## 2 Materials and Methods  
### Site Description  
The study site is located in the Area de Protecion de Flora y Fauna Sierra de Alamos-Rio Cuchujagui (SARC) in northwestern Mexico. The SARC is registered to the Man and Biosphere Program Biosphere Reserve from UNESCO and to Comision Nacional de Areas Protegidas [57]. This study focuses on the Monte Mojino Natural Reserve, a private protected area owned and managed by Nature and Culture International which lies within SARC. The study sites belong to the MexFlux network, which is a system of ecohydrological monitoring sites equipped with Eddy Covariance technique at terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems in Mexico [58]. The climate in the area is classified as warm and semiarid with summer rains [59], a mean annual air temperature of 24 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and mean annual precipitation of 729 mm yr\({}^{-1}\); more than 80% of the annual precipitation is recorded during the wet season due to the influence of the North American Monsoon System, with just a few rainfall events during winter [60, 61]. For this study, we use a seasonal scale framework of two periods: (i) a dry season from November to May and (ii) a wet season from June to October, which includes the months of maximum growth rate and biological activity. Forest Succession Sites  
Our study sites are located in the northernmost limit of the TDF in America [46]. Three sites were strategically selected according to the conceptual TDF chronosequence from [PERSON] et al. [57]. Following the criteria from [57] and advice from local inhabitants and forest ranges, the successional stages of the three sites were selected by the relative importance of the pioneering species vs. species representative of mature stages and the time since abandonment after clearcut. Currently, all sites are free from large-scale management practices and free of ranching activities. The first site is an early-secondary forest (ES; 26.99\({}^{\circ}\) N, \(-\)108.78\({}^{\circ}\) W) that has a notable dominance of _Acacia occhiacantha_, considered a fast-growing legume and pioneer species. This site was previously used for local agriculture after being abandoned from management practice activities and now has a recovery period of \(\sim\)10 years. The soil organic matter content is 2.8 \(\pm\) 0.001% and the litterfall production is 3.66 Mg ha\({}^{-1}\) year\({}^{-1}\)[62, 63]. The canopy openness (%) of this site is 0.27 \(\pm\) 0.11 with a mean leaf area index (LAI) of 1.51 \(\pm\) 1.69. On the other hand, we selected a mid-secondary forest (MS; 27.00\({}^{\circ}\) N, \(-\)108.77\({}^{\circ}\) W) that has been in recovery for over \(\sim\)40 years after the last clearing. The main feature of this forest is the recruitment of primary forest species and a lesser dominance of _Acacia occhiacantha_[52]. For this site, litterfall production is estimated at 2.70 Mg ha\({}^{-1}\) year\({}^{-1}\)[62] and a soil organic matter content of 4.2 \(\pm\) 0.1% [63]. This site presents a canopy openness of 0.32 \(\pm\) 0.11% and a mean LAI of 1.44 \(\pm\) 1.53. Finally, the old-growth forest (OG; 26.99\({}^{\circ}\) N, \(-\)108.78\({}^{\circ}\) W) is characterized by a high biomass content and shows a greater floristic composition with a multispecies assemblage of representative vegetation from TDF such as _Lysiloma divaricatum_, _Lysiloma watsonii_, _Croton lindquisiti_, _Ceiba acuminata_, _Tabebuia impetiginosa_, and _Bursera_ spp. and a well-developed understory [52; 57]. This forest has never been cleared, according to local residents and landowners. Litterfall production in this site is estimated at 4.32 Mg ha\({}^{-1}\) year\({}^{-1}\)[64] with a soil organic matter content of 5.5 \(\pm\) 0.2% [63], a canopy openness of 0.25 \(\pm\) 0.11% and a mean LAI of 1.55 \(\pm\) 1.71. According to the total relative importance values, the most representative species at each site were: _L. divaricatum_ and _Croton lindquisiti_ account for 30% at OG, while _L. divaricatum_ with _C. flavescens_ were 27% at MS, and _A. cochiliacantha_ represented 20% at ES [65].