TY - JOUR
T1 - Succession and management of tropical dry forests in the Americas
T2 - Review and new perspectives
AU - Quesada, Mauricio
AU - Sanchez-Azofeifa, G. Arturo
AU - Alvarez-Añorve, Mariana
AU - Stoner, Kathryn E.
AU - Avila-Cabadilla, Luis
AU - Calvo-Alvarado, Julio
AU - Castillo, Alicia
AU - Espírito-Santo, Mario M.
AU - Fagundes, Marcilio
AU - Fernandes, Geraldo W.
AU - Gamon, John
AU - Lopezaraiza-Mikel, Martha
AU - Lawrence, Deborah
AU - Morellato, Leonor Patricia Cerdeira
AU - Powers, Jennifer S.
AU - Neves, Frederico de S.
AU - Rosas-Guerrero, Victor
AU - Sayago, Roberto
AU - Sanchez-Montoya, Gumersindo
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from Fapemig, Brasil to MMES, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) CRN II # 021, which is supported by the US National Science Foundation (Grant GEO-0452325) and by grants from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, México (CONACYT 31826-N, U50863Q; SEMARNAT-CONACyT 2002-C01-0597 and 2002-C01-0544; and CONACyT sabbatical fellowships to MQ and KS) and the Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (grants # IN221305 and IN304308) and The National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC-Discovery) for ASA. Logistical support from Mei Mei Chong, Heberto Ferreira and Alberto Valencia to this study is acknowledged. We also thank the comments and suggestions from Dr. Fredericksen and two anonymous reviewers.
PY - 2009/9/5
Y1 - 2009/9/5
N2 - Understanding tropical forest succession is critical for the development of tropical forest conservation strategies worldwide, given that tropical secondary forests can be considered the forests of the future. Tropical dry forests (TDF) are among the most threatened tropical ecosystems, there are more secondary forests and forest restoration efforts that require a better understanding of successional processes. The main goal of this synthesis for this special issue on the ecology and management of tropical dry forests in the Americas is to present a summarized review of the current knowledge of the ecology and management implications associated to TDF succession. We explore specific issues associated to tropical dry forest succession with emphasis on the use of chronosequences, plant diversity and composition, plant phenology and remote sensing, pollination, and animal-plant interactions; all under the integrating umbrella of ecosystem succession. We also emphasize the need to conduct socio-ecological research to understand changes in land-use history and its effects on succession and forest regeneration of TDF. We close this paper with some thoughts and ideas associated with the strong need for an integrating dimension not considered until today: the role of cyberinfrastructure and eco-informatics as a tool to support sound conservation, management and understanding of TDF in the Americas.
AB - Understanding tropical forest succession is critical for the development of tropical forest conservation strategies worldwide, given that tropical secondary forests can be considered the forests of the future. Tropical dry forests (TDF) are among the most threatened tropical ecosystems, there are more secondary forests and forest restoration efforts that require a better understanding of successional processes. The main goal of this synthesis for this special issue on the ecology and management of tropical dry forests in the Americas is to present a summarized review of the current knowledge of the ecology and management implications associated to TDF succession. We explore specific issues associated to tropical dry forest succession with emphasis on the use of chronosequences, plant diversity and composition, plant phenology and remote sensing, pollination, and animal-plant interactions; all under the integrating umbrella of ecosystem succession. We also emphasize the need to conduct socio-ecological research to understand changes in land-use history and its effects on succession and forest regeneration of TDF. We close this paper with some thoughts and ideas associated with the strong need for an integrating dimension not considered until today: the role of cyberinfrastructure and eco-informatics as a tool to support sound conservation, management and understanding of TDF in the Americas.
KW - Cyberinfrastructure
KW - Eco-informatics
KW - Forest conservation
KW - Forest management
KW - Plant phenology
KW - Pollination webs
KW - Seed dispersal
KW - Socio-ecosystems
KW - Tropical dry forest
KW - Tropical succession
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=68949178662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=68949178662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.06.023
DO - 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.06.023
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:68949178662
SN - 0378-1127
VL - 258
SP - 1014
EP - 1024
JO - Forest Ecology and Management
JF - Forest Ecology and Management
IS - 6
ER -