Abstract
A 1-year study of natural mahogany regeneration was conducted in three plantations 8 years after they received different intensities of hurricane-induced disturbance. These plantations were established in 1931, 1938, and 1963 with combinations of big-leaf mahogany and a hybrid of big-leaf and small-leaf mahogany. All the plantations had natural regeneration of mahogany before Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Eight years after the hurricane, lack of seed rain and competition with pioneer species limited regeneration in the most severely damaged plantation. In the plantations with moderate and low damage, seed rain and regeneration were abundant, with an inverse J-shape size distribution of mahoganies. Even in these plantations, however, regeneration was inversely related to the density of pioneer species and the amount of coarse woody debris on the forest floor. In general, both seed rain and natural regeneration were low in areas with more than 500 pioneers per hectare and with less than 20 m2 ha−1 basal area of mahogany. These findings suggested that mahogany is not competitive in areas colonized by pioneer species, but it regenerated well in areas with moderate canopy disturbance. The success of these plantations indicated that establishing small plantations can be effective in maintaining mahogany populations in disturbed areas.
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Wang, HH., Scatena, F.N. (2003). Regeneration After Hurricane Disturbance of Big-Leaf and Hybrid Mahogany Plantations in Puerto Rico. In: Lugo, A.E., Figueroa Colón, J.C., Alayón, M. (eds) Big-Leaf Mahogany. Ecological Studies, vol 159. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-21778-9_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-21778-9_12
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