Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Primary Productivity and Biogeochemistry of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests

  • Chapter
Book cover Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests

Abstract

Primary productivity in seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) is controlled largely by the amount and timing of rainfall. Because water availability determines leaf production as well as photosynthesis, both interannual and within-rainy-season precipitation constrains and controls ecosystem productivity and nutrient dynamics. Subsequently, soil water availability also regulates organic matter decomposition, fine-root production, and micro-bial dynamics; hence the timing for and the amount of available nutrients are strongly coupled to the seasonal and annual variations in rainfall. The second important driver for SDTF productivity and nutrient dynamics is land use change (seeChap. 10). In many areas secondary succession starts on abandoned agricultural fields; thus, secondary forests with different recovery times are becoming a prevalent feature in the dry tropics (Miles et al. 2006). As a result, research in secondary forests has significantly increased (Lawrence and Foster 2002; Campo and Vázquez-Yanes 2004; Urquiza-Haas et al. 2007).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Álvarez-Yépiz, J., A. Martínez-Yrízar, A. Búrquez, and C. Lindquist. 2008. Variation in vegetation structure and soil properties related to land-use history of old-growth and secondary tropical dry forests in northwestern Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 355–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anaya, C.A., F. García-Oliva, and V.J. Jaramillo. 2007. Rainfall and labile carbon availability control litter nitrogen dynamics in a tropical dry forest. Oecologia 150: 602– 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austin, A.T., L. Yahdjian, J.M. Stark, J. Belnap, A. Porporato, U. Norton, D.A. Ravetta, and S.M. Schaeffer. 2004. Water pulses and biogeochemical cycles in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Oecologia 141: 221–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, T.R., E.N.H. Coronado, O.L. Phillips, J. Martin, M.F. van der Heijden, M. Garcia, and J. Silva-Espejo. 2007. Low stocks of coarse woody debris in a southwest Amazonian forest. Oecologia 152: 495–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruijnzeel, L.A. 1991. Nutrient input-output budgets of tropical forest ecosystems: A review. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7: 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, S.H. 1997. Effects of seasonal rainfall on radial growth in two tropical tree species. International Journal of Biometeorology 41: 13–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, S.H., and J.A. Solís-Magallanes. 1990. Phenology of canopy trees of a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico. Biotropica 22: 22–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cairns, M.A., I. Olmsted, J. Granados, and J. Argaez. 2003. Composition and above-ground tree biomass of a dry semi-evergreen forest of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Forest Ecology and Management 186: 125–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campo, J., V.J. Jaramillo, and J.M. Maass. 1998. Pulses of soil P availability in a tropical dry forest: Effects of seasonality and level of wetting. Oecologia 115: 167–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campo, J., J.M. Maass, V.J. Jaramillo, and A. Martínez-Yrízar. 2000. Calcium, potassium, and magnesium cycling in a Mexican tropical dry forest ecosystem. Biogeo-chemistry 49: 21–36.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campo, J., J.M. Maass, V.J. Jaramillo, A. Martínez-Yrízar, and J. Sarukhán. 2001. Phosphorus cycling in a Mexican tropical dry forest ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 53: 161– 79.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campo, J., and C. Vázquez-Yanes. 2004. Effects of nutrient limitation on aboveground carbon dynamics during tropical dry forest regeneration in Yucatán, México. Ecosystems 7: 311–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cárdenas, I., and J. Campo. 2007. Foliar nitrogen and phosphorus resorption and decomposition in the nitrogen-fxing tree Lysiloma microphyllum in primary and secondary seasonally tropical dry forests in Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23: 107–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castellanos, J., V.J. Jaramillo, R.L Sanford Jr., and J.B. Kauffman. 2001. Slash-and-burn effects on fine root biomass and productivity in a tropical dry forest ecosystems in México. Forest Ecology and Management 148: 41–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castellanos, J., J. M. Maass, and J. Kummerow. 1991. Root biomass of a dry deciduous tropical forest in Mexico. Plant and Soil 131: 225–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ceballos, G. 1989. Population and community ecology of small mammals from tropical deciduous and arroyo forests in western México. PhD diss., University of Arizona.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cintrón, B.B., and A.E. Lugo. 1990. Litterfall in a subtropical dry forest: Guánica Puerto Rico. Acta Científca (San Juan) 4: 37–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D.A., S. Brown, D.W. Kicklighter, J.Q. Chambers, J.R. Thomlinson, J. Ni, and E. Holland. 2001. Net primary production in tropical forests: An evaluation and synthesis of existing field data. Ecological Applications 11: 371–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, E.A., P.A. Matson, P.M. Vitousek, R. Riley, K. Dunkin, G. García-Méndez, and J.M. Maass. 1993. Processes regulating soil emissions of NO and N2O in a seasonally dry tropical forest. Ecology 74: 130–39.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Delaney, M., S. Brown, A.E. Lugo, A. Torres-Lezama, and N. Bello-Quintero. 1997. The distribution of organic carbon in major components of forests located in five life zones of Venezuela. Journal of Tropical Ecology 13: 697–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Díaz, S.V. 1997. Dinámica de nitrógeno y de fósforo en la hojarasca de una selva baja caducifolia en Chamela, Jalisco, México. BS diss., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton, J.M., and D. Lawrence. 2006. Woody debris stocks and fluxes during succession in a dry tropical forest. Forest Ecology and Management 232: 46–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franco, A.C., M. Bustamante, L.S. Caldas, G. Goldstein, F.C. Meinzer, A.R. Kozovits, P. Rundel, and V.T.R. Coradin. 2005. Leaf functional traits of Neotropical savanna trees in relation to seasonal water defcit. Trees—Structure and Function 19: 326–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galicia, L., J. López-Blanco, A.E. Zarco-Arista, V. Filip, and F. García-Oliva. 1999. The relationship between solar radiation interception and soil water content in a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico. Catena 36: 153–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • García-Méndez, G., J.M. Maass, P.A. Matson, and P.M. Vitousek. 1991. Nitrogen transformations and nitrous oxide flux in a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico. Oecolo-gia 88: 362–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Oliva, F., B. Sveshtarova, and M. Oliva. 2003. Seasonal effects on soil organic carbon dynamics in a tropical deciduous forest ecosystem in western Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19: 179–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geßler, A., H.M. Duarte, A.C. Franco, U. Lüttge, E.A. de Mattos, M. Nahm, P.J.F.P. Rodrigues, F.R. Scarano, and H. Rennenberg. 2005. Ecophysiology of selected tree species in different plant communities at the periphery of the Atlantic Forest of SE-Brazil III: Three legume trees in a semi-deciduous dry forest. Trees 19: 523–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gessel, S.P., D.W. Cole, D. Johnson, and J. Turner. 1980. The nutrient cycles of two Costa Rican forests. In Progress in Ecology, ed. V. P. Agarwal and V.K. Sharma, 23–44. New Delhi: Today and Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, W.A., G. González, and G. Carrero‐Rivera. 2006. Structure and composition of vegetation along an elevational gradient in Puerto Rico. Journal of Vegetation Science 17: 653–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haase, R., and R. Hirooka. 1998. Structure, composition and litter dynamics of a semi‐deciduous forest in Mato Grosso, Brasil. Flora 193: 141–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harmon, M.E., D.F. Whigham, J. Sexton, and I. Olmsted. 1995. Decomposition and mass of woody detritus in the dry tropical forests of the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Biotropica 27: 305–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, W.A., A.C. Franco, M.Z. Moreira, and M. Haridasan. 2005. Specifc leaf area explains differences in leaf traits between congeneric savanna and forest trees. Functional Ecology 19: 932–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holdridge, L.R. 1947. Determination of world plant formation from simple climatic data. Science 105: 367–68.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R.F., J.B. Kauffman, and V.J. Jaramillo. 2000. Ecosystem-scale impacts of deforestation and land use in a humid tropical region of México. Ecological Applications 10: 515–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, R.B., H.A. Mooney, and E.D. Schulze. 1997. A global budget for fine root biomass, surface area, and nutrient contents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 94: 7362–66.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, V.J., J.B. Kauffman, L. Rentería-Rodríguez, D.L. Cummings, and L.J. Elling-son. 2003. Biomass, carbon, and nitrogen pools in Mexican tropical dry forest landscapes. Ecosystems 6: 609–29.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, V.J., and R.L. Sanford Jr. 1995. Nutrient cycling in tropical deciduous forests. In Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, S.H. Bullock, H.A. Mooney, and E. Medina, 346–61. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman, J.B., M.D. Steele, D.L. Cummings, and V.J. Jaramillo. 2003. Biomass dynamics associated with deforestation, fre, and conversion to cattle pastures in a Mexican tropical dry forest. Forest Ecology and Management 176: 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Killingbeck, K.T. 1996. Nutrients in senesced leaves: Keys to the search for potential resorption and resorption profciency. Ecology 77: 1716–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kummerow, J., J. Castellanos, M. Maass, and A. Larigauderie. 1990. Production of fine roots and the seasonality of their growth in a Mexican deciduous dry forest. Veg-etatio 90: 73–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert, J.D.H., J.T. Arnason, and J.L. Gale. 1980. Leaf-litter and changing nutrient levels in a seasonally dry tropical hardwood forest, Belize, C.A. Plant and Soil 55: 429–33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, D., and D. Foster. 2002. Changes in forest biomass, litter dynamics and soils following shifting cultivation in southern Mexico: An overview. Interciencia 27: 400–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lodge, D.J., W.H. McDowell, and C.P. Mcswiney. 1994. The importance of nutrient pulses in tropical forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9: 384–87.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lugo, A.E., and P.G. Murphy. 1986. Nutrient dynamics of a Puerto Rican subtropical dry forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 2: 55–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malhi, Y., T. Baker, O.L. Phillips, S. Almeida, E. Alvarez, L. Arroyo, J. Chave, C.I. Czim-czik, A. Di Fiore, N. Higuchi, T.J. Killeen, S.G. Laurance, W.F. Laurance, S.L. Lewis, L.M. Mercado-Montoya, A. Monteagudo, D.A. Neill, P. Núñez-Vargas, S. Patiño, N.C.A. Pitman, C.A. Quesada, R. Salomao, J.N. Macedo-Silva, A. Torres-Lezama, R. Vásquez-Martínez, J. Terborgh, B. Vincenti, and J. Lloyd. 2004. The above-ground coarse wood productivity of 104 Neotropical forest plots. Global Change Biology 10: 563–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Yrízar, A. 1995. Biomass distribution and primary productivity of tropical dry forests. In Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, ed. S.H. Bullock, H.A. Mooney, and E. Medina, 326–45. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Yrízar, A., A. Búrquez, and J.M. Maass. 2000. Structure and functioning of tropical deciduous forest in western Mexico. In The Tropical Deciduous Forest of Alamos: Biodiversity of a Threatened Ecosystem in Mexico, ed. R.H. Robichaux and D.A. Yetman, 19–35. Tucson: University of Arizona.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Yrízar, A., J.M. Maass, L.A. Pérez-Jiménez, and J. Sarukhán. 1996. Net primary productivity of a tropical deciduous forest ecosystem in western Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 12: 169–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Yrízar, A., and J. Sarukhán. 1990. Litterfall patterns in a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico over a five-year period. Journal of Tropical Ecology 6: 433–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Yrízar, A., J. Sarukhán, A. Pérez-Jiménez, E. Rincón, J.M. Maass, A. Solís-Magallanes, and L. Cervantes. 1992. Above-ground phytomass of a tropical deciduous forest on the coast of Jalisco, Mexico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 8: 87–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medina, E., and M. Zewler. 1972. Soil respiration in tropical plant communities. In Tropical Ecology, with Emphasis on Organic Matter Production, ed. P. Golley and F.B. Golley, 245–67. Athens: University of Georgia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, L., A.C. Newton, R.S. DeFries, C. Ravilious, I. May, S. Blyth, V. Kapos, and J.E. Gordon. 2006. A global overview of the conservation status of tropical dry forests. Journal of Biogeography 33: 491–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montaño, N.M., F. García‐Oliva, and V.J. Jaramillo. 2007. Dissolved organic carbon affects soil microbial activity and nitrogen dynamics in a Mexican tropical deciduous forest. Plant and Soil 295: 265–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morellato, L.P.C. 1992. Nutrient cycling in two south‐east Brazilian forests. 1. Litterfall and litter standing crop. Journal of Tropical Ecology 8: 205–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nardoto, G.B., M.M.C. Bustamante, A.S. Pinto, and C.A. Klink. 2006. Nutrient use effciency at ecosystem and species level in savanna areas of central Brazil and impacts of fre. Journal of Tropical Ecology 22: 191–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Read, L., and D. Lawrence. 2003. Litter nutrient dynamics during succession in dry tropical forests of the Yucatan: Regional and seasonal effects. Ecosystems 6: 747–61.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rentería, L.Y., V.J. Jaramillo, A. Martínez-Yrízar, and A. Pérez-Jiménez. 2005. Nitrogen and phosphorus resorption in tree species of a Mexican tropical dry forest. Trees 19: 431–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saynes, V., C. Hidalgo, J.D. Etchevers, and J. Campo. 2005. Soil C and N dynamics in primary and secondary seasonally dry tropical forests in Mexico. Applied Soil Ecology 29: 282–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, J.S., A.S. Raghubanshi, R.S. Singh, and S.C. Srivastava. 1989. Microbial biomass acts as a source of plant nutrients in dry tropical forest and savanna. Nature 338: 499–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teixeira, F.C.P., F. Reinert, N.G. Rumjanek, and R.M. Boddey. 2006. Quantifcation of the contribution of biological nitrogen fixation to Cratylia mollis using the 15N natural abundance technique in the semi-arid Caatinga region of Brazil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38: 1989–93.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Urquiza-Haas, T., P.M. Dolman, and C.A. Peres. 2007. Regional scale variation in forest structure and biomass in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: Effects of forest disturbance. Forest Ecology and Management 247: 80–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Gestel, M., R. Merckx, and K. Vlassak. 1993. Microbial biomass responses to soil drying and rewetting: The fate of fast- and slow-growing microorganisms in soils from different climates. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 25: 109–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vargas, R., M.F. Allen, and E.B. Allen. 2008. Biomass and carbon accumulation in a fre chronosequence of a seasonally dry tropical forest. Global Change Biology 14: 109–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P.M. 1984. Litterfall, nutrient cycling, and nutrient limitation in tropical forests. Ecology 65: 285–98.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vizcaíno, M. 1983. Patrones temporales y espaciales de producción de hojarasca en una selva baja caducifolia en la costa de Jalisco, México. MS diss., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whigham, D.F., I. Olmsted, E. Cabrera-Cano, and M.E. Harmon. 1991. The impact of Hurricane Gilbert on trees, litterfall, and woody debris in a dry tropical forest in the northeastern Yucatan peninsula. Biotropica 23: 434–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whigham, D.F., P. Zugasty Towle, E.F. Cabrera, J. O'Neill, and E. Ley. 1990. The effect of variation in precipitation on basal area growth and litter production in a tropical dry forest in Mexico. Tropical Ecology 31: 23–34.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ecologia, UNAM, Mexico

    VÍctor J. Jaramillo

  2. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, UNAM, Mexico

    Angelina MartÍnez-YrÍzar

  3. Biological Sciences, University of Denver, Colorado

    Robert L. Sanford Jr. (Professor)

Authors
  1. VÍctor J. Jaramillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Angelina MartÍnez-YrÍzar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Robert L. Sanford Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Rodolfo Dirzo Hillary S. Young Harold A. Mooney Gerardo Ceballos

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Island Press

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jaramillo, V.J., MartÍnez-YrÍzar, A., Sanford, R.L. (2011). Primary Productivity and Biogeochemistry of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests. In: Dirzo, R., Young, H.S., Mooney, H.A., Ceballos, G. (eds) Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-021-7_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Societies and partnerships

Search

Navigation