Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Flooding and drought tolerance in seeds and seedlings of two Mora species segregated along a soil hydrological gradient in the tropical rain forest of Guyana

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mora excelsa and M. gonggrijpii are well segregated along a soil hydrological gradient. M. excelsa is positively associated with soil hydromorphic characteristics such as gley, mottling and groundwater within 1.20 m, whereas M. gonggrijpii is negatively associated with these characteristics. Growth and mortality of artificially installed seedlings were studied in both species in occasionally flooded forest and dryer uphill forest. In a moderate year (1992, no pronounced flooding, no drought), there was no difference between the two species in growth or mortality in the two forest types. M. gonggrijpii was larger in both forest types. Flooding tolerance of seeds and seedlings were studied under controlled water regimes. Seeds of M. gonggrijpii appeared to be very intolerant to flooding, since germination in this species dropped to 50% after only 11 days of flooding. Seeds of M. excelsa floated and 80% of the seeds were viable after as much as 50 days of flooding. Artificially submerged seeds of the latter species had an intermediate survival response. Flooding in seedlings resulted in cessation of growth in both species. Mortality was nil in most treatments, but all M. gonggrijpii individuals died after a treatment of 8 weeks of continuous flooding. Drought tolerance of seedlings of M. excelsa and M. gonggrijpii was studied in a drying-out experiment. Seedlings of both species of approximately equal size differed widely in a number of characteristics: total leaf area, leaf dry weight, leaf thickness, leaf size and leaf area ratio (LAR) were all larger in M. gonggrijpii, while stomatal density and specific leaf area (SLA) were smaller in this species. Seedlings did not differ in stem hydraulic conductivity. M. excelsa showed lower osmotic potential at full hydration. Turgor potential loss points were not nearly approached in the forest during the middle of the dry season in either species. M. gonggrijpii had much lower stomatal conductance than M. excelsa, due to lower stomatal density. Boundary layer conductance was of the same magnitude as stomatal conductance, especially in the morning. In a drying-out experiment, total plant transpiration was higher in M. gonggrijpii, as the lower conductance observed in this species was compensated for by its larger leaf area. M. gonggrijpii was able to extract water from dryer soils than M. excelsa and may be able to utilize its higher leaf water content under moderate drought in the forest understorey.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexandre DY (1991) Comportement hydrique au cours de la saison sèche et place dans la succession de trois arbres guyanais: Trema micrantha, Goupia glabra et Eperua grandiflora. Ann Sci For 48:101–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell TIW (1969) An investigation into some aspects of management of the Mora excelsa Benth. forests of Trinidad with special reference to the Matura forest reserve. Ph.D. thesis, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago

  • Braak CJF ter (1987) Regression. In: Jongman RFG, Braak CJF ter, Tongeren OFR van (eds) Data analysis in community and landscape ecology. Pudoc, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Coutinho LM, Struffaldi Y (1971) Observações sôbre a germinação das sementes e o crescimento das plântulas de uma leguminosa da mata amazônica de igapó (Parkia auriculata Spruce Mss.). Phyton 28:149–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Chazdon RL, Field CB (1987) Photographic estimation of photosynthetically active radiation: evaluation of a computerized technique. Oecologia 73:525–532

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiu S-T, Ewers FW (1992) Xylem structure and water transport in a twiner, a scrambler, and a shrub of Lonicera (Caprifoliaceae) Trees 6:216–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford RMM (1982) Physiological responses to flooding. In: Lange OL, Nobel PS, Osmond CB, Ziegler H (eds) Physiological plant ecology II (Encyclopedia of plant physiology, vol 12B). Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis TAW, Richards PW (1933) The vegetation of Moraballi creek, British Guiana: an ecological study of a limited area of tropical rain forest. Part I. J Ecol 21:350–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis TAW, Richards PW (1934) The vegetation of Moraballi creek, British Guiana. An ecological study of a limited area of tropical rain forest. II J. Ecol. 22:106–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Donselaar J van (1989) The vegetation in the Brokopondo-lake basin (Surinam) before, during and after the inundation, 1964–1972 Uitgave Natuurwetenschappelijke studiekring voor Suriname en de Nederlandse Antillen no 124 Amsterdam

  • Ellmore GS, Ewers FW (1985) Hydraulic conductivity in trunk xylem of elm, Ulmus americana. IAWA Bull 6:303–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewers FW, Zimmerman MH (1984) The hydraulic conductivity of balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Physiol Plant 60:453–458

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanshawe DB (1952) The vegetation of British Guiana. A preliminary review (Institute Paper no 29). Imperial Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Forget PM (1989) La régénération naturelle d'une espèce autochore de la fôret Guyanaise, Eperua falcata Aublet (Caesalpiniaceae). Biotropica 21:115–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Forget PM (1991) Comparative recruitment patterns of two nonpioneer canopy tree species in French Guiana. Oecologia 85:434–439

    Google Scholar 

  • Forget PM (1992) Regeneration ecology of Eperua grandiflora (Caesalpiniaceae), a large seeded tree in French Guiana. Biotropica 24:146–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe H (1990) Survival and growth of juvenile Virola surinamensis in Panama: effects of herbivory and canopy closure. J Trop Ecol 6:259–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt R (1978) Plant growth analysis (Studies in Biology no 96). Arnold, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Joly CA (1990) Flooding tolerance in tropical trees. In: Jackson MB, Davis DD, Lambers H (eds) Plant life under oxygen deprivation. SPB Academic, The Hague

    Google Scholar 

  • Jetten VG (1994) Modelling the effects of logging on the water balance of a tropical rain forest: a study in Guyana (Tropenbos Series 6). Tropenbos Foundation, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Joly CA, Crawford RMM (1982) Variation in tolerance and metabolic responses to flooding in some tropical trees. J Exp Bot 33:799–809

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ (1989) Flood tolerance and tree distribution in central Amazonian floodplains. In: Holm-Nielsen LB, Nielsen IC, Balslev H (eds) Tropical forests. Botanical dynamics, speciation and diversity. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalapos T (1994) Leaf water potential — leaf water deficit relationships for ten species of a semiarid grassland community. Plant Soil 160:105–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Koide RT, Robichaux RH, Morse SR, Smith CM (1989) Plant water status, hydraulic resistance and capacitance. In: Pearcy RW, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Rundel PW (eds) Plant physiological ecology. Field methods and instrumentation. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski TT (ed) (1984) Flooding and plant growth. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski TT (1991) Soil aeration, compaction and flooding. In: Kozlowski TT, Kramer PJ, Pallardy SG (eds) The physiological ecology of woody plants. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Liogier AH (1985) La flora de la Española III (Serie científica 22). Universidad central del este, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

    Google Scholar 

  • Lo Gullo MA, Salleo S (1988) Different strategies of drought resistance in three Mediterranean sclerophyllous trees growing in the same environmental conditions. New Phytol 108:267–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayo-Melendez E (1965) Algunas características ecológicas de los bosques inundables de Darién, Panamá, con miras a su posible utilización. Turrialba 15:336–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Medina E, Olivares E (1992) Water and nutrient relations of woody perrenials from tropical dry forests. J Veg Sci 3:383–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Meinzer FC, Goldstein G, Holbrook NM, Jackson P, Cavelier J (1993) Stomatal and environmental control of transpiration in a lowland tropical forest tree. Plant Cell Environ 16:429–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori SA, Becker P (1991) Flooding affects survival of lecythidaceae in terra firme forest near Manaus, Brazil. Biotropica 23:87–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers BJ, Robichaux RH, Unwin GL, Craig IE (1987) Leaf water relations and anatomy of a tropical rainforest tree vary with crown position. Oecologia 74:81–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberbauer SF, Strain BR (1985) Effects of light regime on the growth and physiology of Pentaclethra macroloba Mimosaceae in Costa Rica. J Trop Ecol 1:303–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberbauer SF, Strain BR, Riechers GH (1987) Field water relations of a wet-tropical forest tree species, Pentaclethra macroloba (Mimosaceae). Oecologia 71:369–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearcy RW (1989) Radiation and light measurements. In: Pearcy RW, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Rundel PW (eds) Plant physiological ecology. Field methods and instrumentation. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearcy RW (1990) Sunflecks and photosynthesis in plant canopies. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 41:421–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Poorter H, Lewis C (1986) Testing differences in relative growth rate: a method avoiding curve fitting and pairing. Physiol Plant 67:233–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragonese AM (1973) Systematic anatomical characters of the leaves of Dimorphandra and Mora Leguminosae Caesalpinioideae. Bot J Linn Soc 67:255–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragonese AM (1982) Presencia de estomas paralelocíticos en el género Mora (Leguminosas-Ceasalpinioideas). Darwiniana 24:69–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Rankin JM (1978) The influence of seed predation and plant competition on tree species diversity in two adjacent tropical rain forest communities in Trinidad, W.I. PhD dissertation, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

  • Richards PW (1952) The tropical rainforest. Cambridge University Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Robichaux RH (1984) Variation in the tissue relations of two sympatric Hawaiian Dubautia species and their natural hybrid. Oecologia 65:75–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Robichaux RH, Canfield JE (1985) Tissue elastic properties of eight Hawaiian Dubautia species that differ in habitat and diploid chromosome number. Oecologia 66:77–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Roosmalen MGM van (1985) Fruits of the Guianan flora. Institute of Systematic Botany, Utrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Rundel PW, Jarrell WM (1989) Water in the environment. In: Pearcy RW, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Rundel PW (eds) Plant physiological ecology. Field methods and instrumentation. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sman AJM van der, Tongeren OFR van, Blom CWPM (1988) Growth and reproduction of Rumex maritimus and Chenopodium rubrum under different waterlogging regimes. Acta Bot Neer 37:439–450

    Google Scholar 

  • Steege H ter (1990) A monograph of Wallaba, Mora and Greenheart (Tropenbos Technical Series no 5). Tropenbos Foundation, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Steege H ter (1993) Patterns in tropical rain forest in Guyana. PhD Thesis, Utrecht University, The Netherlands/Tropenbos Series 3, The Tropenbos Foundation, Wageningen

  • Steege H ter (1994a) HEMIPHOT a programme to analyze vegetation indices, light and light quality from hemispherical photographs (Tropenbos Documents 3). Tropenbos Foundation, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Steege H ter (1994b) Seedling growth of Mora gonggrijpii, a large seeded climax species, under different soil and light conditions. Vegetatio 112:161–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Steege H ter, Bokdam C, Boland M, Dobbelsteen J, Verburg I (1994) The effects of man made gaps on germination, early survival, and morphology of Chlorocardium rodiei seedlings in Guyana. J Trop Ecol 10:245–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Steege H ter, Jetten VG, Polak M, Werger MJA (1993) The tropical rain forest types and soils of a watershed in Guyana, South America. J Veg Sci 4:705–716

    Google Scholar 

  • Steege H ter, Persaud CA (1991) Phenology of Guyanese timber species. A compilation of a century of observations. Vegetatio 95:177–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner IM (1990) The seedling survivorship and growth of three Shorea species in a Malaysian tropical rain forest. J Trop Ecol 6:469–478

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyree MT, Snyderman DA, Wilmot TR, Machado J-L (1991) Water relations and hydraulic architecture of a tropical tree (Shefflera morototoni) Plant Physiol 96:1105–1113

    Google Scholar 

  • Unwin D (1980) Microclimate measurements for ecologists. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Worbes M (1986) Lebungsbedingungen und Holzwachstum in zentralamazonischen Überschwemmungswäldern. Scripta Geobot 17:1–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1984) Biostatistical analysis, 2nd edn. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.84, 3508 TB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Hans ter Steege

Authors
  1. Hans ter Steege
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

ter Steege, H. Flooding and drought tolerance in seeds and seedlings of two Mora species segregated along a soil hydrological gradient in the tropical rain forest of Guyana. Oecologia 100, 356–367 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317856

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317856

Key words

Search

Navigation