Cocoli 4 ha Plot


The Cocoli plot is located in a dry, semi-deciduous forest on the Pacific side, west of the Panama Canal, on a hillside near the Cocoli River. This site receives approximately 1950 mm of rainfall per year.

The plot is 4 ha, L-shaped with a 300 x 100 m rectangle and a 100 x 100 m square set to the right side of the southernmost hectare. This secondary mature forest is estimated to be about 80-120 years old.

The Cocoli plot has been censused 3 times: 1994, 1997, and 1998. All free-standing woody plants with stem diameter 1 cm or above at breast height were tagged, measured, mapped, and identified to species.

 

Some references:

Condit, R., S. Aguilar, A. Hernández, R. Pérez, S. Lao, G. Angehr, S.P. Hubbell, and R.B. Foster. 2004. Tropical forest dynamics across a rainfall gradient and the impact of an El Niño dry season. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 20: 51-72.

Condit, R. 1998. Ecological implications of changes in drought patterns: shifts in forest composition in Panama. Climatic Change, 39: 413-427.

Pyke, C.R., R. Condit, S. Aguilar, and S. Loo de Lao. 2001. Floristic composition across a climatic gradient in a neotropical lowland forest. Journal of Vegetation Science, 12: 553-566.