Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of Ecuador

Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii
The Ecosystem (Reserva Biológica San Francisco)....Pages 1-13
Mountain Rain Forests in Southern Ecuador as a Hotspot of Biodiversity – Limited Knowledge and Diverging Patterns....Pages 15-23
The People Settled Around Podocarpus National Park....Pages 25-36
Ecuador Suffers the Highest Deforestation Rate in South America....Pages 37-40
Methodological Challenges of a Megadiverse Ecosystem....Pages 41-47
Investigating Gradients in Ecosystem Analysis....Pages 49-54
The Investigated Gradients....Pages 55-62
Climate....Pages 63-73
Soils Along the Altitudinal Transect and in Catchments....Pages 75-85
Flora and Fungi: Composition and Function....Pages 87-100
Flora and Fungi: Composition and Function....Pages 101-111
Flora and Fungi: Composition and Function....Pages 113-121
Flora and Fungi: Composition and Function....Pages 123-135
Flora and Fungi: Composition and Function....Pages 137-148
Fauna: Composition and Function....Pages 149-156
Fauna: Composition and Function....Pages 157-165
Fauna: Composition and Function....Pages 167-179
Fauna: Composition and Function....Pages 181-192
Water Relations....Pages 193-201
Nutrient Status and Fluxes at the Field and Catchment Scale....Pages 203-215
Biotic Soil Activities....Pages 217-227
Altitudinal Changes in Stand Structure and Biomass Allocation of Tropical Mountain Forests in Relation to Microclimate and Soil Chemistry....Pages 229-242
Stand Structure, Transpiration Responses in Trees and Vines and Stand Transpiration of Different Forest Types Within the Mountain Rainforest....Pages 243-258
Plant Growth Along the Altitudinal Gradient — Role of Plant Nutritional Status, Fine Root Activity, and Soil Properties....Pages 259-266
Spatial Heterogeneity Patterns — a Comparison Between Gorges and Ridges in the Upper Part of an Evergreen Lower Montane Forest....Pages 267-274
The Unique Purdiaea nutans Forest of Southern Ecuador — Abiotic Characteristics and Cryptogamic Diversity....Pages 275-280
Climate Variability....Pages 281-290
Growth Dynamics of Trees in Tropical Mountain Ecosystems....Pages 291-302
Temporal Heterogeneities — Matter Deposition from Remote Areas....Pages 303-309
Gap Dynamics in a Tropical Lower Montane Forest in South Ecuador....Pages 311-317
Landslides as Important Disturbance Regimes — Causes and Regeneration....Pages 319-330
Sustainable and Non-Sustainable Use of Natural Resources by Indigenous and Local Communities....Pages 331-345
Natural Forest Management in Neotropical Mountain Rain Forests — An Ecological Experiment....Pages 347-359
Permanent Removal of the Forest: Construction of Roads and Power Supply Lines....Pages 361-370
Forest Clearing by Slash and Burn....Pages 371-374
Gradients and Patterns of Soil Physical Parameters at Local, Field and Catchment Scales....Pages 375-386
Visualization and Analysis of Flow Patterns and Water Flow Simulations in Disturbed and Undisturbed Tropical Soils....Pages 387-396
Pasture Management and Natural Soil Regeneration....Pages 397-408
Succession Stages of Vegetation Regeneration: Secondary Tropical Mountain Forests....Pages 409-415
Reforestation of Abandoned Pastures: Seed Ecology of Native Species and Production of Indigenous Plant Material....Pages 417-429
Reforestation of Abandoned Pastures: Silvicultural Means to Accelerate Forest Recovery and Biodiversity....Pages 431-441
Successional Stages of Faunal Regeneration — A Case Study on Megadiverse Moths....Pages 443-449
Gradients in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem — a Synthesis....Pages 451-463
Back Matter....Pages 465-525