Light habitat, structure, diversity and dynamic of the tropical dry forest

• Published in: Colombia forestal Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 19 - 30
• Main Authors: Omar Melo-Cruz, Fernando Fernandez Mendez, Boris Villanueva Tamayo, Nathaly Rodriguez Santos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Radiación fotosintéticamente activa, factor de extinción lumínico, estructura, mortalidad, reclutamiento, diversidad florística
• ISSN: 2256-201X; 0120-0739
• DOI: 10.14483/udistrital.jour.colomb.for.2017.1.a02

Tropical dry forests are complex and fragile ecosystems with high anthropic intervention and restricted reproductive cycles. These have unique richness, structural diversity, physiological and phenological . This research was executed  in the Upper Magdalena Valley, in four forest fragments with different successional stages. In each fragment four permanent plots of 0.25 ha were established and lighting habitat associated with richness, relative abundance and rarity of species. The forest dynamics included the mortality, recruitment and diameter growth for a period of 5.25 years. The species rischness found in the mature riparian forestis higher than that reported in other studies of similar areas in Valle del Cauca and the Atlantic coast.  The values of richness, diversity and rarity species are more evidenced  than the magnitudes found in  drier areas of Tolima. The structure, diversity and dynamics of forests were correlated with the lighting habitat, showing differences in canopy architecture and its role in the capture and absorption of radiation. Forests with dense canopy have limited availability of photosynthetically active radiation in understory related low species richness, while illuminated undergrowth are richer and heterogeneous.