Fallow history (fallow age and the number of crop-fallow
rotation cycles) affected the various vegetation characteristics
differentially. The basal area of secondary forests increased
significantly (p < 0.0001) while stem density tended to decrease
(0.05 < p < 0.1) with increasing fallow age (Fig. 3). Species
richness and diversity measures were insensitive to fallow age.
Although the majority of the species were found across all fallow
ages (38 species), some species were exclusive for a given fallow
age (Table 2). For fallows that were 1–5 years old, four species
were exclusive: Chaetocarpus castanocarpus, Desmodium triquetrum,
Ficus hispida var. hispida and Sterculia pexa.