Forty Years of Tropical Forest Recovery from Agriculture: Structure and Floristics of Secondary and Old-growth Riparian Forests in the Dominican Republic

BACKGROUND:

The value of secondary forests in the tropics has received increased attention in recent years. The recovery of tropical forests from agricultural use, given the increase in abandoned agricultural lands, has gained momentum. Yet, few long-term studies of post-agriculture vegetation recovery in the tropics exist. The study compares 40-year-old secondary forests regenerating naturally after agricultural abandonment with old-growth forests in the Dominican Republic's Cordillera Central.

GOALS AND METHODS:

The paper aims to compare the vegetation structure and floristic composition of old-growth and 40-year-old secondary riparian forests in the Dominican Republic to understand the dynamics of forest recovery from agricultural use. The authors compare vegetation structure and species composition through field surveys of twelve 0.1 ha plots in both secondary and old-growth forests, measuring all woody vegetation in different size classes and using indices to assess species density and diversity.

CONCLUSIONS AND TAKEAWAYS:

The study concludes that 40-year-old secondary forests in the Dominican Republic can exhibit structural characteristics similar to old-growth forests, such as canopy height and stem density, but they have a lower basal area and a higher prevalence of introduced species. The diversity of non-woody plant forms like epiphytes and ferns is significantly lower in secondary forests, indicating that while secondary forests can recover woody structure relatively quickly, the recovery of full biodiversity, particularly of more sensitive species, is slower and may need more time to reach the complexity and diversity seen in old-growth forests.