In 14 forest plots (36 m2) all terrestrial plant species were recorded before slashing and burning of the vegetation. During subsequent cultivation with rainfed rice all resprouting plants were registered in permanent plots (72 m2). The fields studied (one per forest) covered all combinations of forest type and soil usually cultivated on local farms. Forest plots (total 409 species) and field plots (358 species) had 226 species in common. Most resprouting plants were woody. Though nine forests in the sample were secondary, 70% of resprouting plants belonged to primary forest species and with three exceptions, these species did not regenerate by seed.

Experiments in one field inlcuded: different intensities of initial burning, weeding (none, once, twice) and length of the rice cultivation period (1, 2, 3 y). Resprouting plants were monitored in permanent plots (108 m2) during 3 y of cultivation and 2 y of fallow. More plants resprouted after a mild initial burning (5.8 plants m−2) than after a burn of normal intensity (1.4 plants m−2). Weeding and prolonged cultivation strongly reduced species diversity but plant densities were less affected because some climbers and trees were apparently stimulated and expanded.

Fields abandoned after one rice harvest had, within six months, a closed forest canopy of pioneer trees emerging from the pre-existing seed bank and from the growth of resprouting trees. Prolonged cultivation (3 y) destroyed the pre-existing seed bank but affected sprouting plants less, these being the only component in the vegetation able to shade out weeds and forbs such as Chromolaena odorata.

We sampled riparian frogs along 18 streams at eight localities in Borneo. At four of these sites we sampled during more than one year. Altogether 49 species were included in our study and total sample size was 13,249. We measured overlap in species occurrences and arrays of abundances within and among localities. Variation over the time span of our study was minor within communities. Overlaps between streams at a locality were generally higher than overlaps of pairs of streams from different localities. Environmental variation, particularly in stream width and gradient, had a clear effect on both intra-and inter-locality overlaps. Although rainfall varied between localities and within localities over time, that variation did not seem to affect overlaps among or within communities. Environmental factors did not account for all differences in overlaps between communities. Instead, regional processes, perhaps the timing of barriers or speciation events, appear to have been responsible for geographic restrictions of several species, leading to variation in overlap values.

We report long-term observations on leaf herbivory in the mangroves Rhizophora mangle and Avicennia germinans, on the Placencia Peninsula of Belize. We labelled and traced leaves and recorded the amount of damage appearing over a period of 310 days. Herbivores had damaged 1–4% of total mean leaf area within the first 10 days, but damage rates levelled off thereafter, to a final total of 4–10% damage. Herbivores did not concentrate on leaves of younger age classes. Rhizophora mangle growing in the high tidal zone (HHW) exhibited the highest initial and total attack rates at all but the final sampling dates. We also documented the dynamics of injury expansion and necrosis following artificial injury to seedling and tree leaves. Artificial holes in leaves were associated with higher subsequent rates of herbivory that varied among leaf age classes, and particular damage types were more prevalent in previously injured leaves. Artificial holes expanded significantly more in young leaves of both species. Holes in young leaves of both species expanded by up to 45.1% in area over 50 days, consistent with a similar study in Australia. Substantial necrotic areas developed around the injury site; a secondary effect of damage not often considered in herbivory studies. We discuss the implications of hole expansion and necrosis in estimating error in herbivory measurements. Temporally dynamic studies of herbivory are especially needed in tropical systems that show non-deciduous phenologies and long-lived leaves.

The present study showed that the density of germinable seeds in the soil of a humid tropical forest ecosystem at Nelliampathy, in the Western Ghats of Kerala in India, fluctuates sharply at different times of the year. There were more germinable seeds in the soil during the monsoon season. Regeneration was activated after canopy gap formation and thus a decline in the soil seed density in 1-year-old gaps was recorded. However, soil seed density increased with gap age. Differences were found between primary, late secondary and early secondary categories of species with respect to their soil seed bank. There were more seeds of primary species in the soil of natural gaps than in selection felled ones, while the seeds of early secondary shrubs and herbs were more in the soil of selection felled gaps than in natural gaps. The soil seed banks of the primary forest species, being transient, are not an important conservation tool for these species.

Numbers of lianas ≥2 cm gbh were recorded on trees ≥30 cm gbh in two 4 ha plots of dipterocarp forest. Associations between lianas and trees of the 12 commonest families and 16 commonest species were analysed. Liana density was 882 ha-1. Fifty-seven per cent of trees supported lianas and the mean number lianas per tree was 2.1. Lianas were highly aggregated on individual trees in most families; numbers of lianas per tree followed the negative binomial distribution for the Dipterocarpaceae but not Euphorbiaceae. Dipterocarpaceae and Euphorbiaceae differed in susceptibility, with 41 and 64% of their trees respectively supporting lianas. The proportions of trees with lianas (i.e. % trees laden) were correlated between plots at the species, but not the family, level. They were not related to tree girth; differences in proportions between families and species were maintained for trees in the 30–40 cm gbh class. At the species level, proportions of trees with lianas and the mean number of lianas per tree were significantly inversely correlated with mean branch-free bole height of trees in the 30–40 cm gbh class. Increased branch-free bole height and associated branch shedding may therefore decrease the susceptibility of trees to lianas and explain the lower susceptibility in the Dipterocarpaceae than the Euphorbiaceae.

The species richness of pimpline ichneumonids was examined using catches from a network of Malaise traps operated throughout Costa Rica. More species were caught at some sites than at reasonably well-collected sites in other countries. When corrected for area, the species richness of ‘Pimplinae’ and Pimplini in Costa Rica as a whole is greater than that for virtually any other region recorded to date. The local richness of both groups appears to be a function of their regional richness. Many of the species found in Costa Rica apparently have large geographic ranges.

Hong Kong is on the northern edge of the tropics and near the boundary of the Paleotropical and Holarctic floral kingdoms. The phenological states of 105 plant species in secondary shrubland were recorded weekly for three years. Community patterns of reproductive phenology are highly seasonal and vary little between years. There is a flowering maximum in May and a fruiting maximum in December/January. The winter fruiting peak coincides with diet switching by resident omnivorous birds and the arrival of partially frugivorous migrants from the Eastern Palearctic. However, wind-dispersed species also have a fruiting maximum at the same time, suggesting that fruiting in winter has other advantages.

Light environment, leaf physiological characteristics, and growth were compared for forest-grown saplings of three species of tropical trees with known life histories. Light environment was assessed both by hemispherical canopy photography and a quantitative visual index of crown illumination. Leaf gas exchange characteristics were measured by infrared gas analysis. The species tested included Lecythis ampla, a species tolerant of understorey conditions, Pithecellobium elegans, a species found in relatively bright sites, and Simarouba amara, a fast-growing, light-demanding species.

Annual height and diameter growth did not significantly differ between the three species, but highest average rates were found for Simarouba. Likewise, saplings of the three species were found in similar low light environments although Simarouba saplings were found in slightly brighter sites and Lecythis saplings were found in the lowest light environments. Despite similar light regimes, the species differed markedly in leaf area and gas exchange. Leaf areas of Lecythis saplings were five and ten-fold greater than Simarouba and Pithecellobium saplings, respectively. Light-saturated leaf photosynthesis and leaf dark respiration rates of Lecythis were about half those of Simarouba; rates of Pithecellobium were intermediate. Lecythis had the highest leaf photosynthesis at understorey diffuse light levels. Measures of annual growth were positively correlated with estimates of both direct and diffuse light with the strongest correlations between sapling performance and diffuse light.

The Neotropical tree, Pourouma aspera (Cecropiaceae), supports large lobed leaves on an erect stem which seldom branches below a height of 5 m. The prominent leaf scars are visible on trunks of mature trees and the distance between scars is highly correlated with the height growth rate when the leaves were produced. Relationships between height growth rate, internode length and light environment were determined from marked P. aspera saplings in a tropical wet lowland forest and used to infer the past growth histories of larger saplings and trees. Inferred growth rates were quite variable, both within and between individuals. Estimated passage times to grow from 0.7 to 2.2 m tall ranged from 0.6–23 y, with a mean of 4.4 y (N = 61). The study illustrates the importance of examining the distribution of growth rate over the length of the stem in addition to the more usual distribution of numbers of individuals per growth rate class. Species such as Pourouma, which respond strongly to light, complete much of their total juvenile growth during intervals of high light, even though most saplings are growing slowly in shade at any given time.