Abstract
This book has reviewed case studies on ecological succession following shifting cultivation from different countries and forest types. Changes in soil conditions and different aspects of vegetation were discussed. These aspects include species richness, species diversity, aboveground biomass, basal area, tree/canopy height, plant density and species composition. It would be hard to generalize from all of the results as they are very site specific, and comparison across studies is intractable as the number of fallow stands, plot size, and methods used to evaluate vegetation changes along succession were different between studies. Although it is difficult to draw conclusions about the vegetation changes along succession, forest structures such as basal area and canopy height illustrate a relatively obvious increasing trend regardless of location and type of forest. On the other hand, changes in species richness, species diversity and species composition tend to display great variation among studies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Aweto AO (1981) Secondary succession and soil fertility restoration in south-western Nigeria, I, Succession. J Ecol 69:601–607
Breugel MV, Bongers F, Martínez-Ramos M (2007) Species dynamics during early secondary forest succession: recruitment, mortality and species turnover. Biotropica 35:610–619
Brown S, Lugo AE (1990) Tropical secondary forests. J Trop Ecol 6:1–32
Budowski G (1970) The distinction between old secondary and climax species in tropical Central American lowland forests. Trop Ecol 2:44–48
Chazdon RL (2003) Tropical forest recovery: legacies of human impact and natural disturbances. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 6:51–71
Chazdon RL, Letcher SG, van Breugel M, Martínez-Ramos M, Bongers F, Finegan B (2007) Rates of change in tree communities of secondary Neotropical forests following major disturbances. Philos Trans R Soc B 362:273–289
El-Sheikh MA (2005) Plant succession on abandoned fields after 25 years of shifting cultivation in Assuit, Egypt. J Arid Environ 61:461–481
Ewel J (1977) Differences between wet and dry successional tropical ecosystems. Geogr-Ecol-Trop 1:103–117
Ewel JJ (1980) Tropical succession: manifold routes to maturity. Biotropica 12:2–9
Gentry AH (1991) The distribution and evolution of climbing plants. In: Bullock SH, Mooney HA (eds) The biology of vines. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 3–42
Guariguata MR, Ostertag R (2001) Neotropical secondary forest succession: changes in structural and functional characteristics. For Ecol Manage 148:185–206
Johnson CM, Zarin DJ, Johnson AH (2000) Post-disturbance aboveground biomass accumulation in global secondary forests. Ecology 81:1395–1401
Kammesheidt L (1998) The role of tree sprouts in the restoration of stand structure and species diversity in tropical moist forest after slash-and-burn agriculture in Eastern Paraguay. Plant Ecol 139:155–165
Kennard DK (2002) Secondary forest succession in a tropical dry forest: patterns of development across a 50-year chronosequence in lowland Bolivia. J Trop Ecol 18:53–66
Lebrija-Trejos E, Bongers F, Pérez-García EA, Meave JA (2008) Successional change and resilience of a very dry tropical deciduous forest following shifting agriculture. Biotropica 40:422–431
Lu D, Moran E, Mausel P (2002) Linking Amazonian secondary succession forest growth to soil properties. Land Degrad Dev 13:331–343
Moran EF, Brondizio E, Tucker JM, da Silva-Fosberg MC, McCracken S, Falesi I (2000) Effects of soil fertility and land-use on forest succession in Amazonia. Forest Ecol Manag 139:93–108
Murhy PG, Lugo AE (1986) Ecology of tropical dry forest. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 17:89–96
Peña-Claros M (2003) Changes in forest structure and species composition during secondary forest succession in the Bolivian Amazon. Biotropica 35(4):450–461
Pickett STA, White PS (1985) Patch dynamics: a synthesis. In: Pickett STA, White PS (eds) The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, New York
Quesada M, Sanchez-Azofeifa GA, Alvarez-Anorve M, Stoner KE, Avila-Cabadilla L, Calvo-Alvarado J, Castillo A, Espírito-Santo MM, Fagundes M, Fernandes GW, Gamon J, Lopezaraiza-Mikel M, Lawrence D, Morellato LPC, Powers JS, Neves F de S, Rosas-Guerrero V, Sayago R, Sanchez-Montoya G (2009) Succession and management of tropical dry forests in the Americas: review and new perspectives. Forest Ecol Manag 258:1014–1024
Redzic S (2000) Patterns of succession of xerophylous vegetation on Balkans. In: White PS, Mucina L, Lepš J (eds) Vegetation science in retrospect and perspective. Opulus press, Uppsala, pp 76–79
Saldarriaga JG, West DC, Tharp ML, Uhl C (1988) Long-term chronosequence of forest succession in the upper Rio Negro of Colombia and Venezuela. J Ecol 76:938–958
Schmidt-Vogt D (1998) Defining degradation: the impacts of swidden on forests in Northern Thailand. Mt Res Dev 18(2):135–149
Segura G, Balvanera P, Durán E, Pérez A (2003) Tree community structure and stem mortality along a water availability gradient in a Mexican torpical dry forest. Plant Ecol 169:259–271
Zarin DJ, Ducey MJ, Tucker JM, Salas WA (2001) Potential biomass accumulation in Amazonian regrowth forests. Ecosystems 4:658–668
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Delang, C.O., Li, W.M. (2013). Conclusions. In: Ecological Succession on Fallowed Shifting Cultivation Fields. SpringerBriefs in Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5821-6_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5821-6_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5820-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5821-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)