Scaphium longiflorum Ridley (Sterculiaceae), a common canopy tree in peat swamp forests in the Far East, produces vegetative sprouting in its juvenile stage. We investigated morphological features and allometric properties of the species in a peat swamp forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, to determine under what conditions ramets are produced and discuss the adaptive significance of the vegetative sprouting in a peat swamp environment. Larger juveniles were more toppled, and the toppled ones sprouted vegetatively. Therefore, the vegetative sprouting acts as a countermeasure for a shoot’s mechanical failure and fall on an unstable peat soil. We propose three hypotheses to explain the reason why larger juveniles are more often toppled in a peat swamp environment.
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Yamada, T., Kumagawa, Y. & Suzuki, E. Adaptive significance of vegetative sprouting for a tropical canopy tree, Scaphium longiflorum (Sterculiaceae), in a peat swamp forest in Central Kalimantan. Ecol Res 16, 641–647 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1703.2001.00425.x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1703.2001.00425.x