Indirect interactions among tropical tree species through shared rodent seed predators: a novel mechanism of tree species coexistence

TY - JOUR

T1 - Indirect interactions among tropical tree species through shared rodent seed predators

T2 - a novel mechanism of tree species coexistence

AU - Garzon-Lopez, Carol X

AU - Ballesteros-Mejia, Liliana

AU - Ordonez Gloria, Alejandro

AU - Bohlman, Stephanie A

AU - Olff, Han

AU - Jansen, Patrick A

N1 - © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

PY - 2015/5/4

Y1 - 2015/5/4

N2 - The coexistence of numerous tree species in tropical forests is commonly explained by negative dependence of recruitment on the conspecific seed and tree density due to specialist natural enemies that attack seeds and seedlings ('Janzen-Connell' effects). Less known is whether guilds of shared seed predators can induce a negative dependence of recruitment on the density of different species of the same plant functional group. We studied 54 plots in tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, with contrasting mature tree densities of three coexisting large seeded tree species with shared seed predators. Levels of seed predation were far better explained by incorporating seed densities of all three focal species than by conspecific seed density alone. Both positive and negative density dependencies were observed for different species combinations. Thus, indirect interactions via shared seed predators can either promote or reduce the coexistence of different plant functional groups in tropical forest.

AB - The coexistence of numerous tree species in tropical forests is commonly explained by negative dependence of recruitment on the conspecific seed and tree density due to specialist natural enemies that attack seeds and seedlings ('Janzen-Connell' effects). Less known is whether guilds of shared seed predators can induce a negative dependence of recruitment on the density of different species of the same plant functional group. We studied 54 plots in tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, with contrasting mature tree densities of three coexisting large seeded tree species with shared seed predators. Levels of seed predation were far better explained by incorporating seed densities of all three focal species than by conspecific seed density alone. Both positive and negative density dependencies were observed for different species combinations. Thus, indirect interactions via shared seed predators can either promote or reduce the coexistence of different plant functional groups in tropical forest.

U2 - 10.1111/ele.12452

DO - 10.1111/ele.12452

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25939379

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 18

SP - 752

EP - 760

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 8

ER -