Hurricanes and Mangrove Regeneration: Effects of Hurricane Joan, October 1988, on the Vegetation of Isla del Venado, Bluefields, Nicaragua

Based on sampling of a hurricane-damaged Caribbean mangrove forest, stand structure and composition are char- acterized for both pre- and posthurricane vegetation. Before the storm, stand structure was typical of mangrove forests throughout the region, but poorly developed compared to upland forests in the same life zone, as expressed in a composite index of tree height, basal area, stem density, and species diversity. The hurricane inflicted the most severe damage upon the largest trees and markedly reduced the complexity index of the stand, but it appears to have favored the establishment of abundant regeneration by all of the original mangrove species. Periodic destruction of Caribbean mangrove forests by cyclonic storms is proposed as one explanation for their characteristically low structural complexity as well as the lack of typical climax components in the vegetation.