Tropical Rainforest Regeneration after Catastrophic Disturbance: Successional Patterns in the Atlantic Lowlands of Nicaragua

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On 22 October 1988, Hurricane Joan severely damaged 500,000 hectares of tropical rainforest along the Nicaraguan Atlantic coast. Research in February 1989 indicated that 80% of the trees were uprooted or snapped and that the canopy was dropped to the ground. Contrary to commonly-held assumptions about forest succession after disturbance, no evidence was found of extensive invasion by pioneer species. Rather, intensive surveys at two locations indicated widespread sprouting from standing trunks, a recuperating palm understory, and a tree seedling community similar to the original forest. To test a "direct regeneration" hypothesis of rainforest recovery after catastrophic disturbance, a three-year monitoring study will be conducted on early events of forest regeneration. Each year, reseachers will identify, mark and measure all trees and understory palms and sample tree seedlings in twenty 100 x 10 m permanent plots at two different sites; similarly survey two undisturbed sites; and census recolonizing bird and bat fauna twice yearly. There has never been a quantitative assessment of large-scale wind damage to mainland, species-rich, lowland rainforests, much less a detailed study of the recovery process. This research would newly interpret the role of hurricane disturbance in structuring Central American Atlantic coast rainforests.