Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seed germination and seedling establishment of Neotropical dry forest species in response to temperature and light conditions

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Forestry Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A study was conducted to examine the germination requirements of Cedrela odorata, Guaiacum sanctum and Calycophyllum candidissimum seeds, and the effect of light intensity on survival and growth of C. odorata and G. sanctum seedlings planted on open, partially-open and beneath the canopy of a dry forest in Nicaragua. The results show that germination of C. candidissimum seeds was significantly higher in light than darkness at constant temperatures ranging from 20–35°C. Both C. odorata and G. sanctum seeds germinated in light and darkness to a varying extent, and the optimal germination temperature was around 20–25°C. Alternating temperature regimes did not improve germination. Survival of G. sanctum seedlings was 70% beneath the canopy and 80% in the open, and its relative growth rate in collar diameter was 1.88 mm/month in the open and 1.42 mm/month in the understory. Survival was generally poor for C. odorata, particularly in the understory. We concluded that light is an absolute requirement for the germination of C. candidissimum seeds while germination of C. odorata and G. sanctum seeds are more sensitive to temperature. Owing to its high survival rate on open site, G. sanctum could serve as a candidate species for reforestation of degraded sites.

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

  • Bullock JM 2000. Gaps and seedling colonization. In: M. Fenner (ed), Seeds: The Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities. Wallingford: CABI Publishing, pp. 375–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekstam B, Johannesson R, Milbert P. 1999. The effect of light and number of diurnal temperature fluctuations on germinations of Phragmites australis. Seed Science Research, 9: 165–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt K. 1996a. Germination and development of sown mahogany (Switenia macrophylla King) in secondary tropical dry forest habitats in Costa Rica. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 12: 275–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt K. 1996b. Effect of root competition and canopy openness on survival and growth of tree seedlings in a tropical seasonally dry forest. Forest Ecology Management, 82: 33–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt K. 1998. Leaf defoliation of tropical dry forest tree seedlings implications for survival and growth. Trees, 13: 88–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Rivas B. 2005. Tree species diversity and Regeneration of Tropical Dry Forests in Nicaragua. PhD thesis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goosem SP, Tucker NIJ. 1995. Repairing the Rainforest- Theory and Practice of Rainforest. Re-establishment in North Queenslands’s Wet Tropics. Management Authority, Cairns, 71 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guariguata MR. 2000. Seed and seedling ecology of tree species in Neotropical secondary forest: Management Implications. Ecological Application, 10:145–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guariguata MR, Ostertag R. 2001. Neotropical secondary forest succession: changes in structural and functional characteristics. Forest Ecology Management, 148: 185–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH. 2002. Tropical dry forest: Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica. In: M.R. Perrow and A.J. Davy (eds), Handbook of Ecological Restoration, Vol. 2 Restoration in Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 559–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khurana E, Singh JS. 2001. Ecology of seed and seedling growth for conservation and restoration of tropical dry forest: a review. Environ mental Conservation, 28: 39–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitajima K, Fenner M. 2000. Ecology of Seedling Regeneration. In: M. Fenner (ed), Seeds: The Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities. Wallingford: CABI Publishing, pp. 331–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamb D, Parrota JA, Keenan R, Tucker NIJ. 1997. Rejoining habitat remnants: restoring degraded rainforest lands. In: W.F. Laurance and R.O. Bierregaard (eds), Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management and Conservation of Fragmented Communities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp.366–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemenih M, Gidyelew T, Teketay D. 2004. Effects of canopy cover and understory environment of tree plantations on richness, density and size of colonizing woody species in southern Ethiopia. Forest Ecology Management, 194: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lugo AE. 1992. Comparison of tropical tree plantations and with secondary forest of similar age. Ecological Monograph, 62: 1–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marín WA, Flores EM. 1999. Guaiacum sanctum L. Escuela de Biología de Costa Rica, Universidad de Costa Rica and Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Costa Rica.

  • Pearson TRH, Burslem DFR, Mullins CE, Dalling JW. 2002. Germination ecology of Neotropical Pioneers: interacting effects of environmental conditions and seed size. Ecology, 83: 2798–2807.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson TRH, Burslem DFR, Mullins CE, Dalling JW. 2003. Functional significance of photoblastic germination in Neotropical pioneer trees: a seed’s eye view. Functional Ecology, 17: 394–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pons TL. 2000. Seed responses to light. In: M. Fenner (ed), Seeds: The Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities. Wallingford: CAB International, pp. 237–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Probert RJ. 2000. The role of temperature in the regulation of seed dormancy and germination. In: M. Fenner (ed), Seeds: The Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities. Wallingford: CAB International, pp. 261–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ray GJ, Brown BJ. 1995. Restoring Caribbean dry forests: evaluation of tree propagation techniques. Restoration Ecology, 3: 86–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rincon E, Huante P. 1993. Growth response of tropical deciduous tree seedlings to contrasting light conditions. Trees, 7: 202–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivera G, Borchert R. 2001. Induction of flowering in tropical trees by a 30-min reduction in photoperiod: evidence from field observations and herbarium collections. Tree Physiology, 21: 201–212.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sabogal C, Valerio L. 1998. Forest Composition, Structure and Regeneration in a dry forest of the Nicaraguan Pacific Coast. In: F. Dallmeier and J.A. Comiskey (eds.), Forest Biodiversity in North Central and South America, and the Caribbean: Research and Monitoring. Man and The Biosphere Series, Vol. 21. UNESCO. New York, pp. 187–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salas JB. 1993. Arboles de Nicaragua. Instituto Nicaragüense de Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente. — Servicio Forestal Nacional. Managua, Nicaragua.

  • Scariot A. 2000. Seedling mortality by litterfall in Amazonian Forest Fragments. Biotropica, 32: 662–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherman PM. 2002. Effects of land crabs on seedling densities and distributions in a mainland Neotropical rainforest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 18: 67–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teketay D. 1995. The effect of temperature on the germination of Moringa stenopetala, a multipurpose tree. Tropical Ecology, 36: 49–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teketay D. 1997. The impact of clearing and conversion of dry Afromontane forests into arable land on the composition and density of soil seed banks. Acta Oecologica, 18: 557–573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teketay D. 1998a. Soil seed banks at an abandoned Afromontane arable site. Feddes Repertorium 109: 161–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teketay D. 1998b. Environmental factors that control the germination of five Solanum species from Ethiopia. Tropical Ecology, 39: 79–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teketay D, Granström A.1995. Soil seed bank in dry Afromontane forests of Ethiopia. Journal of Vegetation Science, 6: 777–786.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teketay D, Granström A. 1997. Germination ecology of forest species from the highlands of Ethiopia. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 14: 793–803.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomlinson JR, Serrano MI, del M. López. T, Aide TM, Zimmerman JK, 1996. Land-use dynamics in a post-agriculture Puerto Rican landscape (1936–1988). Biotropica, 28: 525–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson K. 2000. The Functional Ecology of Soil Seed Banks. In: M. Fennner (ed), Seeds: The Ecology of Regeneration in Plant Communities. Wallingford: CAB International, pp. 215–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson K, Grime JP. 1983. A Comparative study of germination responses to diurnally-fluctuating temperature. Journal of Applied Ecology, 20: 141–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tigabu M, Odén PC. 2001. Effect of scarification, gibberellic acid and temperature on seed germination of two multipurpose Albizia species from Ethiopia. Seed Science and Technology, 29: 11–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vázquez-Yanes C, Orozco-Segovia A. 1992. Effects of litter from a tropical rain forest on tree seed germination and establishment under controlled conditions. Tree Physiology, 11: 391–400.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vázquez-Yanes C, Orozco-Segovia A, Rincón E, Sánchez-Coronado ME, Huante R, Toledo JR, Barradas UL. 1990. Light beneath the litter in a tropical forest: effect on seed germination. Ecology, 71: 1952–1958.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wijdeven SMJ, Kuzee M. 2000. Seed availability as a limiting factor in forest recovery processes in Costa Rica. Restoration Ecology, 8: 414–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar J. 1996. Biostatistical Analysis. Prentice - Hall Inc., New Jersey. 662 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zida D, Tigabu M, Sawadogo L, Odén PC. 2005. Germination requirements of seeds of four woody species from the Sudanian savanna in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Seed Science and Technology, 33: 581–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman JK, Pascarella JB, Aide TM. 2000. Barriers to forest regeneration in an abandoned pasture in Puerto Rico. Restoration Ecology, 8: 350–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente, Universidad Nacional Agraria, Managua, Nicaragua, Apartado Postal 453

    Benigno González-Rivas & Guillermo Castro-Marín

  2. Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 101, SE-230 53, Alnarp, Sweden

    Mulualem Tigabu & Per Christer Odén

Authors
  1. Benigno González-Rivas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mulualem Tigabu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Guillermo Castro-Marín
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Per Christer Odén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mulualem Tigabu.

Additional information

Foundation project: The study was financially supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)

Biography: Mulualem Tigabu (1968–), *Corresponding author, Male and Associate Professor of Forest Management, research interest: Tropical Silviculture, seed biology and technology, biodiversity monitoring, forest restoration.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

González-Rivas, B., Tigabu, M., Castro-Marín, G. et al. Seed germination and seedling establishment of Neotropical dry forest species in response to temperature and light conditions. Journal of Forestry Research 20, 99–104 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-009-0018-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-009-0018-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation