Demography and life history of Geonoma orbignyana: An understory palm used as foliage in Colombia

Abstract

Abstract Geonoma orbignyana is a common understory palm, whose leaves are used as foliage in Colombia. This palm has been used for more than 30 years; but there is no information about its life history or conservation status. Our objective was to characterize the life history of this palm and population dynamics of a natural population as a first step to assess the effect of leaf harvesting. More than 1600 palms were monitored from June 1999 to March 2000; we measured growth, mortality, and reproductive success. Population dynamics were evaluated using a Lefkovitch matrix model, and elasticity analysis. Results indicate that G. orbignyana grows at a rate of 1.98 ± 0.047 leaves/year, the palm has a long lifespan, and growth and reproduction are related to light conditions in the forest. The density of this palm is high (108–311 palms/100 m2), which is explained in part by its capacity to continue growing after damage, and to respond to the frequent gap formation in the forest. The population is growing (λ = 1.074, CI = [1.046–1.099]). Survival transitions account for 77% of population growth, a value that is higher compared to other understory plants. Because of the high density, the recovery capacity of these palms, and the correlations found between individual and population performances with forest dynamics, we hypothesize that G. orbignyana behaves as an opportunistic species taking advantage of forest gaps. This palm is a promising non-timber forest product (NTFP) with a high profile for further exploitation, although we recommend that harvesting regimens should consider time of recovery and forest dynamics. Without these considerations mortality could increase in all classes, which will compromise population persistence. Further studies should accurately estimate the recovery time after defoliation as well as to characterize forest dynamics identifying its most important features for population growth.