Tropical montane forest ecotones : climate gradients, natural disturbance, and vegetation zonation in the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic

Abstract

Aim: We examined relationships between climate–disturbance gradients and patterns of vegetation zonation and ecotones on a subtropical mountain range. Location: The study was conducted on the windward slopes of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic, where cloud forest appears to shift in a narrow ecotone to monodominant forest of Pinus occidentalis. Methods: Climate, disturbance and vegetation data were collected over the elevation range 1100–3100 m and in 50 paired plots along the ecotone. Aerial photographs were georeferenced to a high-resolution digital elevation model in order to enable the analysis of landscape-scale patterns of the ecotone.