Forest Structure and Biodiversity on a Steep Geophysical Gradient: the Cloud Forest Lee Margin
Robert
O.
Lawton, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville, lawtonr@uah.edu
(Presenting)
Ronald
M.
Welch, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville, welch@nsstc.uah.edu
Udaysankar
S.
Nair, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville, nair@nsstc.uah.edu
Kerry
Rabenold, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Purdue, krabenol@bio.purdue.edu
William
A.
Haber, Missouri Botanical Garden, whaber@racsa.co.cr
Tropical montane cloud forests are central elements of the complex of montane environments that lie at the core of most tropical biodiversity hotspots. Cloud forests, defined by frequent, prolonged and predictable immersion in cloud, are centers of endemism for many taxa. Although lowland rain forests are richer in species at spatial scales less than 0.1km2, cloud forests and associated formations are as species rich at scales of 10km2 and above. This contrast between the spatial organization of biodiversity in lowland and montane regions is poorly understood, but must be addressed in any theory explaining global gradients in biodiversity and ecosystem structure. This project is designed to address, in the well-known montane forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica, interrelationships among the critical components of this problem: (1) the geophysical gradient at the cloud forest margin, (2) the pattern of tree and bird species distribution, and (3) the physical structure of the forest. We will use GOES and MODIS imagery, combined with regional atmospheric modeling, to establish diurnal and seasonal patterns of cloud immersion. Data on tree and bird distributions will come from an extensive series of geolocated plots and census points. Data on forest structure will come from high resolution satellite data and plot-based ground measurements. The results will be of interest to ecologists, conservation biologists, land managers and decision makers involved in regional development in the montane tropics.