Bromeliad Communities in Isolated Trees and Three Successional Stages of an Andean Cloud Forest in Ecuador
Dunn, Robert R.
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Bromeliad communities in a 10-year-old secondary forest, a thirty-year-old secondary forest, and in isolated trees in a tropical montane forest located in Las Palmeras, Ecuador, were compared to the bromeliad community in a nearby mature forest to assess the recovery of epiphyte communities following disturbance. Bromeliad abundance, species richness and volume were greater in the mature compared to the two secondary forests. Differences in bromeliad species richness and abundance among and within forests were correlated with host tree DBH. Bromeliads on isolated forest trees were less diverse but more abundant than on mature forest trees. There was no relationship between the distance of isolated forest trees from adjacent forest and the abundance or species richness of the bromeliads present in their crowns.Replacement for a lost SIP. This is a copy of a later publication.