Succession

PUBLICATIONS

Tropical successional ecosystems, particularly in the humid lowlands, are where nature pulls out all the stops: species turn over quickly, and growth rates are high. Many of the early successional landscapes in the tropics are the fallow phase of shifting agriculture, and it was these that I examined in Guatemala, Sarawak, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and elsewhere. In some instances, I initiated succession by felling and burning second-growth forest, much as would have been done by a farmer. I also looked at tropical successional ecosystems along two environmental gradients: temperature, while holding moisture constant (low-, mid-, and high-elevation); and moisture, while holding temperature constant (wet, moist, seasonally dry, and semi-arid).

One five-year research project in Costa Rica (Succession as Model) built on earlier observations of tropical succession: its high productivity, its resistance and resilience to pests, and its capacity to retain nutrients.