Stand Structure and Dynamics in the Temperate Rain Forests of Chiloe Archipelago, Chile

Forest Typification to Characterize the Structure and Composition of Old-growth Evergreen Forests on Chiloe Island, North Patagonia (Chile)

“…UPGMA is a consistent agglomerative clustering algorithm in which between-group dissimilarities are calculated as the average of all possible pairs of members of each group [28]. To perform the cluster analysis we included all the tree species from this study and those reported by other authors for evergreen forests of the North-Patagonian archipelago [8][9][10]13,[16][17][18] (see list of tree species in supplementary Table S1). This approach could be influenced by the different sampling effort between studies, but since we focused the analysis only on tree species, this should not be a problem.…”

“…The tree species composition from the present study showed a greater similarity to the North-Patagonian forests of the Taitao Peninsula (JI = 0.538) and the North-Patagonian forest studied by Gutierrez et al [13] (JI = 0.529) as compared with the forests of central and northern Chiloé (JI mean = 0.293). [18], Chiloé_N2 = North-Patagonian forest of Gutiérrez et al [13], and Group 2: Chiloé_C = Armesto and Fuentes [17], Chiloe_C2 = Donoso et al [9], Chiloé_C3 = Veblen [16], Chiloé_ARC = Armesto and Figueroa [10], Chiloé_N1 = Valdivian forest of Gutiérrez et al [13], Chiloé_NW = Donoso et al [8]. Note: Different letters indicate significant differences (P < 0.05) between each forest group, n = number of plots; * Understory woody species.…”

“…Currently, Chiloé Island (41°48' S-43°27' S) has an approximate area of 550,000 ha covered by the Evergreen forest type in different stages of development and conservation [7]. In the last three decades, a series of studies on the ecology, dynamics and structure of forests in northern and central Chiloé have been published (e.g., [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]). These studies refer to the Evergreen forest type, when oriented to forestry, or to either Valdivian of North-Patagonian temperate rainforests, a phytogeographical division developed by Veblen et al [15] that is usually followed in forest ecology studies.…”

“…These studies refer to the Evergreen forest type, when oriented to forestry, or to either Valdivian of North-Patagonian temperate rainforests, a phytogeographical division developed by Veblen et al [15] that is usually followed in forest ecology studies. On Chiloé Island, the two physiognomic formations of the Evergreen forest type overlap, Valdivian forests in well-drained lands, and North-Patagonian forests, in lands with restricted drainage conditions [10,15]. Valdivian forests characteristically include Eucryphia cordifolia Cav.…”

Limitantes físicos y bióticos de la regeneración arbórea en matorrales sucesionales de la Isla Grande de Chiloé, Chile

“…Estos tres modelos (tolerancia, facilitación e inhibición) pueden actuar durante la sucesión como hipótesis no excluyentes (Pickett et al 1987). En el bosque templado del sur de Chile, la mayoría de los estudios de regeneración arbórea se han realizado en el interior de bosques primarios y secundarios (Armesto & Figueroa 1987, Lusk 1995, Christie & Armesto 2003. Muy pocos trabajos han evaluado la regeneración leñosa en sitios de matorral secundario (e.g., Papic 2000, Aravena et al 2002.…”