Population structures and individual performances of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trillium grandiflorum</Emphasis> in hedgerow and forest habitats |
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Authors: | Reto Schmucki Sylvie de Blois |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Plant Science, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada, H9X 3V9;(2) McGill School of Environment Montreal, 3534 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 2A7 |
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Abstract: | In agricultural landscapes, linear habitats, such as hedgerows at field margins increase structural connectivity among forest
patches, potentially providing dispersal corridors for forest herbs. The spatial structure of linear habitats, however, also
results in edge effects and perturbations that can influence the individual and population performance of forest plants. This
study compares the stage structure and components of growth and reproduction of 14 Trillium grandiflorum populations in hedgerows and forests. Hedgerow Trillium tended to grow faster and, when mature, produced more flowers and more ovules per flowers than forest Trillium, a pattern possibly associated to differences in nutrients and light availability between the two habitats. Seed production
and germination rate, however, did not differ between hedgerows and forests. At the population level, seedlings and juveniles
were proportionally less abundant in hedgerows than in forests. Although well-established plants can thrive in hedgerows,
reduced recruitment may eventually limit the capacity to establish new populations and therefore hamper migration along hedgerow-corridors.
Considering the strategies by which plants persist in linear habitats becomes particularly relevant at a time when species
are expected to be much in need of dispersal corridors because of climatic stress. |
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Keywords: | Agricultural landscape Biodiversity conservation Forest herb Habitat corridor Plant demography Plant migration |
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