Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest

Species composition and turnover in a series of' permanent sample plots established during the 1930s and 1940s in Budongo, a semi-deciduous Ugandan forest, are reported. The plots were established as part of' a sequence first used to describe forest succession, five of' which have been maintained. O...

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Autores principales: Sheil, Douglas, Jennings, S., Savill, P.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2000
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/18228
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author Sheil, Douglas
Jennings, S.
Savill, P.
author_browse Jennings, S.
Savill, P.
Sheil, Douglas
author_facet Sheil, Douglas
Jennings, S.
Savill, P.
author_sort Sheil, Douglas
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Species composition and turnover in a series of' permanent sample plots established during the 1930s and 1940s in Budongo, a semi-deciduous Ugandan forest, are reported. The plots were established as part of' a sequence first used to describe forest succession, five of' which have been maintained. One plot provides 53 years of data from old-growth pristine forest, another established in wooded grassland at the forest edge is now closed high forest. Evaluation of the remaining three plots is complicated by silvicultural interventions in the 1950s. Forty species have been added since the first evaluations and 188 tree species (over 80%, of' Budongo's forest tree flora) have now been recorded. In the original plot series there is an increasing proportion of shade-tolerant species with development, and large stems appearing to 'lag behind' smaller stems in this respect. The time series data are less consistent, and while the proportion of shade-tolerant stems increased through time in the pristine forest plot, the proportion of shade-tolerant species declined. Most species have a higher recruitment than mortality rate and stem numbers increased in all plots. This is most pronounced in the putatively 'early successional’ plot. Stem size structure has changed within the plots, with an increased proportion of smaller stems. Species show different rates of turnover and these vary, from plot to plot and period to period. It is estimated that some tree species will live longer than 500 years after reaching 10 cm diameter (bh), and 1000 years is possible. The importance of large trees in determining forest dynamics is illustrated by the finding that death of only seven stems in the pristine forest plot contributed over 60% of net basal area losses over the 53 years. Many patterns observed were not predicted, showing the importance of long-term studies.
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spelling CGSpace182282025-01-24T14:12:38Z Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest Sheil, Douglas Jennings, S. Savill, P. forest trees species composition deciduous forests monitoring succession Species composition and turnover in a series of' permanent sample plots established during the 1930s and 1940s in Budongo, a semi-deciduous Ugandan forest, are reported. The plots were established as part of' a sequence first used to describe forest succession, five of' which have been maintained. One plot provides 53 years of data from old-growth pristine forest, another established in wooded grassland at the forest edge is now closed high forest. Evaluation of the remaining three plots is complicated by silvicultural interventions in the 1950s. Forty species have been added since the first evaluations and 188 tree species (over 80%, of' Budongo's forest tree flora) have now been recorded. In the original plot series there is an increasing proportion of shade-tolerant species with development, and large stems appearing to 'lag behind' smaller stems in this respect. The time series data are less consistent, and while the proportion of shade-tolerant stems increased through time in the pristine forest plot, the proportion of shade-tolerant species declined. Most species have a higher recruitment than mortality rate and stem numbers increased in all plots. This is most pronounced in the putatively 'early successional’ plot. Stem size structure has changed within the plots, with an increased proportion of smaller stems. Species show different rates of turnover and these vary, from plot to plot and period to period. It is estimated that some tree species will live longer than 500 years after reaching 10 cm diameter (bh), and 1000 years is possible. The importance of large trees in determining forest dynamics is illustrated by the finding that death of only seven stems in the pristine forest plot contributed over 60% of net basal area losses over the 53 years. Many patterns observed were not predicted, showing the importance of long-term studies. 2000 2012-06-04T09:06:13Z 2012-06-04T09:06:13Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/18228 en Sheil, D., Jennings, S., Savill, P. 2000. Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest . Journal of Tropical Ecology 16 (6) :765-800. ISSN: 0564-3295.
spellingShingle forest trees
species
composition
deciduous forests
monitoring
succession
Sheil, Douglas
Jennings, S.
Savill, P.
Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest
title Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest
title_full Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest
title_fullStr Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest
title_full_unstemmed Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest
title_short Long-term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in Budongo, a Ugandan rain forest
title_sort long term permanent plot observations of vegetation dynamics in budongo a ugandan rain forest
topic forest trees
species
composition
deciduous forests
monitoring
succession
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/18228
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