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Regeneration beneath a dioecious tree species (Spondias purpurea) in a Mexican tropical dry forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2014

Moisés Méndez-Toribio ,
Ana María González-Di Pierro ,
Mauricio Quesada  and
Julieta Benítez-Malvido
Moisés Méndez-Toribio
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas (CIEco), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Antigua carretera a Pátzcuaro No 8701, Ex-Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Michoacán, México CP 58190
Ana María González-Di Pierro
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas (CIEco), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Antigua carretera a Pátzcuaro No 8701, Ex-Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Michoacán, México CP 58190
Mauricio Quesada
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas (CIEco), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Antigua carretera a Pátzcuaro No 8701, Ex-Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Michoacán, México CP 58190
Julieta Benítez-Malvido*
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas (CIEco), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Antigua carretera a Pátzcuaro No 8701, Ex-Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Michoacán, México CP 58190
*
1 Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract:

In dioecious plant species different frugivore activity between genders may influence the abundance and richness of the seedling banks underneath their canopies throughout seed removal and dispersal. In the tropical dry forest of Chamela, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the role of S. purpurea female trees as nucleation sites of regeneration was investigated. The standing density, species richness and dispersal syndrome of woody seedlings (i.e. trees and shrubs, 10–100 cm tall) recruited underneath and outside the canopy of 10 male and 10 female S. purpurea trees were recorded in a total of 160 1-m2 plots. Total density was greater in seedling communities associated with female trees (i.e. underneath and outside their canopies) as compared with male trees (231 vs. 153 seedlings, respectively); whereas overall species richness was greater underneath female canopies. Further, the density of zoochorous species were greater underneath the canopy of S. purpurea females (range = 0–5 plants m−2), than elsewhere (outside female canopies, range = 0–3 plants m−2; underneath and outside male canopies, range = 0–2 plants m−2), suggesting a directional dispersal bias towards them. Females of dioecious plant species may act as nucleation sites of initial seedling recruitment in tropical dry forests.

Keywords

dioecyfacilitationregenerationSpondias purpureatropical dry forests
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 265 - 268
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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