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Seed dispersal, gap dynamics and tree recruitment: the case of Cecropia obtusifolia at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico

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Frugivores and seed dispersal

Part of the book series: Tasks for vegetation science ((TAVS,volume 15))

Abstract

We review data on the relationship between seed dispersal of trees and treefall gap dynamics at the population and community levels in tropical rain forests. We recognize two general dispersal syndromes: (1) pioneer (shade-intolerant) and (2) persistent (shade-tolerant). The spatially (and temporally) wide seed dispersal syndrome of pioneer trees is associated with recruitment in large gaps (<100m2), which are infrequent in time and space. In neotropical forests these gaps occur at a rate of one every 1.8–2.8 yrs per hectare. The spatially restricted seed dispersal of persistent (both understory and upper-canopy) trees is associated with recruitment in gaps <20m2, which are about seven times more frequent than large gaps in moist or wet tropical forests. The uneven distribution of treefall gaps in time and space results in the production of waves of recruitment in tree populations. At Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, the treefall regime produces forest patches of ‘recurrent perturbations’ in which recruitment is an on-going process and ‘stable sites’ in which recruitment rates are low. Along with animal-mediated seed dispersal, rainfall-induced treefall patterns within and between years may be controlling, in part, the population sizes of plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 70-233, 04510, México, D.F., Mexico

    Elena Alvarez-Buylla

  2. Estación de Biología Tropical Los Tuxtlas, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo. Postal 94, San Andrés Tuxtla, México

    Miguel Martínez-Ramos

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  1. Miguel Martínez-Ramos
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  2. Elena Alvarez-Buylla
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Alejandro Estrada Theodore H. Fleming

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© 1986 Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht

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Martínez-Ramos, M., Alvarez-Buylla, E. (1986). Seed dispersal, gap dynamics and tree recruitment: the case of Cecropia obtusifolia at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. In: Estrada, A., Fleming, T.H. (eds) Frugivores and seed dispersal. Tasks for vegetation science, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4812-9_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4812-9_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8633-2

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