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Overcoming the regeneration barriers of tropical dry forest: effects of water stress and herbivory on seedling performance and allocation of key tree species for restoration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2022

Carlos Daniel Cárdenas Open the ORCID record for Carlos Daniel Cárdenas [Opens in a new window] ,
Daniela Varón-García Open the ORCID record for Daniela Varón-García [Opens in a new window] ,
Freddy Suárez-Rodríguez Open the ORCID record for Freddy Suárez-Rodríguez [Opens in a new window]  and
Camila Pizano Open the ORCID record for Camila Pizano [Opens in a new window]
Carlos Daniel Cárdenas*
Affiliation:
Universidad Icesi, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Calle 18 # 122-135, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Daniela Varón-García
Affiliation:
Universidad Icesi, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Calle 18 # 122-135, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL33620, USA
Freddy Suárez-Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Universidad Icesi, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Calle 18 # 122-135, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia Åbo Akademi University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Biosciences, Turku, Finland Turku Centre for Biotechnology, Åbo Akademi University and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Camila Pizano
Affiliation:
Universidad Icesi, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Calle 18 # 122-135, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
*
Author for correspondence: Carlos Daniel Cárdenas, Email: carlosdcardenas1998@gmail.com
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Abstract

Tropical dry forests (TDF) are one of the most threatened and poorly protected ecosystems in the Americas. Although there are international efforts for the restoration of TDF, how stress factors such as herbivory or water limitation due to changes in precipitation, impact the regeneration dynamics of these forests is poorly understood. Specifically, how seedlings of key tree species for TDF restoration cope with current abiotic pressures such as the intensification of climatic events, and biotic factors like herbivory, is not yet fully understood. Here, we compared seedling performance, and allocation of biomass, and water to roots vs. shoots for three legume, and one non-legume TDF tree species, as a response to water limitation and herbivory in an 8-month greenhouse experiment. Contrary to our expectations, we found that the non-legume species, G. ulmifolia, had the best performance compared to legumes, while N-fixing and non-fixing legumes showed similar performance. Based on our findings, we suggest the use of G. ulmifolia in TDF restoration projects due to its high performance despite abiotic and biotic stress factors, its allocation of biomass and water to belowground structures. We also recommend the use of N-fixing legume species owing to their ability to fix nitrogen, which guarantees an N input to the soil, important in the first stages of succession. However, the legume species used in this experiment do not appear to resist the abiotic and biotic stressors studied. Thus, more studies exploring the response of dry forest plant species to stress factors are key for informing and assuring more effective TDF restoration efforts.

Keywords

Biomass allocationherbivoryrestorationseedlingstropical dry forestwater stress
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , July 2022 , pp. 210 - 218
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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