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Interannual variation in rainfall, drought stress and seedling mortality may mediate monodominance in tropical flooded forests

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Abstract

Flood tolerance is commonly regarded as the main factor explaining low diversity and monodominance in tropical swamps. In this study we examined seedling mortality in relation to seasonality, i.e., flooding versus drought, of the dominant tree species (Prioria copaifera), and three associated species (Pterocarpus officinalis, Carapa guianensis and Pentaclethra macroloba), in seasonally flooded forests (SFF) in Darien, Panama. Seedling mortality differed among species, years and seasons. Prioria seedlings experienced the lowest overall mortality, and after 3 years many more Prioria seedlings remained alive than those of any of the associated species. In general, within species, larger seedlings had greater survival. Seed size, which can vary by close to 2 orders of magnitude in Prioria, had a confounding effect with that of topography. Large-seeded Prioria seedlings experienced 1.5 times greater mortality than small-seeded seedlings, as large-seeded Prioria seedlings were more likely to be located in depressions. This finding suggests that seed size, plant size and topography are important in understanding SFF regeneration. For all species, seedling mortality was consistently greater during the dry season than during flooding. For Prioria, dry season seedling mortality was correlated with drought stress, that is, high mortality during the long El Niño dry season of 1998 and the normal dry season of 2000, but very low dry season mortality during the mild dry season of 1999. Prioria’s ability to dominate in seasonally flooded forest of Central America is partly explained by its low drought-related mortality in comparison to associated species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Edmundo Ayarza, Delfin Jaramillo and Bil Grauel for providing invaluable assistance in Darien, to Norberto Badillo for his daily commitment to the rainfall measurement, and to Lissy Coley, Geno Shupp, Fred Adler, Greg Gilbert, Krista Farris-Lopez, Professor Hermann Heilmeier and two anonymous reviewers for valuable discussions and comments on the manuscript. We are grateful for the logistical support of La Palma office of Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente of Panama. This research was supported by a doctoral fellowship (no. 270-98-08) from the Panamanian National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (SENACYT) and the Institute for Training and Development of Human Resources of Panama (IFARHU) to O.R.L., a NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant (IBN-9902211 to T. A. K. and O. R. L.), and a grant from the International Tropical Timber Organization to the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente of the Republic of Panama. We (O. R. Lopez and T. A. Kursar), the authors, declare that the research and experiments presented in this publication comply with the current laws of the Republic of Panama.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South and 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Omar R. Lopez & Thomas A. Kursar

  2. Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 0948, APO AA, 34002, USA

    Omar R. Lopez

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 Balboa, Ancón Panama, Republic of Panama

    Omar R. Lopez & Thomas A. Kursar

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  1. Omar R. Lopez
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Correspondence to Omar R. Lopez.

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Communicated by Hermann Heilmeier.

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Lopez, O.R., Kursar, T.A. Interannual variation in rainfall, drought stress and seedling mortality may mediate monodominance in tropical flooded forests. Oecologia 154, 35–43 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0821-0

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