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Use of Coarse Woody Debris by the Plant Community of a Hawaiian Montane Cloud Forest 1
Author(s) -
Santiago Louis S.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
biotropica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1744-7429
pISSN - 0006-3606
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2000.tb00510.x
Subject(s) - coarse woody debris , cloud forest , moss , soil water , seedling , woody plant , basal area , montane ecology , environmental science , forestry , habitat , ecology , biology , agronomy , geography
Many species of woody plants in Hawaiian montane forests germinate on nurse logs or epiphytically, often developing aerial roots. This study investigated the role of fallen logs, wood fragments, and other forms of coarse woody debris (CWD; 35 cm diam.) in providing habitat for woody species in a forest with waterlogged soils. Oxidation‐reduction potentials (Eh) of root mats and nurse logs (−70.1 to 278.6 mV) were higher than the underlying soil horizons (−203.6 to −128.1 mV). CWD volume varied between 135.9 and 427.9 m 3 /ha. Live basal area varied between 18.4 and 29.7 m 2 /ha and increased with total CWD volume. Seedling and sapling abundances on nurse logs were correlated with moss coverage and decomposition class. Moss coverage was the only significant predictor of seedling density on nurse logs, whereas moss coverage and log volume were important for predicting sapling density. The proportion of woody plants established on logs was higher than in a younger Hawaiian montane forest site with well‐drained soils.