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

1988年10月22日，飓风琼严重破坏了尼加拉瓜大西洋沿岸500 000公顷的热带雨林。1989年2月的研究表明，80%的树木被连根拔起或折断，树冠掉落在地上。与通常认为的干扰后森林演替的假设相反，没有发现先锋物种广泛入侵的证据。相反，在两个地点的密集调查表明，从直立树干、休养生息的棕榈树下层和类似于原始森林的树苗群落中广泛萌发。为验证大灾后雨林恢复的“直接更新”假说，将对森林更新的早期事件进行为期三年的监测研究。每年，研究人员将在两个不同地点的20个100×10米的永久地块中识别、标记和测量所有树木和林下棕榈树，并采样树苗；同样地，调查两个未受干扰的地点；以及每年两次重新定居鸟类和蝙蝠动物的普查。从来没有对大陆物种丰富的低地热带雨林遭受大规模风灾的定量评估，更不用说对恢复过程的详细研究了。这项研究将重新解释飓风干扰在中美洲大西洋沿岸热带雨林结构中的作用。

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.