Patterns of deadwood amount and deadwood diversity along a natural forest recovery gradient from agriculture to old-growth lowland tropical forests

Deadwood is a key component of nutrient cycling in natural tropical forests, serving as a globally important carbon storage and habitat for a high number of species. The conversion of tropical forests to agriculture modifies deadwood pools, but we know little about deadwood dynamics in forests recovering from human disturbance. Here we quantified the volume and diversity of coarse woody debris (CWD, ≥ 7 cm diameter) and the mass of fine woody debris (FWD, < 7 cm) along a chronosequence of natural forest recovery in the lowlands of the Ecuadorian Chocó region. We sampled forest plots ranging from 1–37 years of recovery post-cessation of agricultural use as either cacao plantation or cattle pasture, as well as actively managed cacao plantations and cattle pastures, and old-growth forests. In contrast to our expectation, we found no significant increase in deadwood volume with recovery time. The diversity in size, decay stage and type of CWD increased along the recovery gradient, with no effect of previous land use type. The mass of FWD increased overall across the recovery gradient, but these results were driven by a steep increase in former pastures, with no change observed in former cacao plantations. We suggest that the range of sizes and decomposition stages of deadwood found in these two major tropical agricultural systems could provide suitable resources for saproxylic organisms and an overlooked carbon storage outside old-growth forests. Our estimates of deadwood in agricultural systems and recovering forests can help improve global assessments of carbon storage and release in the tropics.