Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:52:29.276Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stand dynamics in Mpanga Research Forest Reserve, Uganda, 1968–1993

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

David M. Taylor ,
Alan C. Hamilton ,
J. Duncan Whyatt ,
Patrick Mucunguzi  and
R. Bukenya-Ziraba
David M. Taylor
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Earth Resources, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX
Alan C. Hamilton
Affiliation:
World Wide Fund for Nature, Panda House, Weyside Park, Catteshall Lane, Godalming, GU7 1XR
J. Duncan Whyatt
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Earth Resources, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX
Patrick Mucunguzi
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, Makerere University, PO Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
R. Bukenya-Ziraba
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, Makerere University, PO Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Changes in the composition and structure of mid-altitude, semi-deciduous tropical forest in Mpanga Research Forest Reserve, Uganda are described for a 25-year period between 1968 and 1993. Three surveys of a 0.64 ha (80 m × 80 m) permanent plot were carried out in 1968, 1982 and 1993, during which a total of 397 trees with a dbh≥9.5 cm were identified. Forty-nine species were identified in total, representing 19 families. Eight individuals remain unidentified. Dbh measurements were recorded for 359 non-buttressed trees, whilst the equivalent measurement for 38 buttressed trees was the diameter of the trunk immediately above the buttress. Basal area, diversity and density of trees increased within the plot during the survey period by, respectively, 8% (from 39.2 to 42.2 m2 ha−1). 7% (from 44 to 47 species) and 11% (459 to 508 trees ha−1). The main compositional changes were increases in understorey trees and a decline in serai taxa. Growth rates (productivity) and turnover were lower during the period 1982 to 1993 than the period 1968 to 1982. Rates of growth and mortality were generally highest in serai species and lowest in main canopy taxa. Mortality rates were also highest amongst the smallest trees enumerated (dbh <30 cm). Changes in composition and structure over the survey period are believed to reflect forest recovery after low intensity pit-sawing was curtailed from 1951. Forest recovery also may have caused the reduced growth rates and turnover recorded for the most recent survey period, by restricting the opportunities for light-demanding, faster-growing and relatively productive serai taxa, and to have outweighed any effects of externally-driven processes, such as changes in atmospheric conditions.

Keywords

permanent plotstand dynamicstropical forestUganda
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , July 1996 , pp. 583 - 597
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

LITERATURE CITED

Adlard, P. G., Spilsbury, M. J. & Whitmore, T. C. 1989. Current thinking on modelling the tropical forest. Pp. 6–18 in Was Mohd, W. R., Chan, H. T. & Appanah, S. (eds) Proceedings of the seminar on growth and yield in tropical mixed/moist forests. 20–24 06 1988. IUFRO, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Anon, 1967. Atlas of Uganda. Second Edition. Department of Lands and Survey, Uganda.Google Scholar
Ashton, P. S. & Hall, P. 1992. Comparisons of structure among mixed dipterocarp forests of north-western Borneo. Journal of Ecology 80:459–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiew, K. Y. & Garcia, A. 1989. Growth and yield studies in the Yayasan Sabah Forest Concession Area. Pp. 192–204 in Was Mohd, W. R., Chan, H. T. & Appanah, S. (eds) Proceedings of the seminar on growth and yield in tropical mixed/moist forests. 20–24 06 1988. IUFRO, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Dawkins, H. C. & Philip, M. S. 1962. Working plan for Mpanga Research Forest. Forest Department, Uganda Protectorate.Google Scholar
Eggeling, W. J. 1947. Observations on the ecology of the Budongo rain forest, Uganda. Journal of Ecology 34:20–87.Google Scholar
Field, C. B. & Vazquezyanes, C. 1993. Species of the genus Piper provide a model to study how plants can grow in different kinds of rain-forest habitats. Interciencia 18:230–236.Google Scholar
Hamilton, A. C. 1981. A field guide to Uganda forest trees. Privately published, Kampala.Google Scholar
Kio, P. R. O. 1978. Stand development in naturally regenerated forest in south-western Nigeria. PhD. thesis, Department of Forest Resources Management, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.Google Scholar
Langdale-Brown, I. 1960. The vegetation of Buganda. Memoirs of the Research Division (Series 2). Department of Agriculture, Uganda Protectorate.Google Scholar
Lieberman, D. & Lieberman, M. 1987. Forest tree growth and dynamics at La Selva, Costa Rica (1969–1982). Journal of Tropical Ecology 3:347–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lieberman, D., Lieberman, M., Hartshorn, G. & Peralta, R. 1985. Growth rates and age-size relationships of lowland wet forest trees in Costa Rica. Journal of Tropical Ecology 1:97–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lind, E. M. & Morrison, M. E. S. 1974. East African vegetation. Longman, London.Google Scholar
Liu, J. G. & Ashton, P. S. 1995. Individual-based simulation models for succession and management. Forest Ecology & Management 73:157–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maitre, H. F. 1987. Natural forest management in Cote d'Ivoire. Unasylva 39:53–60.Google Scholar
Manokaran, N. & Kochummen, K. M. 1987. Recruitment, growth and mortality of tree species in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 3:315–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mervart, J. 1972. Growth and mortality rates in the natural high forest of western Nigeria. Nigeria Forestry Information Bulletin (n. s.), No. 22.Google Scholar
Mervart, J. 1974. Appendix to the paper on growth and mortality rates in the natural high forest of western Nigeria. Nigeria Forestry Information Bulletin (n. s.), No. 28.Google Scholar
Okali, D. U. U. & Ola-Adams, B. A. 1987. Tree population changes in treated rain forest at Omo Forest Reserve, south-western Nigeria. Journal of Tropical Ecology 3:291–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osafo, E. D. 1970. The development of silvicultural techniques applied to natural forests in Ghana. Technical Note, Forest Products Research Institute Ghana 13, 18 pp.Google Scholar
Pallister, J. W. 1959. The geology of southern Mengo. Geological Survey of Uganda. Report No. 1. Government Printer, Entebbe.Google Scholar
Phillips, O. L. & Gentry, A. H. 1994. Increasing turnover through time in tropical forests. Science 263:954–958.Google Scholar
Primack, R. B., Ernest, O. K., Chai, S. S. T. & Lee, S. S. 1989. Relative performance of Dipterocarp trees in natural forest, managed forest, logged forest and plantations throughout Sarawak, East Malaysia. Pp. 161–169 in Was Mohd, W. R., Chan, H. T. & Appanah, S. (eds). Proceedings of the seminar on growth and yield in tropical mixed/moist forests. 20–24 06 1988. IUFRO, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Primack, R. B. & Hall, P. 1991. Species diversity research in Bornean forests with implications for conservation biology and silviculture. Tropics 1:91–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sangster, R. G. 1950. Working plan for the South Mengo Forests, Uganda. Government Printer, Entebbe.Google Scholar
Sheil, D. 1995. Evaluating turnover in tropical forests. Science 268:894–895.Google Scholar
Silva, J. N. M., de Carvalho, J. O. P. & Lopes, J. do C. A. 1989. Growth of a logged-over tropical rain forest of the Brazilian Amazon. Pp. 117–136 in Was Mohd, W. R., Chan, H. T. & Appanah, S. (eds). Proceedings of the seminar on growth and yield in tropical mixed/moist forests. 20–24 06 1988. IUFRO, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Silva, J. N. M., de Carvalho, J. O. P., Lopes, J. do C. A., de Almeida, B. F. & Costa, D. H. M. 1993. Growth and yield of a tropical rain forest of the Brazilian Amazon 13 years after logging. Pp. 250–259 in Vanclay, J. K., Skousgaard, J. P. & Gertner, G. Z. (eds). Growth and yield estimates from successive forest inventories. IUFRO Conference Proceedings, Copenhagen, 14–17 06 1993. Forskningsserien No. 3–1993.Google Scholar
Swaine, M. D., Hall, J. B. & Alexander, I. J. 1987a. Tree population dynamics at Kade, Ghana (1968–1982). Journal of Tropical Ecology 3:331–345.Google Scholar
Swaine, M. D., Lieberman, D. & Putz, F. E. 1987b. The dynamics of tree populations in tropical forest: a review. Journal of Tropical Ecology 3:359–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, A. S. 1945. The vegetation of some hillsides in Uganda. Journal of Ecology 33:24–30.Google Scholar
Vanclay, J. K. 1992. Assessing the productivity in tropical moist forests – a review. Forest Ecology & Management 54:257–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanclay, J. K. 1995. Growth-models for tropical forests – a synthesis of models and methods. Forest Science 41:7–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, F. 1983. The vegetation of Africa. UNESCO, Paris.Google Scholar