Community structure of vascular epiphytes: a neutral perspective

Vascular epiphytes form a diverse group of almost 30 000 species, yet theory concerning their community structure is still largely lacking. We therefore employed the simplest models of biodiversity, (near-)neutral models, to generate hypotheses concerning their community structure. With recently developed tools for (near-)neutral models we analyzed species abundance data from many samples in Central and South America which we divided into four metacommunities (Mesoamerica, Central America, Amazonia and Paraná), where for each metacommunity we considered two subsets differing in dispersal syndrome: an animal-dispersed guild and a wind-dispersed guild. We considered three models differing in the underlying speciation mode. Across all metacommunities, we found observed patterns to be indistinguishable from patterns generated by neutral or near-neutral processes. Furthermore, we found that subdivision in different dispersal guilds was often supported, with recruitment limitation being stronger for animal-dispersed species than for wind-dispersed species. This is the first time that (near-)neutral theory has been applied to epiphyte communities. Future efforts with additional data sets and more refined models are expected to further improve our understanding of community structure in epiphytes and will have to test the generality of our findings.     

The Effects of Habitat on Dispersal Patterns of an Invasive Thistle, Cynara Cardunculus

Dispersal of offspring is a critical step in the spread of invasive species, yet dispersal patterns are seldom well studied, inhibiting effective management and ecological understanding of invasions. Dispersal patterns can be affected by characteristics of the parent plant and by climatic or site characteristics, including community vegetation structure, but these factors have not been studied in the context of plant invasion processes. Cynara cardunculus (L.) is a polycarpic perennial thistle invasive in coastal grasslands in California that produces large numbers of wind-dispersed seeds. This study quantified and compared C. cardunculus dispersal patterns in an exotic grassland (vegetated site) and an agricultural field (non-vegetated site). Seed size variation in C. cardunculus was also quantified within inflorescences, between inflorescences, and between years of production, and compared across dispersal distances. Results indicate that dispersal distance increased dramatically from less than 20 m in the vegetated site to more than 40 m in the non-vegetated site. Plants producing fewer seeds produced heavier seeds and dispersal distance decreased over time, but seed size was not related to dispersal distance, which may serve to spread the risk to seeds or seedlings across the environment. C. cardunculus has great potential for dispersal in open areas such as agricultural fields or disturbed sites, but may be limited in highly structured natural communities. Management of C. cardunculus and other wind-dispersed plant invasions may be improved by prioritizing populations with open or disturbed areas downwind and minimizing the removal of vegetation during dispersal.     

Seed dispersal by wind,birds, and bats between Philippine montane rainforest and successional vegetation

In the moist Neotropics, vertebrate frugivores have a much greater role in the dispersal of forest and successional woody plants than wind, and bats rather than birds play the dominant role in dispersing early successional species. I investigated whether these patterns also occurred in a Philippine montane rainforest and adjacent successional vegetation. I also asked whether seed mass was related to probability of dispersal between habitats. A greater number of woody species and stems in the forest produced vertebrate-dispersed seeds than wind-dispersed seeds. Although input of forest seeds into the successional area was dominated by vertebrate-dispersed seeds in terms of species richness, wind-dispersed seeds landed in densities 15 times higher. Frugivorous birds dispersed more forest seeds and species into the successional area than bats, and more successional seeds and species into the forest. As expected, seed input declined with distance from source habitat. Low input of forest seeds into the successional area at the farthest distance sampled, 40 m from forest edge, particularly for vertebrate-dispersed seeds, suggests very limited dispersal out of forest even into a habitat in which woody successional vegetation provides perches and fruit resources. For species of vertebrate-dispersed successional seeds, probability of dispersal into forest declined significantly with seed mass.     

旅游开发对景观边缘植物溢出效应的影响

人类活动导致的景观改变能形成大量的生境缀块和边缘结构,对植物扩散产生重要影响。以植物个体运动生态学——种子扩散模式作为分类依据,对兴凯湖自然保护区游憩带与非游憩带、交通廊道与非交通廊道中动物扩散物种、风扩散物种、无助力扩散物种(包括重力扩散、弹射扩散等短距离扩散的物种)以及全部物种的边缘溢出效应分别进行对比分析。结果显示,游憩带动物扩散物种和全部物种的边缘溢出效应均明显弱于非游憩带;而风扩散物种在游憩带和非游憩带均有大量溢出;无助力扩散物种在这两个实验区的溢出效应均不明显。交通廊道中动物扩散物种的溢出效应显著弱于非交通廊道,但风扩散物种却明显强于非交通廊道;无助力扩散物种在两种廊道类型中同样只有少量溢出,且距离相对较短;总体溢出效应并未发现显著差异。这些结果表明,旅游开发对植物运动生态学产生了影响,最终导致了溢出效应的改变。     

动物对松属植物种子的传播作用研究进展

松属植物约110种,根据种子传播方式可分为风传播松和动物传播松。风传播松占绝大多数,种子多具有适应风力的翅。动物传播松大约23种,都具有大、可食用、无翅或短翅的种子,无法借助风力传播。动物传播松的分布生境多为贫瘠的山地,而且多位于高海拔地区。目前已知9种松树的动物传播种类,其余14种可推测为动物传播。动物传播者包括鸦科鸟类和啮齿类动物,动物将获得的种子分散贮藏,未被重取的种子可能萌发,完成传播。动物传播是定向传播,微生境多适合种子萌发。啮齿类的传播距离可达数10 m,而鸦科鸟类的传播距离可达数公里。动物传播的松树会出现树丛和多树干现象,一般由同一贮点内贮藏的多粒种子萌发造成的。动物贮藏的种子大部分被重取,称传播后取食。一些具有大种子的风传播松在种子落地后,啮齿类和鸟类会再次埋藏而形成二次传播,可看做是一个单独的传播类型,即风-动物传播松。动物传播者与依赖传播松树之间可看作是互利共生关系。     

Successional patterns of woody plants in catchment areas in a semi-arid region

Patterns of woody plants dispersal in a semi-arid nature reserve situated in Eastern Transvaal, South Africa, revealed that trees have spread from core areas and converted previously open grasslands to densely vegetated woodlands. These patterns were found in catchment areas of the gently undulating terrain which characterizes the region.Two plant communities dominated by Acacia senegal-Acacia tortilis and Euclea divinorum-Acacia nilotica were distinguished. Analysis of nearest-neighbour distances, dispersal patterns of seedlings and mature woody plants identified successional processes. These were manifested through intra and interspecific competition among the dominant tree species. Within each plant community, a transition of relative abundance was occurring namely, A. senegal became dominant in areas previously dominated by A. tortilis while E. divinorum was replacing previous A. nilotica dominance.Comparative assessment of the two plant communities was facilitated by the summary of competition and seedling dispersal indices in a multivariate analysis. Results indicated that tree species had characteristic dispersal strategies. Identification the patterns of woody plants establishment could advance the evaluation of successional dynamics and management of savannas in areas prone to bush encroachment.     

The relative importance of population versus community processes in microbial primary succession

Interpretations of successional patterns in ecological communities have traditionally adhered to the dichotomy between the Clementsian view that emphasizes community level processes and the Gleasonian view that stresses individual population responses. The present study evaluates the relative importance of each type of process during protistan primary succession in initially barren aquatic isolates (200-1 plastic pools) over a 170-d period. Species availability to these systems was manipulated by erecting exclosures around individual mesocosms to successively eliminate access to different dispersal vectors responsible for passive protistan dispersal. Increased exclosure significantly reduced access of autotrophs to the pools, but had little effect on heterotroph species availability. The species replacement process was directional through time and occurred at similar rates in all treatments. Both lower and upper temporal boundaries of heterotrophic and autotrophic species were contagious through time, as predicted by the Clementsian hypothesis, although the independence of these two boundary types suggested an individualistic model. Dominant and subdominant species were correlated into four temporal groups: pioneer, early successional, mid-successional, late successional. The dominance of several mid- and late successional species was reduced with increased exclosure. The loss of these species from successional pathways in more exclosed pools had no significant effect on the distribution of other species within the same temporal group. However, the establishment of these other mid- and late successional species may be dependent on initial colonization by pioneer and early successional species. Increased abundances of mid- and late successional species in less exclosed pools coincided with significant attenuations in the distribution of many early successional species. Interactions between successional groups may be related to the supply of inorganic resources as well as allelopathic effects. Patterns of protist succession are the result of both population and community processes; while species-specific characteristics (i.e., dispersal ability) may dominate the process in more isolated systems, increased species availability increases the relative importance of interspecific interactions.     

Seed rain,seedling establishment and clonal growth strategies on a glacier foreland

Abstract. Seed production, composition of the seed rain, germination, and seedling mortality, as well as vegetative growth characteristics of common pioneer plant species were studied on the foreland of the retreating Morteratsch glacier in the Swiss Alps. The frequency of diaspores trapped in different successional stages was related to their dispersal mode and was highly skewed towards a few species. Plenty of diaspores well adapted for dispersal by wind are a precondition for the most important pioneer species. Seeds from all pioneer species investigated had a good germination success, provided that the moisture content of the soil was high enough. However, requirement for seedling establishment differed among sites of increasing terrain age and among species. Only specialized pioneers such as Cerastium pedunulatum, Linaria alpina, Oxyria digyna and Saxifraga aizoides tolerate the cold and moist conditions near the glacier. However, these species are restricted to early successional stages. Seedlings of Epilobium fleischeri are affected not only by the cold and moist conditions near the glacier but also by moderately dry conditions on older sites. Availability of safe sites becomes crucial for most species with increasing age of sites and with drier conditions. Most species playing a dominant role during early succession and persisting during later successional stages have a distinctive ability to spread clonally and have a growth form with more or less widely spaced ramets: Achillea moschata. Cerastium pedunculatum. Epilobium fleischeri and Hieraium staticifolium. The growth strategy and demography of the clonal E. fleischeri is presented as an example. The life cycle of this species is characterized in succession by (1) the colonization of safe sites by small seeds adapted for wind dispersal, (2) horizontal spread by clonal growth, and (3) the persistence through phenotypic morphological plasticity in later successional stages. Seedling establishment and clonal growth are thus complementary mechanisms in plant succession on recently deglaciated terrain.     

Anthropogenic Halo Disturbances Alter Landscape and Plant Richness: A Ripple Effect

Although anthropogenic landscape fragmentation is often considered as the primary threat to biodiversity, other factors such as immediate human disturbances may also simultaneously threaten species persistence in various ways. In this paper, we introduce a conceptual framework applied to recreation landscapes (RLs), with an aim to provide insight into the composite influences of landscape alteration accompanying immediate human disturbances on plant richness dynamics. These impacts largely occur at patch-edges. They can not only alter patch-edge structure and environment, but also permeate into surrounding natural matrices/patches affecting species persistence–here we term these “Halo disturbance effects” (HDEs). We categorized species into groups based on seed or pollen dispersal mode (animal- vs. wind-dispersed) as they can be associated with species richness dynamics. We evaluated the richness of the two groups and total species in our experimental landscapes by considering the distance from patch-edge, the size of RLs and the intensity of human use over a six-year period. Our results show that animal-dispersed species decreased considerably, whereas wind-dispersed species increased while their richness presented diverse dynamics at different distances from patch-edges. Our findings clearly demonstrate that anthropogenic HDEs produce ripple effects on plant, providing an experimental interpretation for the diverse responses of species to anthropogenic disturbances. This study highlights the importance of incorporating these composite threats into conservation and management strategies.     

Propagule morphology and river characteristics shape secondary water dispersal in tree species

Plant migration is a multi-stage process often driven by multiple dispersal vector systems. Water-mediated dispersal (hydrochory) is known to move propagules of nonaquatic species over long distances, but whether propagule morphology affects floating processes is an open question. We used a multi-species approach to assess the role of propagule morphology in the dispersal of primarily wind-dispersed tree species in different urban rivers; the impact of hydraulic structures (locks, spillways) on floating was also considered. We released tagged propagules of eight tree species (Acer platanoides, Acer negundo, Acer saccharinum, Ailanthus altissima, Fraxinus excelsior, Robinia pseudoacacia, Tilia platyphyllos, Ulmus glabra) in the main lowland Spree River and in the small tributary Panke River (Berlin, Germany) and directly observed the fate of the floating propagules over river sections of 1,200 m. Our results demonstrate the following: (1) Water is an effective dispersal agent for wind-dispersed tree species, extending typical wind-related transport distances by several times. (2) Interspecific differences in transport distances reflect propagule characteristics (dry weight, maximum wing width) and river system. (3) Propagule morphology also affects deposition patterns as it was generally the large propagules that were trapped along semi-natural embankments in slow flow areas. (4) Hydraulic structures hampered but did not entirely stop water-mediated dispersal and diminished the effects of propagule morphology on floating processes. These results provide novel insights into the functioning of hydrochory as an important dispersal vector of tree species in river systems and as a driver of plant invasions.