caa a22 4500 475750764 CHVBK 20180406123522.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20000301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1023/A:1009848525399 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1023/A:1009848525399 Diversity, composition, and structure of tropical dry forests in Central America [Elektronische Daten] [Thomas Gillespie, Alfredo Grijalva, Christine Farris] Tropical dry forests have been reduced to less than 0.1% of their original expanse on the Pacific side of Central America and are considered by some to be the most endangered ecosystem in the lowland tropics. Plots 1000 m2 were established in seven tropical dry forests in Costa Rica and Nicaragua in order to compare levels of species richness to other Neotropical dry forest sites and to identify environmental variables associated with species richness and abundance. A total of 204 species and 1484 individuals ≥ 2.5cm were encountered. Santa Rosa National Park was the richest site with the highest family (33), genera (69), and species (75) diversity of all sites. Species richness and forest structure were significantly different between sites. Fabaceae was the dominant tree and shrub family at most sites, but no species was repeatably dominant based on number of stems in all fragments of tropical dry forest. Central American dry forests had similar species richness when compared to other Neotropical forests. There was no correlation between forest cover within reserves, or precipitation and plant species richness. There was a significant correlation between anthropogenic disturbance (intensity and frequency of fire, wood collection, grazing) and total species richness, tree and shrub species richness, and liana abundance. These results suggest controlling levels on anthropogenic disturbance within reserves should be a high priority for resource managers in Central America. Further research in forest fragments which examine individual and a combination of disturbance agents would help clarify the importance of anthropogenic disturbance on species richness and abundance. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000 Anthropogenic disturbance nationallicence Costa Rica nationallicence Nicaragua nationallicence Plant species richness nationallicence Tropical dry forest nationallicence Gillespie Thomas Department of Geography, University of South Florida, 257 Davis Hall, 33701-5016, St. Petersburg, FL, USA aut Grijalva Alfredo Herbario Nacional, Universidad Centroamericana, Frente a radio Ya, Managua, Nicaragua aut Farris Christine Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, 1255 Bunche Hall, 90095, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut Plant Ecology Kluwer Academic Publishers 147/1(2000-03-01), 37-47 1385-0237 147:1<37 2000 147 11258 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009848525399 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009848525399 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Gillespie Thomas Department of Geography, University of South Florida, 257 Davis Hall, 33701-5016, St. Petersburg, FL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Grijalva Alfredo Herbario Nacional, Universidad Centroamericana, Frente a radio Ya, Managua, Nicaragua aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Farris Christine Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, 1255 Bunche Hall, 90095, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Plant Ecology Kluwer Academic Publishers 147/1(2000-03-01), 37-47 1385-0237 147:1<37 2000 147 11258 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer