Title
Long-term change within a Neotropical forest: assessing differential functional and floristic responses to disturbance and drought
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Volume Number
17
Source Publication
Global Change Biology
Abstract
Disentangling the relative roles of biotic and abiotic forces influencing forest structure, function, and local community composition continues to be an important goal in ecology. Here, utilizing two forest surveys 20-year apart from a Central American dry tropical forest, we assess the relative role of past disturbance and local climatic change in the form of increased drought in driving forest dynamics. We observe: (i) a net decrease in the number of trees; (ii) a decrease in total forest biomass by 7.7 Mg ha
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