The effects of gap size and age on the understorey herb community of a tropical Mexican rain forest

1. The effects of gap age and size on understorey herb communities and their light environments (indirect skylight and direct sunlight estimated from hemispherical canopy photographs) were investigated in a tropical rain forest in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico. Thirteen gaps, ranging in size from 70 to 700 m 2 and ranging in age from young (1-2 years old) to old (>>5 years old), were studied. 2. The mean amounts of relative indirect skylight and relative direct sunlight were 0.083 and 0.116, respectively