Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-27T06:19:16.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

64 - Ecology and use of old-growth and recovering montane oak forests in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica

from Part VII - Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

By
D. Hölscher ,
L. Köhler ,
M. Kappelle  and
Ch. Leuschner
Edited by
L. A. Bruijnzeel ,
F. N. Scatena  and
L. S. Hamilton
D. Hölscher
Affiliation:
University of Göttingen, Germany
L. Köhler
Affiliation:
University of Göttingen, Germany
M. Kappelle
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Costa Rica
Ch. Leuschner
Affiliation:
University of Göttingen, Germany
L. A. Bruijnzeel
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
F. N. Scatena
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
L. S. Hamilton
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

ABSTRACT

During the last century, substantial parts of old-growth forest (OGF) in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica, were clear-cut. However, in many areas, secondary forests (SEC) have become established on abandoned agricultural land. Based on new and published data, this chapter compares upper montane OGF and SEC stands on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera in terms of differences in plant diversity, stand structure, biogeochemical cycles, and forest use. Furthermore, an attempt is made to assess the potential for, and timescale of, recovery of various forest characteristics during regrowth. Oak species (Quercus spp.) are present in all successional stages. Alpha-diversity of terrestrial, vascular plant species is significantly higher in early- and mid-successional stands than in OGF, probably due to downslope migration of sub-alpine and alpine terrestrial herb species to cleared and abandoned sites. Beta-diversity is seen to decline during succession. Values of stand leaf area in early-successional stages were similar to those observed in OGF, but biomass of epiphytes was significantly lower in SEC (160–520 kg ha−1) compared to OGF (3400 kg ha−1). Rainfall interception was much higher in OGF (25% of gross precipitation) than in SEC (9% and 15% for early- and mid-successional SEC, respectively), despite similar leaf area for OGF and SEC. A combined experimental and modeling study suggested that the epiphyte layer contributed little (6%) to overall rainfall interception in the OGF and could, therefore, not explain the observed hydrological differences between the various successional stages. Instead, these are thought rather to reflect differences in canopy roughness. […]

Type
Chapter
Information
Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
Science for Conservation and Management
 , pp. 610 - 617
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ataroff, M. A. (1998). Importance of cloud water in Venezuelan Andean cloud forest water dynamics. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Fog and Fog Collection, eds. Schemenauer, R. S. and Bridgman, H. A., pp. 25–28. Ottawa, Canada: IDRC.Google Scholar
Blaser, J. (1987). Standörtliche und waldkundliche Analyse eines Eichenwolkenwaldes (Quercus spp.) der Montanstufe in Costa Rica. Göttinger Beiträge zur Land- und Forstwirtschaft in den Tropen und Subtropen No. 27. Göttingen, Germany: Institute for Silviculture, University of Göttingen.Google Scholar
Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2001). Hydrology of tropical montane cloud forests: a reassessment. Land Use and Water Resources Research 1: 1–18.Google Scholar
Bruijnzeel, L. A., and Proctor, J. (1995). Hydrology and biochemistry of tropical montane cloud forests: what do we really know? In Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, eds. Hamilton, L. S., Juvik, J. O., and Scatena, F. N., pp. 38–78. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavelier, J., Jaramillo, M., Solis, D., and DeLeon, D. (1997). Water balance and nutrient inputs in bulk precipitation in tropical montane cloud forest, Panama. Journal of Hydrology 193: 83–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, K. L., Nadkarni, N. M., Schaeffer, D., and Gholz, H. L. (1998). Atmospheric deposition and net retention of ions by the canopy in a tropical montane forest, Monteverde, Costa Rica. Journal of Tropical Ecology 14: 27–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewel, J. J. (1980). Tropical succession: manifold routes to maturity. Biotropica 12: 2–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleischbein, K., Wilcke, W., Goller, R., et al. (2005). Rainfall interception in a lower montane forest in Ecuador: effects of canopy properties. Hydrological Processes 19: 1355–1371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García-Rojas, M. (2006). Diet and habitat preference of the Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno costaricensis) in Costa Rican montane oak forests. In Ecology and Conservation of Neotropical Montane Oak Forests, ed. Kappelle, M., pp. 325–336. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafkenscheid, R. L. L. J. (2000). Hydrology and biogeochemistry of tropical montane rain forests of contrasting stature in the Blue Mountains, Jamaica. Ph.D. thesis, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Also available at http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/1871/12734/1/tekst.pdf.Google Scholar
Hartig, K. and Beck, E. (2003). The bracken fern (Pteridium arachnoideum Kaulf.) dilemma in the Andes of Southern Ecuador. Ecotropica 9: 3–13.Google Scholar
Helmer, E. H. (2000). The landscape ecology of tropical secondary forest in montane Costa Rica. Ecosystems 3: 98–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hertel, D., Leuschner, Ch., and Hölscher, D. (2003). Size and structure of fine root systems in old-growth and secondary tropical montane forests (Costa Rica). Biotropica 35: 143–153.Google Scholar
Hertel, D., Hölscher, D., Köhler, L., and Leuschner, Ch. (2006). Changes in fine root system size and structure during secondary succession in a Costa Rican montane oak forest. In Ecology and Conservation of Neotropical Montane Oak Forests, ed. Kappelle, M., pp. 283–297. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölscher, D. (2004). Leaf traits and photosynthetic parameters of saplings and adult trees of co-existing species in a temperate broad-leaved forest. Basic and Applied Ecology 5: 163–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölscher, D., Sá, T. D. de A., Möller, R. F., Denich, M., and Fölster, H. (1998). Rainfall partitioning and related hydrochemical fluxes in a diverse and in a mono specific (Phenakospermum guyannense) secondary vegetation stand in Eastern Amazonia. Oecologia 114: 251–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölscher, D., Köhler, L., Leuschner, Ch., and Kappelle, M. (2003). Nutrient fluxes in stemflow and throughfall in three successional stages of an upper montane rain forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19: 557–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölscher, D., Köhler, L., Dijk, A. I. J. M., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2004). The importance of epiphytes in rainfall interception by a tropical montane rainforest in Costa Rica. Journal of Hydrology 292: 308–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölscher, D., Mackensen, J., and Roberts, J. M. (2005). Forest recovery in the humid tropics: changes in vegetation structure, nutrient pools and the hydrological cycle. In Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics, eds. Bonell, M. and Bruijnzeel, L. A., pp. 598–621. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holwerda, F., Burkard, R., Eugster, W., et al. (2006). Estimating fog deposition at a Puerto Rican elfin cloud forest site: comparison of the water budget and eddy covariance methods. Hydrological Processes 20: 2669–2692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holwerda, F., Bruijnzeel, L. A., Muñoz, L. E., Equihua, M., and Asbjornsen, H. (2010). Rainfall and cloud water interception in mature and secondary lower montane cloud forests of central Veracruz, Mexico. Journal of Hydrology 384: 84–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
,Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (1988). Catastro de las series de precipitaciones medidas en Costa Rica. San José, Costa Rica: Ministerio de Recursos Naturales, Energía y Minas.Google Scholar
Jongman, R. H. G., Braak, C. F. J., and Tongeren, O. F. R. (1987). Data Analysis in Community and Landscape Ecology. Wageningen, the Netherlands: Pudoc Publishers.Google Scholar
Kappelle, M. (1991). Distribución altitudinal de la vegetación del Parque Nacional Chirripó, Costa Rica. Brenesia 36: 1–14.Google Scholar
Kappelle, M. (1996). Los bosques de roble (Quercus) de la Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica: Biodiversidad, ecología, conservación y desarrollo. Santo Domingo de Heredia: Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands: University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Kappelle, M. (2004). Tropical forests: tropical montane forests. In Encyclopaedia of Forest Sciences, eds. Burley, J., Evans, J., and Youngquist, J. A., pp. 1782–1793.Oxford, UK: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kappelle, M., and Juárez, M. E. (1994). The Los Santos Forest Reserve: a bufferzone vital for the Costa Rican La Amistad Biosphere Reserve. Environmental Conservation 21: 166–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kappelle, M., and Juárez, M. E. (1995). Agroecological zonation along an altitudinal gradient in the montane belt of the Los Santos Forest Reserve in Costa Rica. Mountain Research and Development 15: 19–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kappelle, M., Kennis, P. A. F., and Vries, R. A. J. (1995a). Changes in diversity along a successional gradient in a Costa Rican upper montane Quercus forest. Biodiversity and Conservation 4: 10–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kappelle, M., Uffelen, J. G., and Cleef, A. M. (1995b). Altitudinal zonation of montane Quercus forests along two transects in the Chirripó National Park, Costa Rica. Vegetatio 119: 119–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kappelle, M., Geuze, T., Leal, M., and Cleef, A. M. (1996). Successional age and forest structure in a Costa Rican upper montane Quercus forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 12: 681–698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kappelle, M., Avertin, G., Juárez, M. E., and Zamora, N. (2000). Useful plants within a campesino community in a Costa Rican montane cloud forest. Mountain Research and Development 20: 162–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Köhler, L., Tobón, C., Frumau, K. F. A., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2007). Biomass and water storage dynamics of epiphytes in old-growth and secondary montane cloud forest stands in Costa Rica. Plant Ecology 193: 171–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Köhler, L., Hölscher, D., and Leuschner, Ch. (2008). High litterfall in old-growth and secondary upper montane forest of Costa Rica. Plant Ecology, doi:10.1007/s11258–008–9421–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumaran, S., (2008). Hydrometeorology of tropical montane rain forests of Gunung Brinchang, Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia. Ph.D. thesis, University of Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.Google Scholar
McJannet, D., Wallace, J. S., and Reddell, P. (2007). Precipitation interception in Australian tropical rainforests. II. Altitudinal gradient of cloud interception, stemflow, throughfall and interception. Hydrological Processes 21: 1703–1718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moser, G., Hertel, D., and Leuschner, Ch. (2007). Altitudinal change in LAI and stand leaf biomass in tropical montane forests: a transect study in Ecuador and a pan-tropical meta-analysis. Ecosystems 10: 924–935.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadkarni, N. M. (2000). Colonization of stripped branch surfaces by epiphytes in a lower montane cloud forest, Monteverde, Costa Rica. Biotropica 32: 358–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadkarni, N. M., Schaefer, D., Matelson, T. J., and Solano, R. (2004). Biomass and nutrient pools of canopy and terrestrial components in a primary and a secondary montane cloud forest, Costa Rica. Forest Ecology and Management 198: 223–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odum, H. T. (1970). Summary: an emerging view of the ecological system at el Verde. In A Tropical Rainforest, eds. Odum, H. T. and Pidgeon, R. F., pp. I-199–I-289. Washington, DC: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.Google Scholar
Prskawetz, M., and Lexer, M. J. (2000). Evaluierung des LI-COR LAI-2000 zur Ermittlung des Blattflächenindex in Buchenjungbeständen. Allgemeine Forst und Jagd-Zeitung 171: 185–191.Google Scholar
Roberts, J. M., Cabral, O. M. R., Costa, J. P. da, McWilliam, A. -L. C., and Sá, T. D. de A. (1996). An overview of the leaf area index and physiological measurements during ABRACOS. In Amazonian Deforestation and Climate, eds. Gash, J. H. C., Nobre, C. A., Roberts, J. M., and Victoria, R., pp. 287–305. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Roberts, J. M., Gash, J. H. C., Tani, M., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2005). Controls on evaporation in lowland tropical rainforest. In Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics, eds. Bonell, M. and Bruijnzeel, L. A., pp. 287–313. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stadtmüller, T. (1987). Cloud Forests in the Humid Tropics: A Bibliographic Review. Turrialba, Costa Rica: CATIE, and Tokyo: The United Nations University.Google Scholar
Steinhardt, U. (1979). Untersuchungen über den Wasser- und Nährstoffhaushalt eines andinen Wolkenwaldes in Venezuela. Göttingen, Germany: Göttinger Bodenkundliche Berichte 56: 1–185.Google Scholar
Tanner, E. V. J. (1980). Studies on the biomass and productivity in a series of montane rain forests in Jamaica. Journal of Ecology 68: 573–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dijk, A. I. J. M., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2001). Modelling rainfall interception by vegetation of variable density using an adapted analytical model. I. Model description. Journal of Hydrology 247: 230–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omme, L. (1998). Present Vegetation Patterns and Deforestation Trends over the Past 55 Years in a High Altitude Cloud Forest Watershed Area, Costa Rica, Internal Report No. 311. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Hugo de Vries Laboratory, University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Weaver, P. L. (1972). Cloud moisture interception in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 12: 129–144.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×