Predicting which tropical tree species are vulnerable to forest disturbances
Loading...
Date
2017
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Journal of Ecology
Abstract
Tropical forest management often focuses on a few highvalue
timber species because they are thought to be the
most vulnerable in logged forests. However, other tree
species may be vulnerable to secondary effects of logging,
like loss of vertebrate dispersers. We examined vulnerability
of tree species to loss of vertebrate dispersers in
Mabira, a heavily disturbed tropical rainforest in Uganda.
Fruit characteristics and shade tolerance regimes of 269
tree species were compiled. Stem densities of tree species
producing fruits of various sizes and having different
shade tolerance regimes were computed for Mabira and
compared with densities of conspecifics in Budongo, a
less disturbed forest with similar floral composition.
Seventy per cent of tree species in Mabira are animaldispersed,
of which 10% are large-fruited light demanders.
These species are the most vulnerable because they
rarely recruit beneath adult conspecifics and are exclusively
dispersed by large vertebrates, also vulnerable in
heavily disturbed forests. Comparison of densities
between Mabira and Budongo showed that large-fruited
light demanders had a lower density in Mabira. Other
categories of tree species had similar densities in both
forests. It is plausible that the low density of large-fruited
light demanders is due to limited recruitment caused by
dispersal limitations.
Description
Keywords
Fruit/seed size, Light demanders, Logging, Seed dispersal, Shade tolerants
Citation
Babweteera, F., & Ssekuubwa, E. (2017). Predicting which tropical tree species are vulnerable to forest disturbances. African Journal of Ecology, 55(4), 592-599.