Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:52:57.278Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tropical secondary forests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Sandra Brown  and
Ariel E. Lugo
Sandra Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Forestry, University of Illinois, 110 Mumford Hall, 1301 W. Gregory, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Ariel E. Lugo
Affiliation:
Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, PO Box 25000, Río Piedras PR 00928, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The literature on tropical secondary forests, defined as those resulting from human disturbance (e.g. logged forests and forest fallows), is reviewed to address questions related to their extent, rates of formation, ecological characteristics, values and uses to humans, and potential for management. Secondary forests are extensive in the tropics, accounting for about 40% of the total forest area and their rates of formation are about 9 million ha yr−1. Geographical differences in the extent, rates of formation and types of forest being converted exist.

Secondary forests appear to accumulate woody plant species at a relatively rapid rate but the mechanisms involved are complex and no clear pattern emerged. Compared to mature forests, the structure of secondary forest vegetation is simple, although age, climate and soil type are modifying factors. Biomass accumulates rapidly in secondary forests, up to 100 t ha−1 during the first 15 yr or so, but history of disturbance may modify this trend. Like biomass, high rates of litter production are established relatively quickly, up to 12–13 t ha−1 yr−1 by age 12–15 yr. And, in younger secondary forests (< 20 yr), litter production is a higher fraction of the net primary productivity than stemwood biomass production. More organic matter is pro duced and transferred to the soil in younger secondary forests than is stored in above-ground vegetation. The impact of this on soil organic matter is significant and explains why the recovery of organic matter in the soil under secondary forests is relatively fast (50 yr or so). Nutrients are accumulated rapidly in secondary vegetation, and are returned quickly by litterfall and decomposition for uptake by roots.

We propose a model of the gains and losses, yields and costs, and benefits and tradeoffs to people from the current land-use changes occurring in the tropics. When the conversion of forest lands to secondary forests and agriculture is too fast or land-use stages are skipped, society loses goods and services. To avoid such a loss, we advocate management of tropical forest lands within a landscape perspective, a possibility in the tropics because land tenures and development projects are often large.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , February 1990 , pp. 1 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Aweto, A. O. 1981a. Secondary succession and soil fertility restoration in south-western Nigeria. I Succession. Journal of Ecology 69:601–607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aweto, A. O. 1981b. Secondary succession and soil fertility restoration in south-western Nigeria. II. Soil fertility and restoration. Journal of Ecology 69:709–614.Google Scholar
Barrera, A., Gómez-Pompa, A. & Vásquez-Yanes, C. 1977. El manejo de las selvas por los Mayas: sus implicaciones silvícolas y agrícolas. Biotica 2:47–61.Google Scholar
Bartholomew, W. V., Meyer, J. & Laudelot, H. 1953. Mineral nutrient immobilization under forest and grass fallow in the Yangambi (Belgian Congo) region. Publications de L'Institut National pour L'Étude Agronomique du Congo Beige, Série Scientifique No. 57, 27 pp.Google Scholar
Bazzaz, F. A. & Pickett, S. T. A. 1980. Physiological ecology of tropical succession: a comparative review. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11:287–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berish, C. W. & Ewel, J. J. 1988. Root development in simple and complex tropical successional ecosystems. Plant and Soil 106:73–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birdsey, R. A. & Jiménez, D. 1985. The forests of Toro Negro. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Paper SO-222. Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Birdsey, R. A. & Weaver, P. L. 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. US Department of Agric-culture Forest Service Resource Bulletin SO–85. Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Birdsey, R. A. & Weaver, P. L. 1987. Forest area trends in Puerto Rico. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Note SO–331. Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Birdsey, R. A., Weaver, P. L. & Nicholls, C. F. 1986. The forest resources of St. Vincent, West Indies. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Paper SO–229. Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Bormann, F. H. & Likens, G. E. 1981. Pattern and processes in a forested ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY. 253 pp.Google Scholar
Bowen, G. D. & Nambiar, E. K. S. 1984. Nutrition of plantation forests. Academic Press, New York, NY. 516 pp.Google Scholar
Brown, S. & Lugo, A. E. 1982. The storage and production of organic matter in tropical forests and their role in the global carbon cycle. Biotropica 14:161–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, S., Gillespie, A. J. R. & Lugo, A. E. 1989. Biomass estimation methods for tropical forests and the application to forest inventory data. Forest Science in press.Google Scholar
Brown, S., Glubczynski, A. & Lugo, A. E. 1984. Effects of land use and climate on the organic carbon content of tropical forest soils in Puerto Rico. Pp. 204–209 in New forests for a changing world, Proceedings of the Convention of the Society of American Foresters, Portland, Oregon. Society of American Foresters, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Budowski, G. 1961. Studies on forest succession in Costa Rica and Panama. Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale University, New Haven, CT., 189 pp.Google Scholar
Budowski, G. 1965. Distribution of tropical American rain forest species in the light of successional processes. Turrialba 15:40–42.Google Scholar
Budowski, G. 1970. The distinction between old secondary and climax species in tropical central American lowland forests. Tropical Ecology 11(1):44–48.Google Scholar
Chudnoff, M. 1969. Research needs. Pp. 10.1–10.10 in Proceedings Conference on Tropical Hardwoods. State University College of Forestry, Syracuse, NY.Google Scholar
Clay, J. W. 1988. Indigenous models of tropical agriculture and forest development. Paper prepared for the US MAB Program and Cultural Survival Report No. 27, Cultural Survival, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Denevan, W. M., Tracy, J. M., Alcorn, J. B., Paduch, C., Denslow, J. & Flores Paitan, S. 1984. Indigenous agroforestry in the Peruvian Amazon: Bora Indian management of swidden fallows. Interciencia 9:346–357.Google Scholar
Denslow, J. S. 1987. Tropical rainforest gaps and tree species diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 18:421–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drew, W. B., Aksornkoae, S. & Kaitpraneet, W. 1978. An assessment of productivity in successional stages from abandoned swidden (rai) to dry evergreen forest in northeastern Thailand. Forest Research Bulletin No. 56, Kasetsart University, Bangkok.Google Scholar
Dunevitz, V. L. 1985. Regrowth of clearcut subtropical dry forest: mechanisms of recovery and quantification of resilience. Masters Thesis, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.Google Scholar
Ewel, J. J. 1971. Biomass changes in early tropical succesion. Turrialba 21:110–112.Google Scholar
Ewel, J. J. 1975. Biomass of second growth tropical moist forest. Pp. 143–150 in Golley, F. B., McGin-nis, J. T., Clements, R. G., Child, G. I. & Duever, M. J. (eds). Mineral cycling in a tropical moist forest ecosystem. University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA.Google Scholar
Ewel, J. J. 1976. Litterfall and leaf decomposition in a tropical forest succession in eastern Guatemala. Journal of Ecology 64:293–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewel, J. J. 1977. Differences between wet and dry successional tropical ecosystems. Geo-Eco-Trop 1:103–177.Google Scholar
Ewel, J. J. 1979. Secondary forests: the tropical wood resource of the future. Pp. 53–60 in Chavarria, M. (ed.). Simposio Internacional Sobre las Ciencias Forestales y su Contribución al Desarrollo de la América Tropical, 11–17 de Octubre, 1979. Condt/Interciencia/SCITEC, San José, Costa Rica.Google Scholar
Ewel, J. J., (ed.). 1980. Tropical succession. Biotropica 12(supplement):l–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewel, J. J. 1983. Succession. Pp. 217–223 in Golley, F. B. (ed.). Tropical rainforest ecosystems. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Ewel, J. J. 1986. Designing agricultural ecosystems for the humid tropics. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17:245–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewel, J. J., Chai, P. & Lim, M. T. 1983. Biomass and floristics of three young second-growth forests in Sarawak. The Malaysian Forester 46:347–364.Google Scholar
Fölster, H. & De Las Salas, G. 1976. Litter fall and mineralization in three tropical evergreen stands, Columbia. Acta Científica Venezolana 27:196–202.Google Scholar
Fölster, H., De Las Salas, G. & Khanna, P. 1976. A tropical evergreen forest site with perched water table, Magdalena Valley, Colombia. Biomass and bioelement inventory of primary and secondary vegetation. Oecologia Plantarium 11:297–320.Google Scholar
Gómez-Pompa, A. 1987. On Maya silviculture. Mexican Studies 3:1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gómez-Pompa, A. & Kaus, A. 1988. The conservation of resources by traditional cultures in the tropics. World Wilderness Congress, Estes Park, Colorado, (in press).Google Scholar
Gómez-Pompa, A. & Vásquez-Yanes, C. 1974. Studies on secondary succession of tropical lowlands: the life cycle of secondary species. Pp. 336–342 in Proceedings First International Congress of Ecology. The Hague.Google Scholar
Gómez-Pompa, A., Flores, J. S. & Sosa, V. 1987. The ‘pet kot’: a man-made tropical forest of the Maya. Interciencia 12:10–15.Google Scholar
Greenland, D. J. & Kowal, J. M. L. 1960. Nutrient content of the moist tropical forest of Ghana. Plant and Soil 12(2):154–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greig-Smith, P. 1952. Ecological observations on degraded and secondary forest in Trinidad, British West Indies. I. General features on the vegetation. Journal of Ecology 40:283–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, J. R. & Okali, D. U. U. 1979. A structural and floristic analysis of woody fallow vegetation near Ibadan, Nigeria. Journal of Ecology 67:321–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, R. D. 1980. A natural ecosystem analog approach to the design of a successful crop system for tropical forest environments. Biotropica 12(supplement):73–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jordan, C. F. & Farnworth, E. G. 1982. Natural vs. plantation forests: a case study of land reclamation strategies for the humid tropics. Environmental Management 6(6):485–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellman, M. C. 1970. Secondary plant succession in tropical montane Mindanao. Australian National University, Department of Biogeography and Geomorphology, Canberra, Publ. BG/2, 174 pp.Google Scholar
Kochummen, K. M. & Ng, F. S. P. 1977. Natural plant succession after farming in Kepong. The Malay sian Forester 40(1):61–78.Google Scholar
Lanly, J. P. 1982. Tropical Forest Resources. FAO Forestry Paper 30. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome Italy.Google Scholar
Lebrón, M. L. 1980. Physiological plant ecology: some contributions to the understanding of secondary succession in tropical lowland rainforest. Biotropica 12(supplement):31–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovejoy, T. A. 1985. Rehabilitation of degraded tropical forest lands. The Environmentalist 5:1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lugo, A. E. 1978. Stress and ecosystems. Pp. 62–101 in Thorp, J. H. & Gibbons, J. W. (eds). Energy and environmental stress in aquatic ecosystems. U.S. Department of Energy Symposium Series, CONF-771114, National Technical Information Services, Springfield, VA.Google Scholar
Lugo, A. E. 1987. Wood utilization needs in the tropics. Pp. 57–66 in Forest products laboratory. Forest Products Research Conference 1986: Matching Utilization Research with the Needs of Timber Managers. USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Lugo, A. E. & Brown, S. 1982. Conversion of tropical moist forests: a critique. Interciencia 7:89–93.Google Scholar
Lugo, A. E., Sanchez, M. J. & Brown, S. 1986. Land use and organic carbon content of some sub tropical soils. Plant and Soil 96:185–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lugo, A. E., Brown, S. & Chapman, J. 1988. An analytical review of production rates and stemwood biomass of tropical forest plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 23:179–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maury-Lechon, G. 1982. Regeneration forestière en Guyane francaise: recru sur 25 ha de coupe papetière en fôret dense humide (Arbocel). Revue Bois et Fôbrets des Tropiques 197(3):3–21.Google Scholar
Murphy, P. G. & Lugo, A. E. 1986. Ecology of tropical dry forest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17:67–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nye, P. H. 1961. Organic matter and nutrient cycles under moist tropical forest. Plant and Soil 13(4):333–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nye, P. H. & Greenland, D. J. 1960. The soil under shifting cultivation. Technical Comment No. 51, Commonwealth Bureau of Soils, Harpenden, England.Google Scholar
Opler, P. A., Baker, H. G. & Frankie, G. W. 1980. Plant reproductive characteristics during secondary succession in neotropical lowland forest ecosystems. Biotropica 12(supplement):40–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porras, A. & Villarreal, B. 1986. Deforestación en Costa Rica. Editorial Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica. 118 pp.Google Scholar
Posey, D. A. 1982. Keepers of the forest. Garden 6:18–24.Google Scholar
Ramakrishnan, P. S. & Toky, O. P. 1981. Soil nutrient status of hill agro-ecosystems and recovery pattern after slash and burn agriculture (jhum) in north-eastern India. Plant and Soil 60(1):41–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rambo, A. T. 1979. Primitive man's impact on genetic resources of the Malaysian tropical rain forest. Malaysian Applied Biology Journal 8:59–65.Google Scholar
Richards, P. W. 1955. The secondary succession in the tropical rain forest. Science Progress London 43:45–57.Google Scholar
Rosero, P. 1979. Some data on a secondary forest managed in Siquirres, Costa Rica. Pp. 209–210 in de las Salas, G. (ed.). Workshop: agroforestry systems in Latin America. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica.Google Scholar
Ross, R. 1954. Ecological studies on the rain forest of southern Nigeria. III. Secondary succession in the Shasha reserve. Journal of Ecology 42:259–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabhasri, S. 1978. Effects of forest fallow cultivation on forest production and soil. Pp. 160–184 in Kunstadter, P., Chapman, E. C. & Sabhasri, S. (eds). Economic development and marginal agriculture in northern Thailand. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu.Google Scholar
Saldarriaga, J. G., West, D. C. & Thorp, M. L. 1986. Forest succession in the Upper Rio Negro of Colombia and Venezuela. Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 2694 (ORNL/TM-9712), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez, P. A. 1976. Properties and management of soils in the tropics. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, NY.Google Scholar
Sanford, R. L. Jr, Saldarriaga, J., Clark, K. E., Uhl, C. & Herrera, R. 1985. Amazon rainforest fires. Science 227:53–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmink, M. 1987. The rationality of forest destruction. Pp. 11–30 in Fugueroa, J., Wadsworth, F. H & Branham, S. (eds). Management of the forests of tropical America: prospects and technologies. Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Singh, J. & Ramakrishnan, P. S. 1982. Structure and function of a sub-tropical humid forest of Meghalaya. I. Vegetation, biomass and its nutrients. Proceedings Indian National Science Academy (Plant Science) 91(3):241–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, R. P. 1975. Biomass, nutrient and productivity structure of a stand of dry deciduous forest of Varanasi. Tropical Ecology 16:104–109.Google Scholar
Snedaker, S. C. 1970. Ecological studies on tropical moist forest succession in eastern lowland Guatemala. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.Google Scholar
Swift, M. J., Russell-Smith, A. & Perfect, T. J. 1981. Decomposition and mineral-nutrient dynamics of plant litter in a regenerating bush-fallow in sub-humid tropical Nigeria. Journal of Ecology 69:981–995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toky, O. P. & Ramakrishnan, P. S. 1983a. Secondary succession following slash and burn agriculture in north-eastern India. I. Biomass, litterfall, and productivity. Journal of Ecology 71:735–745.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toky, O. P. & Ramakrishnan, P. S. 1983b. Secondary succession following slash and burn agri culture in north-eastern India. II. Nutrient cycling. Journal of Ecology 71:747–757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toky, O. P. & Ramakrishnan, P. S. 1984. Litter decomposition related to secondary succession and species type under slash and burn agriculture (jhum) in north-eastern India. Proceedings Indian National Science Academy B50(1):57–65.Google Scholar
Uhl, C. 1987. Factors controlling succession following slash-and-burn agriculture in Amazonia. Journal of Ecology 75(2):377–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uhl, C. 1988. Restoration of degraded lands in the Amazon basin. Pp. 326–332 in Wilson, E. O & Peter, F. M. (eds). Biodiversity. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Uhl, C. & Clark, K. 1983. Seed ecology of selected Amazon Basin successional species emphasizing forest seed banks, seed longevity, and seed germination triggers. Botanical Gazette 144:419–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veillon, J. P. 1985. El crecimiento de algunos bosques naturales de Venezuela en relación con los parámetros del medio ambiente. Revista Forestal Venezolana 29:5–122.Google Scholar
Vitousek, P. M. 1984. Litterfall, nutrient cycling, and nutrient limitation in tropical forests. Ecology 65:285–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vitousek, P. M. & Reiners, W. A. 1975. Ecosystem succession and nutrient retention: a hypothesis. Bio Science 25:376–381.Google Scholar
Wadsworth, F. H. 1983. Production of usable wood from tropical forests. Pp. 279–288 in Golley, F. B. (ed.). Tropical rain forest ecosystems, A. structure and function. Elsevier Scientific Publ., Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Wadsworth, F. H. 1984. Secondary forest management and plantation forestry technologies to improve the use of converted tropical lands. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, D.C. Manuscript commissioned for OTA-F–214. 82 pp.Google Scholar
Wadsworth, F. H. & Birdsey, R. A. 1985. A new look at the forests of Puerto Rico. Turrialba 35:11–17.Google Scholar
Weaver, P. L. 1986. Hurricane damage and recovery in the montane forests of the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 22:53–70.Google Scholar
Weaver, P. L. & Birdsey, R. A. 1986. Tree succession and management opportunities in coffee shade stands. Turrialba 36:47–58.Google Scholar
Weaver, P. L., Birdsey, R. A. & Lugo, A. E. 1987. Soil organic matter in secondary forests of Puerto Rico. Biotropica 19:17–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams-Linera, G. 1983. Biomass and nutrient content of two successional stages of tropical wet forest in Uxpanda, Mexico. Biotropica 15:275–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zapata, T. R. & Arroyo, M. T. K. 1978. Plant reproductive ecology of a secondary deciduous forest in Venezuela. Biotropica 10:221–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar