2026-05-29T22:45:26Zhttps://riuma.uma.es/rest/oai/request

oai:riuma.uma.es:10630/158332026-02-03T12:50:58Zcom_10630_27com_10630_3139com_10630_10col_10630_15266

Tree ferns dominate secondary succession in abandoned pineapple plantations around Manu National Park, Peru Schilling, Olivia Tejedor, Adrian Helechos - Perú Habitat management and restoration in buffer zones of national parks is critical for maintaining ecosystem services and biological connectivity in and around the parks’ core protected areas. Vegetation succession in abandoned plantations in buffer zones may take different paths that reach climax ecosystems in more or less time depending on the conditions of initial succession, thus enhancing or hindering biological connectivity and ecosystem services. This study documents the dominance of tree ferns in the initial stages of vegetation succession on abandoned pineapple plantations on the Andean foothills around Manu National Park, Peru, and discusses the role it may have on ecosystem restoration. Four years after abandonment, tree fern gametophytes grow under the shade of pineapple plants and melastomes. After 6-10 years of succession, the vegetation is dominated by a tree fern community composed of at least eight species, of which the most common are by far Cyathea delgadii and Cyathea microdonta. Cyathea microdonta functions as a short-lived pioneer, reaching its peak of live stem density in 6 to10 years and dying off in older plots. Cyathea delgadii, on the other hand, continues to grow and persists beyond 10 years of succession. Areas adjacent to abandoned pineapple fields have few tree ferns and higher tree species diversity, suggesting that pineapple agriculture and the resulting tree fern community may be a longer pathway to reach climax vegetation stages than other types of plantation. 2018-05-25T12:05:18Z 2018-05-25T12:05:18Z 2017 journal article Acta Botánica Malacitana, Vol. 42, nº 1, 2017, págs. 141-148 0210-9506 https://hdl.handle.net/10630/15833 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Universidad de Málaga. Servicio de Publicaciones e Intercambio Científico