Widespread density‐dependent seedling mortality promotes species coexistence in a highly diverse Amazonian rain forest

Ecology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 91 (12) ◽  
pp. 3675-3685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret R. Metz ◽  
Wayne P. Sousa ◽  
Renato Valencia
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Seedling Mortality ◽  
Density Dependent ◽  
Amazonian Rain Forest

scholarly journals Do fungal pathogens drive density-dependent mortality in established seedlings of two dominant African rain-forest trees?

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian M. Norghauer ◽  
David M. Newbery ◽  
Leho Tedersoo ◽  
George B. Chuyong
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Recruitment Rate ◽  
Tree Seedlings ◽  
Seedling Mortality ◽  
Density Dependent ◽  
Density Dependent Mortality ◽  
Dependent Mortality

Abstract:Where one or a few tree species reach local high abundance, different ecological factors may variously facilitate or hinder their regeneration. Plant pathogens are thought to be one of those possible agents which drive intraspecific density-dependent mortality of tree seedlings in tropical forests. Experimental evidence for this is scarce, however. In an African rain forest at Korup, we manipulated the density of recently established seedlings (~5–8 wk old; low vs. high-density) of two dominant species of contrasting recruitment potential, and altered their exposure to pathogens using a broad-spectrum fungicide. Seedling mortality of the abundantly recruiting subcanopy tree Oubanguia alata was strongly density-dependent after 7 mo, yet fungicide-treated seedlings had slightly higher mortality than controls. By contrast, seedling mortality of the poorly recruiting large canopy-emergent tree Microberlinia bisulcata was unaffected by density or fungicide. Ectomycorrhizal colonization of M. bisulcata was not affected by density or fungicide either. For O. alata, adverse effects of fungicide on its vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizas may have offset any possible benefit of pathogen removal. We tentatively conclude that fungal pathogens are not a likely major cause of density dependence in O. alata, or of early post-establishment mortality in M. bisulcata. They do not explain the latter's currently very low recruitment rate at Korup.

Floral Scent Attraction in Geonoma macrostachys, an Understorey Palm of the Amazonian Rain Forest

Oikos ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jette T. Knudsen ◽  
Susanna Andersson ◽  
Peter Bergman
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Floral Scent ◽  
Amazonian Rain Forest

scholarly journals Association of Ant Predators and Edaphic Conditions with Termite Diversity in an Amazonian Rain Forest

Biotropica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian S. Dambros ◽  
José W. Morais ◽  
Alexandre Vasconcellos ◽  
Jorge L. P. Souza ◽  
Elizabeth Franklin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Edaphic Conditions ◽  
Amazonian Rain Forest

Ecological processes maintaining differential tree species distributions in an Australian subtropical rain forest: implications for models of species coexistence

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Debski ◽  
David F. R. P. Burslem ◽  
David Lamb
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Size Class ◽  
Differential Mortality ◽  
Mixed Composition ◽  
Large Scale Disturbance

All stems ≥ 1 cm dbh were measured, tagged, mapped and identified on a 1-ha plot of rain forest at Gambubal State Forest, south-east Queensland, Australia. The spatial patterns and size class distributions of 11 common tree species on the plot were assessed to search for mechanisms determining their distribution and abundance. The forest was species-poor in comparison to many lowland tropical forests and the common species are therefore present at relatively high densities. Despite this, only limited evidence was found for the operation of density-dependent processes at Gambubal. Daphnandra micrantha saplings were clumped towards randomly spaced adults, indicating a shift of distribution over time caused by differential mortality of saplings in these adult associated clumps. Ordination of the species composition in 25-m × 25-m subplots revealed vegetation gradients at that scale, which corresponded to slope across the plot. Adult basal area was dominated by a few large individuals of Sloanea woollsii but the comparative size class distributions and replacement probabilities of the 11 common species suggest that the forest will undergo a transition to a more mixed composition if current conditions persist. The current cohort of large S. woollsii individuals probably established after a large-scale disturbance event and the forest has not attained an equilibrium species composition.

Congruence between floristic patterns of trees and lianas in a southwest Amazonian rain forest

Ecography ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel J. Macía ◽  
Kalle Ruokolainen ◽  
Hanna Tuomisto ◽  
Javier Quisbert ◽  
Victoria Cala
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Floristic Patterns ◽  
Amazonian Rain Forest

scholarly journals LEAF DEMOGRAPHY AND PHENOLOGY IN AMAZONIAN RAIN FOREST: A CENSUS OF 40 000 LEAVES OF 23 TREE SPECIES

2004 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Reich ◽  
Christopher Uhl ◽  
Michael B. Walters ◽  
Laura Prugh ◽  
David S. Ellsworth
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Leaf Demography ◽  
Amazonian Rain Forest

scholarly journals Density-dependent seedling mortality varies with light availability and species abundance in wet and dry Hawaiian forests

2016 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 773-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faith Inman-Narahari ◽  
Rebecca Ostertag ◽  
Stephen P. Hubbell ◽  
Christian P. Giardina ◽  
Susan Cordell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Light Availability ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Seedling Mortality ◽  
Density Dependent

Habitat filtering of six coexisting Heliconia species in a lowland tropical rain forest in Amazonian Ecuador

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L. Tokarz ◽  
Pablo Álvia ◽  
Renato Valencia ◽  
Simon A. Queenborough
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
National Park ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Habitat Filtering ◽  
Yasuni National Park ◽  
Amazonian Ecuador ◽  
Amazonian Rain Forest ◽  
Random Manner ◽  
Occurrence Pattern

AbstractHerbaceous plants are often under-studied in tropical forests, despite their high density and diversity, and little is known about the factors that influence their distribution at microscales. In a 25-ha plot in lowland Amazonian rain forest in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador, we censused six species of Heliconia (Heliconiaceae) in a stratified random manner across three topographic habitat types. We observed distribution patterns consistent with habitat filtering. Overall, more individuals occurred in the valley (N = 979) and slope (N = 847) compared with the ridge (N = 571) habitat. At the species level, Heliconia stricta (N = 1135), H. spathocircinata (N = 309) and H. ortotricha (N = 36) all had higher abundance in the valley and slope than ridge. Further, H. vellerigera (N = 20) was completely absent from the ridge. Conversely, H. velutina (N = 903) was most common in the drier ridge habitat. The two most common species (H. stricta and H. velutina) had a reciprocal or negative co-occurrence pattern and occurred preferentially in valley versus ridge habitats. These results suggest that taxa within this family have different adaptations to the wetter valley versus the drier ridge and that habitat partitioning contributes to coexistence.

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