Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- 62 Environmental history and forest regeneration dynamics in a degraded valley of north-west Argentina's cloud forests
- 63 Impact of deforestation and forest regrowth on vascular epiphyte diversity in the Andes of Bolivia
- 64 Ecology and use of old-growth and recovering montane oak forests in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica
- 65 Forest restoration in the tropical montane cloud forest belt of central Veracruz, Mexico
- 66 Ecological and social bases for the restoration of a High Andean cloud forest: preliminary results and lessons from a case study in northern Ecuador
- 67 Biodiversity-based livelihoods in the ceja andina forest zone of northern Ecuador: multi-stakeholder learning processes for the sustainable use of cloud forest areas
- 68 Embracing epiphytes in sustainable forest management: a pilot study from the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico
- 69 Fire dynamics and community management of fire in montane cloud forests in south-eastern Mexico
- 70 Assessment needs to support the development of arrangements for Payments for Ecosystem Services from tropical montane cloud forests
- 71 Conservation strategies for montane cloud forests in Costa Rica: the case of protected areas, payments for environmental services, and ecotourism
- References
68 - Embracing epiphytes in sustainable forest management: a pilot study from the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico
from Part VII - Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- 62 Environmental history and forest regeneration dynamics in a degraded valley of north-west Argentina's cloud forests
- 63 Impact of deforestation and forest regrowth on vascular epiphyte diversity in the Andes of Bolivia
- 64 Ecology and use of old-growth and recovering montane oak forests in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica
- 65 Forest restoration in the tropical montane cloud forest belt of central Veracruz, Mexico
- 66 Ecological and social bases for the restoration of a High Andean cloud forest: preliminary results and lessons from a case study in northern Ecuador
- 67 Biodiversity-based livelihoods in the ceja andina forest zone of northern Ecuador: multi-stakeholder learning processes for the sustainable use of cloud forest areas
- 68 Embracing epiphytes in sustainable forest management: a pilot study from the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico
- 69 Fire dynamics and community management of fire in montane cloud forests in south-eastern Mexico
- 70 Assessment needs to support the development of arrangements for Payments for Ecosystem Services from tropical montane cloud forests
- 71 Conservation strategies for montane cloud forests in Costa Rica: the case of protected areas, payments for environmental services, and ecotourism
- References
Summary
ABSTRACT
Vascular epiphyte biomass and species richness were investigated in 16 anthropogenically disturbed pine–oak forests within an area of ~400 km2 in the Highlands of Chiapas, southern Mexico. Epiphyte biomass on 35 host oak trees in six diameter classes varied from 0.8 to 243 kg dry-weight and comprised 13–34 species. The observed variation in epiphytes could be attributed to type and intensity of past forest disturbance as it affects present-day stand structure, as well as to site position within the landscape. To help preserve the diverse regional epiphyte vegetation it is recommended to abstain from cyclic clear-cutting, to spare a sufficient number of large “rescue” trees, and to consider epiphyte conservation at a large spatial scale. As an alternative to logging, various prerequisites are proposed for the sustainable harvesting of bromeliads from natural populations.
INTRODUCTION
In the footsteps of early explorers, successive epiphyte researchers have concentrated primarily on old-growth forests. From these studies it is evident that in pristine wet mountain forests epiphytes may contribute up to more than half of the vascular plant diversity and green biomass in the forest (Hofstede et al., 1993; Wolf and Flamenco-Sandoval, 2003; cf. Köhler et al., 2007; Gradstein 2008). Thus, epiphytes are possibly key to high-mountain forest ecosystem functioning.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Tropical Montane Cloud ForestsScience for Conservation and Management, pp. 652 - 658Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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