The Tulenapa Forest Dynamics Site: A new ILTER initiative within the Chocó-Darién Biodiversity Hotspot (Urabá, Colombian Caribbean)

No ILTER site exists in Colombia, and only two Large Forest Dynamics Plots (LFDP) have been formally associated to the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS), thus urging for the establishment of LTER initiatives in different life zones. Coastal plain forests located in the Urabá region, within the Chocó-Darién Biodiversity Hotspot, are floristically and ecologically unique because they are settled in the transition between the Darién rainforest and the Caribbean dry forests. In contrast, extensive forest areas where converted to banana crops and pastures during most of the 20^th century. The Tulenapa Forest Dynamics Site is a starting research program with long term goals within a 146-ha mature forest remnant recently donated to the Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia). During the next five years, this program will be aimed at the following:

1. Understanding how conversion of coastal-plain forests to agricultural lands and pastures have impacted soil processes and properties
2. Establishing a LFDP for mapping tree distribution and forest and soil properties. A suite of observations, experiments, chrono-sequences, and permanent plots will be used for understanding the short-, mid-, and long-term responses to land use and cover change.

These approaches, along with the LFDP, will set the foundation for future studies on the effects of climate change in the region, and on the population, community and ecosystem dynamics relative to major disturbances such as wind throws, lightning, and the El Niño-La Niña. 

Related Materials and Graphics: 

Study area description

Related Materials and Graphics: 

Aerial photo of Tulenapa Forest Dynamics Site