Identifying Fast-Growing Native Trees from the Neotropics using Data from a Large, Permanent Census Plot
background
This paper results from data collected over a decade from 160 trees in a 50 ha plot in BCI Panama.
Research Goals & Methods
Growth in dbh was calculated and a projection (trajectory) was estimated for the life of the tree (using regression).
Conclusions & Takeaways
The authors identify Ochroma pyramidale, Cavanillesia platanifolia, Trema micrantha, Zanthoxylum belizense, and Vocysia ferruginea as the fastest growing. The fastest growing species reached 10cm dbh in 5-12 yrs, 30cm dbh in 15-25 yrs, and 60cm dbh in 30-45 yrs. This is not quite as fast as plantation species (3-5cm / yr), but authors remind the reader that this was growth in the forest, not in a plantation. Most of these species are common pioneer trees and slow in their growth rate after ~ 10 yrs; some actually increased their growth rate after 10 years (Ocotea puberula).
Reference:
. Identifying fast-growing native trees from the neotropics using data from a large, permanent census plot. Forest Ecology and Management. 1993;62:123–143. doi:10.1016/0378-1127(93)90046-p.
Affiliation:
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Latin American Program, Balboa, Panama
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Department of Botany, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA