Twelve-Year Comparison of Stand Changes in a Mahogany Plantation and a PairedNatural Forest of Similar Age

摘要

The authors compared forest structure over a 12 yr period (1982-1994) thatincluded measurements before and after a severe hurricane in two forests: a 64 yr old Swietenia macrophylla tree plantation and a paired natural forest of similar age in a subtropical wet forest life zone at 200 m elevation in Puerto Rico. The authors measured trees > = 4 cm diameter at breast height in a 40 x 50 m plot at each forest type. The natural forest had lower total tree height (8.8 vs. 10.2 m in 1984), and greater basal area (35.7 vs 28.5 sq m/ha in 1989) and tree density (1525 vs. 969 trees/ha in 1989) than in plantation. Both forest types exhibited the same rate of change in these structural parameters before and after Hurricane Hugo. However, Hurricane Hugo caused a greater reduction in the rate of change of tree density and basal area of the plantation than it did in the natural forest.