Trees
Nobody fails to be impressed by the trees of the rainforest. They are tall and handsome, lean and branchless, with many having buttressed trunks. To identify them is another matter, and not that easy for those from the Northern Hemisphere used to a limited number of easily-identified species. Tropical timbers take a while to recognise since many have similar looking trunks, but the happy coincidence of leaf fall or petal fall from the canopy will shower the forest floor with a variety of leaf shapes, colourful petals or more easily identified fruits and seeds that can be worked on. Progress is under way to record the trees at REGUA and some tree-tagging has already started. The palms at REGUA are particularly interesting and are an important part of the structure of the rainforest, and they need special study in the future.
Trees in general support a wide variety of epiphytic ferns, orchids, lichens and mosses, some being more overwhelmed by these epiphytes than others, which makes them more liable to being toppled by wind only to be caught up in a web of climbers. Much more wildlife is present in the canopy than at ground level along the REGUA trails since the crowns of trees are bathed in warmth and sunlight. Insects, birds and mammals occur here.
At some stage in the future it is hoped that REGUA will have facilities to study the canopy in a little more detail. In the meantime the tree inventory will continue to be complied in the knowledge that tree biodiversity is great at REGUA. It is hoped that the final tree list will be at least half the biodiversity levels of some parts of the coastal Atlantic rainforest that are known by The Nature Conservancy to reach 450 species per hectare. In the Atlantic rainforest as a whole it is thought that 53% of the tree species are endemic. REGUA continues to conserve its rich tree diversity for future generations to enjoy and dendrologists to research.
Unidentified Tree
Guarea guidonia
Unidentified Tree
Eugenia sp.
Tovomita sp.
Cecropia sp.
Unidentified Tree
Elfin Forest