CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2012
| Author | Lamb, Lisa Suzanne |
|---|---|
| Title | Vegetation biodiversity survey and seed rain assessment as part of long-term reforestation monitoring at the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde, Costa Rica |
| Summary | Monteverde, Costa Rica has extremely high conservation value because of its high biodiversity and endemism, especially in its cloud forests. Reforestation monitoring programs at the Cloud Forest School (CEC) in Monteverde are important for understanding which reforestation strategies work best and to raise conservation awareness through environmental education. Restoration monitoring programs should measure at least one component of diversity, vegetation structure, or ecological processes. This research measures ecosystem interactions (seed dispersal) and more extensive diversity assessments (plant identification) to evaluate the suitability of existing monitoring protocols and to assess the feasibility of adding a new component to the monitoring program. Vegetation sampling of a larger sampling area revealed that Inga plots have significantly higher total and seedling biodiversity than Mixed plots, but the existing monitoring protocol’s small sample size is too small to detect these differences. The seed rain assessment showed no significant differences between Inga and Mixed plots, but this must be treated with caution because this research is only valid for seeds visible to the naked eye. It is recommended that in the future the CEC monitoring program management should: a) organize and manage the monitoring data in a database, b) expand the role of monitoring in the curricula, c) increase the vegetation sampling area and create reference plots, d) choose an appropriate component of ecosystem processes to monitor, and e) change the vegetation identification protocols so that students only identify larger flowering saplings and trees instead of seedlings. |
| Supervisor | Brandon Anthony |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2012/lamb_lisa.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University