Small-scale patterning in the recruitment of forest species during succession in tropical dry forest,Mozambique

Within a few years of field abandonment on the coastal dunes, a considerable number of species of trees and woody lianes of the climax evergreen forest enter the succession. At a relatively large-scale of analysis (a 100 m² plot), there is no evidence of soil development during the early succession, with no accumulation of soil organic matter nor nutrients being detected. At this scale there is, therefore, little support for the facilitation model of succession. However, when smaller scales of analysis are employed (e.g. a plot equivalent to the canopy area of a sapling) a very different picture emerges; most recruitment of forest woody species occurs beneath saplings found in early succession. Nutrient concentrations were higher in soils under sapling canopies than in soils beyond sapling canopies. With increasing sapling size, an increasing number of seedlings of forest woody species were found and there is progressive soil amelioration. Thus, during the early succession, there is considerable small-scale patterning in soil development and recruitment. This pattern is largely established through bird dispersal, with the intensity of recruitment being dependent on the distance to seed sources.