Recovery of aboveground biomass, species richness and composition in tropical secondary forests in SW Costa Rica

Oberleitner, Florian; Egger, Carola; Oberdorfer, Sarah; Dullinger, Stefan; Wanek, Wolfgang; Hietz, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118580

Cited by 33 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Habitat specialization was determined based on a multinomial classification method using a conservative supermajority threshold (K = 2/3) and a high significance level (p = 0.005; see Chazdon et al, 2011). In addition to data on species abundance compiled by Letcher et al (2015), we included local data from twelve 500 m 2 plots in secondary forests (Oberleitner, 2016) and from 15 OG and five secondary forest plots of 1 ha (Morera-Beita et al, 2019).…”

Section: Habitat Specializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successional habitat filtering of rainforest trees is explained by potential growth more than by functional traits

et al. 2020

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Section: Habitat Specializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successional habitat filtering of rainforest trees is explained by potential growth more than by functional traits

et al. 2020

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“…This may follow from the fact that both fast-growing and light-demanding tree species typically dominate at the early successional stage. In contrast, it takes a longer time for dominant species with large DBH to grow and for saplings of shade-tolerant species to reach the max limit at later stages of succession [49]. After more than 45 years of recovery, the plant recruitment, mortality, relative growth and turnover dynamics in secondary forests showed no significant difference with old-growth forests, which also indicated that the recovering tropical montane rainforests are very stable.…”

Section: The Recovery Of Community Structure In Secondary Forestsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Recovery of Logged Tropical Montane Rainforests as Potential Habitats for Hainan Gibbon

Fan

Yue

Liu

et al. 2021

Forests

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As the world’s rarest ape, the main threat facing Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is habitat degradation and loss caused by human disturbances. The insufficient area and continuous human disturbance in most of the existing habitats can hardly maintain the future recovery and development of the gibbon population. A large area of secondary tropical montane rainforest in recovery was retained in Bawangling National Nature Reserve after disturbance. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the recovery of these secondary forests for the protection and restoration of Hainan gibbon habitat. To explore the recovery of secondary tropical rainforests after different disturbances, and whether they have the potential to serve as the future habitats for Hainan gibbon, we calculated four dynamic indexes (including recruitment rate, mortality/loss rate, relative growth rate and turnover rate) of abundance and basal area for the total community and for food plants of Hainan gibbon based on data from two censuses of secondary forests recovered nearly 45 years after different disturbances (clear-cutting and selective-logging) and old-growth forest of tropical montane rainforest. The results are as follows: (1) There were no significant differences in recruitment rates, mortality rates and turnover rates of abundance and basal area between recovered clear-cutting forests, selectively logged forests and old-growth forests. (2) Abundance, basal area and species of small (1 < DBH ≤ 10 cm) and medium (10 ≤ DBH < 30 cm) food plants in the two disturbed forests were higher, while those of large food plants (DBH ≥ 30 cm) in the two forests were lower than in old-growth forests. (3) For the common food species occurring in all three kinds of communities, the relative growth rate of most small trees in clear-cutting forest was higher than that of old-growth forest. Our research demonstrates that the lack of large food plants is the key limiting factor for the development of the secondary mountain rainforest as habitats for Hainan gibbon at present. However, it has great potential to transform into suitable habitats through targeted restoration and management due to the high recruitment rate and relative growth rate of the small- and medium-sized food plants.

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“…Again, studies on biodiversity consequences of tropical forest regeneration are commonly found in the Neotropics (e.g. Letcher et al, 2009;Oberleitner et al, 2021) and tropical Asia (e.g. Hayward et al, 2021;Mahayani et al, 2020), but are rare in the Congo Basin (but see Bauters et al, 2019;Makelele et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of forest disturbance and regeneration on tree species composition and traits in DR Congo

Depecker

Asimonyio

Miteho

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Despite their key role in biodiversity conservation, forests of the Congo Basin are increasingly threatened by human activities. Whereas deforestation is very conspicuous, it remains challenging to monitor the impact of forest degradation under a more or less intact canopy. Likewise, the outcomes of forest regeneration following agricultural abandonment remain poorly studied in the Congo Basin. Here, we surveyed 125 vegetation quadrats across 25 forest inventory plots in the Yangambi region, and based on historical land-use maps. We aimed to assess both the impact of anthropogenic disturbance and forest recovery on tree species diversity, tree functional traits, community composition, canopy cover, and forest structure, as compared to undisturbed old-growth forest. We found that undisturbed old-growth forest harboured more tree individuals, particularly individuals with a smaller diameter, as well as species with a higher wood density when compared to both disturbed old-growth and regrowth forest. Moreover, species diversity was highest in disturbed old-growth forest. Tree species composition was significantly different between undisturbed old-growth forest and the other two forest categories. Our findings indicate that anthropogenic disturbance results in a degraded forest structure and may reduce the forest's ability to store carbon. Whereas species diversity recovered 60 years after agricultural abandonment, species composition remained different from undisturbed old-growth forest. Our study illustrates the need for more extensive vegetation surveys in the Congo Basin in order to quantify the effects of human disturbance under a closed canopy.

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Recovery of aboveground biomass, species richness and composition in tropical secondary forests in SW Costa Rica

Cited by 33 publications

References 55 publications

Successional habitat filtering of rainforest trees is explained by potential growth more than by functional traits

Successional habitat filtering of rainforest trees is explained by potential growth more than by functional traits

Recovery of Logged Tropical Montane Rainforests as Potential Habitats for Hainan Gibbon

Effects of forest disturbance and regeneration on tree species composition and traits in DR Congo

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