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Rain Forest Islands in the Chilean Semiarid Region: Fog-dependency, Ecosystem Persistence and Tree Regeneration

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Abstract

Tree presence in semiarid ecosystems is generally constrained by insufficient annual rainfall. However, in semiarid Chile, rainforest patches dominated by Aextoxicon punctatum are unexpectedly found on coastal mountaintops (450–600 m) at 30°S, surrounded by a xerophytic vegetation matrix that receives only 147 mm of annual precipitation. It has been proposed that these forests persist as a result of fog-water inputs. If so, then because fog-water deposition is spatially heterogeneous and shows strong edge effects, the potential environmental gradient created by the direction of fog input should determine forest structure and tree regeneration patterns. To investigate this hypothesis, we measured fog inputs, forest structural attributes (age and size distribution, basal area, and coarse woody debris), and tree regeneration in three different habitats: the windward edges (WE), leeward edges (LE), and the interior (center) of rainforest patches varying in area from 0.2 to 22 ha. Mean fog-water input was estimated from passive collectors over 1 year in WE and LE of patches. Tree regeneration was greater in the WE and forest interior (FI) and decreased toward the LE of patches, following a marked pattern of decline in fog inputs. Older trees and coarse woody debris were concentrated in the FI and LE of patches. Tree regeneration and patch structure appear to be largely controlled by fog-input direction and edge effects. We propose that forest patches may be slowly growing toward the incoming fog edge, while dying at the opposite edge.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Fondo de investigación Avanzada en Areas Prioritarias FONDAP – FONDECYT 1501-0001 Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Ecologia Biodiversidad (CASEB); the Biocores Project, funded by the European Community (EC) under the INCO IV program (contract ICA 4-CT-2001–10095); Centro Milenio para Estudios Avanzados en Ecología e Investigación en Biodiversidad (CMEB) (PO2-051-F, ICM); the National Science Foundation (International Americas Program, INT-0313927); and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies. The Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF, IV Región, Chile) kindly gave permission to work at Fray Jorge National Park. We thank J. Monardes, A. Abarzúa, M. Nuñez, D. Fernández, J. P. François, J. Valdez, J. M. Valenzuela, T. Catalán, N. Davis, and D. Gho for their help with field data collection, and N. Carrasco and A. Rivera for laboratory assistance. Pablo Necochea kindly drew the Fray Jorge map. Other than the first author, order of authorship is alphabetical. This is a contribution to the program of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

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Author notes

  1. Duncan A. Christie

    Present address: FORECOS, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile

  2. Ek del-Val

    Present address: Centro de Estudios Ecosistemas, inversidad Nacional tutónoma de México, Ap. 27-3, Santa Maria de guido Morelia, Michoacán, México, 58089

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity, Departamento de Ecología, Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile

    Ek del-Val, Juan J. Armesto, Olga Barbosa, Duncan A. Christie & Pablo A. Marquet

  2. Centro milenio para Estudios Avanzados en Ecologia e Investigación en Biodiversidad (CMEB), Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile

    Juan J. Armesto, Duncan A. Christie & Alvaro G. Gutiérrez

  3. Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, New York, 12545, USA

    Juan J. Armesto, Clive G. Jones & Kathleen C. Weathers

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  1. Ek del-Val
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Correspondence to Ek del-Val.

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del-Val, E., Armesto, J.J., Barbosa, O. et al. Rain Forest Islands in the Chilean Semiarid Region: Fog-dependency, Ecosystem Persistence and Tree Regeneration. Ecosystems 9, 598–608 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-006-0065-6

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