SCHLESINGER DEB-9623837 The goal of this research is to determine how cultivation history affects plant colonization and competition in forest patches . We hypothesize that at the local scale repeated slash-and-burn agriculture will reduce the availability of limiting soil nutrients, such as phosphorous, for plant growth. At the landscape scale, changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of seed sources over the course of many slash-and-burn cycles will affect which species arrive at a given patch. Both observational studies and experimentation in lab and field will be used to test these hypotheses. The conversion of primary forest to agricultural land is vital to the well-being of millions of rural poor in the tropics. It is also the sources of biodiversity loss and loss of carbon storage potential. Sustainable management and development of these landscapes depends on understanding the relationship between diversity and nutrient cycling and how it is affected by repeated disturbance.
