Plant communities of montane secondary vegetation in Cordillera de Talamanca - Kappelle et al. 1994

Page 1

Phytocoenologia

Berlin-Stuttgart, December 5, 1994

Plant communities of montane secondary vegetation in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica by Maarten KAPPELLE, Henk P. VAN VELZEN and Welmoed H. WIJTZES, Amsterdam with 3 photos, 5 figures and 5 tables

Abstract. A phytosociological analysis of the secondary vegetation found in the montane vegetation belt of the Costa Rican Cordillera de Talamanca was carried out. Releves were made in randomly-stratified clustered sample plots distributed over homogeneous patches of secondary vegetation. A TWINSPAN classification, refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures, revealed twelve secondary plant communities (six grasslands, two shrublands and four forests), which were grouped into a lower montane (ca. 2300 m alt.) and an upper montane (ca. 2800 malt.) set of six communities eaGh. These communities have been described by characterizing their structure, composition, ecology (environmental aspects) and distribution. Finally some differences and similarities between the communities, as well as their position along a possible successional gradient, have been discussed. Resumen. Se hizo un analisis fitosociologico de la vegetacion secundaria encontrada en el piso montano de la Cordillera de Talamanca en Costa Rica. Levantamientos fueron realizados en parcelas eligidas al azar, agrupadas, y distribuidas sobre vegetacion secundaria homogena. Una clasificacion con el programa TWINSPAN, refinada con procedimientos propuestos por Braun-Blanquet, revelo doce comunidades vegetales (seis tipos de pastizales, dos tipos de matorrales, y cuatro tipos de bosque). Estas resultaron ser agrupados en dos bloques de seis comunidades, un bloque representando la faja montano-baja (alrededor de 2300 m.s.n.m.), y el otro la faja montano-alta (alrededor de 2800 m.s.n.m.). Estas comunidades fueron descritas caracterizando su estructura, composicion, ecologia (aspectos ambientales), y distribucion. Finalmente, unas diferencias y similitudes entre las comunidades fueron discutidos, tanto como la posicion de ellas a lo largo de un posible gradiente sucesional.

Introduction Recently the structure and floristic composition of a variety of primary plant communities inhabiting diverse neotropical montane ecosystems have been studied in detail (among others CLEEF eta~. 1984, KAPPELLE et al. 1989, VAN DER HAMMEN et al. 1989, HEANEY & PROCTOR 1990, VAN VELZEN 1992, WOLF 1993a and 1993b). However, secondary plant communities that establish in neotropical upland regions following human intervention (including clearing, burning and grazing) have received less attention (CUATRECASAS 1934, SUGDEN 1983, CLEEF et al. 1984, MONASTERIO et al. 1987, STUTZ DE ORTEGA 1990). Today such communities are widely distributed, every day 0340-269X/94/0022-0449 $ 9.25 Š 1994 Gebriider Borntraeger, D-14129 Berlin ¡ D-70176 Stuttgart


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.