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Conservation status of tropical dry forest remnants in Nicaragua: Do ecological indicators and social perception tally?

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Abstract

Intensive deforestation is reducing dry tropical forest areas worldwide and increasing its fragmentation. Forest remnants can be the basis for the future recovery of this forest type if appropriate management practices are applied. This requires a better knowledge of their conservation status and the assessment of their perceived value by land users. In this study we compare the structure, species richness and diversity of different types of tropical dry forest remnants in Nicaragua and we assess their conservation status based on a new index: Social simplified Importance Value Index (SsIVI). This index summarizes both ecological indicators and the perception by local stakeholders of the conservation status of the tree species present. Results show that gallery and hillslope forest remnants have higher species richness and diversity than isolated vestigial patches. In all remnants, species richness and diversity is higher in the tree layer than in the regeneration layer. No differences are observed in valorisation among different types of remnants either for the tree layer or for the regeneration layer. In the hillslope forests, where several degrees of disturbance are present, the valorisation decreases with increasing degradation. Results of species composition and forest structure indicate a strong degradation of dry tropical forest remnants in Nicaragua. However, the similar social valorisation of the three types of remnants suggests that they face similar threats but also similar opportunities to be preserved. A decrease in valorisation with increasing degradation warns about the potential loss of the most degraded areas, unless forest restoration is applied.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the local people from the Miraflor-Moropotente area who participated in the interviews, focus groups and forest inventories. This study was funded by the Catalan Agency for Development and Cooperation (ACCD) and by the project D/7592/07 of the Spanish Agency for International Development and Cooperation (AECID).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CREAF (Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications), Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain

    David Tarrasón, Pilar Andrés & Josep Maria Espelta

  2. FAREM (Facultad Regional Multidisciplinar), UNAN (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua), Barrio 14 de Abril, Estelí, Nicaragua

    Josué T. Urrutia & Ertilia Herrera

  3. ICTA (Institute for Environmental Science and Technology), Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain

    Federica Ravera

Authors
  1. David Tarrasón
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  2. Josué T. Urrutia
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  3. Federica Ravera
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  4. Ertilia Herrera
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  5. Pilar Andrés
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  6. Josep Maria Espelta
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Tarrasón.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 4, 5.

Table 4 List of tree species for the two layers (T = tree, R = regeneration) recorded in the inventories of forest remnants (H = hillslope, G = gallery forest, V = vestigial patch)
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Table 5 Mean ± ES values for structural variables, species richness and diversity (Shannon–Weiner index) in the tree layer and natural regeneration layer of the three types of remnants (gallery forest, hillslope forest and vestigial patches) in the tropical dry forest of Miraflor-Moropotente
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Tarrasón, D., Urrutia, J.T., Ravera, F. et al. Conservation status of tropical dry forest remnants in Nicaragua: Do ecological indicators and social perception tally?. Biodivers Conserv 19, 813–827 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9736-x

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