10.5061/DRYAD.3NR41
Wilson, Sarah Jane
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Rhemtulla, Jeanine M.
University of British Columbia
Data from: Small montane cloud forest fragments are important for
conserving tree diversity in the Ecuadorian Andes
Dryad
dataset
2018
Andean biogeography
SLOSS
conservation planning
mid-elevation diversity bulge
tropical mountain forest.
2018-01-25T16:26:58Z
2018-01-25T16:26:58Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12542
59553 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Montane tropical cloud forests, with their complex topography,
biodiversity, high numbers of endemic species, and rapid rates of clearing
are a top global conservation priority. However, species distributions at
local and landscape scales in cloud forests are still poorly understood,
in part because few regions have been surveyed. Empirical work has focused
on species distributions along elevation gradients, but spatial variation
among forests at the same elevation is less commonly investigated. In this
study, the first to compare tree communities across multiple Andean cloud
forests at similar elevations, we surveyed trees in five ridge-top forest
reserves at the upper end of the ‘mid-elevation diversity bulge’
(1900-2250 masl) in the Intag Valley, a heavily deforested region in the
Ecuadorian Andes. We found that tree communities were distinct in reserves
located as close as 10 to 35 km apart, and that spatially closer forests
were not more similar to one another. Although larger (1500 to 6880 ha),
more intact forests contained significantly more tree species (108-120
species/0.1ha) than smaller (30 to 780ha) ones (56-87 species/0.1ha), each
reserve had unique combinations of more common species, and contained high
proportions of species not found in the others. Results thus suggest that
protecting multiple cloud forest patches within this narrow elevational
band is essential to conserve landscape-level tree diversity, and that
even small forest reserves contribute significantly to biodiversity
conservation. These findings can be applied to create management plans to
conserve and restore cloud forests in the Andes and tropical montane cloud
forests elsewhere.
Cloud Forest Tree DataThis data is transect-level presence/absence tree
data for five cloud forest reserves in Andean Ecuador. Please contact the
author at drsarahjwilson@gmail.com with questions.prescence_abscence.xlsx
Tropical Andes