Poltz & Zotz 2011 (Article) Panama

Vascular Epiphytes on Isolated Pasture Trees Along a Rainfall Gradient in the Lowlands of Panama

Author(s):—K. Poltz & G. Zotz

Publication:—BIOTROPICA 43(2): 165–172. (2011) — DOI

Abstract:—Secondary habitats are increasing in importance in tropical countries due to ongoing destruction of pristine vegetation. In spite of the magnitude of current changes, our understanding of their effects on nontrees (e.g., nonvascular or vascular epiphytes) is still very patchy, particularly in lowland habitats. Here, we report a study with isolated pasture trees in southwest Panama. The 4800 studied trees, which belonged to 4100 different species, harbored almost 27,000 epiphytes of 83 species. Orchidaceae was the most species-rich family, with almost 60 percent of all species, while Bromeliaceae were most abundant. A rainfall gradient in the study region from ca 1000 to 43000mm explained more of the variation in species abundance and richness than host characteristics (e.g., species identity, tree size). The unexpectedly large number of epiphytes in these pastures still represents a substantial change relative to a natural setting, which is suggested by a comparison with a forest inventory under similar climatic conditions. In pastures, species richness was lower as deduced from individual-based rarefaction curves, a larger proportion of species and individuals showed crassulacean acid metabolism, and the relationship of epiphyte abundance/species richness and tree diameter was much less steep. Even the already reduced diversity, however, may be only transient in secondary habitats—the long-term persistence of epiphyte populations in pastures is an open question and has to be addressed by repeated monitoring to fully evaluate the significance of pasture trees for the conservation of vascular epiphytes in tropical lowlands.

Keywords:—crassulacean acid metabolism; land-use change; mistletoes; plant diversity; rain forest; secondary vegetation.