New Zealand Journal of ??? abstracts
Early successional pattern and process after sugarcane, banana, and
pasture cultivation in Ecuador
Randall W. Myster
Department of Biology
Box 89
University of Central Oklahoma
Edmond, OK 73034, USA
rmyster@lternet.edu
Abstract Six large permanent vegetation plots,
located at the Maquipucuna Reserve near Quito, Ecuador, were
sampled annually for the first five years after abandonment. In
addition, seed rain and seed bank were collected and other seeds and
seedlings were set out in these same sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)
plantations, banana (Musa sp.) plantations, and pastures
(planted in Setaria sphacelata). All three field-types
were dominated by their resident main species which continued to
dominate in the pastures after five years. For banana and sugarcane
fields, ferns were a significant part of the plant cover, and in all
fields, woody plant cover increased slowly and monotonically. Sugarcane
had the most complex fields with higher total cover, species richness,
total stems, and stem height than both banana and pasture. Total basal
area, however, was similar between sugarcane and banana. Sugarcane
fields had twice the number of dispersed seeds as banana fields and 20
times the number of dispersed seeds as pastures. The number of seeds in
the seed bank was low everywhere, and there were several species that
were found both in the seed rain and the seed bank among field-types.
Most tree seeds were lost to predation, and more seeds were lost to
fungus in sugarcane fields than in other fields. All planted tree
seedlings died in the pasture, but there was 25% survival in banana
fields and 15% survival in sugarcane fields. In summary, vegetation
pattern differed greatly among the three field types, and successional
mechanisms responded differently depending on the tree seed and
seedling species and on field type. In general, pasture results were
most unique compared with those in sugarcane and banana fields.
Keywords old fields; Neotropics; Musa sp.;
-Saccharum officinarum; Setaria sphacelata
B06038; Online publication date 27 February 2007; Received 21 September
2006; accepted 27 November 2006
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2007, Vol. 45: 101 - 110
0028-825X/07/4501-0101 © The Royal Society of New Zealand
2007
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