Podocarpus monteverdeensis) within a highly broken
canopy resulting from frequent wind storms (Table
3.3). The open structure of this forest allows many
epiphytes to survive in the well-lit understory.
Secondary vegetation. "Charral" is the Spanish term
used for the early-stage (1-3-year-old) vegetation that
takes over cleared land and abandoned pastures. It
consists of a dense tangle of 1-5-m-tall herbs, shrubs,
vines, and tree saplings. Common plants include
Amaranthaceae (Iresine), Asteraceae (Baccharis,
Clibadium, Fleischmannia, Mikania, Sinclairia,
Vernonia), Piperaceae (Piper), Melastomataceae
(Conostegia, Miconia), Malvaceae (Malvaviscus,
Sida), Tiliaceae (Triumfetta), Solanaceae (Cestrum,
Solarium, Witheringia), and Urticaceae (Boehmeria,
Phenax, Pilea, Urera). Vegetation colonizing naturally
disturbed areas is lower in diversity than charral and
tends to be composed of local species, in contrast to
the widespread roadside weeds that take over large
clearings. Charral develops a complete ground cover
more quickly than the vegetation colonizing naturally
disturbed sites.
While overlapping somewhat with charral, the
term "tacotal" usually applies to the older, taller (5-
15m) secondary forest that replaces charral. It con-
sists of a mixture of large herbs (Calathea, Heliconia),
shrubs, climbers, and trees (gap-colonizing species and
the saplings of primary forest trees; Table 3.4). These
secondary forests are often dominated by one or two
species, although these vary among sites. Below 1400
m on the Pacific slope, Conostegia xalapensis, Inga
punctata, and Psidium guajava become dominant.
Old pastures on the upper Pacific slope above 1500
m are often taken over by Conostegia oerstediana
(Fig. 3.3). On the upper Atlantic slope, Neomirandea
angularis and Piper auritum can form a distinct
monolayer. In the Pefias Blancas valley, monospe-
cific stands of Heliocarpus appendiculatus follow in
pastures that were colonized by Miconia smaragdina
and M. theizans.3.1.5. Morphological Patterns
Bark and trunk patterns. Most trees of the cloud for-
est have nondescript bark. Tree trunks are so thor-
oughly covered with bryophytes, epiphytes, and her-
baceous climbers that bark patterns cannot readily be
seen. Exceptions are the two species of Calyptranthes
(Myrtaceae) and Quararibea costaricensis (Bombaca-
ceae), whose peeling bark effectively sheds trunk
epiphytes to expose a smooth naked surface with a
dappled pattern of gray, cinnamon, and brown. Spiny
trees are largely absent from the cloud forest; for ex-Figure 3.3. A dense even-aged stand of Conostegia oerstediana characterizes secondary succession in
abandoned pastures at the edge ot the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Photograph by Nathaniel T.
Wheelwright.47 Plants and Vegetation