TY  - JOUR
A1  - Barczyk, Maciej K.
A1  - Acosta-Rojas, Diana Carolina
A1  - Espinosa, Carlos Iván
A1  - Schleuning, Matthias
A1  - Neuschulz, Eike Lena
T1  - Seedling recruitment of small-seeded and large-seeded species in forests and pastures in southern Ecuador
T2  - Basic and Applied Ecology
N2  - Highlights
• Seed size mediates seedling recruitment in tropical forests and pastures.
• Large-seeded species recruited better than small-seeded species in the forest.
• Recruitment of large-seeded species in pastures was limited by surface temperature.
• Large-seeded species should be protected against drought in regenerating pastures.
Abstract
Seedling recruitment is a key process of plant regeneration that often depends on plant functional traits, such as seed size. To optimize forest restoration efforts, we need to better understand how seedling recruitment of different seed sizes varies along environmental gradients with strong variation in abiotic and biotic factors. To understand these interacting effects, we conducted a sowing experiment with different-sized seeds in forests and pastures in the tropical mountains of southern Ecuador. We quantified seedling recruitment in relation to temperature, soil moisture and biotic pressures. We sowed seeds of five tree species of varying seed size at three elevations (1000, 2000 and 3000 m a.s.l.) in primary forest and pastures. We tested (1) how habitat type influences the recruitment of seedlings belonging to three small- and two large-seeded species, and (2) how abiotic and biotic factors limit seedling recruitment of species with different seed sizes. We found that seedlings of the two large-seeded species recruited better than seedlings of the three small-seeded species, but only in the forest habitat. Seedling recruitment of large seeds was primarily limited by high surface temperature, which explains lower recruitment of large seeds in pastures compared to forests. Our study shows that seed size can be a key trait mediating variability in seedling recruitment in tropical ecosystems. We conclude that restoration measures should aim to mitigate extreme temperatures in tropical pastures to aid the natural regeneration of large-seeded tree species.
KW  - Direct seeding
KW  - Montane forest
KW  - Podocarpus National Park
KW  - Seedling establishment
KW  - Seed sowing experiment
KW  - Tropical forest restoration
Y1  - 2024
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/82880
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-828803
SN  - 1439-1791
VL  - 75
SP  - 44
EP  - 52
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -