Forest Regeneration in a Chronosequence of Tropical Abandoned Pastures: Implications for Restoration Ecology

During the mid‐1900s, most of the island of Puerto Rico was deforested, but a shift in the economy from agriculture to small industry beginning in the 1950s resulted in the abandonment of agricultural lands and recovery of secondary forest. This unique history provides an excellent opportunity to study secondary forest succession and suggest strategies for tropical forest restoration. To determine the pattern of secondary succession, we describe the woody vegetation in 71 abandoned pastures and forest sites in four regions of Puerto Rico. The density, basal area, aboveground biomass, and species richness of the secondary forest sites were similar to those of the old growth forest sites (>80 yr) after approximately 40 years. The dominant species that colonized recently abandoned pastures occurred over a broad elevational range and are widespread in the neotropics. The species richness of Puerto Rican secondary forests recovered rapidly, but the species composition was quite different in comparison with old growth forest sites, suggesting that enrichment planting will be necessary to restore the original composition. Exotic species were some of the most abundant species in the secondary forest, but their long‐term impact depended on life history characteristics of each species. These data demonstrate that one restoration strategy for tropical forest in abandoned pastures is simply to protect the areas from fire, and allow natural regeneration to produce secondary forest. This strategy will be most effective if remnant forest (i.e., seed sources) still exist in the landscape and soils have not been highly degraded. Patterns of forest recovery also suggest strategies for accelerating natural recovery by planting a suite of generalist species that are common in recently abandoned pastures in Puerto Rico and throughout much of the neotropics.     

Rates of change in tree communities of secondary Neotropical forests following major disturbances

Rates of change in tree communities following major disturbances are determined by a complex set of interactions between local site factors, landscape history and structure, regional species pools and species life histories. Our analysis focuses on vegetation change following abandonment of agricultural fields or pastures, as this is the most extensive form of major disturbance in Neotropical forests. We consider five tree community attributes: stem density, basal area, species density, species richness and species composition. We describe two case studies, in northeastern Costa Rica and Chiapas, Mexico, where both chronosequence and annual tree dynamics studies are being applied. These case studies show that the rates of change in tree communities often deviate from chronosequence trends. With respect to tree species composition, sites of different ages differ more than a single site followed over time through the same age range. Dynamic changes in basal area within stands, on the other hand, generally followed chronosequence trends. Basal area accumulation was more linked with tree growth rates than with net changes in tree density due to recruitment and mortality. Stem turnover rates were poor predictors of species turnover rates, particularly at longer time-intervals. Effects of the surrounding landscape on tree community dynamics within individual plots are poorly understood, but are likely to be important determinants of species accumulation rates and relative abundance patterns.     

浙江天童常绿阔叶林演替阶段共有种的树木构型

树木构型是木本植物为响应光照变化在其空间建造结构上的配置模式和形态体现。研究演替不同阶段共有种构型的变化可以剔除植物谱系的影响, 反映植物构型特征与光资源供给性的关系。该研究在浙江宁波天童、南山和北仑3个次生演替序列上选择了5个演替共有种, 分4个群落高度层级, 对照分析了树高、冠幅深度和面积、枝条伸展方向、基径、叶片盖度和聚集度构型性状随演替的变化, 并分析了与冠幅曝光指数的线性关系。结果表明: 1)随着演替进行, 冠幅厚度和面积、叶片盖度、叶片聚集度和基径逐步增加, 但在个别相邻演替阶段增加不显著; 2)随着演替进行, 植物的垂直枝比例降低, 水平枝比例增加; 3)演替过程中植物冠幅曝光指数在各层级内都呈现出减小趋势; 4)构型性状和植物冠幅曝光指数间存在显著的线性回归关系(p < 0.001)。总之, 随着常绿阔叶林演替进行, 演替共有种构型的变化反映了物种功能类群由阳性先锋植物向耐阴植物的转化, 其中, 植物对光资源的适应是导致构型变化的主要原因。     

Plant community dynamics in a semi-arid ecosystem in relation to nutrient addition following a major disturbance

Effects of annual additions of mineral N and P (100 kg ha^–1) on plant species composition and annual aboveground net primary production (ANPP) were investigated during the first three years following disturbance in a semi-arid ecosystem. Additions of N reduced richness of perennial plant species during years 2 and 3, while P reduced the number of perennial species only in year 3. From year 1 to year 2, annual and biennial species richness declined in all treatments while ANPP of annual species increased greatly. Added N increased ANPP of annual species while it decreased ANPP of most perennial species relative to the unfertilized control treatment. Community similarities were higher for the control and native vegetation than for other pairs of treatments using both species presence and plant production data. Nitrogen additions have retarded but not completely arrested secondary succession in this system.     

Long-term Disturbance Effects in the Nematode Communities of South Mississippi Woodlands

The effects of soil disturbance on the nematode community were assessed at 30 sites on the outer coastal plain of Mississippi, representing four ages since soil disturbance plus a control group of six undisturbed sites. Thirty-five taxa were encountered, dominated in abundance and taxonomic richness by plant and bacterial feeders. Nematodes were more abundant and more taxonomically rich in sites with a low slope and deep litter cover, distant from trees. Plant feeders were more numerous at sites with a dense herb cover, suggesting limitation by food availability. When sites were arranged as a chronosequence, herb cover, litter depth, soil organic matter, soil moisture, and tree canopy cover increased through time consistent with succession to forest. The abundance of most trophic groups decreased in the 10 to 20 years following disturbance and increased thereafter, a pattern repeated in taxonomic richness of plant and bacterial feeders. Fifty years after disturbance, nematode abundance had not returned to levels observed in control sites. These results suggest that nematode succession following soil disturbance is a gradual process regulated by establishment of aboveground vegetation. There was no evidence of dispersal limitation or facilitation by colonist nematode species.     

An evolutionary modelling approach to understanding the factors behind plant invasiveness and community susceptibility to invasion

Ecologists have had limited success in understanding which introduced species may become invasive. An evolutionary model is used to investigate which traits are associated with invasiveness. Translocation experiments were simulated in which species were moved into similar but evolutionarily younger communities. The main findings were that species that had previously been the most abundant in their original communities have significantly higher rates of establishment than did species that had previously occurred at low abundance in their original community. However, if establishment did occur, previously abundant and previously low-abundant species were equally likely to become dominant and were equally likely to exclude other species from their new community. There was a suggestion that the species that were most likely to establish and exclude others were 'genetically' different. When species that had evolved in different simulations (but with identical environmental conditions) were transplanted into communities that had also evolved in different simulations of the same conditions, the outcomes were difficult to predict. Observed rates of establishment and subsequent competitive dominance were observed to be species- and community combination-specific. This evolutionary study represents a novel in silico attempt to tackle invasiveness in an experimental framework and may provide a new methodology for tackling these issues.     

热带森林植被生态恢复研究进展

热带森林是地球上生物多样性最高和生态功能最为强大的植被类型之一,在维护全球生态平衡中起着至关重要的作用,同时也为人类社会提供着多种多样的物质资源和生态系统服务。然而热带森林是目前生物多样性消失最快和生态功能退化最为严重的生态系统之一,如何有效地保护现存的热带森林不再进一步退化,以及如何使已经退化的生态系统尽快得到恢复是生态学工作者面临的重要议题。不同方式、规模和强度的干扰对热带林的破坏程度及其以后的恢复过程产生的影响不同。除少数大型自然干扰事件外,采伐、刀耕火种、农业开发用地等人为干扰是造成当前热带森林植被大面积退化的主要原因。多种干扰交互作用、杂草与外来物种入侵、退化植被和土壤状况、残存植被组分及土壤种子库、退化植被周围的景观格局以及全球气候变化等因素都能够影响热带森林植被恢复的速度和方向。基于功能群的研究思想将可能为物种丰富的热带森林植被恢复的研究提供一个全新途径。