Abstract
Certain overlying strata in forests may disproportionately reduce seedling density and species richness. For eight arborescent palm species, we quantified the relative restriction of seedling recruitment under individual palms versus non-palm sites and extended to the landscape scale by quantifying the total area covered by arborescent palms at Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama and La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. We also examined whether differences among palm species in restricting seedling recruitment were associated with differences in crown architecture, litter depth, and light availability. Woody seedlings had lower mean density/m2 and mean number of species/m2 under individual palms than at non-palm sites for all four palm species at BCI, but for none at La Selva. Estimated species richness for woody seedlings, derived via rarefaction, was lower under palm than non-palm microsites at both BCI and La Selva, but not for non-woody seedlings. Differences in seedling density corresponded to some key architectural characters that differed among the palm species. Light availability was lower under palm than non-palm microsites at both BCI and La Selva, but only estimated species richness of woody seedlings at BCI was strongly correlated with % canopy openness. The coverage of arborescent palms was much lower at BCI than La Selva. Therefore, at BCI, the relative restriction of woody seedling recruitment under individual palms does not accumulate greatly at the landscape scale. At La Selva, for woody seedlings, only estimated species richness was relatively limited under palms, and non-woody seedlings had relatively lower mean density/m2 and mean number of species/m2 under only one palm species. Therefore, the relative restriction of seedling recruitment by arborescent palms at La Selva is limited at both individual and landscape scales.
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Acknowledgments
We thank David Clark, James Dalling, and Diane DeSteven for their careful review of an earlier draft of this manuscript. We also thank Jeffrey Brawn and the University of Illinois Statistics Office (ISO) for their constructive suggestions for the statistical analysis and data interpretation. La Selva Biological Station, the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), Barro Colorado Island, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) provided logistic support. This study was supported by OTS-STRI Mellon Grants to YHW and CKA and a Francis M. and Harlie M. Clark Research Support Grant from the University of Illinois to YHW.
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Communicated by Phyllis Coley
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Wang, YH., Augspurger, C. Comparison of seedling recruitment under arborescent palms in two Neotropical forests. Oecologia 147, 533–545 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0279-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0279-x