Document: KYL-3-40-1

Habitat associations of tropical trees and shrubs within a 50-ha forest plot in Panama.

HARMS, K.E.*

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA ¹

Abstract:
Traditional analyses of habitat associations of plants often make the assumption that individual stems can be treated as independent sample units. Due primarily to limited dispersal distances and the generally contagious spatial patterns of recruitment, this assumption is untenable for most species of plants. I developed a statistical test for examining habitat associations of mapped plants which incorporates the spatial structure of plant populations, eliminating the assumption of independence among stems. I applied the test to tropical trees and shrubs within the 50-ha Forest Dynamics Project plot in Panama. Few species were significantly associated with specific habitat types, but many species avoided a seasonally inundated swamp, i.e., most species' distribution patterns with respect to habitat heterogeneity within the 50-ha plot were similar. These results support the hypothesis that specialization to the physical environment is not among the principal mechanisms maintaining diversity in this tropical forest.

Keywords: Habitat associations, tropical plants, Panama

This abstract is being presented at: 11:15 AM in session:
Oral Session #59: Plant Communities: Vegetative Analysis.