articleScience AdvancesMar 1, 2019GOLD OA

Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests

DMDanaë M. A. RozendaalFBFrans BongersTMT. Mitchell AideEÁEsteban Álvarez‐DávilaNANataly Ascarrunz

University of Connecticut · University of Regina · +57 more institutions

PubMed
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Abstract

Old-growth tropical forests harbor an immense diversity of tree species but are rapidly being cleared, while secondary forests that regrow on abandoned agricultural lands increase in extent. We assess how tree species richness and composition recover during secondary succession across gradients in environmental conditions and anthropogenic disturbance in an unprecedented multisite analysis for the Neotropics. Secondary forests recover remarkably fast in species richness but slowly in species composition. Secondary forests take a median time of five decades to recover the species richness of old-growth forest (80% recovery after 20 years) based on rarefaction analysis. Full recovery of species composition takes…

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Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Species richness
  • Secondary forest
  • Biodiversity
  • Secondary succession
  • Ecological succession
  • Old-growth forest
  • Rarefaction (ecology)
  • Ecology
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Life in Land
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