Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in Chile

Seedling mortality in forests is the net result of an array of processes that vary spatially and temporally. We quantified emergence and mortality of seedlings at monthly intervals for two years, in a forest situated in the transition zone between the Mediterranean and temperate regions of Chile. We...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: PARADA,TERESA, LUSK,CHRISTOPHER H.
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-66432011000200015
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
id oai:scielo:S0717-66432011000200015
record_format dspace
spelling oai:scielo:S0717-664320110002000152012-06-19Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in ChilePARADA,TERESALUSK,CHRISTOPHER H. Aextoxicon punctatum Cryptocarya alba density-dependent mortality drought tolerance shade tolerance Seedling mortality in forests is the net result of an array of processes that vary spatially and temporally. We quantified emergence and mortality of seedlings at monthly intervals for two years, in a forest situated in the transition zone between the Mediterranean and temperate regions of Chile. We aimed to determine if survival of species responded differentially to seasonal water availability, to the spatial variation in light availability and to seedling density. The commonest species in the seedling bank were the Mediterranean-climate species Cryptocarya alba (61%) and the temperate-climate species Aextoxicon punctatum (29%). 279 of the 504 new seedlings that emerged during the two-year study died during the same period, corresponding to 55,4% mortality. Four of the less common species (Persea lingue, Peumus boldus, Nothofagus obliqua and Luma apiculata) suffered 100 % mortality of new recruits. Mortality of A. punctatum showed a marked seasonal pattern, with high mortality during the dry summer months. In contrast, mortality of the Mediterranean-climate species C. alba was more evenly distributed throughout the year. Multiple regressions showed that light availability had no significant effect on mortality of A. punctatum or C. alba. The same analysis revealed that survival of A. punctatum was negatively affected by conspecific seedling density, but this density-dependent effect was not found for C. alba. Heterospecific density-dependent effects were not found, i.e. mortality of neither species was affected by local density of seedlings of other species. This study shows that spatial and temporal variation in critical factors shapes interspecific variation in seedling mortality in this forest.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessFacultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de ConcepciónGayana. Botánica v.68 n.2 20112011-01-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-66432011000200015en10.4067/S0717-66432011000200015
institution Scielo Chile
collection Scielo Chile
language English
topic Aextoxicon punctatum
Cryptocarya alba
density-dependent mortality
drought tolerance
shade tolerance
spellingShingle Aextoxicon punctatum
Cryptocarya alba
density-dependent mortality
drought tolerance
shade tolerance
PARADA,TERESA
LUSK,CHRISTOPHER H.
Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in Chile
description Seedling mortality in forests is the net result of an array of processes that vary spatially and temporally. We quantified emergence and mortality of seedlings at monthly intervals for two years, in a forest situated in the transition zone between the Mediterranean and temperate regions of Chile. We aimed to determine if survival of species responded differentially to seasonal water availability, to the spatial variation in light availability and to seedling density. The commonest species in the seedling bank were the Mediterranean-climate species Cryptocarya alba (61%) and the temperate-climate species Aextoxicon punctatum (29%). 279 of the 504 new seedlings that emerged during the two-year study died during the same period, corresponding to 55,4% mortality. Four of the less common species (Persea lingue, Peumus boldus, Nothofagus obliqua and Luma apiculata) suffered 100 % mortality of new recruits. Mortality of A. punctatum showed a marked seasonal pattern, with high mortality during the dry summer months. In contrast, mortality of the Mediterranean-climate species C. alba was more evenly distributed throughout the year. Multiple regressions showed that light availability had no significant effect on mortality of A. punctatum or C. alba. The same analysis revealed that survival of A. punctatum was negatively affected by conspecific seedling density, but this density-dependent effect was not found for C. alba. Heterospecific density-dependent effects were not found, i.e. mortality of neither species was affected by local density of seedlings of other species. This study shows that spatial and temporal variation in critical factors shapes interspecific variation in seedling mortality in this forest.
author PARADA,TERESA
LUSK,CHRISTOPHER H.
author_facet PARADA,TERESA
LUSK,CHRISTOPHER H.
author_sort PARADA,TERESA
title Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in Chile
title_short Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in Chile
title_full Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in Chile
title_fullStr Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in Chile
title_full_unstemmed Patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in Chile
title_sort patterns of tree seedling mortality in a temperate-mediterranean transition zone forest in chile
publisher Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción
publishDate 2011
url http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-66432011000200015
work_keys_str_mv AT paradateresa patternsoftreeseedlingmortalityinatemperatemediterraneantransitionzoneforestinchile
AT luskchristopherh patternsoftreeseedlingmortalityinatemperatemediterraneantransitionzoneforestinchile
_version_ 1718442266453868544