. Cloud Forest Agenda. UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series 20. Cloud forest agenda Figure 1. Area of potential cloud forest and tropical mountain forest by continental region Asia Americas 500 000 1000 000 1500 000 2 000 000 Area km | Cloud forest Q Other tropical mountain forest slightly greater in extent ( per cent] than that of tropical dry forests. CLOUD FORESTS ARE VITAL WATER SOURCES All mountain forests have an important role in stabilizing water quality and maintaining the natural flow patterns of the streams and rivers originating from them. Tropical montane cloud forests have the uniq
. Cloud Forest Agenda. UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series 20. Cloud forest agenda Figure 1. Area of potential cloud forest and tropical mountain forest by continental region Asia Americas 500 000 1000 000 1500 000 2 000 000 Area km | Cloud forest Q Other tropical mountain forest slightly greater in extent ( per cent] than that of tropical dry forests. CLOUD FORESTS ARE VITAL WATER SOURCES All mountain forests have an important role in stabilizing water quality and maintaining the natural flow patterns of the streams and rivers originating from them. Tropical montane cloud forests have the unique additional value of capturing waterfrom the condensation from clouds and fog. This stripping' of wind-blown fog by the vegetation becomes especially important during the non-rainy season and in areas with low rainfall but frequent cloud. Water originating from cloud forests is also increased because water loss from vegetation wetted by rain or fog is reduced. This results in streamflows from cloud forest areas that are greater and more dependable in dry periods. Under humid conditions the amount of water directly intercepted by the vegetation of cloud forests can be 15-20 per cent of the amount of direct rainfall, and can reach 50-60 per cent under more exposed conditions. These values tend to increase in cloud forests at higher altitudes. In areas with lower rainfall, or during extended dry periods, these percentages can be higher still and equivalent to 700-1 000 mm of rainfall per year IBruijnzeel and Hamilton, 2000; Bruijnzeel, 2000], A major element of the hydrology and ecology of cloud forests is the abundance of epiphytic plants, that is plants such as mosses, ferns and bromeliads that grow on the trunks and branches of trees. Up to a quarter of all cloud forest plant species may be epiphytes [Foster, 2001). The epiphytes capture water directly from the fogs and clouds and provide a variety of microhabitats for invertebrates, amphibians and their predators (Benzing, 1
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