Tree-Falls and Canopy Gaps: Patterns of Natural Disturbance

Abstract

In most tropical rain forests, between 0.5 and 3.6% of the trees (> 10 cm diameter) die per year (Phillips & Gentry 1994). A large proportion of these trees fall over and create canopy gaps (‘hole in the forest canopy existing through all height levels’ [Brokaw 1982]). Estimates of the forest area annually affected by canopy gaps (sensu Brokaw) range between 1–2% (e.g. Clark 1990, Hartshorn 1990, Jans et al. 1993). This process of canopy gap formation and the ensuing forest development (‘patch dynamics’; White & Pickett 1985) plays an important role in the population dynamics of most plant species (for reviews see Bongers & Popma 1988, Denslow 1987, Pickett & White 1985, Platt & Strong 1989).