Abstract

MELO, Omar; FERNANDEZ-MENDEZ, Fernando  and  VILLANUEVA, Boris. Light habitat, structure, diversity and dynamic of the tropical dry forest. Colomb. for. [online]. 2017, vol.20, n.1, pp.19-30. ISSN 0120-0739.  https://doi.org/10.14483/udistrital.jour.colomb.for.2017.1.a02.

Tropical dry forests are complex and fragile ecosystems with high anthropic intervention and restricted reproductive cycles. These have richness, structural diversity, physiological and phenologcal unique. This research was conducted in the Upper Magdalena Valley, in four forest fragments with different successional stages. In each fragment four permanent plots of 0.25 ha were established and lighting habitat associated with richness, relative abundance and rarity of species. The forest dynamics looked mortality, recruitment and diameter growth for a period of 5.25 years. In mature riparian forest richness higher than that reported in other studies of similar areas in Valle del Cauca and the Atlantic coast species he is found. There are values of ​​richness, diversity and rarity higher than those found for drier areas of Tolima. The structure, diversity and dynamics of forests were correlated with the lighting habitat, showing differences in canopy architecture and its role in the capture and absorption of radiation. Forests with dense canopy have limited availability of photosynthetically active radiation in understory related low species richness, while illuminated undergrowth are richer and heterogeneous.

Keywords : lighting extinction coefficient; floristic diversity; structure; leaf area index; mortality; photosynthetically active radiation; recruitment.

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