Abstract Secondary succession involves dynamic feedback among vegetation, environmental conditions and biota. Nevertheless, the recovery of tropical forests after anthropic management is often evaluated based solely on vegetation cover, which is easier to measure and requires less equipment and expertise than the assessment of soil and microclimate, but does not always reflect synchronic and integrative recovery. Given the convenience of measuring vegetation properties, this study aimed to identify the vegetation traits that could best inform on the progress of integrative recovery through the exploration of correlations among changes in soil, vegetation and microclimate over the course of succession and by the selection of the most informative and suitable vegetation indicators. We measured vegetation, soil and microclimate properties along a successional gradient in the tropical dry forest region of the coast of Jalisco, Mexico. Bi- and multi-variate analyses revealed clear correlation between changes in soil and microclimate components. Bivariate and stepwise regressions indicated that basal area, litterfall, plant richness and litter mass were the vegetation properties that were the most related to soil and microclimate recovery. Basal area was the most closely related to soil and microclimate recovery, and it was also related to the recovery of soil P, a key soil property. However, litter mass, which was highly correlated with basal area, is a less time-consuming alternative measurement that may be more manageable for assessing many sites. Litter mass is also a key variable connecting aboveground and belowground recovery processes, making it a particularly useful variable for evaluating integrative recovery. Since all indicators can be affected by natural or human disturbance, the choice of indicators to be used in each evaluation should be cautious and, whenever possible, consider the history of the plot. We discuss and suggest the complementary use of several indicators when disturbance has occurred during secondary succession.

中文翻译：

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热带干旱林演替地植被、土壤和小气候综合恢复指标

摘要 次生演替涉及植被、环境条件和生物群之间的动态反馈。然而，人类管理后热带森林的恢复通常仅根据植被覆盖进行评估，与土壤和小气候评估相比，这更容易测量并且需要的设备和专业知识更少，但并不总是反映同步和综合恢复。鉴于测量植被特性的便利性，本研究旨在通过探索演替过程中土壤、植被和小气候变化之间的相关性，并通过选择最适合综合恢复进程的植被特征来确定植被特征。最有用和最合适的植被指标。我们测量了植被，墨西哥哈利斯科海岸热带干旱森林地区沿演替梯度的土壤和小气候特性。双变量和多变量分析揭示了土壤变化与小气候成分之间的明显相关性。双变量和逐步回归表明，基面积、凋落物、植物丰富度和凋落物质量是与土壤和小气候恢复最相关的植被特性。基底面积与土壤和小气候恢复的关系最密切，也与土壤磷这一关键的土壤性质的恢复有关。然而，与基面积高度相关的垫料质量是一种耗时较少的替代测量方法，对于评估许多地点来说可能更易于管理。凋落物质量也是连接地上和地下恢复过程的关键变量，使其成为评估综合恢复特别有用的变量。由于所有指标都可能受到自然或人为干扰的影响，因此在每次评估中选择使用的指标时应谨慎，并尽可能考虑地块的历史。我们讨论并建议在次演替期间发生干扰时补充使用几个指标。