Species with greater seed mass are more tolerant of conspecific neighbours: a key driver of early survival and future abundances in a tropical forest

Lebrija‐Trejos, Edwin; Reich, Peter B.; Hernández, Andrés; Wright, S. Joseph

doi:10.1111/ele.12643

Cited by 109 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(138 reference statements)

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“…We consider seedling establishment at two stages (new recruits and seedlings 20 cm or taller) to distinguish mortality in the seed-to-seedling transition from that of the early seedling life. As previous studies have shown that the negative effect of conspecific density on seedling survival was reduced for species with greater seed mass (Lebrija-Trejos et al, 2016) and for the more abundant species at BCI (Comita et al, 2010), we hypothesize that the survival of these species' seedlings will also be less distance dependent. Drawing from the approach of Muller-Landau et al (2008), we fit hierarchical Bayesian models for each species and life stage (seed, new recruit, and 20cm seedling) to estimate the annual fecundity (total seeds or seedlings per unit of reproductive tree basal area), the seed dispersal or seedling establishment kernel, and the spatial aggregation of individuals relative to expected density simultaneously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Seed‐to‐seedling transitions exhibit distance‐dependent mortality but no strong spacing effects in a Neotropical forest

Marchand

Comita

Wright

et al. 2019

Ecology

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Patterns of seed dispersal and seed mortality influence the spatial structure of plant communities and the local coexistence of competing species. Most seeds are dispersed in proximity to the parent tree, where mortality is also expected to be the highest, because of competition with siblings or the attraction of natural enemies. Whereas distance‐dependent mortality in the seed‐to‐seedling transition was often observed in tropical forests, few studies have attempted to estimate the shape of the survival‐distance curves, which determines whether the peak of seedling establishment occurs away from the parent tree (Janzen–Connell pattern) or if the peak attenuates but remains at the parent location (Hubbell pattern). In this study, we inferred the probability density of seed dispersal and two stages of seedling establishment (new recruits, and seedlings 20 cm or taller) with distance for 24 tree species present in the 50‐ha Forest Dynamics Plot of Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Using data from seed traps, seedling survey quadrats, and tree‐census records spanning the 1988–2014 period, we fit hierarchical Bayesian models including parameters for tree fecundity, the shape of the dispersal kernel, and overdispersion of seed or seedling counts. We combined predictions from multiple dispersal kernels to obtain more robust inferences. We find that Hubbell patterns are the most common and Janzen–Connell patterns are very rare among those species; that distance‐dependent mortality may be stronger in the seed stage, in the early recruit stage, or comparable in both; and that species with larger seeds experience less overall mortality and less distance‐dependent mortality. Finally, we describe how this modeling approach could be extended at a community scale to include less abundant species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Seed‐to‐seedling transitions exhibit distance‐dependent mortality but no strong spacing effects in a Neotropical forest

Marchand

Comita

Wright

et al. 2019

Ecology

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“…For instance, large‐seeded species are less negatively affected by high density of conspecific neighbors than smaller‐seeded species (Lebrija‐Trejos et al. ). Given that lianas exhibit a set of strategies that are different from trees (Ewers , Ewers et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dry conditions and disturbance promote liana seedling survival and abundance

Umaña

Forero‐Montaña

Nytch

et al. 2019

Ecology

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Species composition and community structure in Neotropical forests have been severely affected by increases in climate change and disturbance. Among the most conspicuous changes is the proliferation of lianas. These increases have affected not only the carbon storage capacity of forests but also tree dynamics by reducing tree growth and increasing mortality. Despite the importance of lianas in Neotropical forests, most of the studies on lianas have focused on adult stages, ignoring dynamics at the seedlings stage. Here, we asked whether observed increases in liana abundance are associated with a demographic advantage that emerges early in liana ontogeny and with decreased precipitation and increased disturbance. To test this, we compared patterns of growth and survival between liana seedlings and tree seedlings using a long‐term data set of seedling plots from a subtropical wet forest in Puerto Rico, USA. Then, we examined the effect of precipitation and land use history on these demographic variables. We found evidence for liana seedling survival advantage over trees, but no growth advantages. This survival advantage exhibited significant temporal variation linked with patterns of rainfall, as well as differences associated with land‐use history in the study area. Furthermore, we found that neighborhood density has a negative effect on liana survival and growth. Our results indicate that liana proliferation is likely related to a survival advantage that emerges in early stages and is influenced by climatic conditions and past disturbance. Predicted climatic changes in rainfall patterns, including more frequent and severe droughts, together with increases in disturbance, could have a significant effect on seedling tropical communities by favoring lianas.

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“…CNDD in tropical trees occurs more often during the seed‐to‐seedling transition (Comita et al., ; Du et al., ). Lebrija‐Trejos, Reich, Hernández and Wright () found that the tolerance of seedlings to CNDD effects was related to seed size, where larger seeded species show a higher tolerance. In Q. costaricensis , the large amount of carbohydrates stored in its large seeds may counteract the potential effects of resource competition that may arise when conspecific density is high during the seed‐to‐seedling transition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of conspecific density, herbivory, and bamboo on seedling dynamics of a dominant oak in a Neotropical highland forest

et al. 2019

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Conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) is one of the main mechanisms influencing diversity maintenance in tropical forests. Tropical highland forests, in contrast to most lowland forests, are commonly dominated by a few tree species, and testing the importance of density dependence effects on seedling establishment of dominant trees may provide insights on the mechanisms regulating population dynamics and forest composition of tropical highlands. We tested the effect of CNDD regulation on seedling survival and recruitment of Quercus costaricensis, a monodominant oak in the Talamanca highland forests of Costa Rica. We used Ripley's K and generalized linear mixed models to test the effects of conspecific density, distance to the nearest adult, density of Chusquea bamboo shoots, and herbivory on the annual survival probability of 3579 seedlings between 2014 and 2017. We did not find a significant effect of CNDD on seedling survival. However, bamboo density and herbivory both significantly decreased oak seedling survival. All seedlings had signs of herbivory and predator satiation may explain the lack of density dependent regulation in seedlings of this species. We argue that the lack of intraspecific density regulation at the seedling stage may contribute to explain the dominance of Q. costaricensis in the highland forests of Costa Rica. Local seedling dynamics of this endemic oak are instead regulated by herbivory and the density of Chusquea. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

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Species with greater seed mass are more tolerant of conspecific neighbours: a key driver of early survival and future abundances in a tropical forest

Cited by 109 publications

References 57 publications

Seed‐to‐seedling transitions exhibit distance‐dependent mortality but no strong spacing effects in a Neotropical forest

Seed‐to‐seedling transitions exhibit distance‐dependent mortality but no strong spacing effects in a Neotropical forest

Dry conditions and disturbance promote liana seedling survival and abundance

The effect of conspecific density, herbivory, and bamboo on seedling dynamics of a dominant oak in a Neotropical highland forest

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