Early successional pattern and process after sugarcane, banana, and pasture cultivation in Ecuador

Abstract

Six large permanent vegetation plots, located at the Maquipucuna Reserve near Quito, Ecuador, were sampled annually for the first five years after abandonment. In addition, seed rain and seed bank were collected and other seeds and seedlings were set out in these same sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) plantations, banana (Musa sp.) plantations, and pastures (planted in Setaria sphacelata). All three field‐types were dominated by their resident main species which continued to dominate in the pastures after five years. For banana and sugarcane fields, ferns were a significant part of the plant cover, and in all fields, woody plant cover increased slowly and monotonically. Sugarcane had the most complex fields with higher total cover, species richness, total stems, and stem height than both banana and pasture. Total basal area, however, was similar between sugarcane and banana. Sugarcane fields had twice the number of dispersed seeds as banana fields and 20 times the number of dispersed seeds as pastures. The number of seeds in the seed bank was low everywhere, and there were several species that were found both in the seed rain and the seed bank among field‐types. Most tree seeds were lost to predation, and more seeds were lost to fungus in sugarcane fields than in other fields. All planted tree seedlings died in the pasture, but there was 25% survival in banana fields and 15% survival in sugarcane fields. In summary, vegetation pattern differed greatly among the three field types, and successional mechanisms responded differently depending on the tree seed and seedling species and on field type. In general, pasture results were most unique compared with those in sugarcane and banana fields.