Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Symposium and Workshop
- Introduction
- Part I Current trends and perspectives on people–land use–water issues
- Part II Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
- 10 An overview of the meteorology and climatology of the humid tropics
- 11 Synoptic and mesoscale rain producing systems in the humid tropics
- 12 Climatic variability in the tropics
- 13 Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest
- 14 Runoff generation in tropical forests
- 15 Erosion and sediment yield in the humid tropics
- 16 Rainforest mineral nutrition: the ‘black box’ and a glimpse inside it
- 17 Hydrology of tropical wetland forests: recent research results from Sarawak peatswamps
- 18 Tropical montane cloud forest: a unique hydrological case
- Part III Forest disturbance, conversion and recovery
- Part IV New methods for evaluating effects of land-use change
- Part V Critical appraisals of best management practices
- Conclusion: Forests, water and people in the humid tropics: an emerging view
- Plate section
- References
18 - Tropical montane cloud forest: a unique hydrological case
from Part II - Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Symposium and Workshop
- Introduction
- Part I Current trends and perspectives on people–land use–water issues
- Part II Hydrological processes in undisturbed forests
- 10 An overview of the meteorology and climatology of the humid tropics
- 11 Synoptic and mesoscale rain producing systems in the humid tropics
- 12 Climatic variability in the tropics
- 13 Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest
- 14 Runoff generation in tropical forests
- 15 Erosion and sediment yield in the humid tropics
- 16 Rainforest mineral nutrition: the ‘black box’ and a glimpse inside it
- 17 Hydrology of tropical wetland forests: recent research results from Sarawak peatswamps
- 18 Tropical montane cloud forest: a unique hydrological case
- Part III Forest disturbance, conversion and recovery
- Part IV New methods for evaluating effects of land-use change
- Part V Critical appraisals of best management practices
- Conclusion: Forests, water and people in the humid tropics: an emerging view
- Plate section
- References
Summary
INTRODUCTION
The paper by Zadroga (1981) on the hydrological significance of tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) in northern Costa Rica probably marks the start of the enhanced interest in these remarkable forests although the importance of fog deposition on vegetation surfaces as an extra source of moisture has been acknowledged for a long time (see Kerfoot's 1968 review of early literature).
Arguably, this increased interest is in no small measure due to the unstinting efforts of one man, Professor Lawrence S. Hamilton, who recognised the far-reaching implications of Zadroga's preliminary work and who kept stressing the hydrological and ecological importance of TMCF on numerous occasions. Hamilton's efforts culminated in the organisation of the First International Symposium on Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 31 May until 5 June 1993 (Hamilton, Juvik and Scatena, 1995), and the launching of ‘A Campaign for Cloud Forests’ by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 1995 (Hamilton, 1995a). The hydrological and biogeochemical evidence on TMCF was reviewed in detail at the Puerto Rico Symposium by Bruijnzeel and Proctor (1995). These authors stressed how little is actually known about the hydrological functioning of different types of montane forests exposed to varying degrees of cloud impaction; the role of epiphytes in cloud water interception and retention; cloud forest carbon dynamics and the factors limiting their growth; and, above all, the uncertainty surrounding the water use of different types of TMCF and the effect of their conversion to pasture or vegetable cropping on downstream water yield.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Forests, Water and People in the Humid TropicsPast, Present and Future Hydrological Research for Integrated Land and Water Management, pp. 462 - 484Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
References
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