Epiphytic communities in secondary forests and plantations from southern Ecuador

Four tropical secondary forest types and plantations: monoespecific Pinus patula plantation; monoespecific secondary forests of Andesanthus lepidotus; monospecific secondary forests of Alnus acuminata; mixed secondary forests.

Within each stand, ten plots of 5 × 5 m were randomly established with a distance more than 50 m between them (80 plots in total). Within each plot, four trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) larger than 5 cm were selected, the larger diameter, the smallest and two closes to the average diameter of each plot, regardless of the tree species (320 trees in total). Cover of epiphytic lichens and bryophytes was estimated on each tree at two different heights (0-50 and 50-150 cm) at the northern and southern exposures, using 20 × 30 cm sampling grids. In addition, canopy cover (%), mean tree diameter at breast height (DBH, cm), and elevation (m a.s.l.) of each plot were measured.