Premium
Impact of Research Trails on Seedling Dynamics in a Tropical Forest
Author(s) -
Comita Liza S.,
Goldsmith Gregory R.
Publication year - 2008
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.1744-7429.2007.00337.x
Subject(s) - seedling , panama , tropical forest , forest dynamics , geography , forestry , tropics , ecology , environmental science , agroforestry , biology , agronomy
We evaluated the impact of research access trails on adjacent seedling density, survival, and recruitment in a permanent tropical forest plot in Panama. Significant differences were detected up to 20 m from trails, indicating that data collected close to trails may be biased. However, observed effects were not substantial enough to affect plot‐wide estimates of seedling dynamics, suggesting that research trail impacts are negligible when affected areas constitute only a small fraction of the total area sampled.