Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T03:33:09.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seed predation, pathogens and germination in primary vs. secondary cloud forest at Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2015

Randall W. Myster
Randall W. Myster*
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City, OK 73107, USA
*
1Email: [email protected]; website: https://sites.google.com/site/rwmyster
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Because the fate of the seed rain has long been shown to be critical to understanding forest recruitment and regeneration, seed predation, seed pathogens and germination among different species was examined in primary (closed-canopy vs. tree-fall gap) and in secondary (banana vs. sugarcane vs. seeded pasture) cloud forest at Maquipucuna Reserve, Ecuador. I found (1) seed predation took more seeds than either seed pathogenic disease or germination for all tree seed species and in both forests, where the level of seed loss to predation was greatest in the closed-canopy primary forest, second largest in the tree-fall gaps and less in recovering banana, sugarcane and pasture; (2) for pathogens these trends were reversed; and (3) most seeds, that were not taken by predators or pathogens, germinated. Cecropia sp. seeds in the tree-fall gaps and Otoba gordoniifolia seeds in both closed-canopy forest and tree-fall gaps were the most significantly different among all treatments in primary forest and Solanum ovalifolia seeds in banana fields and Piper aduncum in all fields were the most significantly different among all treatments in secondary forest. I conclude that forests may recover faster after human disturbance (here agriculture) than after natural disturbances (here tree-fall).

Keywords

bananaLTERpasturesugarcane
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , July 2015 , pp. 375 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

BROKAW, N. V. L. 1982. The definition of treefall gap and its effect on measures of forest dynamics. Biotropica 11:158–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CINTRA, R. 1997. Leaf litter effects on seed and seedling predators of the palm Astrocaryum murumura and the legume tree Dipteryx micrantha in Amazonian forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 13:709–725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CULOT, L., HUYNEN, M., GERARD, P. & HEYMANN, E. W. 2009. Short-term post-dispersal fate of seeds defecated by two small primate species (Saguinus mystax and S. fuscicollis) in the Amazonian forest of Peru. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25:229–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EDMISTEN, J. 1970. Some autoecological studies of Ormosia krugii. Pp. 291–298 in Odum, H. T. & Pigeon, R. F. (eds.). A tropical rain forest. National Technical Information Service, Springfield.Google Scholar
FORGET, P. M., KITAJIMA, K. & FOSTER, R. B. 1999. Pre- and post-dispersal seed predation in Tachigali versicolor (Caesalpiniaceae): effects of timing of fruiting and variation among trees. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:61–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GRUBB, P. J. 1977. Control of forest growth and distribution on wet tropical mountains, with special reference to mineral nutrition. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 8:38–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MUNIZ-CASTRO, M. A., WILLIAMS-LINERA, G. & BENITEZ-MALVIDO, J. 2015. Restoring montane cloud forest: establishment of three Fagaceae species in the old fields of central Veracruz, Mexico. Restoration Ecology 23:26–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. 2003. Seed regeneration mechanisms over fine spatial scales on recovering coffee plantation and pasture in Puerto Rico. Plant Ecology 166:199–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. 2004a. Post-agricultural invasion, establishment and growth of Neotropical trees. The Botanical Review 70:381–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. 2004b. Regeneration filters in post-agricultural fields of Puerto Rico and Ecuador. Plant Ecology 172:199–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. 2007. Post-agricultural succession in the Neotropics. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. 2012. Long-term data from fields recovering after sugarcane, banana and pasture cultivation in Ecuador. Dataset Papers in Ecology 2013: Article ID 468973.Google Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. 2014. Interactive effects of flooding and treefall gap formation on terra firme forest seed and seedling mechanisms and tolerances in the Amazon. Community Ecology 15:212–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. & EVERHAM, , , E. M. 1999. Germination cues across the disturbance regime in the Puerto Rican rainforest. Tropical Ecology 40:89–98.Google Scholar
MYSTER, R. W. & SARMIENTO, F. O. 1998. Seed inputs to microsite patch recovery on Tropandean landslides in Ecuador. Restoration Ecology 6:35–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NOTMAN, E. & GORCHOV, D. L. 2001. Variation in post-dispersal seed predation in mature Peruvian lowland tropical forests and fallow agricultural sites. Biotropica 33:621–636.Google Scholar
NOTMAN, E., GORCHOV, D. L. & CORNEJO, F. 1996. Effect of distance, aggregation, and habitat on levels of seed predation for two mammal-dispersed Neotropical rain forest tree species. Oecologia 106:221–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
PAROLIN, P., DESIMOBNE, O., HAASE, K., WALDHIOFF, D., ROTTENBERGER, S., KUHN, U., KESSELMEIER, J., KLEISS, B., SCHMIDT, W., PIEDADE, M. T. F. & JUNK, W. J. 2004. Central Amazonian floodplain forests: tree adaptations in a pulsing system. The Botanical Review 70:357–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PRINGLE, E. G., ALVAREZ-LOAYZU, P. & TERBORGH, J. 2007. Seed characteristics and susceptibility to pathogen attack in tree seeds of the Peruvian Amazon. Plant Ecology 193:211–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RHOADES, C. C. & Coleman, D. C. 1999. Nitrogen mineralization and nitrification following land conversion in montane Ecuador. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31:1347–1354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RHOADES, C. C., ECKERT, G. E. & COLEMAN, D. C. 1998. Effect of pasture trees on soil nitrogen and organic matter: implications for tropical montane forest restoration. Restoration Ecology 6:262–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ROMO, M., TUOMISTO, H. & LOISELLE, B. A. 2004. On the density-dependence of seed predators in Dipteryx micrantha, a bat-dispersed rain forest tree. Oecologia 140:76–85.Google ScholarPubMed
SARMIENTO, F. O. 1997. Arrested succession in pastures hinders regeneration of Tropandean forests and shreds mountain landscapes. Environmental Conservation 24:14–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS 1985. User's guide: statistics, Ver. 5. SAS Institute Inc., Cary. 956 pp.Google Scholar