Given the recent interest on bushfires and their impacts, the following
item [accessible at http://www.consecol.org/vol5/iss2/art10 ] may be of
interest ...
Elmqvist, T., M. Wall, A. L. Berggren, L. Blix, Å. Fritioff, and U.
Rinman. 2001. "Tropical forest reorganization after cyclone
and fire disturbance in Samoa: remnant trees as biological legacies."
Conservation Ecology 5(2): 10.
ABSTRACT
In disturbed rain forests, large, living remnant trees may be of
significant importance for postdisturbance reorganization either
directly, by producing large quantities of seeds, or indirectly, by
attracting vertebrate seed dispersers. In addition, remnant trees may
also be important in providing a favorable microhabitat for seedlings of
late-successional species. This study focused on the role of large
remnant trees (> 40 cm dbh) in patterns of regeneration after cyclone
and fire damage in the Tafua and Falealupo Rain Forest Preserves,
Savaií, Samoa. At Tafua, 10 large trees at each of two sites (one site
burned in 1990) were investigated with regard to numbers of species and
densities of plants from three different size classes at different
distances from remnant trees. At the burned site, both species richness
and the densities of plants < 1cm dbh were significantly higher inside
the canopies of remnant trees than outside of them. At the unburned
site, no or only marginally significant differences were observed. At
Falealupo, two burned sites (burned in 1993 and 1998) were investigated
using seed traps. At both sites, the seed rain from vertebrate
dispersers was disproportionally higher under the canopies of remnant
trees than in outside areas. No differences in soil characteristics were
found when comparing samples taken from inside and outside canopies. Our
results are congruent with the prediction that large remnant trees
surviving in severely disturbed rain-forest areas represent biological
legacies and serve as nuclei for reorganization. Based on this study and
our previous work, we suggest that three factors represent essential
components of the spatial resilience of tropical forest ecosystems and
should be targeted for active management in tropical forests exposed to
large-scale disturbances, particularly fire: remnant trees, refugia, and
vertebrate dispersers.
Published: December 20, 2001
LK
.
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