Owing to the differences in elevation, each of Silman’s plots has a different average annual temperature. For example, in Plot 4 the average is 11.6 degrees Celsius. In Plot 3, which is about two hundred and fifty metres higher, it’s 10.5 degrees Celsius, and in Plot 5, which is about two hundred and fifty metres lower, it’s 13.3 degrees Celsius. Because tropical species tend to have narrow thermal ranges, these temperature differences translate into a high rate of turnover; trees that are abundant in one plot may be missing entirely from the next one down or up.
