Abstract
A seed size–seed number tradeoff predicts that large numbers of seeds have an establishment advantage under low levels of competition, while large seed size is advantageous under asymmetric competition. Testing these predictions in the context of tallgrass prairie restoration should increase predictability of outcomes of species composition—restoration technique combinations. I conducted field and greenhouse experiments comparing seedling establishment among three tallgrass prairie species with different seed mass-seed number combinations, but with similar mass of seeds sown. Species were prairie dock [Silphium terebinthinaceum, mass = 33.2 + 2.1 mg (\(\overline{x}\) + SE, n = 100)], wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium, mass = 3.1 + 0.3 mg), and smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve var. laeve, mass = 0.53 + 0.02 mg). Seeds were sown into mowed or tilled plots with shade and mulch treatments in an old field in northeastern Illinois USA, and seeds were sown into containers with or without vegetative cover in a greenhouse. In mowed plots, species with larger numbers of seeds sown had higher seedling densities. In tilled plots, seedling densities of the large-seeded Silphium were reduced less by shade than the small-seeded Parthenium. Symphyotrichum, however, did not respond to treatments as expected based on its seed size. High relative growth rate possibly increased Symphyotrichum seedling establishment in competitive environments. Results of this study demonstrated recruitment limitation when seedlings established into existing vegetation, and suggest that species composition resulting from specific seeding rates during prairie restoration may be more predictable when species are interseeded into existing vegetation, than when seeds are sown into tilled fields.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Coomes DA, Grubb PJ (2003) Colonization, tolerance, competition and seed-size variation within functional groups. Trends Ecol Evol 18:283–291
Diboll N (1997) Designing seed mixes. In: Packard S, Mutel CF (eds) The tallgrass restoration handbook: for prairies, savannas, and woodlands. Island Press, Washington, pp 135–150
Eriksson O (2005) Game theory provides no explanation for seed size variation in grasslands. Oecologia 144:98–105
Facelli JM, Pickett STA (1991) Plant litter: its dynamics and effects on plant community structure. Bot Rev 57:2–31
Fenner M (1978) Susceptibility to shade in seedlings of colonizing and closed turf species. New Phytol 81:739–744
Foster BL (2001) Constraints on colonization and species richness along a grassland productivity gradient: the role of propagule availability. Ecol Lett 4:530–535
Foster BL, Tilman D (2003) Seed limitation and the regulation of community structure in oak savanna grassland. J Ecol 91:999–1007
Foster BL, Murphy CA, Keller KR, Aschenbach TA, Questad EJ, Kindscher K (2007) Restoration of prairie community structure and ecosystem function in an abandoned hayfield: a sowing experiment. Restor Ecol 15:652–661
Goldberg DE, Landa K (1991) Competitive effect and response: hierarchies and correlated traits in the early stages of competition. J Ecol 79:1013–1030
Gross KL (1984) Effects of seed size and growth form on seedling establishment of six monocarpic perennial plants. J Ecol 72:369–387
Hanson KD (2004) Soil survey of Will County, Illinois. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington
Higgins SI, Cain ML (2002) Spatially realistic plant metapopulation models and the competition-colonization trade-off. J Ecol 90:616–626
Houseal GA (2007) Tallgrass prairie center’s native seed production manual. Tallgrass Prairie Center, Cedar Falls
Houseman GR, Gross KL (2006) Does ecological filtering across a productivity gradient explain variation in species pool-richness relationships? Oikos 115:148–154
Illinois State Water Survey (2012) Illinois state climatologist data. http://www.isws.illinois.edu. Accessed 26 Sept 2012
Leach MK, Givnish TJ (1996) Ecological determinants of species loss in prairie remnants. Science 275:1555–1558
Leishman MR (2001) Does the seed size/number tradeoff model determine plant community structure? An assessment of the model mechanisms and their generality. Oikos 93:294–302
Littell RC, Milliken GA, Stroup WW, Wolfinger RD (1996) SAS system for mixed models. SAS Institute, Cary
Lönnberg K, Eriksson O (2012) Seed size and recruitment patterns in a gradient from grassland to forest. Ecoscience 19:140–147
Martin LM, Wilsey BJ (2006) Assessing grassland restoration success: relative roles of seed additions and native ungulate activities. J Appl Ecol 43:1098–1109
Metcalfe DJ, Grubb PJ (1997) The responses to shade of seedling of very small-seeded tree and shrub species from tropical rain forest in Singapore. Funct Ecol 11:215–221
Mlot C (1990) Restoring the prairie. Bioscience 40:804–809
Muller-Landau HC (2010) The tolerance–fecundity trade-off and the maintenance of diversity in seed size. PNAS 107:4242–4247
Piepho HP, Oguto JO (2002) A simple mixed model for trend analysis in wildlife populations. J Agric Biol Environ Stat 7:350–360
Polley HW, Wilsey BJ, Derner JD (2007) Dominant species constrain effects of species diversity on temporal variability in biomass production of tallgrass prairie. Oikos 116:2044–2052
Sack L, Grubb PJ (2001) Why do species of woody seedlings change rank in relative growth rate between low and high irradiance? Funct Ecol 15:145–154
Samson F, Knopf F (1994) Prairie conservation in North America. Bioscience 44:418–421
Sluis WJ (2002) Patterns of species richness and composition in re-created grassland. Restor Ecol 10:677–684
Steffen JE (1997) Seed treatment and propagation methods. In: Packard S, Mutel CF (eds) The tallgrass restoration handbook: for prairies, savannas, and woodlands. Island Press, Washington, pp 151–162
Tilman D (1997) Community invasibility, recruitment limitation, and grassland biodiversity. Ecology 78:81–92
West BT, Welch KB, Gałecki AT (2007) Linear mixed models: a practical guide using statistical software. Chapman & Hall/CRC, New York
Westoby M, Falster DS, Moles AT, Vesk PA, Wright IJ (2002) Plant ecological strategies: some leading dimensions of variation between species. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 33:125–159
Williams DW, Jackson LL, Smith DD (2007) Effects of frequent mowing on survival and persistence of forbs seeded into a species-poor grassland. Restor Ecol 15:24–33
Zeiter M, Stampfli A, Newbery DM (2006) Recruitment limitation constrains local species richness and productivity in dry grassland. Ecology 87:942–951
Zobel M, Kalamees R (2005) Diversity and dispersal—can the link be approached experimentally? Folia Geobot 40:3–11
Zobel M, Otsus M, Liira J, Moora M, Möls T (2000) Is small-scale species richness limited by seed availability or microsite availability? Ecology 81:3274–3282
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Leesha Howard-McCauley and Pat Mulchaey for their help with fieldwork and completion of the study. Appreciation goes to David Mauger and the Forest Preserve District of Will County for site preparation work. This work was partially funded by the Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program of the National Science Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by K. Yurkonis.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carrington, M.E. Seed size and recruitment limitation influence seedling establishment in three tallgrass prairie species. Plant Ecol 215, 1163–1172 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-014-0375-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-014-0375-2