Systematic reduction in seed rain of large-seeded and endozoochorous species in pastures compared to forests along a tropical elevational gradient

IF 2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q3 ECOLOGY

Applied Vegetation Science Pub Date : 2024-06-11 DOI:10.1111/avsc.12780

Diana Carolina Acosta-Rojas, Maciej K. Barczyk, Carlos Iván Espinosa, Boris A. Tinoco, Eike Lena Neuschulz, Matthias Schleuning

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Questions

How do seed rain biomass and richness change from old-growth tropical forests to pastures at different elevations? How do seed mass and seed dispersal mode change from forests to pastures across these elevations? What implications do these changes have for the recovery of deforested areas in tropical mountains?

Location

Old-growth montane forests and livestock pastures along an elevational gradient (1,000–3,000 m a.s.l.), located at Podocarpus National Park, San Francisco Reserve and surrounding agricultural lands, Andes of southern Ecuador.

Methods

We collected seed rain for a 3-month period using 324 traps installed at eighteen 1-ha plots across elevations. Half of the traps were installed in nine 1-ha forest plots, and the other half in nine 1-ha pasture plots. For each trap, we identified the seeds and measured seed rain biomass and richness. We also recorded seed traits and calculated community-weighted means of seed mass and seed dispersal mode (proportion of endozoochory).

Results

Forests received a higher seed rain biomass than pastures, but only at the lowest elevation. Seed rain richness did not differ between habitat types at all elevations. Community-weighted means of seed mass and the proportion of endozoochorous species declined from forests to pastures, especially at the lower elevations.

Conclusions

Although seed rain biomass and richness were overall similar between forests and pastures, large-seeded and endozoochorous species were generally poorly represented in the seed rain of pastures compared with that of forests. These findings show that biomass and richness of seed rain may be insufficient to quantify the restoration potential of natural seed rain in deforested areas. Information on seed traits, such as seed mass and seed dispersal mode, is important to optimize restoration efforts towards the regeneration of diverse old-growth forests along elevational gradients in tropical mountains.

Abstract Image

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与热带海拔梯度上的森林相比，牧场中大种子和内吸性物种的种子雨系统性减少

问题从热带原始森林到不同海拔的牧场，种子雨的生物量和丰富度如何变化？从这些海拔高度的森林到牧场，种子质量和种子传播方式有何变化？这些变化对热带山区毁林地区的恢复有何影响？地点厄瓜多尔南部安第斯山脉的波多卡普斯国家公园、旧金山保护区及周边农田，海拔梯度（1,000-3,000 m a.s.l.）的古老山地森林和畜牧场。方法我们使用 324 个诱捕器收集了为期 3 个月的种子雨，这些诱捕器安装在不同海拔的 18 个 1 公顷的地块上。一半的诱捕器安装在 9 块 1 公顷的林地中，另一半安装在 9 块 1 公顷的牧场中。对于每个诱捕器，我们都对种子进行了鉴定，并测量了种子雨的生物量和丰富度。我们还记录了种子的性状，并计算了种子质量和种子传播方式（内穴比例）的群落加权平均值。结果森林的种子雨生物量高于牧场，但只在海拔最低的地方。在所有海拔高度上，不同生境类型的种子雨丰富度没有差异。从森林到牧场，种子质量的群落加权平均值和内吸性物种的比例都有所下降，尤其是在海拔较低的地方。结论虽然森林和牧场的种子雨生物量和丰富度总体上相似，但与森林相比，牧场种子雨中的大种子物种和内吸性物种的比例普遍较低。这些发现表明，种子雨的生物量和丰富度可能不足以量化毁林地区天然种子雨的恢复潜力。有关种子特性（如种子质量和种子传播方式）的信息对于优化热带山区海拔梯度上多种原始森林的恢复工作非常重要。

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来源期刊

Applied Vegetation Science 环境科学-林学

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

10.70%

发文量

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Applied Vegetation Science focuses on community-level topics relevant to human interaction with vegetation, including global change, nature conservation, nature management, restoration of plant communities and of natural habitats, and the planning of semi-natural and urban landscapes. Vegetation survey, modelling and remote-sensing applications are welcome. Papers on vegetation science which do not fit to this scope (do not have an applied aspect and are not vegetation survey) should be directed to our associate journal, the Journal of Vegetation Science. Both journals publish papers on the ecology of a single species only if it plays a key role in structuring plant communities.