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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

The Calibration and Use of Capacitance Sensors to Monitor Stem Water Content in Trees
Published on: December 27, 2017
Hurricane disturbance and tropical tree species diversity
J Vandermeer1, I Granzow de la Cerda, D Boucher
1Department of Biology, University Herbarium, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. jvander@umich.edu
Abstract:
The debate over the maintenance of high diversity of tree species in tropical forests centers on the role of tree-fall gaps as a primary source of disturbance. Using a 10-year data series accumulated since Hurricane Joan struck the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua in 1988, we examined the pattern of species accumulation over time and with increased sampling of individuals. Our analysis shows that the pattern after a hurricane differs from the pattern after a simple tree-fall disturbance, and we conclude that pioneers are limited in large disturbances and thus do not suppress other species the way they do in smaller disturbances.
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