Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 27 October 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5492, pp. 788 - 791
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5492.788
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Hurricane Disturbance and Tropical Tree Species Diversity

John Vandermeer,1* Iñigo Granzow de la Cerda,2 Douglas Boucher,4 Ivette Perfecto,3 Javier Ruiz5

The debate over the maintenance of high diversity of tree species in tropical forests centers on the role of tree-fall gaps as a primary source of disturbance. Using a 10-year data series accumulated since Hurricane Joan struck the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua in 1988, we examined the pattern of species accumulation over time and with increased sampling of individuals. Our analysis shows that the pattern after a hurricane differs from the pattern after a simple tree-fall disturbance, and we conclude that pioneers are limited in large disturbances and thus do not suppress other species the way they do in smaller disturbances.

1 Department of Biology,
2 University Herbarium,
3 School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
4 Department of Biology, Hood College, Frederick, MD 21701, USA.
5 Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe de Nicaragüense (URACCAN), Bluefields, Nicaragua.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jvander{at}umich.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Changes in forest structure, species diversity and spatial pattern following hurricane disturbance in a Piedmont North Carolina forest, USA.
W. Xi, R. K. Peet, and D. L. Urban (2008)
J Plant Ecol
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rates of change in tree communities of secondary Neotropical forests following major disturbances.
R. L Chazdon, S. G Letcher, M. van Breugel, M. Martinez-Ramos, F. Bongers, and B. Finegan (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 273-289
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Nonsynchronous recovery of community characteristics in island spiders after a catastrophic hurricane.
T. W. Schoener and D. A. Spiller (2006)
PNAS 103, 2220-2225
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Variable ecological effects of hurricanes: The importance of seasonal timing for survival of lizards on Bahamian islands.
T. W. Schoener, D. A. Spiller, and J. B. Losos (2004)
PNAS 101, 177-181
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Natural Restoration of the Species-Area Relation for a Lizard After a Hurricane.
T. W. Schoener, D. A. Spiller, and J. B. Losos (2001)
Science 294, 1525-1528
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Impact of Paleocene/Eocene Greenhouse Warming on North American Paratropical Forests.
(2001)
Palaios 16, 266-278


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)