Natural disturbance and gap-phase regeneration in a wind-exposed tropical cloud forest
The patterns and processes of canopy tree death and replacement were studied in the elfinforest of Monteverde; Costa Rica. Natural treefalls and limbfalls in a 5.2-ha study area opened 0.8, 1.4, and 1.0 of the area in three consecutive years with about for gaps ha-1.yr-1 larger than 4 m2. Forty-one percent of the gaps were formed by uprooted trees, 39 by snapped trees, and the remainder by limbfall, the collapse of epiphyte masses, and dead standing trees killed by lightning. Gaps were found to be spatially chance. Variation among gaps was complex; the first principal component of the variation in eight important gap characteristics among 88 gaps contrasted measures of gap size with the way ofgapmaker broke and the position of the gap on the slope, but accounted for only 56 of the total variation
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
1988
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| Subjects: | DOSEL, BOSQUE NUBLADO, TROPICO HUMEDO, REGENERACION NATURAL, COSTA RICA, |
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