Epiphyte biomass in Costa Rican old-growth and secondary montane rain forests and its hydrological significance
2011 | book part
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Epiphyte biomass in Costa Rican old-growth and secondary montane rain forests and its hydrological significance
Köhler, L. ; Hölscher, D. ; Bruijnzeel, L. A.& Leuschner, C. (2011)
In:Bruijnzeel, L. A.; Scatena, F. N.; Hamilton, Lawrence S. (Eds.), Tropical Montane Cloud Forests: science for conversation and mangement pp. 268-274. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511778384.029
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Details
- Authors
- Köhler, Lars ; Hölscher, Dirk ; Bruijnzeel, L. A.; Leuschner, Christoph
- Editors
- Bruijnzeel, L. A.; Scatena, F. N.; Hamilton, Lawrence S.
- Abstract
- Epiphyte biomass and associated canopy water storage capacity may vary greatly in tropical montane forests depending on climate, forest structure, and stand age. This study compares old-growth and secondary forests in the upper montane belt of the Cordillera de Talamanca (Costa Rica) with respect to biomass of non-vascular and vascular epiphytes and their effect on water fluxes in the canopies of an old-growth forest, an early-successional stand (10–15 years of age), and a mid-successional stand (c. 40 years). Irrespective of stand age, epiphyte communities were strongly dominated by non-vascular plants (70–99% of total epiphytic biomass). Epiphyte biomass in the old-growth forest (3400 kg ha−1) was more than 20 times that of the youngest stand (160 kg ha−1) and more than six times that of the intermediate stand (520 kg ha−1). Consequently, the water storage capacity of non-vascular epiphytes and canopy humus increased from 0.06 mm in the early-successional, via 0.18 mm in the mid-successional, to 0.97 mm in the old-growth stand. Thus, the recolonization by epiphytes of tropical successional forests after clear-cutting, and the restoration of epiphytic water storage capacity will require many decades if not centuries.
- Issue Date
- 2011
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Organization
- Fakultät für Forstwissenschaften und Waldökologie ; Burckhardt-Institut ; Abteilung Waldbau und Waldökologie der Tropen
- Series
- Ecological Studies
- Language
- English