Hurricane disturbance and tropical tree species diversity

The debate over the maintenance of high diversity of tree species in tropic al forests centers on the role of tree-fall gaps as a primary source of dis turbance. Using a 10-year data series accumulated since Hurricane loan stru ck the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua in 1988, we examined the pattern of spe cies 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 li mited in Large disturbances and thus do not suppress other species the way they do in smaller disturbances.