest zone a warm-temperate zone. Climatic conditions at the forest limit on Mount Kerinci are similar to those at the latitudinal limit of warm-temperate evergreen trees; in the Himalayas the forest limit represents the latitudinal limit of the cool-temperate, and in Japan of the subarctic Altitudinal zonation patterns change with latitude, reaching their most complex on subtropical mountains where the two floristic realms, the Boreal and Palaeotropical, meet. A scheme for the pattern of vegetation zonation in east Asia is proposed.

Dew deposition was calculated for leaves of the epiphytic bromeliads Tillandsia brachycaulos and T. elongata in a tropical dry deciduous forest in Yucatán, Mexico, over one year. Plant characteristics and water relations were also measured. Estimations were made by using energy balance analysis and the Penman–Monteith equation. Dew accumulation was also quantified using a cloth-plate method and by change in mass of whole plants. Tissue water content and total leaf area were similar in the two species, but maximum tank water content was three-fold greater for T. elongata than for T. brachycaulos, which had a lower degree of tissue desiccation tolerance than T. elongata. Succulence for T. brachycaulos changed little during most of the year, decreasing significantly only during one month in the dry season. Leaf water potential and osmotic pressure did not change significantly after a dew-deposition event. Theoretical dew per night on leaves was greatest during the early dry season (about 0.72 mm) compared with 0.34 mm in the rainy season and 0.008 mm in the late dry season. Dew amounts alone are not adequate to support growth but may maintain a favourable water balance for epiphytic bromeliads during the driest months of the year.

We evaluated the effects of topography on the distribution of understorey herbs, shrubs and small trees of the pantropical genus Psychotria (Rubiaceae) in a 10000-ha rain-forest reserve in central Amazonia. As plots were long and thin, and followed altitudinal isoclines, we were able to avoid the trade off between plot size and precision of measurement of topographical variables. The minimum distance between plots (1 km) was sufficient to avoid spatial autocorrelation in topographical variables. However, indices of plot similarity based on species composition were spatially autocorrelated to distances of at least 4 km. Although Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) indicated significant effects of altitude, slope, and watershed on species composition within plots, topographical variables were generally poor surrogates for species distributions. Differences between eastern and western watersheds within the reserve were not due to distance effects, and most species occurred in both watersheds, indicating that differences in species assemblages between watersheds are determined by ecological factors. Habitat specialization and local density were not clearly associated with rarity. At scales of 1–10 km, both distance and habitat affect the distribution of understorey shrubs of the genus Psychotria, but much of the variation in species abundances remains unexplained.

Despite the potential importance of temporal separation for the coexistence of competing species, no study has found significant segregation at the circadian level between jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor) in sympatry. Using data from camera trap surveys (wet and dry seasons), we have evaluated the activity patterns of both species and their potential prey at four areas in the dry forest of the Bolivian Chaco. We tested if temporal separation existed between these two species, and if their activity was related to that of a particular prey. At most sites, activity patterns of jaguar and puma did not vary significantly between seasons, except for puma at one site. There were no differences between sexes for any cat species at any site. At three sites we found statistically significant differences in the activity patterns of jaguar and puma, as they showed a clear temporal segregation. None of them followed the activity patterns of any particular prey species across sites. The latter suggests that segregation is influenced by avoidance behaviour between the two felid species. Therefore, temporal separation may be an important behavioural factor promoting the coexistence of jaguar and puma in some areas of this dry forest.

This study described the diet of the orange-rumped agouti Dasyprocta leporina in French Guiana. Five food types were identified in stomach contents: seeds, pulp, fibre, leaves and animal matter. D. leporina ate mainly fruit parts, pulp and seeds, although the ingestion of animals, leaves and fibre was not negligible. Food intake differed from one season to another. D. leporina was a pulp-eater (64.8% pulp in March) when fleshy fruit was plentiful and available on the ground (February–May). The level of pulp ingestion was globally in accordance with fruit production. When food resources were low (June–September), D. leporina consumed seeds and cotyledons (73.0% seeds in August) as well as animal (16.4% in July) and to a lesser level, plant parts. By focusing on other food categories, and particularly seeds, it gets nutritious food thus avoiding starvation between June–September. Large proportions of seeds appeared in stomach contents and correlations between seed quantities and ground production were negative and significant; D. leporina seemed to react to environmental factors such as rainfall and fruit production.

Even though the great majority of the biomass and diversity of mammals in tropical forests inhabit the canopy (Eisenberg & Thorington 1973), most knowledge of this group is based on forest-floor samples (Lowman & Moffett 1993). Studies that include trapping efforts in the canopy are becoming increasingly common (Grelle 2003, Lambert et al. 2005, Malcolm 1995, Patton et al. 2000, Vieira & Monteiro-Filho 2003, Voss et al. 2001), but aspects on the ecology of arboreal small mammals still remain poorly understood. Many species of non-flying mammals co-occur in the canopy and, thus, are expected to use niche dimensions differently to permit coexistence (Cameron et al. 1979). Despite the difficulties of access to and in understanding the three-dimensional use of the arboreal strata by the different species (Emmons 1995), some studies have demonstrated that the differential use of the habitat (Cunha & Vieira 2002, Gentile & Fernandez 1999), of food items (Cáceres et al. 2002, Santori et al. 1995) or both (Leite et al. 1996, Mauffrey & Catzeflis 2003), include strategies involved in the division of resources.

In 1933/34 eight coppice plots were established in Brachystegia-Julbemardia (miombo) woodland at Ndola in the Copperbelt area of Zambia by the Forestry Department. These plots have been maintained under fire protection, annual early or late dry season burning since 1934/35. Before establishment stems over 20.3 cm girth at breast height were enumerated. Three of the eight plots (one fire protected and two annually early burnt) were enumerated in 1982, 48–49 years after establishment. In addition, a coppice plot at Chitwi, 16 km southwest of the Ndola plots, cleared in 1972 and left to regenerate naturally was enumerated in May 1982 and August 1986 to assess woody plant growth.

The density of stems over 20.0 cm girth in the 13-year-old coppice at Chitwi was 2.5 times that in an adjacent shelterbelt woodland. The stem density in the fire protected plot at Ndola in 1982 was 86% of the pre-felling density while in one of the early burnt plots it was 95% of the pre-felling density. The protected plot had the lowest species diversity after 49 years, largely because of the loss of 11 understorey species that were present before felling.

There were no significant differences in stem mean girth at breast height (gbh) of canopy species in the Ndola plots under fire protection and early burning regimes. Mean annual gbh increments of abundant species were estimated at 1.17–2.21 cm yr−1 and 0.59–1.42 cm yr−1 during 0–9 and 0–49 year age-periods, respectively. Estimated mean annual basal area increments for stems over 30 cm gbh were 0.35 m2 ha−1 for the 13-year-old coppice and 0.24–0.27 m2 ha−1 for the 49-year-old coppice. These results indicate a decrease in both gbh and basal area increment with increasing age of miombo coppice

The 71 ha Bukit Timah Nature Reserve contains the largest surviving area of primary rain forest in Singapore. The recorded vascular plant flora of the forest consists of at least 854 species: 787 angiosperms in 109 families, 65 pteridophytes and three gymnosperms. 58.6% of the species are trees or shrubs, 18.7% climbers, 12.3% terrestrial herbs, 8.8% epiphytes and hemi-epiphytes, 1.0% saprophytes and 0.6% parasites. The four families with most species -Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Orchidaceae and Moraceae - account for a quarter of the angio-sperm flora but contribute few large trees. Community reproductive phenology is charac-terized by supra-annual bursts of general flowering and fruiting, contrasting with a low back-ground level. After an exceptionally dry and sunny February, 1987, more than 150 species in 42 families flowered between late March and late May, followed by an equally well-defined fruiting peak 13 weeks later, between late June and late August.

A standard Rothamsted light trap was operated for slightly over 12 months from the end of September 1979 to October 1980 at Genting Sempah, Pahang in Malaysia. All specimens of macrolepidoptera families together with the Pyralidae were identified, counted and recorded. The numbers of species caught were compared with those obtained by a different method at a nearby site for over 10 years. Diversity, biomass and seasonality of the catch were compared with identically sampled populations in Great Britain and New Zealand. The Genting Sempah trap had very high diversity and biomass compared with the temperate samples and exhibited much less seasonality. The Pyralidae and other families (excluding Noctuidae and Geometridae) formed a much higher component of diversity in Genting than in Britain. The log-normal distribution fits the data better than the log-series. So the inter-quartile slope, Q, is the correct parameter for interfaunal comparisons.

To study regeneration on landslides, we counted the number of woody stems at least 1 m tall in 2 m × 5 m permanent plots on Puerto Rican landslides for 5 y and generated successional pathways for all plots in 16 different landslides using principal components analysis (PCA). PCA separated plots well, with early successional plant species (Cecropia schreberiana, Schefflera morolotoni, Alchornea latifolia, Gonzalagunia spicata) positively associated with axes I and II, and the negative portion of axis II associated with a mix of those species and mid-successional species (Inga vera, Piper glabrescens). Pathways generally showed (1) a positive association with axis I in early succession, (2) a negative association with both I and II later in succession, (3) little evidence of a decrease in the rate of succession, and (4) a lack of convergence of pathways over the 5 y of our study.

Lianas of Yasuní National Park and the Huaorani Ethnic Reserve, Ecuador were sampled using 0.2-ha subsamples from 12 1-ha plots. Using surveys and herbarium collections, the total species richness of lianas in the park and reserve is estimated to be close to 500 species. Terra firme habitats are significantly more species rich than floodplain habitats, but density of stems is not significantly different between habitats. The most abundant liana species is Machaerium cuspidatum Kuhlm. & Hoehne (Fabaceae) in both floodplain and terra firme habitats, representing more than 10% of all stems in census plots. Analysis of rarity indicates that none of the liana species encountered on the 12 plots is rare in terms of geographic range, and many species are not rare in terms of population size or habitat specificity. The rank order of abundance, combined with the coefficient of variability in species distribution among plots, is used to identify the 38 species (an oligarchy) that dominate forests in Yasuní.

On 31 December 2001, Tropical Cyclone Waka passed directly over the Vava'u island group, Kingdom of Tonga, with sustained and maximum wind speeds of 185 km h−1 and 230 km h−1 respectively. During a prior study of forest secondary succession, 44 forest plots on 13 islands had been surveyed in 1995 and their locations marked. Nineteen of the plots were resurveyed and two additional transects established in May–June 2002, 6 mo following the cyclone. Cyclone-related tree mortality averaged 6%, varied from 0–7% for lowland late-successional species, and tended to be higher for early successional plots (8–16%) and species (4–19%). Severe damage (uprooting, snapped stems) affected 25% of the 2030 stems measured. The proportion of snapped stems was disproportionately high in the 10–15-cm stem diameter class. Uprooting was more prevalent than expected by chance among larger trees (>20 cm diameter). The greatest mortality and severe damage (combined,>35% of stems) occurred in plots that were early successional. Over the 6 y prior to the storm, background recruitment and mortality averaged 1.4% and 3.3% respectively. Mortality was greater than recruitment, while basal area was increasing, in most plots that had not experienced additional anthropogenic disturbance.

It is critical to understand the responses of tropical tree species to ongoing anthropogenic disturbances. Given the longevity of large trees and the scarcity of appropriately long-term demographic data, standing size distributions are a potential tool for predicting species' responses to disturbances and resultant changes in population structure. Here we test the utility of several different measures of size distribution for predicting subsequent population changes at the intraspecific level using demographic records from two subsampled 50-ha tree plots in Malaysia (Pasoh and Lambir). Most measures of size distribution failed to successfully predict population change better than random; however, the ‘coefficient of skewness’ (a measure of the relative proportion of small vs. large stems in a population) was able to correctly predict the direction of population change for approximately three-quarters of species at both sites. At Pasoh, the magnitude of this relationship decreased with adult stature and rate of turnover, but was unrelated to sapling growth rates at either site. Finally, using data for species common at both forests, we found that size distributions were generally uninformative of subsequent differences in population change between sites (only median dbh correctly predicted the direction of change for more species than random). Based on these results we conclude that some measures of intraspecific differences in size distribution are potentially informative of population trends within forests but have limited utility across broader spatial scales.

The relationships between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and root morphological characteristics were studied under greenhouse conditions of 78 tropical native woody species and 47 seedling species collected in the field. Seedlings of native woody pioneer and early secondary species that generally exhibited fine roots with a dense cover of long root hairs showed higher mycorrhizal response and root mycorrhizal colonization than late-secondary and climax species with coarse roots with a sparse cover of short root hairs. Root-hair length and incidence decreased with the progression among the successional groups while fine-root diameter increased, both in the greenhouse and in the field. The mycorrhizal response was highly correlated to root mycorrhizal colonization in the greenhouse and in the field. These parameters were inversely correlated with the seed mass and fine-root diameter, but directly correlated with root-hair incidence, both in the greenhouse and in the field. Mycorrhizal response and root mycorrhizal colonization were also directly correlated with the root-hair length and root/shoot ratio of uninoculated plants. The seedling mycorrhizal status of the early successional woody species suggests that the root traits of these fast-growing species can be more receptive to attraction, infection and colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizas than root traits of late-successional species.

Community structure, macrohabitat selection, and patterns of species co-occurrence were examined during a 14-month study of small mammals in the Cerrado Province of central Brazil. Data were collected from mark-recapture grids in brejo and gallery forest, and from live-trapping and specimen collection in all habitat types within cerrado (campo limpo, campo sujo, cerrado [s.s.], cerradão, brejo, valley-side wet campo, and gallery forest). Gallery forest supported the highest species richness, most complex vertical distribution of species, highest level of trophic diversity, and highest macroniche diversity. Degree of habitat selection varied widely. All habitat types supported both rodents and marsupials, although marsupials tended to be much less common in the grasslands (campos) than in woodlands (cerrado) and forests (cerradão, gallery forest). Some species, such as Didelphis albiventris, occurred in all habitat types, while others were much more restricted. Oryzomys bicolor, for example, ocur-red only in gallery forest. No habitat type had a completely distinct fauna: overlap in species composition always occurred with at least one other habitat type. Because of the great variability of habitats, and the fact that subsets of the mammal fauna were frequently habitat specific, the overall species richness of any portion of mixed cerrado vegetation is remarkably high.

In a 1-y study of vegetation harvested by the leaf-cutting ants, Atta colombica Guérin, daily harvesting activity of two nests was observed for 24 h at c. 1-wk intervals (colony I: June 1993-June 1994; colony II: February-June 1994) on Barro Colorado Island. The average daily quantity of green leaves harvested by colony I was higher during the wet season (11.4 m2 d−1) than during the dry season (9.0 m2 d−1), but was highly variable between survey days. Total annual herbivory of green leaves was estimated to be 3,855 m2 foliage area for colony I and 1,707 m2 for colony II. Total dry weight of biomass harvested was higher in the dry season because most material collected during the wet season consisted of green leaves, while during the dry season, more than 50% of the total collected biomass was non-green plant material (stipules of Ficus sp., fruits, seeds, and flower parts of a variety of other species) which represented c. one third (111 kg y−1) of the total annual intake (370 kg y−1) of plant material. Total daily biomass intake was negatively correlated with daytime rainfall. The peak of daily foraging was affected by timing and duration of rainfall events. Highest input rates normally occurred between 15:00 and 16:00 h (colony I).Dry weight and surface area of harvested leaf fragments differed between plant species, with thicker leaves generally being cut into smaller pieces. Significant linear correlations were found between total daily harvest of fragments and the respective harvesting rate at the maximum of daily activity. High correspondence was found between estimates using this relationship and the measured daily leaf harvest of four other Atta colonies and of two colonies reported in published literature. The use of this relationship as a research tool is discussed.

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) have been used to study the structure of food webs. However, few studies have examined how a terrestrial food web can be depicted by this technique. We measured δ13C and δ15N in various consumers of four trophic groups (detritivores, herbivores, omnivores and predators), including vertebrates and invertebrates (14 orders, ≥24 families), as well as canopy and understorey leaves in a tropical rain forest in Malaysia. We found that δ13C and δ15N of the consumers differed significantly among the trophic groups. The predators had significantly higher δ13C than the herbivores, and were similar in δ13C to the detritivores, suggesting that most predators examined depend largely on below-ground food webs. δ15N was higher in predators than detritivores by about 3‰. The comparison of δ13C in plant materials and herbivores suggests that most herbivores are dependent on C fixed in the canopy layers. The vertebrates had significantly higher δ15N and δ13C than the invertebrates of the same trophic group, likely reflecting differences in the physiological processes and/or feeding habits. This study indicates that stable isotope techniques can help better understanding of the terrestrial food webs in terms of both trophic level and the linkage of above- and below-ground systems.

Growth and survival of plants of eight species of epiphytic bromeliad were studied over a period of 5 y in a humid montane forest in eastern Mexico using repeated photographs of branches. Growth was calculated from annual size increment and used to predict the time taken to reach fertility. Most intermediate-sized plants grew at a rate of 2–3 cm y−1, with the exception of Tillandsia deppeana, which does not invest in offshoots and grew about twice as fast. Tillandsia deppeana and two Catopsis spp. were predicted to become fertile after 11 and 9 y, respectively, T. multicaulis and T. punctulata after 13 y and T. juncea after 18 y. Individuals growing closer to the tree top tended to grow slightly faster. Relative growth rate calculated as biomass increase of the leading shoot was highest in T. deppeana and lowest in T. juncea. These differences are related to the proportion of biomass invested in offshoots, which are most numerous in T. juncea and mostly absent in T. deppeana. Fast maturation is particularly important for species growing on small and exposed branches, which experience higher mortalities caused by the breakage of their supporting branches.