Diameter growth performance of tree functional groups in Puerto Rican secondary tropical forests

Patricia Adame,Maria Uriarte,Thomas J Brandeis

doi:10.5424/fs/2014231-03644

Patricia Adame, Maria Uriarte + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.5424/fs/2014231-03644

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Abstract

Aim of study: Understanding the factors that control tree growth in successional stands is particularly important for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential and timber yield of secondary tropical forests. Understanding the factors that control tree growth in successional stands is particularly important for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential and timber yield of secondary tropical forests. Yet, the high species diversity of mixed tropical forests, including many uncommon species, hinders the development of species-specific diameter growth models.Area of study: In these analyses, we grouped 82 species from secondary forests distributed across 93 permanent plots on the island of Puerto Rico.Material and Methods: Species were classified according to regeneration strategy and adult height into six functional groups. This classification allowed us to develop a robust diameter growth model using growth data collected from 1980-1990. We used mixed linear model regression to analyze tree diameter growth as a function of individual tree characteristics, stand structure, functional group and site factors.Main results: The proportion of variance in diameter growth explained by the model was 15.1%, ranging from 7.9 to 21.7%. Diameter at breast height, stem density and functional group were the most important predictors of tree growth in Puerto Rican secondary forest. Site factors such as soil and topography failed to predict diameter growth.Keywords: Caribbean forests; growth model; tropical forest succession; Puerto Rico.

Highlights

For the last f ifty years, humans have converted tropical forested landscapes to a wide variety of uses with unprecedented consequences for biodiversity, climate, and other ecosystem services (Lambin and Geist, 2006)
Understanding the factors that control tree growth in successional stands is important for quantifying the carbon sequestration potential and timber yield of secondary tropical forests (Baker et al, 2003)
We classif ied 81 species from 1,142 individuals distributed across 93 permanent plots into fourfunctional groups based on regeneration strategy and adult height

Summary

Introduction

For the last f ifty years, humans have converted tropical forested landscapes to a wide variety of uses with unprecedented consequences for biodiversity, climate, and other ecosystem services (Lambin and Geist, 2006). The area of degraded and secondary forests in the tropics was recently estimated at 850 million hectares, and this amount is likely to increase dramatically in the future (ITTO, 2002) These forests provide many of the services attributed to primary forests including regulation of water flow and quality, erosion control, carbon sequestration, and timber and non-timber forest products (Chazdon, 2003; Guariguata and Ostertag, 2001; ITTO, 2002). In spite of their increasing extent, dominance, and prevalence in tropical countries, the processes of tropical forest recovery and succession are not well characterized (Chazdon, 2003). Teasing apart the importance of local and regional processes in explaining intra- and interspecific variation in tree growth is critical to the development of sustainable management of forest ecosystems, in mixed-species and uneven-aged stands (Canham et al, 2006)

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