Developmental anatomy of the three-dimensional leaf ofBotrychium ternatum (Thunb.) Sw.

The ophioglossaceous leaf exhibits a unique morphology, three-dimensional constitution. This examination clarified the developmental manner of the leaf ofBotrychium ternatum (Thunb.) Sw. The leaf primordium develops as an ordinary appendicular leaf which shows a typical hyponastic growth curvature, though it soon takes a conical shape with a tetrahedral apical cell. The leaf primordium forms a sporophyll primordium first, then forms vegetative primary pinnae acting as the trophophyll primordium. The sporophyll primordium also forms sporogenous primary pinnae. The sporophyll initiation begins with establishment of a new apical cell (sporophyll apical cell) near the original leaf apical cell. Through activity of the sporophyll apical cell most of the sporophyll primordium is formed later. In contrast, the vegetative or sporogenous primary pinna begins to develop as a low mound of surface cells on the trophophyll or sporophyll primordium respectively. The apical cell is later established on the summit of each pinna primordium. In the developmental point of view, the sporophyll primordium is not equivalent to the primary pinnae on the trophophyll primordium. The sporophyll may not represent two fused basal pinnae of a leaf, but represents an organ independent of and equivalent to the trophophyll.     

Phenology and demography of two species of Botrychium (Ophioglossaceae)

Temporal and demographic aspects of the growth of Botrychium gallicomontanum and B. mormo were studied for 2 yr. A total of 219 B. gallicomontanum and 412 B. mormo plants were monitored in a prairie and maple-basswood forest, respectively. Growth events were divided into four stages: leaf emergence, leaf separation, spore release, and senescence. Botrychium gallicomontanum emerged in April, peaked during the first week of June, and declined rapidly. The largest plants were found in late June and early July with a mean peak trophophore size of 4.0 ± 1.8 cm. Botrychium mormo emerged in June, and the population size peaked in early July. The largest plants occurred late in August with a mean peak trophophore size of 3.0 ± 1.1 cm. The mean season span, or period of emergence aboveground annually, for B. gallicomontanum and B. mormo was 7.7 ± 2.4 and 11.9 ± 3.5 wk, respectively. Late-emerging plants produced spores in shorter periods. The separation stage was prolonged in B. gallicomontanum plants, whereas B. mormo plants had a much longer separation stage. Phenological differences are related to different habitat parameters of grassland and forest. Understanding the phenology of these rare species will help us more accurately predict the impact of management practices.     

Do seasonal changes in light availability influence the inverse leafing phenology of the neotropical dry forest understory shrub Bonellia nervosa (Theophrastaceae)?

In tropical dry forests most plants are deciduous during the dry season and flush leaves with the onset of the rains. In Costa Rica, the only species displaying the opposite pattern is Bonellia nervosa. To determine if seasonal changes in light availability are associated with the leaf and reproductive phenology of this species, we monitored leaf production, survival, and life span, as well as flower and fruit production from April 2000 to October 2001 in Santa Rosa National Park. Leaf flushing and flower bud production took place shortly after the autumnal equinox when day length starts to decrease. Leaves began expansion at the end of the wet season, and plants reached 70 % of their maximum leaf area at the beginning of the dry season, maintaining their foliage throughout the entire dry period. Leaf shedding occurred gradually during the first three months of the wet season. Leaf flushing and shedding showed high synchrony, with leaf numbers being related to light availability. Maximum leaf production coincided with peaks in radiation during the middle of the dry season. Decreasing day length induces highly synchronous flower bud emergence in dry forest species, but this is the first study indicating induction of leaf flushing by declining day length.     

Seasonal rhythms of seed rain and seedling emergence in two tropical rain forests in southern Brazil

Seasonal tropical forests show rhythms in reproductive activities due to water stress during dry seasons. If both seed dispersal and seed germination occur in the best environmental conditions, mortality will be minimised and forest regeneration will occur. To evaluate whether non-seasonal forests also show rhythms, for 2 years we studied the seed rain and seedling emergence in two sandy coastal forests (flooded and unflooded) in southern Brazil. In each forest, one 100 x 30-m grid was marked and inside it 30 stations comprising two seed traps (0.5 x 0.5 m each) and one plot (2 x 2 m) were established for monthly monitoring of seed rain and a seedling emergence study, respectively. Despite differences in soil moisture and incident light on the understorey, flooded and unflooded forests had similar dispersal and germination patterns. Seed rain was seasonal and bimodal (peaks at the end of the wetter season and in the less wet season) and seedling emergence was seasonal and unimodal (peaking in the wetter season). Approximately 57% of the total species number had seedling emergence 4 or more months after dispersal. Therefore, both seed dormancy and the timing of seed dispersal drive the rhythm of seedling emergence in these forests. The peak in germination occurs in the wetter season, when soil fertility is higher and other phenological events also occur. The strong seasonality in these plant communities, even in this weakly seasonal climate, suggests that factors such as daylength, plant sensitivity to small changes in the environment (e.g. water and nutrient availability) or phylogenetic constraints cause seasonal rhythms in the plants.     

Variation in evergreen and deciduous species leaf phenology in Assam, India

In the present study phenological activities such as leaf and shoot growth, leaf pool size and leaf fall were observed for 3 years (March 2007–March 2010) in 19 tree species (13 evergreen and 6 deciduous species) in a wet tropical forest in Assam, India. The study area receives total annual average rainfall of 2,318 mm of which most rain fall (>70 %) occurs during June–September. Both the plant groups varied significantly on most of the shoot and leaf phenology parameters. In general, growth in deciduous species initiated before the evergreen species and showed a rapid shoot growth, leaf recruitment and leaf expansion compared to evergreen species. Leaf recruitment period was significantly different between evergreen (4.2 months) and deciduous species (6.8 months). Shoot elongation rate was also significantly different for evergreen and deciduous species (0.09 vs. 0.14 cm day^?1 shoot^?1). Leaf number per shoot was greater for deciduous species than for evergreen species (34 vs. 16 leaves). The average leaf life span of evergreen species (328 ± 32 days) was significantly greater than that of deciduous species (205 ± 16 days). The leaf fall in deciduous species was concentrated during the winter season (Nov–Feb), whereas evergreens retained their leaves until the next growing season. Although the climate of the study area supports evergreen forests, the strategies of the deciduous species such as faster leaf recruitment rate, longer leaf recruitment time, faster shoot elongation rate during favorable growing season and short leaf life span perhaps allows them to coexist with evergreen species that have the liberty to photosynthesize round the year. Variations in phenological strategies perhaps help to reduce the competition among evergreen and deciduous species for resources in these forests and enable the coexistence of both the groups.     

Monsoon rain forest seedling dynamics, northern Australia: contrasts with regeneration in eucalypt-dominated savannas

Aim To explore: (1) the relative influences of site conditions, especially moisture relations, on pathways and rates of monsoon rain forest seedling and sapling regeneration, especially of canopy dominants, in northern Australia; and (2) contrasts between regeneration syndromes of dominant woody taxa in savannas and monsoon rain forest. Location Four monsoon rain forest sites, representative of regional major habitat and vegetation types, in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia. Methods A decadal study involved: (1) initial assessment over 2.5 years to explore within‐year variability in seed rain, dormant seed banks and seedling (< 50 cm height) dynamics; and (2) thereafter, monitoring of seedling and sapling (50 cm height to 5 cm d.b.h.) dynamics undertaken annually in the late dry season. On the basis of observations from this and other studies, regeneration syndromes of dominant monsoon rain forest taxa are contrasted with comparable information for dominant woody savanna taxa, Eucalyptus and Corymbia especially. Results Key observations from the monsoon rain forest regeneration dynamics study component are that: (1) peak seed rain inputs of rain forest taxa were observed in the wet season at perennially moist sites, whereas inputs at seasonally dry sites extended into, or peaked in, the dry season; (2) dormant soil seed banks of woody rain forest taxa were dominated by pioneer taxa, especially figs; (3) longevity of dormant seed banks of woody monsoon rain forest taxa, including figs, was expended within 3 years; (4) seedling recruitment of monsoon rain forest woody taxa was derived mostly from wet season seed rain with limited inputs from soil seed banks; (5) at all sites rain forest seedling mortality occurred mostly in the dry season; (6) rain forest seedling and sapling densities were consistently greater at moist sites; (7) recruitment from clonal reproduction was negligible, even following unplanned low intensity fires. Main conclusions By comparison with dominant savanna eucalypts, dominant monsoon rain forest taxa recruit substantially greater stocks of seedlings, but exhibit slower aerial growth and development of resprouting capacity in early years, lack lignotubers in mesic species, and lack capacity for clonal reproduction. The reliance on sexual as opposed to vegetative reproduction places monsoon rain forest taxa at significant disadvantage, especially slower growing species on seasonally dry sites, given annual–biennial fires in many north Australian savannas.     

广东季雨林的几个问题

 季雨林是分布在具有明显干湿季节变化热带地区,在干季或多或少,甚至全部落叶的森林植被;是介于热带雨林向热带稀疏林过渡的居间类型,而不是由热带雨林向亚热带常绿阔叶林过渡的植被类型。应归属于经向地带性植被,而非纬度地带性植被。并且,在广东南部沿海地区的气候条件下,也不会有季雨林发育。广东南部沿海地区的榕树+香蒲桃+野苹婆(Ficus microcarpa+Syzygium odoratum+Sterculia lanceolata)群落等类型不是季雨林,而是热带季节雨林,属广义的热带雨林范畴。     

Study on the Dynamics and Rhythms of Midmontane Wet Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest at Xujiaba,Ailao Mountains,Yunnan

According to data of long-term observation, the dynamics and the rhythms of the wet evergreen broad-leaved forest in respect of seed germination, seedling growth, growth laws, and phenological rhythms of the mature trees of constituent species were analyzed. The species numbers of the seeds, germinable seeds and germinated seeds of the forest in rainy season were larger than those in dry season. The growth rate of the seedlings was faster in rainy season as well indicating a season most favourable for the growth of seedlings. The growth of trees was a process of inter-specific competition, self-regulation and self-thinning. The long and indistinctive phenologieal phases of the mature trees differed from those short and distinctive phenological phases of the broad-leaved forests in the temperate. Its continuous flowering, fruiting and fruit-falling were similar to the phenological rhythms of seasonal rain forests in Xishuangbanna. However, leaf-shedding of the seasonal rain forests in Xishuangbanna, the evergreen broad-leaved forests and the temperate broad-leaved forests was in spring (February ～March), in Winter (November ～ December) and in autumn (September～October) respectively. Based on the characteristics in the phenological rhythms of the species and their responses to the climates, the three eeo-phenological types were divided as: 1. The warm temperate eeo-phenological type, whieh accounts for 82 % of the total species number (50); 2. The temperate ecophenological type, 12%; 3. The cool temperate eco-phenological type, 0. 6 %.     

Rainfall homogenizes while fruiting increases diversity of spore deposition in Mediterranean conditions

There is a lack of knowledge regarding the main factors modulating fungal spore deposition in forest ecosystems. We have described the local spatio-temporal dynamics of fungal spore deposition along a single fruiting season and its relation with fruit body emergence and rainfall events. Passive spore traps were weekly sampled during autumn and analysed by metabarcoding of the ITS2 region in combination with qPCR. There were larger compositional changes of deposited spores across sampling weeks than amongst sampling plots. Spore diversity and abundance correlated with mushroom emergence and weekly rainfall. Spore compositional changes were related to rainfall, with lower spatial compositional heterogeneity across plots during weeks with higher rainfall. Soil saprotrophs, and amongst them, puffball species, showed the strongest positive correlation with rainfall across fungal guilds. We saw high fine-scale temporal changes of deposited spores, and both mushroom emergence and rainfall may be important factors driving airborne spore deposition.     

Vegetative Phenology and Growth of a Facultatively Deciduous Bamboo in a Monsoonal Climate1

Canopy closure, leaf flush, and ramet recruitment in Bambusa arnhemica, a semelparous, clumping bamboo from the Australian monsoonal tropics, were monitored monthly for 2.5 years at three sites along a flood gradient. Bambusa arnhemica was facultatively deciduous, remaining evergreen at a downslope riparian site but suffering total loss of canopy on a hillside for up to 4 mo during the dry season. Leaf flush was flexible, occurring after as little as 25 mm of rain at the onset of wet season, in response to unusual dry season storms, and apparently also in response to fire independent of rainfall. New culms emerged soon after leaf flush early in the wet season. Culm growth took place during the middle and late wet season, with peak elongation rates of 15–30 cm/day. Some growth continued into the dry season, mostly on branches and leaves of new culms at riparian sites. Not all culms completed elongation before the onset of the dry season, and those that did not were permanently stunted. The demands of culm elongation may limit the occurrence of bamboo in wet‐dry climates to areas with predictable and sustained wet season rainfall, but the flexibility of branching and leaf processes facilitates coping with, and permits exploitation of less predictable pre‐ and postmonsoonal rains. The bamboo growth form and phenological patterns differ markedly from those of dicotyledonous trees and shrubs.     

Herbaceous vegetation in the Chilean matorral

Summary The phenology, growth, and productivity of 7 species of the understory vegetation of the matorral zone of Central Chile were studied. The activity of the herb strata lasts about 6 months, starting soon after the first rain of the season: most of their vegetative growth occurs between early June and mid-September. Experimental plots designed in the field with leaf litter of some dominant shrubs showed no indication of the presence of allelopathic compounds that inhibit either germination or growth of the annual species in the matorral.     

Variation in performance of the tree fern Cyathea caracasana (Cyatheaceae) across a successional mosaic in an Andean cloud forest

In Andean forests, Cyathea caracasana grows across a range of successional habitats. This study documents variation in several measures of plant performance (stem growth, leaf production, leaf longevity, and spore production) in C. caracasana growing in open habitat, low-canopy secondary forest, and high-canopy secondary forest, based on 33 mo of observation. In open habitat, C. caracasana displayed significantly higher growth rates, leaf production rates, and leaf turnover than in either of the forested habitats. The highest rates of spore production were also observed in open-habitat individuals, with only one plant in the forest understory producing spores during the study. Despite low growth and no reproduction, I observed no mortality among ferns in the forest understory. These data show that C. caracasana performs best under conditions of full sun but can persist under the closed canopy. This suggests a life history in which periods of rapid growth, spore production, and recruitment in forest gaps alternate with low growth rate and persistence in the understory. A phylogenetic perspective suggests that the habitat flexibility, which might conventionally mark C. caracasana as a habitat generalist, is better interpreted as specialization for the dynamic forest in which it grows.     

Key characteristics for facilitating Leucaena leucocephala to successfully invade pioneer communities of tropical rain forests

Aims Due to fast-growing and high drought stress tolerance, Leucaena leucocephala has been widely used for afforestation in degraded tropical forests worldwide, but it is also a global invasive exotic species. Studies have shown that fast-growing can help L. leucocephala successfully invade subtropical forests. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether fast-growing and high drought stress tolerance can help L. leucocephala invade tropical rain forests.Methods The pioneer community of tropical rain forest which had been invaded by L. leucocephala in the Baopoling Mountain, Sanya, China was the research object. Through the t-test, we compared the differences in key functional traits that were related to growth rate (photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate) and drought stress tolerance (leaf turgor loss point) in both wet and dry seasons between L. leucocephala and eight dominant native species of pioneer community of tropical rain forest. And the principal component analysis (PCA) was used to investigate whether these functional traits can best discriminate between Leucaena leucocephala and the eight dominant native species.Important findings Leucaena leucocephala could be invariably growing fast (photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate much higher than native species) from wet to dry seasons and had higher drought stress tolerance (leaf turgor loss point much lower than native species) in the dry season. The results of PCA showed that these functional traits could significantly discriminate between L. leucocephala and the eight dominant native species. Therefore, invariable fast-growing from wet to dry season and high drought stress tolerance in the dry season make L. leucocephala successfully invade pioneer communities of tropical rain forests. In the future, these functional traits can be used to select many native species to perform biological control of L. leucocephala in other tropical forests.     

银合欢成功入侵热带雨林先锋群落的关键因素

由于生长速率高, 耐旱性强, 银合欢(Leucaena leucocephala)被广泛应用于世界各地退化热带亚热带森林的修复, 但它也是一种全球性的外来入侵植物。已经有研究发现高生长速率可以帮助银合欢成功入侵亚热带森林, 但是目前还不清楚高生长速率和强耐旱性是否能帮助银合欢成功入侵热带森林。该研究以位于中国三亚抱坡岭被银合欢入侵的热带雨林先锋群落为研究对象, 通过t检验比较干季和湿季银合欢和8个热带雨林先锋群落的本地优势种与快速生长(光合速率、气孔导度和蒸腾速率)和耐旱性(叶片膨压丧失点)紧密相关的功能性状的差异, 并利用主成分分析(PCA)研究这些功能性状是否能很好地区分银合欢和其他8个本地优势种。结果表明: 银合欢在干湿季均能快速地生长(比本地物种显著更高的光合速率、气孔导度和蒸腾速率), 且在干季拥有更强的耐旱性(比本地物种显著更低的叶片膨压丧失点)。PCA结果表明这些功能性状能够显著区分银合欢和其他8个本地优势种。因此干湿季的稳定的快速生长和干季的强耐旱性使银合欢成功入侵热带雨林先锋群落。未来可利用这些功能性状筛选合适的本地物种对入侵其他热带森林的银合欢进行有效的生物防治。     

Age and growth determination in a marine catfish using an otolith check technique

A direct and accurate method of age determination using the relative positions of otolith growth checks is described. In the catfish Guleichthys cuerulescens , otolith length and depth were both linearly related to fish length. Checks appeared to be formed twice per year, at the beginning and at the end of the rainy season (late June to late September). Growth was more rapid in the wet season, when water temperatures were at their height. Calculated mean fork lengths of spring-spawned fish after the first four years of life were respectively 11.5, 19.3, 26.3 and 33.1 cm. Few individuals grew beyond 40 cm, the survival of most of the population being five years or less, but a maximum recorded length of 51.5 cm suggested that catfish may occasionally persist into their seventh or eighth year. The shape of the growth curve indicated that, since a permanent seaward migration of older fish is unlikely, then natural mortality among lagoon-resident G. cuerulescens occurs before a growth asymptote is reached.     

Phenology of Ficus variegata in a seasonal wet tropical forest at Cape Tribulation, Australia

Abstract. We studied the phenology of 198 mature trees of the dioecious fig Ficus variegata Blume (Moraceae) in a seasonally wet tropical rain forest at Cape Tribulation, Australia, from March 1988 to February 1993. Leaf production was highly seasonal and correlated with rainfall. Trees were annually deciduous, with a pronounced leaf drop and a pulse of new growth during the August-September drought. At the population level, figs were produced continually throughout the study but there were pronounced annual cycles in fig abundance. Figs were least abundant during the early dry period (June-September) and most abundant from the late dry season (October-November) through the wet season (December-April). The annual peak in reproduction actually reflected two staggered peaks arising from gender differences in fig phenology. In this dioecious species, female and male trees initiated their maximal fig crops at different times and flowering was to some extent synchronized within sexes. Fig production in the female (seed-producing) trees was typically confined to the wet season. Male (wasp-producing) trees were less synchronized than female trees but reached a peak level of fig production in the months prior to the onset of female fig production. Male trees were also more likely to produce figs continually. Asynchrony among male fig crops during the dry season could maintain the pollinator population under adverse conditions through within- and among-tree wasp transfers.     

Convergence in leaf phenology traits of two understory ferns in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula

Aims Plants control leaf phenology to maximize annual photosynthetic product. Although ferns play an important ecological role in many habitats, especially forests, their phenology traits have been poorly studied. Here, we investigate the leaf phenology of two ferns of the forest understorey and analyse the relationship between the timing of leaf emergence and spore dispersal and the effect of between-year climatic variation.Methods We compared the leafing and sporing phenologies of two ferns with very large (>2 m), overwintering leaves: Culcita macrocarpa and Woodwardia radicans. We regularly monitored individuals of six populations in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula during a 3-year study. We studied eight phenology variables: leafing start date, leafing end date, leaf expansion time, number of new leaves per individual, between-individual synchrony, within-individual synchrony, percentage of fertile leaves and spore release date. We also determined leaf mass per area (LMA) and gathered data on air temperature and humidity.Important findings Both C. macrocarpa and W. radicans produce few leaves (~2 leaves individual^-1 year^-1), which expand simultaneously for a very long period (from midwinter to early summer), are retained for more than 1 year (37 and 19 months, respectively) and have relatively high LMAs. Such traits, together with large leaf size, have also been found in seed plants from the forest understorey and represent adaptations to this light-limited environment. Spores of both study ferns are simultaneously released in late winter, with little between-year variation caused by differences in air humidity. This remarkable similarity between species suggests that the convergence in timing of leaf emergence favours the convergence in timing of spore dispersal.     

Radon fluxes in tropical forest ecosystems of Brazilian Amazonia: night-time CO2 net ecosystem exchange derived from radon and eddy covariance methods

Radon‐222 (Rn‐222) is used as a transport tracer of forest canopy–atmosphere CO₂ exchange in an old‐growth, tropical rain forest site near km 67 of the Tapajós National Forest, Pará, Brazil. Initial results, from month‐long periods at the end of the wet season (June–July) and the end of the dry season (November–December) in 2001, demonstrate the potential of new Rn measurement instruments and methods to quantify mass transport processes between forest canopies and the atmosphere. Gas exchange rates yield mean canopy air residence times ranging from minutes during turbulent daytime hours to greater than 12 h during calm nights. Rn is an effective tracer for net ecosystem exchange of CO₂ (CO₂ NEE) during calm, night‐time hours when eddy covariance‐based NEE measurements are less certain because of low atmospheric turbulence. Rn‐derived night‐time CO₂ NEE (9.00±0.99 μmol m^?2 s^?1 in the wet season, 6.39±0.59 in the dry season) was significantly higher than raw uncorrected, eddy covariance‐derived CO₂ NEE (5.96±0.51 wet season, 5.57±0.53 dry season), but agrees with corrected eddy covariance results (8.65±1.07 wet season, 6.56±0.73 dry season) derived by filtering out lower NEE values obtained during calm periods using independent meteorological criteria. The Rn CO₂ results suggest that uncorrected eddy covariance values underestimate night‐time CO₂ loss at this site. If generalizable to other sites, these observations indicate that previous reports of strong net CO₂ uptake in Amazonian terra firme forest may be overestimated.