Branchfall as a Demographic Filter for Epiphyte Communities: Lessons from Forest Floor-Based Sampling.

ABSTRACT: Local variation in the abundance and richness of vascular epiphytes is often attributed to environmental characteristics such as substrate and microclimate. Less is known, however, about the impacts of tree and branch turnover on epiphyte communities. To address this issue, we surveyed branches and epiphytes found on the forest floor in 96 transects in two forests (Atlantic rainforest in Brazil and Caribbean rainforest in Panama). In the Brazilian forest, we additionally distinguished between edge and core study sites. We quantified branch abundance, epiphyte abundance, richness and proportion of adults to investigate the trends of these variables over branch diameter. Branches <2 cm in diameter comprised >90% of all branches on the forest floor. Abundance and richness of fallen epiphytes

SUBMITTER: Sarmento Cabral J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4470510 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature