Patterns of growth, recruitment, mortality and biomass across an altitudinal gradient in a neotropical montane forest, Dominican Republic

Abstract

[English] We examined stand dynamics and biomass along an altitudinal gradient in a tropical montane forest (TMF) in the disturbance-prone Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. We tested the general hypothesis that chronic disturbance by fire, wind, floods and landslides results in a landscape of relatively low above-ground biomass with high rates of mortality, recruitment and growth as compared with other TMFs.