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

1988年10月22日，飓风琼严重破坏了50万 沿着巴拿马大西洋的热带雨林 海岸 1989年2月的研究表明，80%的树木 被连根拔起或折断，树冠下降到 地上 与人们对森林的普遍看法相反， 干扰后的继承，没有证据表明，广泛的 先锋物种的入侵 相反，在两个月内进行的密集调查 地点表明，从站立的树干广泛发芽， 恢复棕榈林和树苗群落 与原始森林相似。 为了验证雨林恢复的“直接再生”假设， 在灾难性的干扰之后，一项为期三年的监测研究 将在森林再生的早期事件上进行。 每个 每年，研究人员将识别，标记和测量所有的树木， 林下棕榈树和样本树苗在二十个100 × 10米 在两个不同地点的永久地块;同样调查两个 未受干扰的地点;以及普查使鸟类和蝙蝠动物群消失 一年两次。 从来没有一个大规模的量化评估 风对大陆的破坏，物种丰富，低地雨林， 更不用说对恢复过程的详细研究了。 本研究 将重新解释飓风扰动在 中美洲大西洋沿岸的热带雨林。

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.