Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T11:46:47.928Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

21 - Source–sink population dynamics and sustainable leaf harvesting of the understory palm Chamaedorea radicalis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2011

Eric J. Berry
Affiliation:
Saint Anselm College, NH, USA
David L. Gorchov
Affiliation:
Miami University, OH, USA
Bryan A. Endress
Affiliation:
Zoological Society of San Diego
Jianguo Liu
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Vanessa Hull
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Anita T. Morzillo
Affiliation:
Oregon State University
John A. Wiens
Affiliation:
PRBO Conservation Science
Get access

Summary

In this study we assessed the sustainability of leaf harvesting of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis by modeling the dynamics of harvested populations using stage-structured transition matrices. Within the study site, El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, palm demography and population growth is dependent on substrate type; a relationship that is due to the role of rock outcrops as a refuge from herbivory by free-ranging livestock. We accounted for this environmental heterogeneity by using a source–sink model in which non-browsed palms on rock outcrops act as a source population for browsed palms on the forest floor (sink). To evaluate the impact of leaf harvesting on these populations we incorporated the demographic effects of local harvesting practices into population models using data from leaf harvesting experiments. Results showed that when the demographic effects of leaf harvesting were combined with the effects of livestock browsing, population growth dropped significantly below the replacement rate, indicating that the combination of the two was not sustainable. This result is explicable in the context of the source–sink dynamic described above, where browsed palms on the forest floor are dependent on the migration of seeds from protected palms on rock outcrops. Incorporating leaf harvesting into the model reduces the survival and fecundity of all non-browsed palms, including important “source” palms on rock outcrops, with the result that non-browsed rock outcrops are no longer a sufficient source of recruitment for the entire population. The source–sink model was critical in projecting the consequences of this interaction between browsing and harvesting.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anten, N. P. R., Martiínez-Ramos, M. and Ackerly, D. D. (2003). Defoliation and growth in an understory palm: quantifying the contributions of compensatory responses. Ecology 84: 2905–2918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balick, M. J. and Beck, H. S. (1990). Useful Palms of the World: A Synoptic Bibliography. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Benton, T. G. and Grant, A. (1999). Elasticity analysis as an important tool in evolutionary and population ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14: 467–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernal, R. (1998). Demography of the vegetable ivory palm Phtelephas seemannii in Colombia, and the impact of seed harvesting. Journal of Applied Ecology 35: 64–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, E. J. and Gorchov, D. L. (2004). Reproductive biology of the dioecious understory palm Chamaedorea radicalis in a Mexican cloud forest: pollination vector, flowering phenology, and female fecundity. Journal of Tropical Ecology 20: 369–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, E. J. and Gorchov, D. L. (2006). Female fecundity is dependent on substrate, rather than male abundance, in the wind-pollinated, dioecious understory palm Chamaedorea radicalis. Biotropica 39: 186–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, E. J., Gorchov, D. L., Endress, B. A. and Stevens, M. H. H. (2008). Source–sink dynamics within a plant population: the impact of substrate and herbivory on palm demography. Population Ecology 50: 63–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caswell, H. (2001). Matrix Population Models, 2nd edition. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.Google Scholar
CEC (Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America) (2002). In search of a sustainable palm market in America [available at ].
Endress, B. A. (2002). Population dynamics, conservation and management of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis Mart. in the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Doctoral Dissertation, Miami University, Oxford, OH.
Endress, B. A., Gorchov, D. L. and Noble, R. B. (2004a). Nontimber forest product extraction: effects of harvest and browsing on an understory palm. Ecological Applications 14: 1139–1153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Endress, B. A., Gorchov, D. L., Peterson, M. B. and Padrón-Serrano, E. (2004b). Harvest of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis, its effect on leaf production, and implications for sustainable management. Conservation Biology 18: 822–830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Endress, B. A., Gorchov, D. L. and Berry, E. J. (2006). Sustainability of a non-timber forest product: effects of alternative leaf harvest practices over 6 years on yield and demography of the palm Chamaedorea radicalis. Forest Ecology and Management 234: 181–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) (1997). Non-wood Forest Products. 10. Tropical Palms. FAO, Bangkok.Google Scholar
Flores, C. F. and Ashton, P. M. S. (2000). Harvesting impact and economic value of Geonoma deversa, Arecaceae, an understory palm used for roof thatching in the Peruvian Amazon. Economic Botany 54: 267–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
González-Medrano, F. (2005). La vegetación. In Historia Natural de la Reserva de la Biósfera El Cielo (Sánchez-Ramos, G., Reyes-Castillo, P. and Dirzo, R., eds.). Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas, Mexico: 38–50.Google Scholar
Gorchov, D. L. and Endress, B. A. (2005). Historia natural de Chamaedorea radicalis. In Historia Natural de la Reserva de la Biósfera El Cielo (Sánchez-Ramos, G., Reyes-Castillo, P. and Dirzo, R., eds.). Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Instituto de Ecología AC, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico.Google Scholar
Heppell, S. S., Pfister, C. and de Kroon, H. (2000). Elasticity analysis in population biology: methods and applications. Ecology 81: 605–606.Google Scholar
Hodel, D. R. (1992). Chamaedorea Palms: The Species and Their Cultivation. Allen Press, Lawrence, KS.Google Scholar
Hoffman, W. A. (1999). Fire and population dynamics of woody plants in a neotropical savanna: matrix model projections. Ecology 80: 1354–1369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, F. A. and Gorchov, D. L. (2000). Patterns of abundance and human use of the vulnerable understory palm, Chamaedorea radicalis (Arecaceae), in a montane cloud forest, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 45: 421–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyal, E. (1996). The palm has its time: an ethnoecology of Sabal uresana in Sonora, Mexico. Economic Botany 50: 446–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kainer, K. A., Duryea, M. L., Macêdo, N. C. and Williams, K. (1998). Brazil nut seedling establishment and autecology in extractive reserves of Acre, Brazil. Ecological Applications 8: 397–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilroy, H. and Gorchov, D. L. (2010). Enrichment planting of an understory palm: Effect of micro-environmental factors on seedling establishment, growth and survival. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 2: 105–113.Google Scholar
Kiker, C. F. and Putz, F. E. (1997). Ecological certification of forest products: economic challenges. Ecological Economics 20: 37–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mora-Olivo, A., Mora Lopez, J. L., Jiménez Pérez, J. P. and Sifuentes Silva, J. (1997). Vegetación y flora asociada a la palmilla (Chamaedorea radicalis Mart.) en la Reserva de la biosfera “El Cielo”. Biotam 8: 1–10.Google Scholar
Olmsted, I. and Alvarez-Buylla, E. R. (1995). Sustainable harvesting of tropical trees: demography and matrix models of two palm species in Mexico. Ecological Applications 5: 484–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oyama, K. and Mendoza, A. (1990). Effects of defoliation on growth, reproduction, and survival of a neotropical dioecious palm, Chamaedorea tepejilote. Biotropica 22: 86–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, M. B. (2001). Resource use and livelihood strategies of two communities in El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, Tamaulipas, Mexico. MS thesis, Miami University, Oxford, OH.
Piñero, D., Martinez-Ramos, M. and Sarukhán, J. (1984). A population model of Astrocaryum mexicanum and a sensitivity analysis of its finite rate of increase. Journal of Ecology 72: 977–991.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puig, H. and Bracho, R. (eds.) (1987). El bosque mesófilo de montaña de Tamaulipas. Instituto de Ecología, México DF.
Pulliam, H. R. (1988). Sources, sinks, and population regulation. American Naturalist 132: 652–661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pulliam, H. R. (1996). Sources and sinks: empirical evidence and population consequences. In Population Dynamics inEcological Space and Time (Rhodes, J. O. E., Chesser, R. K. and Smith, M. H., eds.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Ratsirarson, J., Silander, J. A. and Richard, A. F. (1996). Conservation and management of a threatened Madagascar palm species, Neodypsis decaryi, Jumelle. Conservation Biology 10: 40–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez-Buriticá, S., Orjuela, M. A. and Galeano, G. (2005). Demography and life history of Geonoma orbignyana: an understory palm used as foliage in Colombia. Forest Ecology and Management 211: 329–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez-Ramos, G., Reyes-Castillo, P. and Dirzo, R. (2005). Historia Natural de la Reserva de la Biósfera El Cielo. Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas, Mexico.Google Scholar
Scheiner, S. M. and Gurevitch, J. C. (1993). Design and Analysis of Ecological Experiments. Chapman and Hall, New York.Google Scholar
Silvertown, J., Franco, M. and Menges, E. (1996). Interpretation of elasticity matrices as an aid to the management of plant populations for conservation. Conservation Biology 10: 591–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svenning, J. C. and Macía, M. J. (2002). Harvesting of Geonoma macrostachys Mart. leaves for thatch: an exploration of sustainability. Forest Ecology and Management 167: 251–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ticktin, T. (2004). The ecological implications of harvesting non-timber forest products. Journal of Applied Ecology 41: 11–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ticktin, T. (2005). Applying a metapopulation framework to the management and conservation of a non-timber forest species. Forest Ecology and Management 206: 249–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ticktin, T., Nantel, P., Ramírez, F. and Johns, T. (2002). Effects of variation on harvest limits for non-timber forest species in Mexico. Conservation Biology 16: 691–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uhl, N. W. and Dransfield, J. (1987). Genera Palmarum: A Classification of Palms Based on the Work of H. E. Moore, Jr. Allen Press, Lawrence, KS.Google Scholar
van Groenendael, J., de Kroon, H. and Caswell, H. (1988). Projection matrices in population biology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 3: 264–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velásquez Runk, J. (1998). Productivity and sustainability of a vegetable ivory palm (Phytelephas aequatoralis, Arecaceae) under three management regimes in northwest Ecuador. Economic Botany 52: 168–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilsey, D. and Current, D. (2004). In Search of a Sustainable Palm: Progress and Work Plan, 2004–2005 [available at ].Google Scholar
Wisdom, M. J., Mills, L. S. and Doak, D. F. (2000). Life-stage simulation analysis: estimating vital rate effects on population growth for conservation. Ecology 81: 628–641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuidema, P. A. and Werger, M. J. A. (2000). Impact of artificial defoliation on ramet and genet demography in a neotropical understory palm. In Demography of Exploited Tree Species in the Bolivian Amazon (Zuidema, P. A., ed.). Programa Manejo de Bosques de la Amazonía Boliviana (PROMAB), Riberalta: 108–131.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×