| Alnus acuminata (Betulaceae) is a pioneer tree that dominates mountain riparian forests throughout the eastern Andes. Early studies associated these forests with particular microclimatic conditions along river beds, but they were later linked to the periodical disturbance regime of mountain rivers. To understand the dynamics of these forests, we analysed tree age and spatial arrangement in two plots along Potrero river and another plot along La Horqueta river, Tucumán Province, north west Argentina. Through intensive tree coring and age reconstruction we identified similar-aged tree cohorts with maximum age ranges of eight years. Tree mapping and Moran's I spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that tree cohorts were spatially clumped, and provided... |
