Potencial de regeneración del bosque seco tropical a lo largo de un gradiente sucesional en el Valle del Río Magdalena

Abstract

Regeneration potential largely depends on the successional path of a forest, as seedlings from secondary forests are expected to converge floristically with adults from mature forests. Evaluating regeneration in tropical dry forests is particularly important since it is an ecosystem with multiple successional barriers resulting from climate seasonality; additionally, more than 50% of dry forest current coverage is secondary forests in different stages of succession. In this work we evaluated the regeneration potential of dry forest in the Magdalena river valley (Tolima, Colombia) by establishing twelve 0.1-ha plots in three locations with four plots differing in successional status per site (initial, early, intermediate, and late succession). In each plot, trees with DBH> 2.5 were marked and measured, as well as seedlings with height <1 m in 24 subplots of 1 m2. We found that the regeneration process is influenced mostly by site variability. There were also significant differences in the floristic composition between some of the successional states, but succession did not show a directional path. Moreover, the spare capacity is low and did not show a gradual increase with the succession step. Regeneration was dominated by few species, representative of early successional stages. In contrast, mature forests were dominated by more species typical of advanced successional stages. Although dominance in adults varied in composition, the number of species remained stable. Integrating the regeneration capacity of secondary forests and ecological restoration practices is crucial for recognizing successional stages and limitations to succession in order to prioritize resource investment and strengthen dry forest ecosystems management.