Recruitment limitation in three large-seeded plant species in a tropical moist forest

Carol X. Garzon-Lopez; Eduardo Medina Barcenas; Alejandro Ordoñez; Patrick A. Jansen; Stephanie A. Bohlman; Han Olff

doi:10.1111/btp.13063

Recruitment limitation in three large-seeded plant species in a tropical moist forest

Carol X. Garzon-Lopez^*, Eduardo Medina Barcenas, Alejandro Ordoñez, Patrick A. Jansen, Stephanie A. Bohlman, Han Olff

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Recruitment limitation—the failure of a species to establish recruits at an available site—is a potential determinant of plant communities’ structure, causing local communities to be a limited subset of the regional species pool. Recruitment limitation results from three mechanisms: (i) lack of seed sources (i.e., source limitation), (ii) failure of available seeds to reach recruitment sites (i.e., dispersal limitation), and (iii) failure of arrived seeds to establish at a location (i.e., establishment limitation). Here, we evaluated the relative importance of these mechanisms in three co-occurring tree species (Dipteryx oleifera, Attalea butyracea, and Astrocaryum standleyanum) that share seed dispersers/predators. The study was set up on Barro Colorado Island (Panama) at 62 one-ha sites with varying tree densities. Source limitation was estimated as the proportion of sites that would be reached by seeds if seeds were distributed uniformly. Dispersal limitation was estimated from the number of sites with seeds in the soil bank. Establishment limitation was evaluated by measuring germination and 1-year survival in seed addition experiments. The effect of conspecific and heterospecific densities on the mechanisms was evaluated at three spatial scales (1, 5, and 9 ha). For all species, seed predation was the most important recruitment component (~80% decrease in seed survival). Establishment varied among species and was affected by conspecific and heterospecific species densities across spatial scales. Given that species identity, distribution, and seed dispersal/predation affect recruitment at multiple scales, multiscale studies are required to understand how recruitment limitation determines community structure in tropical forests. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

Original language	English
Journal	Biotropica
Volume	54
Issue	2
Pages (from-to)	418-430
Number of pages	13
ISSN	0006-3606
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13063
Publication status	Published - Mar 2022

Keywords

Astrocaryum standleyanum
Attalea butyracea
Dipteryx oleifera
Panama
establishment limitation
recruitment limitation
seed limitation
tropical forests
DIPTERYX-PANAMENSIS
CANOPY TREE
RAIN-FOREST
HABITAT SELECTION
SEEDLING RECRUITMENT
ASTROCARYUM-STANDLEYANUM
BARRO-COLORADO ISLAND
NEGATIVE DENSITY-DEPENDENCE
SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION
INTERSPECIFIC VARIATION

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Biotropica - 2022 - Garzon‐LopezFinal published version, 779 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

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@article{dd4aa23687024d89a2b02eb30e33bcb0,

title = "Recruitment limitation in three large-seeded plant species in a tropical moist forest",

abstract = "Recruitment limitation—the failure of a species to establish recruits at an available site—is a potential determinant of plant communities{\textquoteright} structure, causing local communities to be a limited subset of the regional species pool. Recruitment limitation results from three mechanisms: (i) lack of seed sources (i.e., source limitation), (ii) failure of available seeds to reach recruitment sites (i.e., dispersal limitation), and (iii) failure of arrived seeds to establish at a location (i.e., establishment limitation). Here, we evaluated the relative importance of these mechanisms in three co-occurring tree species (Dipteryx oleifera, Attalea butyracea, and Astrocaryum standleyanum) that share seed dispersers/predators. The study was set up on Barro Colorado Island (Panama) at 62 one-ha sites with varying tree densities. Source limitation was estimated as the proportion of sites that would be reached by seeds if seeds were distributed uniformly. Dispersal limitation was estimated from the number of sites with seeds in the soil bank. Establishment limitation was evaluated by measuring germination and 1-year survival in seed addition experiments. The effect of conspecific and heterospecific densities on the mechanisms was evaluated at three spatial scales (1, 5, and 9 ha). For all species, seed predation was the most important recruitment component (~80% decrease in seed survival). Establishment varied among species and was affected by conspecific and heterospecific species densities across spatial scales. Given that species identity, distribution, and seed dispersal/predation affect recruitment at multiple scales, multiscale studies are required to understand how recruitment limitation determines community structure in tropical forests. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.",

keywords = "Astrocaryum standleyanum, Attalea butyracea, Dipteryx oleifera, Panama, establishment limitation, recruitment limitation, seed limitation, tropical forests, DIPTERYX-PANAMENSIS, CANOPY TREE, RAIN-FOREST, HABITAT SELECTION, SEEDLING RECRUITMENT, ASTROCARYUM-STANDLEYANUM, BARRO-COLORADO ISLAND, NEGATIVE DENSITY-DEPENDENCE, SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION, INTERSPECIFIC VARIATION",

author = "Garzon-Lopez, {Carol X.} and Barcenas, {Eduardo Medina} and Alejandro Ordo{\~n}ez and Jansen, {Patrick A.} and Bohlman, {Stephanie A.} and Han Olff",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. Biotropica published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1111/btp.13063",

language = "English",

volume = "54",

pages = "418--430",

journal = "Biotropica",

issn = "0006-3606",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Recruitment limitation in three large-seeded plant species in a tropical moist forest

AU - Garzon-Lopez, Carol X.

AU - Barcenas, Eduardo Medina

AU - Ordoñez, Alejandro

AU - Jansen, Patrick A.

AU - Bohlman, Stephanie A.

AU - Olff, Han

PY - 2022/3

Y1 - 2022/3

N2 - Recruitment limitation—the failure of a species to establish recruits at an available site—is a potential determinant of plant communities’ structure, causing local communities to be a limited subset of the regional species pool. Recruitment limitation results from three mechanisms: (i) lack of seed sources (i.e., source limitation), (ii) failure of available seeds to reach recruitment sites (i.e., dispersal limitation), and (iii) failure of arrived seeds to establish at a location (i.e., establishment limitation). Here, we evaluated the relative importance of these mechanisms in three co-occurring tree species (Dipteryx oleifera, Attalea butyracea, and Astrocaryum standleyanum) that share seed dispersers/predators. The study was set up on Barro Colorado Island (Panama) at 62 one-ha sites with varying tree densities. Source limitation was estimated as the proportion of sites that would be reached by seeds if seeds were distributed uniformly. Dispersal limitation was estimated from the number of sites with seeds in the soil bank. Establishment limitation was evaluated by measuring germination and 1-year survival in seed addition experiments. The effect of conspecific and heterospecific densities on the mechanisms was evaluated at three spatial scales (1, 5, and 9 ha). For all species, seed predation was the most important recruitment component (~80% decrease in seed survival). Establishment varied among species and was affected by conspecific and heterospecific species densities across spatial scales. Given that species identity, distribution, and seed dispersal/predation affect recruitment at multiple scales, multiscale studies are required to understand how recruitment limitation determines community structure in tropical forests. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

AB - Recruitment limitation—the failure of a species to establish recruits at an available site—is a potential determinant of plant communities’ structure, causing local communities to be a limited subset of the regional species pool. Recruitment limitation results from three mechanisms: (i) lack of seed sources (i.e., source limitation), (ii) failure of available seeds to reach recruitment sites (i.e., dispersal limitation), and (iii) failure of arrived seeds to establish at a location (i.e., establishment limitation). Here, we evaluated the relative importance of these mechanisms in three co-occurring tree species (Dipteryx oleifera, Attalea butyracea, and Astrocaryum standleyanum) that share seed dispersers/predators. The study was set up on Barro Colorado Island (Panama) at 62 one-ha sites with varying tree densities. Source limitation was estimated as the proportion of sites that would be reached by seeds if seeds were distributed uniformly. Dispersal limitation was estimated from the number of sites with seeds in the soil bank. Establishment limitation was evaluated by measuring germination and 1-year survival in seed addition experiments. The effect of conspecific and heterospecific densities on the mechanisms was evaluated at three spatial scales (1, 5, and 9 ha). For all species, seed predation was the most important recruitment component (~80% decrease in seed survival). Establishment varied among species and was affected by conspecific and heterospecific species densities across spatial scales. Given that species identity, distribution, and seed dispersal/predation affect recruitment at multiple scales, multiscale studies are required to understand how recruitment limitation determines community structure in tropical forests. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

KW - Astrocaryum standleyanum

KW - Attalea butyracea

KW - Dipteryx oleifera

KW - Panama

KW - establishment limitation

KW - recruitment limitation

KW - seed limitation

KW - tropical forests

KW - DIPTERYX-PANAMENSIS

KW - CANOPY TREE

KW - RAIN-FOREST

KW - HABITAT SELECTION

KW - SEEDLING RECRUITMENT

KW - ASTROCARYUM-STANDLEYANUM

KW - BARRO-COLORADO ISLAND

KW - NEGATIVE DENSITY-DEPENDENCE

KW - SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION

KW - INTERSPECIFIC VARIATION

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123061657&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/btp.13063

DO - 10.1111/btp.13063

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85123061657

SN - 0006-3606

VL - 54

SP - 418

EP - 430

JO - Biotropica

JF - Biotropica

IS - 2

ER -

Recruitment limitation in three large-seeded plant species in a tropical moist forest

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