Riparian habitats as tropical forest refugia

Abstract

High local densities of tropical forest plant species have been found in riparian forests of Belizean and Venezuelan savannas. Soil and light-intensity het- erogeneity within the forests is limited and species co- existence may be mediated more by specialized disturbance regimes than by micro-habitat specializa- tion. Provided that this local diversity is complement- ed by high regional diversity within these systems, they could provide plausible refugia for tropical forest biotas during arid climatic phases. The results demon- strate that a reduced species density is not an inevita- ble consequence of forest fragmentation, and have important implications for the future conservation of tropical forest.