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Canopy gaps do not help establish pioneer species in a South Florida dry forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2016

Joshua M. Diamond  and
Michael S. Ross
Joshua M. Diamond*
Affiliation:
Florida International University, Southeastern Environmental Research Center, Miami, Florida, USA
Michael S. Ross
Affiliation:
Florida International University, Southeastern Environmental Research Center, Miami, Florida, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: jdiam009@fiu.edu
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Abstract:

Canopy gaps create a temporary spatial heterogeneity, often allowing pioneer species to establish and grow in mature forests. In this study, we asked whether the above model holds for tropical dry forests in the Florida Keys. Six hundred and forty-eight canopy gaps in an extensive Key Largo forest were identified with a LiDAR digital canopy model. The structure and composition of juvenile trees were examined in 45 selected gaps in three stands of known age, and weighted averaging calibration and regression were applied to the data to determine the successional age optimum for each tree species, and the inferred age for each gap based on its sapling composition. Less than 1% of the forest area was recorded as canopy gaps in the LiDAR model. The inferred stand ages were about 70 y greater in canopy gaps in young forest than in the surrounding, unimpacted forest. This suggested that gap formation advanced succession rather than reversing or resetting it. The apparent lack of recruitment by early-successional species may be due to the small size of canopy gaps in this forest, and the minimal contrast between gap and understorey environments; light and water conditions in the small gaps may favour late-successional rather than pioneer species. Establishment of pioneer species may not take place without intense, large-scale disturbances such as fires and hurricanes that remove the entire canopy and consume or erode soils.

Keywords

canopy gapsdisturbanceFlorida Keyshardwood hammockLiDARsuccessiontropical dry forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 107 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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