Long‐term changes of the vascular epiphyte assemblage on the palm Socratea exorrhiza in a lowland forest in Panama

Question: What are the qualitative and quantitative long‐term changes in the vascular epiphyte assemblage on a particular host tree species? Location: Lowland rain forest of the San Lorenzo Crane Plot, Republic of Panama. Methods: We followed the fate of the vascular epiphyte assemblage on 99 individuals of the palm Socratea exorrhiza by three censuses over the course of five years. Results: The composition of the epiphyte assemblage changed little during the course of the study. While the similarity of epiphyte vegetation decreased on individual palms through time, the similarity analysed over all palms increased. Even well established epiphyte individuals experienced high mortality with only 46% of the originally mapped individuals surviving the following five years. We found a positive correlation between host tree size and epiphyte richness and detected higher colonization rates of epiphytes per surface area on larger trees. Conclusions Epiphyte assemblages on individual S. exorrhiza trees were highly dynamic while the overall composition of the epiphyte vegetation on the host tree species in the study plot was stable. We suggest that higher recruitment rates, due to localized seed dispersal by already established epiphytes, on larger palms promote the colonization of epiphytes on larger palms. Given the known growth rates and mortality rates of the host tree species, the maximum time available for colonization and reproduction of epiphytes on a given tree is estimated to be ca. 60 years. This time frame will probably be too short to allow assemblages to be ever saturated.     

海南岛热带天然针叶林附生维管植物多样性和分布

作为热带林中一个重要的特征性组分, 附生维管植物对于维持热带森林的物种多样性及其生态系统功能均具有重要作用。该文首次系统地报道了热带天然针叶林中的附生维管植物多样性和分布特征。以海南岛霸王岭国家级自然保护区保存完好的热带天然针叶林(我国唯一较大面积分布的南亚松(Pinus latteri)天然林)中的附生维管植物为研究对象, 通过样带调查(共设置12个10 m × 50 m的样带, 记录每个样带内胸径(DBH) ≥ 5 cm树木上附生维管植物的物种名称、株数及附生高度), 分析附生维管植物的物种多样性和空间分布特征。结果表明: 1)热带针叶林0.6 hm ²面积内共有附生维管植物769株, 分属于7科17属27种, 附生兰科植物和萝摩科植物为优势类群; 2)附生维管植物在水平方向上呈现出聚集分布; 3)附生维管植物在垂直方向上, 在中等高度层次(10-20 m)分布最多, 在下层(0-5 m)也有较多的分布; 4)少数附生维管植物对南亚松表现出一定的选择性, 如华南马尾杉(Phlegmariurus fordii)、玫瑰毛兰(Eria rosea)、眼树莲(Dischidia chinensis)和铁草鞋(Hoya pottsii)等; 5)附生维管植物的物种丰富度及多度与宿主胸径均存在显著的正相关关系。     

Diversity of dry forest epiphytes along a gradient of human disturbance in the tropical Andes

Question: Disturbance effects on dry forest epiphytes are poorly known. How are epiphytic assemblages affected by different degrees of human disturbance, and what are the driving forces? Location: An inter‐Andean dry forest landscape at 2300 m elevation in northern Ecuador. Methods: We sampled epiphytic bryophytes and vascular plants on 100 trees of Acacia macracantha in five habitats: closed‐canopy mixed and pure acacia forest (old secondary), forest edge, young semi‐closed secondary woodland, and isolated trees in grassland. Results: Total species richness in forest edge habitats and on isolated trees was significantly lower than in closed forest types. Species density of vascular epiphytes (species per tree) did not differ significantly between habitat types. Species density of bryophytes, in contrast, was significantly lower in edge habitat and on isolated trees than in closed forest. Forest edge showed greater impoverishment than semi‐closed woodland and similar floristic affinity to isolated trees and to closed forest types. Assemblages were significantly nested; habitat types with major disturbance held only subsets of the closed forest assemblages, indicating a gradual reduction in niche availability. Distance to forest had no effect on species density of epiphytes on isolated trees, but species density was closely correlated with crown closure, a measure of canopy integrity. Main conclusions: Microclimatic changes but not dispersal constraints were key determinants of epiphyte assemblages following disturbance. Epiphytic cryptogams are sensitive indicators of microclimate and human disturbance in montane dry forests. The substantial impoverishment of edge habitat underlines the need for fragmentation studies on epiphytes elsewhere in the Tropics.     

Interaction network of vascular epiphytes and trees in a subtropical forest

The commensalistic interaction between vascular epiphytes and host trees is a type of biotic interaction that has been recently analysed with a network approach. This approach is useful to describe the network structure with metrics such as nestedness, specialization and interaction evenness, which can be compared with other vascular epiphyte-host tree networks from different forests of the world. However, in several cases these comparisons showed different and inconsistent patterns between these networks, and their possible ecological and evolutionary determinants have been scarcely studied. In this study, the interactions between vascular epiphytes and host trees of a subtropical forest of sierra de San Javier (Tucuman, Argentina) were analysed with a network approach. We calculated metrics to characterize the network and we analysed factors such as the abundance of species, tree size, tree bark texture, and tree wood density in order to predict interaction frequencies and network structure. The interaction network analysed exhibited a nested structure, an even distribution of interactions, and low specialization, properties shared with other obligated vascular epiphyte-host tree networks with a different assemblage structure. Interaction frequencies were predicted by the abundance of species, tree size and tree bark texture. Species abundance and tree size also predicted nestedness. Abundance indicated that abundant species interact more frequently; and tree size was an important predictor, since larger-diameter trees hosted more vascular epiphyte species than small-diameter trees. This is one of the first studies analyzing interactions between vascular epiphytes and host trees using a network approach in a subtropical forest, and taking the whole vascular epiphyte assemblage of the sampled community into account.     

A metapopulation approach to the analysis of long‐term changes in the epiphyte vegetation on the host tree Annona glabra

Question: Do vascular epiphyte species have a metapopulation structure? What are the qualitative and quantitative long‐term changes of the complete vascular epiphyte vegetation in a particular host tree species? Location: Lowland forest on Barro Colorado Island (9° 10’ N, 79°51’ W), Republic of Panama. Methods: In 1994 and 2002 we conducted a census of all vascular epiphytes growing on more than 1000 Annona glabra trees (= patches). Epiphyte species abundances were recorded at the tree level in each census. Results: The number of epiphyte individuals increased from ca. 15 000 to ca. 23 700 individuals during the census interval while the species composition on Annona glabra as a whole was rather stable. There was a strong positive relationship between occurrence in patches and local abundance of the species, and between species richness and host tree stand size. The dynamics of local populations of a given species were uncorrelated to each other; small and large local populations of most species had the same probability to go extinct. The frequency distribution of species on all host trees was not bimodal, but on a subset of heavily colonized host tree stands it was. Numbers of species and individuals were correlated with tree size which was not due to a correlation of tree size and tree age. Conclusions: As far as the most abundant epiphyte species with metapopulation structures are concerned, these species belong to diverse families, e. g. Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae and Polypodiaceae. Even ca. 80 years after the initial establishment of the host tree species in the study area epiphytes are still in the stage of initial colonization and have not reached a steady state as indicated by the strong increase in individuals and the ongoing colonization of empty trees.     

Patterns in the diversity and distribution of epiphytes and vines in a New Zealand forest

Abstract Plants that rely on other plants for support (i.e. epiphytes and vines) are common in many forest ecosystems. However, they are poorly understood relative to terrestrial plants, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. To help bridge this gap, we evaluated the diversity and distribution of vascular epiphytes and vines on seven common tree species in a conifer‐broadleaf forest on New Zealand's North Island. Ground‐based surveys of 274 host trees were used to test whether epiphyte and vine diversity increased with tree diameter, and whether diversity‐diameter relationships differed among host tree species. Occurrence patterns of individual epiphyte and vine species were also assessed. We first evaluated the accuracy of ground‐based inventories by comparing surveys of trees made from the ground to those made from a canopy walkway. On average, 1 in 10 species of epiphytes and vines were unseen from the ground. However, sampling accuracy did not differ among the three host tree species growing along the walkway, suggesting unbiased comparisons could be made between hosts. Results from ground‐based surveys showed that species diversity of epiphytes and vines increased with host tree diameter. However, epiphytes showed stronger diversity‐diameter relationships than vines. Epiphyte diversity increased markedly in four host species and less strongly in the remaining three host species. Conversely, vines showed weak diversity‐diameter relationships in all host species. Occurrence patterns of individual species helped to explain diversity‐diameter relationships. All common epiphyte species occurred more frequently on large trees, regardless of host species, but occurrence patterns in most vine species were unrelated to tree size. Rather, the vines often showed strong host ‘preferences’. Overall results illustrate a rich diversity of distributional patterns in New Zealand's epiphytes and vines, and suggest that a similarly diverse set of ecological and evolutionary processes are responsible for them.     

Epiphyte host preferences and host traits: mechanisms for species-specific interactions

We investigated species-specific relationships among two species of vascular epiphytes and ten host tree species in a coastal plain forest in the southeastern United States. The epiphytes Tillandsia usneoides and Polypodium polypodioides were highly associated with particular host species in the field, but host traits that favored colonization were inadequate to fully explain the epiphyte-host associations for either epiphyte. Field transplant experiments that bypassed epiphyte colonization demonstrated that the growth of epiphytes was significantly higher on host tree species that naturally bore high epiphyte loads than on host species with few or no epiphytes. These species-specific relationships were highly correlated with the water-holding capacity of the host tree's bark. Positive and negative effects of throughfall, light attenuation by the canopy, and bark stability did not explain the overall patterns of host specificity, but did correlate with some epiphyte-host species relationships. The relative importance of particular host traits differed between the "atmospheric epiphyte" Tillandsia, and the fern Polypodium, which roots in the bark of its hosts. Species-specific interactions among plants, such as those described here, suggest that communities are more than individualistic assemblages of co-occurring species.     

The epiphyte vegetation of Annona glabra on Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Aim Information on the community composition, structure, and dynamics of epiphyte vegetation is scarce. A survey of the epiphytes occurring on all individuals of one particular host tree species in a well-studied neotropical research site allowed us a comparison of the epiphyte flora of this tree with the local epiphyte flora, the analysis of spatial distribution patterns and the use of these patterns as indications for changes in time. In the future, our results can be used as a baseline data-set for the direct observation of the long-term dynamics in epiphyte communities. Location The study was conducted on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Methods We recorded all individuals of the vascular epiphytes growing on Annona glabra L., a flood-tolerant, multiple-stemmed tree, which is restricted to the shoreline of BCI. Data on tree biometrics, epiphyte species, and epiphyte abundances were collected for more than 1200 trees. Results In total, we encountered almost 15,000 epiphytic individuals in sixty-eight species, corresponding to more than one third of the entire epiphyte flora of Barro Colorado Island. The component species differed strongly in abundance: the four most important species accounted for >75% of all individuals. In most cases, the same four species were also the first to colonize a tree (=phorophyte). Colonization patterns indicated no replacement of early colonizers by late arrivals. Species richness and epiphyte abundances showed a positive correlation with the size and the density of the host trees. All species showed a highly clumped distribution and the physiognomy of epiphyte communities of individual trees was dominated either by one or several of the four most common species or by a set of frequently co-occurring tank bromeliads. Other species were dominant only in exceptional cases. Most species were always rare. A distance effect on community composition was mostly confined to a local scale with an increased similarity in the species assemblage of stems of a tree v. neighbouring trees. Main conclusions The epiphytes on a single small phorophyte species may encompass a surprisingly large proportion of the local epiphyte flora. The observations that most tree crowns are inhabited by a single or only very few species, and that all epiphyte species show highly clumped distributions suggest a predominance of very local dispersal within a tree crown, which is only infrequently interrupted by successful long-distance dispersal between crowns.     

Host trait preferences and distribution of vascular epiphytes in a warm-temperate forest

To illustrate the ecological factors and process leading to the observed diversity patterns of vascular epiphytes, we examined the effect and importance of host tree traits on epiphyte richness and spatial aggregation of epiphytes. The study was conducted in warm-temperate forest in Japan. The recorded host traits were diameter, height, species, habitat topography, and growth rate, and we analyzed the effects and importance of these traits on three species groups: total epiphytic species, epiphytic orchid species, and epiphytic pteridophyte species. Diameter and species of host trees had the greatest influence on epiphytes and their magnitudes were roughly similar in all species groups. Growth rate and topography were less important than host size and species. Growth rate had a negative effect on all three groups, and topography was important for pteridophytes. Epiphyte richness did not exhibit clear spatial aggregation. Our results suggest that size, stability, and quality of the host are equally important in determining epiphyte colonization.     

Rainforest air-conditioning: the moderating influence of epiphytes on the microclimate in tropical tree crowns

Epiphytes are often assumed to influence the microclimatic conditions of the tree crowns that they inhabit. In order to quantify this notion, we measured the parameters "temperature" (of the substrate surface and the boundary layer of air above it), "evaporative drying rate" and "evapotranspiration" at various locations within tree crowns with differing epiphyte assemblages. The host tree species was Annona glabra, which was either populated by one of three epiphyte species (Dimerandra emarginata, Tillandsia fasciculata, or Vriesea sanguinolenta) or was epiphyte-free. We found that during the hottest and driest time of day, microsites in the immediate proximity of epiphytes had significantly lower temperatures than epiphyte-bare locations within the same tree crown, even though the latter were also shaded by host tree foliage or branches. Moreover, water loss through evaporative drying at microsites adjacent to epiphytes was almost 20% lower than at exposed microsites. We also found that, over the course of several weeks, the evapotranspiration in tree crowns bearing epiphytes was significantly lower than in trees without epiphytes. Although the influence of epiphytes on temperature extremes and evaporation rates is relatively subtle, their mitigating effect could be of importance for small animals like arthropods inhabiting an environment as harsh and extreme as the tropical forest canopy.     

云南哀牢山山地湿性常绿阔叶林附生植物的多样性和分布

附生植物对山地森林生态系统的物种多样性形成及其维持机制、生态系统的水分和养分循环等有重要作用。作者调查分析了云南哀牢山原生山地湿性常绿阔叶林 80株不同种类、不同径级乔木上附生植物种类、数量及空间分布特征,结果表明该区森林附生植物种类较为丰富。共收集到附生植物 69种,分属 33科 49属,其中维管束植物32种,苔藓植物 37种。附生维管束植物的Shannon Wiener指数和Simpson指数分别为 2. 93和 0. 91,附生苔藓植物分别为 3. 31和 0. 95。附生维管束植物中蕨类较为丰富,以棕鳞瓦韦 (Lepisorusscolopendrium)、拟书带蕨 (Vittariaflexuosoides)、柔毛水龙骨(Polypodiodesamoenavar. pilosa)等为主;附生种子植物以黄杨叶芒毛苣苔 (Aeschynanthusbuxifolius)、长叶粗筒苣苔(Briggsialongifolia)、白花树萝卜 (Agapetesmannii)等为主。该地区全年气候潮湿、温凉,使得附生苔藓植物非常丰富,主要优势种类包括东亚鞭苔 (Bazzaniapraerupta)、小叶鞭苔 (B. ovistipula)、齿边广萼苔(Chandonanthushirtellus)、树平藓 (Homaliodendronflabellatum)、刺果藓 (Symphyodonperrottetii)、青毛藓 (Dicran odontiumdenudatum)、小蔓藓(Meteoriellasoluta)、尖喙藓(Kindbergiapraelonga)等。从空间分布特点上看,     

Habitat isolation changes the beta diversity of the vascular epiphyte community in lower montane forest,Veracruz, Mexico

Habitat isolation is one of the most important factors endangering the biodiversity, but little research has been done with vascular epiphytes. In order to understand the effect of isolation on the epiphyte community, we studied epiphyte diversity on three plots in a forest fragment, two riparian forest fragments, and in isolated pastureland trees. We found 118 vascular epiphyte species. On forest plots, both epiphyte richness per tree (S_tree) and species turnover rate within trees (β_tree) registered the highest values, although the lowest S_tree diversity was also found there; additionally inside the forest were host species with clearly different epiphyte community. S_tree and β_tree diversities of riparian fragments behaved similarly to those of the forest. Isolated trees had the second highest S_tree diversity, although their β_tree diversity was the lowest. In the forest plots were both, the highest and lowest expected accumulated richness (α diversity); on riparian fragments it was intermediate, and the second lowest α diversity was registered for isolated trees. Species turnover rate among plots (β) was high and was associated with both, isolation and a distance gradient from permanent water sources. The epiphyte community on isolated trees was clearly different to the other habitats. Results suggest that deforestation eliminated dry areas and specific hosts that were important for the maintenance of epiphyte species richness. In pastureland trees the epiphyte β_tree diversity diminished, suggesting a simplification of the environment for epiphytes and causing a low α diversity.     

Epiphytic (including hemiepiphytes) diversity in three timber species in the southwestern Amazon, Brazil

Forestry managers have been searching for ways to reduce the impacts of logging on Amazonian biodiversity, but some basic factors are still not considered in native forestry operations, among them the diversity of epiphytes associated with the logged trees. Our goals in this study were to determine the floristic composition, quantify the species richness, and characterize the species diversity of the vascular epiphytic community present in three timber tree species in Acre State, Brazil. We collected and identified all epiphytes in 30 randomly selected trees ≥35 cm DBH of each of three important timber species, Tabebuia serratifolia, Manilkara inundata and Couratari macrosperma. We also documented the epiphyte diversity in 120 randomly selected trees ≥35 cm DBH of 56 other species to determine whether the three timber species have different epiphyte diversity than the tree community at large. The epiphyte samples in the three timber species showed 77 species, 13 of which were new records for the flora of Acre state. The epiphyte community in the randomly selected trees presented a total of 56 species. The timber species phorophytes hosted on average three times more epiphyte species per tree than the other 120 randomly selected trees. These results show that a substantial portion of local floristic richness can be lost during logging activity due if not properly managed by rescuing epiphytes after felling the trees. Although these epiphytes could contribute positively to forestry sustainability due to their ornamental value, increasing the economic yield per hectare, there are no local initiatives for economic use of epiphytes.     

Do cloud forest tree species differ in their suitability as a substrate for epiphytic bromeliads?

There is evidence for the existence of varying degrees of host preference in vascular epiphytes; certain tree species can be positively, neutrally, or negatively associated with epiphytes. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether tree species of the cloud forest differ in their suitability as a substrate for epiphytic bromeliads. To evaluate the association between epiphytic bromeliad cover and host tree species, we sampled 62 plots (each of 200 m²) in four cloud forest fragments in Veracruz, Mexico. For all trees ≥10 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH), we recorded species name, DBH, and percentage cover of bromeliads in categories of tree coverage. In total, 587 trees belonging to 52 species were recorded. All of the 10 tree species used to assess differences in epiphyte cover (each with a minimum of nine individuals) supported bromeliads, but mean bromeliad cover differed significantly among the tree species. The tree species that concentrated the highest bromeliad cover were Quercus sartorii (29.86%) and Liquidambar styraciflua (21.72%). Our results indicate that, while none of the tree species analyzed was a limiting host for epiphytic bromeliads in general, varying levels of bromeliad cover occur depending on the host species in tropical montane cloud forest fragments suggesting that certain tree species are better hosts than others. The implications for conservation efforts of differential tree species suitability as epiphyte hosts are discussed.     

The relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness: testing four different hypotheses

Aim For epiphytic plants trees are habitat units, and tree size determines epiphyte species richness. While growing, trees generate vertical microhabitats that are exploited by epiphytes. One would expect to find four different types of relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness: positive linear (young trees), neutral (old trees), negative (old decaying trees) and positive asymptotic (trees of mixed size class in a mature forest). We tested these relationships in plots of colonizing sweetgum trees in pastureland, isolated remnant trees in pastureland (old oaks) and sweetgum and oaks in a pristine forest. Location The study was carried out in a landscape shaped by the fragmentation of lower montane cloud forest in San Andrés Tlalnelhuayocan (19°30′56′′ N and 96°59′50′′ W; 1500–1600 m a.s.l.) in central Veracruz, Mexico. Methods We measured the d.b.h. of all oaks and sweetgum trees (d.b.h. ≥ 5 cm) present in pastureland and in three 100 m² plots of a lower montane cloud forest. All trees were climbed and species richness of the epiphytes recorded. Results As expected, colonizer trees in pastureland showed a linear positive relationship. Although we found evidence that remnant oaks in pastureland had a neutral relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness, the low power of the test did not allow us to make conclusions about the kind of relationship. Mixed size‐class pristine forest trees showed a positive linear relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness instead of a positive asymptotic one. Main conclusions Our results suggest that in the study area epiphyte communities are unsaturated, as the number of species increases with tree size and does not reach a ceiling. This evidence supports the idea that the species–area relationship is not asymptotic. However, the epiphyte community on remnant pastureland oaks may be saturated as epiphyte species richness did not increase with tree size, but a larger sample size is needed to confirm the neutral pattern. Neutral, asymptotic and negative patterns in the relationship between tree size and epiphyte species richness depend on the saturation of the trees by epiphytes. Other studies have suggested tree saturation, but further research is necessary in order to confirm or rule out these patterns.     

Structure of the Epiphyte Community in a Tropical Montane Forest in SW China

Vascular epiphytes are an understudied and particularly important component of tropical forest ecosystems. However, owing to the difficulties of access, little is known about the properties of epiphyte-host tree communities and the factors structuring them, especially in Asia. We investigated factors structuring the vascular epiphyte-host community and its network properties in a tropical montane forest in Xishuangbanna, SW China. Vascular epiphytes were surveyed in six plots located in mature forests. Six host and four micro-site environmental factors were investigated. Epiphyte diversity was strongly correlated with host size (DBH, diameter at breast height), while within hosts the highest epiphyte diversity was in the middle canopy and epiphyte diversity was significantly higher in sites with canopy soil or a moss mat than on bare bark. DBH, elevation and stem height explained 22% of the total variation in the epiphyte species assemblage among hosts, and DBH was the most important factor which alone explained 6% of the variation. Within hosts, 51% of the variation in epiphyte assemblage composition was explained by canopy position and substrate, and the most important single factor was substrate which accounted for 16% of the variation. Analysis of network properties indicated that the epiphyte host community was highly nested, with a low level of epiphyte specialization, and an almost even interaction strength between epiphytes and host trees. Together, these results indicate that large trees harbor a substantial proportion of the epiphyte community in this forest.     

Seedling establishment of vascular epiphytes on isolated and enclosed forest trees in an Andean landscape, Ecuador

The impact of human disturbance on colonisation dynamics of vascular epiphytes is poorly known. We studied abundance, diversity and floristic composition of epiphyte seedling establishing on isolated and adjacent forest trees in a tropical montane landscape. All vascular epiphytes were removed from plots on the trunk bases of Piptocoma discolor. Newly established epiphyte seedlings were recorded after 2 years, and their survival after another year. Seedling density, total richness at family and genus level, and the number of families and genera per plot were significantly reduced on isolated trees relative to forest trees. Seedling assemblages on trunks of forest trees were dominated by hygrophytic understorey ferns, those on isolated trees by xerotolerant canopy taxa. Colonisation probability on isolated trees was significantly higher for plots closer to forest but not for plots with greater canopy or bryophyte cover. Seedling mortality on isolated trees was significantly higher for mesophytic than for xerotolerant taxa. Our results show that altered recruitment can explain the long-term impoverishment of post-juvenile epiphyte assemblages on isolated remnant trees. We attribute these changes to a combination of dispersal constraints and the harsher microclimate documented by measurements of temperature and humidity. Although isolated trees in anthropogenic landscapes are considered key structures for the maintenance of forest biodiversity in many aspects, our results show that their value for the conservation of epiphytes can be limited. We suggest that abiotic seedling requirements will increasingly constitute a bottleneck for the persistence of vascular epiphytes in the face of ongoing habitat alteration and atmospheric warming.     

Effect of Host Tree Traits on Epiphyte Diversity in Natural and Anthropogenic Habitats in Ecuador

Vascular epiphytes represent a highly diverse element of tropical rain forests, but they depend strongly on the structure and taxonomic composition of their tree communities. For conservation planning, it is therefore critical to understand the effect of host tree characteristics on epiphyte species richness in natural and anthropogenically transformed vegetation. Our study compares the effect of human land‐use on epiphyte diversity based on 220 study plots in a lowland rain forest and an Andean cloud forest in western Ecuador. We evaluate the relevance of host tree size and taxonomic identity for epiphyte species richness in contiguous primary forests, forest fragments, isolated remnant trees (IRTs), and secondary forests. At both study sites, epiphyte diversity was highest in primary forests, and it was lowest on IRTs and in secondary forests. Epiphyte species numbers of forest fragments were significantly reduced compared with the contiguous primary forest at the lowland study site, but not in the cloud forest area. Host tree size was a core predictor among secondary forests, but it had less significance within other habitat types. Taxonomic identity of the host trees also explained up to 61 percent of the variation in epiphyte diversity, especially for IRTs. The structural and taxonomic composition of the tree community in anthropogenically transformed habitat types proved to be fundamental to epiphyte diversity. This highlights the importance of deliberate selection of tree species for reforestation in conservation programs and the possible negative effects of selective logging in primary forests. Abstract in Spanish is available at http://www.blackwell‐synergy.com/loi/btp .     

The nutrient status of epiphytes and their host trees along an elevational gradient in Costa Rica

Vascular epiphytes are a conspicuous and highly diverse group in tropical wet forests; yet, we understand little about their mineral nutrition across sites. In this study, we examined the mineral nutrition of three dominant vascular epiphyte groups: ferns, orchids, and bromeliads, and their host trees from samples collected along a 2600 m elevational gradient in the tropical wet forests of Costa Rica. We predicted that the mineral nutrition of ferns, orchids, and bromeliads would differ because of their putative differences in nutrient acquisition mechanisms and nutrient sources—atmospherically dependent, foliar feeding bromeliads would have lower nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) concentrations and more depleted δ¹⁵N values than those in canopy soil-rooted ferns because canopy soil is higher in available N, and more enriched in δ¹⁵N than the atmospheric sources of precipitation and throughfall. We also predicted that epiphyte foliar chemistry would mirror that of host trees because of the likely contribution of host trees to the nutrient cycle of epiphytes via foliar leaching and litter contributions to canopy soil. In the same vein, we predicted that epiphyte and host tree foliar chemistry would vary with elevation reflecting ecosystem-level nutrients—soil N availability increases and P availability decreases with increasing elevation. Our results confirmed that canopy soil-rooted epiphytes had higher N concentrations than atmospheric epiphytes; however, our predictions were not confirmed with respect to P which did not vary among groups indicating fixed P availability within sites. In addition, foliar δ¹⁵N values did not match our prediction in that canopy soil-rooted as well as atmospheric epiphytes had variable signatures. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) on foliar measurements determined that ferns, orchids, and bromeliads are statistically distinct in mineral nutrition. We also found that P concentrations of ferns and orchids, but not bromeliads, were significantly correlated with those of host trees indicating a possible link in their mineral nutrition’s via canopy soil. Interestingly, we did not find any patterns of epiphyte foliar chemistry with elevation. These data indicate that the mineral nutrition of the studied epiphyte groups are distinct and highly variable within sites and the diverse uptake mechanisms of these epiphyte groups enhance resource partitioning which may be a mechanism for species richness maintenance in tropical forest canopies.     

Epiphytes in human settlements in rural Panama

Background: An ever-increasing proportion of tropical ecosystems are affected by on-going land-use changes, stressing the importance of understanding how organisms cope with biotic and abiotic challenges outside their natural habitat. An important group in the tropics are vascular epiphytes, whose response to human disturbance is poorly understood.

Aims: Creating a baseline data set of epiphyte diversity in human settlements and assessing differences with assemblages of less disturbed habitats.

Methods: We surveyed the vascular epiphyte assemblages in 25 settlements of south-west Panama along a rainfall gradient. We tested how epiphyte assemblages were affected by human disturbance and climate by comparing our data to that of pastures and forest.

Results: Almost half (238 of 499) of all studied trees hosted at least one epiphyte. Altogether, 10,700 epiphytes of 56 species were found. Rainfall strongly affected both composition and diversity of epiphyte assemblages, whereas geographic proximity did not. In settlements, the species pool was considerably smaller than in pastures and undisturbed forest; however, settlements’ diversity was only significantly lower compared to pastures.

Conclusions: Epiphyte assemblages in settlements had a diminished species pool but diversity per tree was comparable to less disturbed habitats. Unsurprisingly, rainfall seems to be the main determinant of epiphyte diversity in rural settlements.