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Patterns of growth, recruitment, mortality and biomass across an altitudinal gradient in a neotropical montane forest, Dominican Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2012

Ruth E. Sherman ,
Timothy J. Fahey ,
Patrick H. Martin  and
John J. Battles
Ruth E. Sherman*
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Timothy J. Fahey
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Patrick H. Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
John J. Battles
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley, 137 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3114, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: res6@cornell.edu
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Abstract:

We examined stand dynamics and biomass along an altitudinal gradient in a tropical montane forest (TMF) in the disturbance-prone Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. We tested the general hypothesis that chronic disturbance by fire, wind, floods and landslides results in a landscape of relatively low above-ground biomass with high rates of mortality, recruitment and growth as compared with other TMFs. We also expected above-ground biomass to decrease with altitude in part due to declines in growth and increased biomass losses from mortality with increasing altitude. We resurveyed 75 0.1-ha plots distributed across the altitudinal gradient (1100–3100 m asl) 8 y after they were established. Our observations provided mixed evidence on these hypotheses. Turnover rates were high (> 2% y−1) and significantly greater on windward slopes. Above-ground biomass (mean = 306 Mg ha−1, 95% CI = 193–456 Mg ha−1) was highly variable but comparable to other TMFs. Altitudinal patterns of declining biomass and above-ground growth matched observations for other TMFs, whereas mortality and recruitment exhibited no altitudinal trends. More quantitative studies in a variety of TMF settings are needed to better understand how natural disturbance, complex environmental gradients and species dynamics interact to regulate carbon storage, sequestration and turnover across altitudinal gradients in TMFs.

Keywords

biomasscloud forestdisturbanceelevation gradientgrowthmortalityrecruitment
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 28 , Issue 5 , September 2012 , pp. 483 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

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