XVI International Botanical Congess

We examined the influence of three types of surrounding vegetation (cattle pastures, Cecropia- and Vismia-dominated regrowth), on edge-related tree mortality in Amazonian rainforest fragments. The type of surrounding vegetation and distance to edge both had significant effects on tree mortality. Differences among matrix types were greatest within 0-20 m of fragment edges, with edges bordered by cattle pastures having higher mortality than those bordered by Cecropia- and Vismia-dominated regrowth. Edge effects penetrated further into pasture-bordered edges than those bordered by regrowth forest, and were significantly influenced by the structure of surrounding vegetation, whose buffering ability could be predicted from the growth form of the dominant tree species.