The Nature of Seedling Assemblages in a Fragmented Tropical Landscape: Implications for Forest Regeneration

Santo-Silva, Edgar E.; Almeida, Wanessa Rejane de; Melo, Felipe P. L.; Zickel, Carmen Silvia; Tabarelli, Marcelo

doi:10.1111/btp.12013

Cited by 54 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Pütz et al 2011;Tabarelli et al 2008), (4) some native pioneer species are proliferating at multiple spatial scales , particularly Byrsonima sericea, Bowdichia virgilioides, Cupania oblongifolia and Cupania racemosa. Although it has been shown that tree assemblages in small forest fragments are predominantly comprised of small-seeded species (Melo et al 2010;Santo-Silva et al 2013;Santos et al 2008), our results suggest that production of large numbers of small seeds in itself does not necessarily confer the ability to proliferate in small fragments.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 80%

“…In particular (1) population declines and local extinctions in human-modified landscapes predominantly affect particular functional groups (XXXX), (2) edge-affected habitats tend to support distorted tree species assemblages in both taxonomic and functional terms (Laurance et al 2006a;Laurance et al 2006b;Tabarelli et al 2008), (3) these distortions can be readily observed in seedling assemblages (Santo-Silva et al 2013); (3) small forest fragments are becoming increasingly dominated by pioneer species (cf. Pütz et al 2011;Tabarelli et al 2008), (4) some native pioneer species are proliferating at multiple spatial scales , particularly Byrsonima sericea, Bowdichia virgilioides, Cupania oblongifolia and Cupania racemosa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Serra Grande landscape also holds the 3,500-ha Coimbra Forest, the largest forest remnant in the region, which still retains large areas of pristine forest and a flora and fauna typical of undisturbed primary forest (Oliveira et al 2004;Santos et al 2008). As in previous studies (Girão et al 2007;Lopes et al 2009;Santo-Silva et al 2013;Santos et al 2008;Tabarelli et al 2010a), we therefore used Coimbra as a mature forest control area.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We decided to use this methodology to avoid sampling monospecific seedling aggregations and to ensure an equal sample size across all sites. These overlapping adult and seedling tree assemblages have yet to be examined together, but previous studies have considered them separately and Santo-Silva et al (2013), respectively]. The spatial distribution of plots is necessarily limited because all mature forest areas are restricted to the same large fragment (Coimbra Forest).…”

Section: Seedling and Adult Tree Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For wood density, we assigned each species into two major groups: (1) softwood (wood density < 0.7 g/cm³) or (2) hardwood (> 0.7 g/cm³). These criteria for assigning species into functional groupings had been adopted previously (Michalski et al 2007;Oliveira et al 2004;Santo-Silva et al 2013;. Information on regeneration niche and seed size were obtained from a comprehensive literature review, including floras and checklists (e.g., Lorenzi 1992;Oliveira 2007;van Roosmalen 1985), and complemented by our own personal knowledge following over two decades of research on Atlantic Forest tree species (e.g., Melo et al 2006;Oliveira et al 2004;Santo-Silva et al 2013;Silva and Tabarelli 2000;Tabarelli et al 1999;Tabarelli and Peres 2002).…”

Section: Regeneration Niche Seed Size and Wood Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Habitat fragmentation and the future structure of tree assemblages in a fragmented Atlantic forest landscape

et al. 2016

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The biodiversity value of human-modified landscapes has become a central question in tropical forest conservation biology, yet the degree to which plant populations and communities are restructured in response to environmental change remains unclear. . Here, we examine the density of 141 tree species in a fragmented Atlantic Forest landscape dominated by a long history of sugar-cane production. We document shifts in population density in small forest fragments to infer on the magnitude of fragmentationrelated effects, and ultimately the structure of future tree assemblages. Both tree seedlings and adults were sampled across 39 0.1-ha plots: 19 in small fragments (<100 ha) and 20 in mature forest stands within the interior of the largest forest remnant of the study landscape (3500 ha). A total of 5,448 seedlings and adults were recorded, with >55% of all tree species exhibiting higher densities in small fragments than in mature forest, particularly pioneers (>60% of all species). Seedlings and adults of these proliferating species differed from species exhibiting population declines in terms of wood density and seed size, respectively. Additionally, pioneers were more abundant than shade-tolerant species, as were hardwood species in the case of seedlings. Tree species showing highest population increases consisted largely of long-lived, lightdemanding canopy species bearing soft or hardwood and small-to-medium sized seeds. Tree assemblage structure also differed in terms of forest habitats with small forest fragments supporting few rare species, whereas the most rapidly proliferating species were much more widespread and abundant in fragments. However 60% of all adult pioneer species recorded in small fragments were not recorded as seedlings in this habitat type, although both seedling and adult assemblages were dominated by pioneer species. Edge-dominated tree assemblages therefore likely experience long term shifts towards greater dominance of long-lived, pioneer canopy species.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Seedling and Adult Tree Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regeneration Niche Seed Size and Wood Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Habitat fragmentation and the future structure of tree assemblages in a fragmented Atlantic forest landscape

et al. 2016

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Primate extirpation from rainforest fragments does not appear to influence seedling recruitment

Chaves

Arroyo‐Rodríguez

Martı́nez-Ramos

et al. 2014

American J Primatol

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Primates are important seed dispersers, especially of large-seeded tree species, but the impact that these animals have on seedling recruitment is unclear. Evidence suggests that forest regeneration might be disrupted in forest fragments in which primates were extirpated. We tested this hypothesis by assessing seedling recruitment in 3 forest fragments occupied (OF) by primates, 3 fragments unoccupied (UF) by primates, and 3 areas within a continuous forest (CF) in the Lacandona rainforest, Mexico. Species and stem densities of tree, palm and liana seedlings were recorded over 16 months. Individuals were classified according to dispersal mode: large-seeded animal-dispersed (LS), small- and medium-seeded animal-dispersed (SS), and abiotically-dispersed species (AD). We assessed the influence of primate presence, adult tree assemblage, and fragment spatial metrics (size, age, distance to nearest fragment, and distance to continuous forest) on seedling assemblages. We recorded 6879 seedlings belonging to 90 species, and 59 genera in 405 1-m(2) plots. Both seedlings and adults showed similar differences in species and stem densities of LS, SS and AD species among forest types, suggesting that seedling assemblages were strongly influenced by the adult assemblages. The recruitment of each LS species varied among study sites, but evidence supporting higher recruitment enhancement of these species in continuous forest and occupied fragments was weak. Distance to continuous forest was the unique fragment spatial metric related (negatively) to the recruitment of LS species. Thus, primate extirpation does not appear to disrupt seedling assemblages in the Lancandona rainforest. Nevertheless, we cannot reject the hypothesis that certain LS species such as Spondias radlkoferi may be affected by the extirpation of primates.

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Edge effects reduce α‐diversity but not β‐diversity during community assembly in a human‐modified tropical forest

Krishnadas

Kumar²,

Comita

2019

Ecological Applications

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Citation: Krishnadas, M., A. N. Kumar, and L. S. Comita. 2019. Edge effects reduce a-diversity but not b-diversity during community assembly in a human-modified tropical forest. Ecol Appl 29(8):Abstract. Edge effects can alter the spatial organization of diversity in fragmented habitats. For tropical forests, however, there has been large variation in the strength and direction of such effects reported by different studies. For long-lived organisms like trees, one reason for inconsistent patterns might be due to most studies having examined patterns of diversity and compositional variation in older life stages that bear the legacy of a forest past. Younger life stages can reveal ongoing processes of assembly, but multi-stage examinations are rare. For seedling, sapling, and adult life stages of trees in a human-modified wet tropical forest in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot (India), we examined how proximity to forest edges (edge influence) modified the spatial organization of diversity. Specifically, for each life stage we tested whether edge influence led to loss of aand c-diversity and decreased b-diversity in this landscape. We found lower aand c-diversity closer to forest edges, but only for seedlings. Seedling composition at 90-100 m from forest edges diverged from composition of sites within 60 m, suggesting that edge influence restricted the recruitment of some species to interior sites. In contrast, b-diversity was greater near edges than interior forest for all life stages and most prominently for seedlings. Furthermore, b-diversity at edges was primarily driven by species turnover, suggesting either marked species-environment associations or dispersal limitation. Low turnover at 90-100 m implies that b-diversity arose from stochastic fluctuations in occurrences and abundances of the same species set. Overall, we find that high b-diversity structured spatial patterns of diversity near edges, but recruitment bottlenecks are likely to reduce alpha diversity of forest fragments. Our results also corroborate the need to maintain sufficiently large areas of tropical forest free from edge effects to avoid the loss of interior forest species. To improve landscape-scale diversity of fragmented landscapes, restoration efforts should focus on recovery of species that are unable to regenerate near forest edges.

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The Nature of Seedling Assemblages in a Fragmented Tropical Landscape: Implications for Forest Regeneration

Cited by 54 publications

References 59 publications

Habitat fragmentation and the future structure of tree assemblages in a fragmented Atlantic forest landscape

Habitat fragmentation and the future structure of tree assemblages in a fragmented Atlantic forest landscape

Primate extirpation from rainforest fragments does not appear to influence seedling recruitment

Edge effects reduce α‐diversity but not β‐diversity during community assembly in a human‐modified tropical forest

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