Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Changes in the Herbaceous Communities on the Landslide of the Casita Volcano, Nicaragua, during Early Succession

  • Published:
Folia Geobotanica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined the main changes in the herbaceous communities during the first four years of succession in a large landslide on Casita Volcano, Nicaragua, located in a densely populated area that has a tropical dry climate. Our main objective was to determine the major pathways of change in community features, such as richness, biovolume, species composition, and abundances of plant traits and to verify if they varied between the different landslide areas based on abiotic heterogeneity and landscape context. Number, percent cover, mean height and traits of herbaceous species, and several abiotic factors related to fertility and geomorphological stability of substrates were sampled in 28 permanent plots. Environmental heterogeneity strongly influenced early successional changes in the herbaceous communities during the four years of the study. Biovolume increased in the unstable and infertile areas and decreased in the stable and fertile landslide areas. In most zones, species richness decreased significantly because of the expansion of a few dominant species that developed a large cover and excluded other species. Those dominant species were mainly responsible for changes in species composition and included annual forbs, e.g., Calopogonium mucunoides and Stizolobium pruriens, graminoids that have rhizomes or stolons, e.g., Hyparrhenia rufa, and perennial nitrogen-fixing forbs, e.g., Clitoria ternatea. They might be important in determining future successional patterns on the Casita Volcano landslide.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aide TM, Zimmerman JK, Herrera L, Rosario M, Serrano M (1995) Forest recovery in abandoned tropical pastures in Puerto-Rico. Forest Ecol Managem 77:77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakker JP, Olff H, Willems JH, Zobel M (1996) Why do we need permanent plots in the study of long-term vegetation dynamics? J Veg Sci 7:147–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benitez-Malvido J (2006) Effect of low vegetation on the recruitment of plants in successional habitat types. Biotropica 38:171–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonet A, Pausas JG (2004) Species richness and cover along a 60-year chronosequence in old-fields of southeastern Spain. Pl Ecol 174:257–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush MB, Whittaker RJ (1995) Colonization and succession on Krakatu: an analysis of the guild of vining plants. Biotropica 27:355–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CEPAL (1999) Nicaragua, evaluación de los daños ocasionados por el huracán Mitch, 1998. Implicaciones para el desarrollo económico y social y el medio ambiente. Naciones Unidas, Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), México DF

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman CA, Chapman LJ (1999) Forest restoration in abandoned agricultural land: a case study from East Africa. Conservation Biol 13:1301–1311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chinea JD (1999) Changes in the herbaceous and vine communities at the Bisley Experimental Watersheds, Puerto Rico, following Hurricane Hugo. Canad J Forest Res 29:1433–1437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corrales-Rodríguez D (1983) Impacto ecológico sobre los recursos naturales renovables de Centroamérica. Instituto de los Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente (IRENA), Managua

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalling JW, Denslow JS (1998) Soil seed bank composition along a forest chronosequence in seasonally moist tropical forest, Panama. J Veg Sci 9:669–678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Antonio CM, Vitousek PM (1992) Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass-fire cycle and global change. Annual Rev Ecol Syst 23:674–689

    Google Scholar 

  • Daubenmire R (1972) Ecology of Hyparrhenia-rufa (Nees) in derived savanna in northwestern Costa-Rica. J Appl Ecol 9:11–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Souza FM, Batista JLF (2004) Restoration of seasonal semideciduous forests in Brazil: influence of age and restoration design on forest structure. Forest Ecol Managem 191:185–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frelich LE, Machado JL, Reich PB (2003) Fine scale environmental variation and structure of understory plant communities in two old-growth pine forests. J Ecol 91:283–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie TW, Grijalva A, Farris CN (2000) Diversity, composition and structure of tropical dry forests in Central America. Pl Ecol 147:37–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez-Sal A, de Miguel JM, Casado MA, Pineda FD (1986) Successional changes in the morphology and ecological responses of a grazed pasture ecosystem in Central Spain. Vegetatio 67:33–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Grace JB (1999) The factors controlling species density in herbaceous plant communities: an assessment. Perspect Pl Ecol Evol Syst 2:1–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guariguata MR (1990) Landslide disturbance and forest regeneration in the upper Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. J Ecol 78:814–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holl KD, Loik ME, Lin EHV, Samuels IA (2000) Tropical montane forest restoration in Costa Rica: Overcoming barriers to dispersal and establishment. Restoration Ecol 8:339–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huynh H, Feldt LS (1976) Estimation of the Box correction for degrees of freedom from sample data in the randomized block and split-plot designs. J Educ Statist 1:69–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH (1988) Tropical dry forests, the most endangered major tropical ecosystem. In Wilson EO (ed) Biodiversity. National Academy Press, Washington DC, pp 130–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Jirón FA, Sánchez-Ríos MR (2003) Caracterización de suelos y oferta de semillas en diferentes sectores del deslave del Volcán Casita. Thesis de Maestría, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua – León, León

  • Kent M, Coker P (1992) Vegetation description and analysis: a practical approach. Belhaven, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerle N, de Vries BV, Oppenheimer C (2003) New insight into the factors leading to the 1998 flank collapse and lahar disaster at Casita volcano, Nicaragua. Bull Volcanology 65:331–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klinka K, Krajina VJ, Ceska A, Scagel AM (1989) Indicator plants of coastal British Columbia. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver

    Google Scholar 

  • Leishman MR, Westoby M (1992) Classifying plants into groups on the basis of associations of individual traits- evidence from Australian semi-arid woodlands. J Ecol 80:417–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundgren L (1978) Studies of soil and vegetation development on fresh landslide scars in the Mgeta Valley, Western Uluruga Mountains, Tanzania. Geogr Ann 60:91–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin Y, Rood K, Schwab JW, Church M (2002) Sediment transfer by shallow landsliding in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Canad J Earth Sci 39:189–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marquínez JM, Dévoli G, Menendes-Duarte R (2002) Deslave del Volcán Casita (Nicaragua). In Ayala-Carcedo FJ, Olcina J (eds) Riesgos naturales. Ariel Ciencia, Barcelona, pp 307–312

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre S, Lavorel S, Tremont RM (1995) Plant life-history attributes – their relationship to disturbance responses in herbaceous vegetation. J Ecol 83:31–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mistry J, Berardi A (2005) Assessing fire potential in a Brazilian savanna nature reserve. Biotropica 37:439–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montalvo J, Casado MA, Levassor C, Pineda FD (1991) Adaptation of ecological systems: compositional patterns of species and morphological and functional traits. J Veg Sci 2:655–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myster RW, Fernández DS (1995) Spatial gradients and patch structure on two Puerto Rican landslides. Biotropica 27:149–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myster RW, Walker LR (1997) Plant successional pathways on Puerto Rican landslides. J Trop Ecol 13:165–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakashizuka T, Lida S, Suzuki W, Tanimoto T (1993) Seed dispersal and vegetation development on a debris avalanche on the Ontake Volcano, Central Japan. J Veg Sci 4:537–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olander LP, Scatena FN, Silver WL (1998) Impacts of disturbance initiated by road construction in a subtropical cloud forest in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Forest Ecol Managem 109:33–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orshan G (1982) Monocharacter growth from types as a tool in an analytic-synthetic study of growth forms in mediterranean type ecosystems. A proposal for an inter-regional program. Ecología Mediterránea 8:159–171

  • Pausas JG, Austin MP (2001) Patterns of species richness in relation to different environments: an appraisal. J Veg Sci 12:153–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett STA, White TS (1985) The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Pielke RA, Rubiera J, Landsea C, Fernández ML, Klein R (2003) Hurricane vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean: Normalized damage and loss potentials. Nat Hazards Rev 4:101–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pineda FD, Casado MA, Peco B, Olmeda C, Levassor C (1987) Temporal changes in therophytic communities across the boundary of disturbed-intact ecosystems. Vegetatio 71:33–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porta J, López-Acevedo M, Roquero C (1999) Edafología para la agricultura y el medio ambiente. Ediciones Mundi-Prensa, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Restrepo C, Vitousek P (2001) Landslides, alien species and the diversity of a Hawaiian montane mesic ecosystem. Biotropica 33:409–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivera LW, Zimmerman JK, Aide TM (2000) Forest recovery in abandoned agricultural lands in a karst region of the Dominican Republic. Pl Ecol 148:115–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts MR (2004) Response of the herbaceous layer to natural disturbance in North American forests. Canad J Bot 82:1273–1283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts MR, Zhu LX (2002) Early response of the herbaceous layer to harvesting in a mixed coniferous-deciduous forest in New Brunswick, Canada. Forest Ecol Managem 155:17–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez MA, Borges PAV, Gómez-Sal A (1997) Species and life-forms composition of Mediterranean mountain pastures in two years of contrasting precipitation. Flora 192:231–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz-Jaen MC, Aide TM (2005) Vegetation structure, species diversity, and ecosystem processes as measures of restoration success. Forest Ecol Managem 218:159–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salas-Estrada JB (1999) Biodiversidad en Nicaragua, un estudio de país. Ministerio de los Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente (MARENA) – Ministerio Agropecuario y Forestal (MAGFOR), Managua

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarmiento FO (1997) Arrested succession in pastures hinders regeneration of Tropandean forests and shreds mountain landscapes. Environm Conservation 24:14–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott KM, Vallance JW, Kerle N, Macías JL, Strauch W, Devoli G (2005) Catastrophic precipitation-triggered lahar at Casita volcano, Nicaragua: occurrence, bulking and transformation. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 30:59–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan MF (1998) Report on the October 30, 1998 avalanche and breakout flow of Casita Volcano, Nicaragua, triggered by hurricane Mitch. United States Geological Survey (USGS)

  • Silvertown J, Dodd ME, McConway K, Potts J, Crawley M (1994) Rainfall, biomass variation and community composition in the Park Grass Experiment. Ecology 75:2430–2437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slocum MG (2000) Logs and fern patches as recruitment sites in a tropical pasture. Restoration Ecol 8:408–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slocum MG, Aide TM, Zimmerman JK, Navarro L (2006) A strategy for restoration of montane forest in anthropogenic fern thickets in the Dominican Republic. Restoration Ecol 14:526–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Small CJ, McCarthy BC (2003) Spatial and temporal variability of herbaceous vegetation in an eastern deciduous forest. Pl Ecol 164:37–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry. W.H. Freeman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • StatSoft (2001) STATISTICA. Data analysis software system 6. Tulsa, Oklahoma

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens WD, Ulloa-Ulloa C, Pool A, Montiel OM (2001) Flora de Nicaragua. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis

    Google Scholar 

  • ter Braak CJF, Šmilauer P (2002) CANOCO Reference manual and CanoDraw for windows user’s guide: Software for Canonical Community Ordination (version 4.5). Microcomputer Power, Ithaca NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S (1989) Analysis of revegetation dynamics on the volcano Usu, northern Japan, deforested by 1977–1978 eruptions. Amer J Bot 76:1468–1477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S, del Moral R (1995) Species attributes in early primary succession on volcanoes. J Veg Sci 6:517–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S, Hase A (2005) Plant community dynamics on the Volcano Mount Koma, northern Japan, after the 1996 eruption. Folia Geobot 40:319–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNDP (2005) Human development report 2005. United Nations Development Program (UNDP), New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Velázquez E, Gómez-Sal A (2007) Environmental control of early succession on a large landslide in a tropical dry ecosystem (Casita Volcano, Nicaragua). Biotropica 39:601–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velázquez E, Gómez-Sal A (2008) Landslide early succession in a neotropical dry forest. Pl Ecol 199:295–308

    Google Scholar 

  • von Ende CN (2001) Repeated-measures analysis, growth and other time-dependent measures. In Scheiner SM, Gurevitch J (eds) Design and analysis of ecological experiments. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 134–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker LR (1994) Effects of fern thickets on woodland development on landslides in Puerto Rico. J Veg Sci 5:525–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker LR, Willig MR (1999) An introduction to terrestrial disturbances. In Walker LR (ed) Ecosystems of disturbed ground. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker LR, Zarin DJ, Fetcher N, Myster RW, Johnson AH (1996) Ecosystem development and plant succession on landslides in the Caribbean. Biotropica 28:566–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker RJ, Bush MB, Richards K (1989) Plant recolonization and vegetation succession on the Krakatu Islands, Indonesia. Ecol Monogr 59:59–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou ZH, Miwa M, Nara K, Wu B, Nakaya H, Lian C, Miyashita N, Oishi R, Maruta E, Hogetsu T (2003) Patch establishment and development of a clonal plant, Polygonum cuspidatum, on Mount Fuji. Molec Ecol 12:1361–1373

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was part of the collaborative program between the Universidad de Alcalá and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León, and supported by a grant from the Third Scientific Research and Technological Innovation Program of the Regional Authority of Madrid. Pedrarias Dávila and Aníbal Rodríguez of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León were extremely helpful with the fieldwork. Ricardo Rueda, Dania Paguaga, and Franklin Flores helped us to identify and assign plant traits to the species. We are very grateful to the Sevilla family in the community of Pikin Guerrero who provided accommodations and supported our fieldwork. We are very grateful to Pilar Castro-Díez for her comments on the earlier versions of the manuscript and to Bruce McWhirther for improving the English.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Alcalá de Henares 28871, Madrid, Spain

    Eduardo Velázquez & Antonio Gómez-Sal

Authors
  1. Eduardo Velázquez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Antonio Gómez-Sal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eduardo Velázquez.

Additional information

Plant nomenclature Stevens et al. (2001)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Velázquez, E., Gómez-Sal, A. Changes in the Herbaceous Communities on the Landslide of the Casita Volcano, Nicaragua, during Early Succession. Folia Geobot 44, 1–18 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-009-9031-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-009-9031-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation