Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T13:01:29.352Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Timing of seed dispersal and dormancy, rather than persistent soil seed-banks, control seedling recruitment of woody plants in Neotropical savannas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2011

Ana Salazar ,
Guillermo Goldstein ,
Augusto C. Franco  and
Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm
Ana Salazar*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-0421, USA
Guillermo Goldstein
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-0421, USA Laboratorio de Ecología Funcional and CONICET, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Núñez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Augusto C. Franco
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botanica, Universidade de Brasilia, Caixa Postal 04457, Brasilia, DF 70919-970, Brazil
Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University, 10555 W. Flagler Street, EC 3680, Miami, Florida 33174, USA
*
*Correspondence Fax: +1-305 284 3039 Email: ana@bio.miami.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A large fraction of tree species forming persistent soil seed-banks and with dormant seeds are expected to be found in strongly seasonal ecosystems such as Neotropical savannas, where seedling recruitment could be highly variable. In the savannas of Central Brazil, we studied seed characteristics (type of dormancy, longevity and moisture content) of 14 representative woody species differing in seed dispersal season. We also studied the dynamics of soil seed-banks and similarity patterns in woody species composition among seed rain, soil seed-bank, seedling bank and standing vegetation along shallow topographic gradients that differ in canopy cover. Woody species composition of the soil seed-bank largely differed from the standing vegetation, the seed rain and the seedling bank species composition, suggesting low recruitment of woody species from the soil seed-bank. Seeds of the 14 woody species remained viable for less than 16 months in laboratory dry-storage conditions. Of those, most seeds dispersed in the dry season were dormant and exhibited low moisture content, while most seeds dispersed in the wet season were non-dormant and exhibited high moisture content. Longevity of these seeds dispersed in the dry and the wet seasons did not differ significantly. This study shows that both timing of seed dispersal and dormancy appear to control timing of seed germination and seedling recruitment of most Neotropical savanna woody species, which did not form persistent soil seed-banks. This study contributes to the understanding of tree/grass coexistence and tree density variations along topographic gradients in tropical savannas.

Keywords

life history stageseed dormancy typesseed ecologyseed longevityseedling banktree density gradientstropical savannas
Type
Research Papers
Information
Seed Science Research , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , June 2011 , pp. 103 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrade, L.A.Z. (2002) Impacto do fogo no banco de sementes de cerrado sensu stricto. PhD dissertation, Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Departamento de Ecología, Brasilía, D.F. Brasil.Google Scholar
Bansal, R.P., Bhati, P.R. and Sen, D.N. (1980) Differential specificity in water imbibition of Indian arid zone seeds. Biologica Plantarum 22, 327–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baskin, C.C. and Baskin, J.M. (1998) Seeds: Ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Baskin, J.M. and Baskin, C.C. (2004) A classification system for seed dormancy. Seed Science Research 14, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blakesley, D., Elliot, S., Kuarak, C., Navakitbumrung, P., Zangkum, S. and Anusarnsunthorn, V. (2002) Propagating framework tree species to restore seasonally dry tropical forest: implications of seasonal seed dispersal and dormancy. Forest Ecology and Management 164, 31–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carreira, R.C. and Penteado Zaidan, L.B. (2007) Germinação de sementes de espécies de Melastomataceae de Cerrado sob condições controladas de luz e temperatura. Hoehnea 34, 261–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, K.R. and Warwick, R.M. (2001) Change in marine communities: An approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Plymouth, UK, PRIMER-E Ltd.Google Scholar
Dalling, J.W. (2004) The fate of seed banks: Factors influencing seed survival for light-demanding species in moist tropical forests. pp. 31–44 in Forget, P.M.; Lambert, J.E.; Hulme, P.E.; Vander Wall, S.B. (Eds) Seed fate: Predation, dispersal and seedling establishment. Wallingford, UK, CAB International.Google Scholar
Dalling, J.W. and Hubbell, S.P. (2002) Seed size, growth rate and gap microsite conditions as determinants of recruitment success for pioneer species. Journal of Ecology 90, 557–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalling, J.W., Swaine, M.D. and Garwood, N.C. (1995) Effect of soil depth on seedling emergence in tropical soil seed-bank investigations. Functional Ecology 9, 119–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalling, J.W., Swaine, M.D. and Garwood, N.C. (1997) Soil seed bank community dynamics in seasonally moist lowland tropical forest, Panama. Journal of Tropical Ecology 13, 659–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eiten, G. (2001) Vegetacão Natural do Distrito Federal. Brasília, SEBRAE.Google Scholar
Espinar, J.L., Thompson, K. and Garcia, L.V. (2005) Timing of seed dispersal generates a bimodal seed bank depth distribution. American Journal of Botany 92, 1759–1763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fenner, M. and Thompson, K. (2005) The ecology of seeds. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, S. and Dezzeo, N. (2005) Variaciones temporales en cantidad de semillas en el suelo yen lluvia de semillas en un gradiente bosque-sabana en la gran sabana, Venezuela. Interciencia 30, 39–43.Google Scholar
Fornara, D.A. and Dalling, J.W. (2005) Seed bank dynamics in five Panamanian forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21, 223–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furley, P.A. (1999) The nature and diversity of neotropical savanna vegetation with particular reference to the Brazilian cerrados. Global Ecology and Biogeography 8, 223–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furley, P.A. and Ratter, J.A. (1988) Soil resources and plant communities of the central Brazilian cerrado and their development. Journal of Biogeography 15, 97–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, T.A. (2006) Tree-grass coexistence in the Brazilian cerrado: demographic consequences of environmental instability. Journal of Biogeography 33, 448–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garwood, N.C. (1983) Seed germination in a seasonal tropical forest in Panama: A community study. Ecological Monographs 53, 159–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garwood, N.C. (1989) Tropical soil seed banks: A review. pp. 149–209 in Leck, M.A.; Parker, V.T.; Simpson, R.L. (Eds) Ecology of soil seed banks. San Diego, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Geritz, S.A.H., Jong, T.J. and Linkhamer, P.G.L. (1984) The efficacy of dispersal in relation to safe site area and seed production. Oecologia 62, 219–221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldstein, G., Meinzer, F.C., Bucci, S., Scholz, F.G., Franco, A.C. and Hoffmann, W.A. (2008) Water economy of Neotropical savanna tress: Six paradigms revisited. Tree Physiology 28, 395–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gomes, V. and Fernandes, G.W. (2002) Germinação de aquênios de Baccharis dracunculifolia D.C. (Asteraceae). Acta Botânica Brasileira 16, 421–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodland, R. (1971) A physiognomic analysis of the ‘cerrado’ vegetation of central Brasil. Journal of Ecology 59, 411–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodland, R. and Pollard, R. (1973) The Brazilian cerrado vegetation: a fertility gradient. Journal of Ecology 61, 219–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottsberger, G. and Silberbauer-Gottsberger, I. (2006) Life in the cerrado a south tropical seasonal ecosystem. Vol. I. Origin, structure, dynamics and plant use. Ulm, Germany, Reta Verlag.Google Scholar
Hall, J.B. and Swaine, M.D. (1980) Seed stocks in Ghanaian forest soils. Biotropica 12, 256–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harper, J.L. (1977) Population biology of plants. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hartshorn, G.S. (1980) Neotropical forest dynamics. Biotropica 12, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higgins, S.I., Bond, W.J. and Trollope, W.S.W. (2000) Fire, resprouting and variability: a recipe for grass-tree coexistence in savanna. Journal of Ecology 88, 213–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, W.A. (2000) Post-establishment seedling success in the Brazilian cerrado: a comparison of savanna and forest species. Biotropica 32, 62–69.Google Scholar
Hopfensperger, K.N. (2007) A review of similarity between seed bank and standing vegetation across ecosystems. Oikos 116, 1438–1448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurtt, G.C. and Pacala, S.W. (1995) The consequences of recruitment limitation: reconciling chance, history and competitive differences between plants. Journal of Theoretical Biology 176, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ikeda, F.S., Mitja, D., Vilela, L. and Sousa-Silva, J.C. (2008) Banco de sementes em cerrado sensu stricto sob queimada e sistemas de cultivo. Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira, Brasília 43, 667–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, P.C., Meinzer, F.C., Bustamante, M., Goldstein, G., Franco, A., Rundel, P.W., Caldas, L., Ingler, E. and Causin, F. (1999) Partitioning of soil water among tree species in a Brazilian Cerrado ecosystem. Tree Physiology 19, 717–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeltsch, F., Milton, S.J., Dean, W.R.J., Van Rooyen, N. and Moloney, K.A. (1998) Modelling the impact of small-scale heterogeneities on tree-grass coexistence in semi-arid savannas. Journal of Ecology 86, 780–793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khurana, E. and Singh, J.S. (2001) Ecology of seed and seedling growth for conservation and restoration of tropical dry forest: a review. Environmental Conservation 28, 39–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langevelde, V.F., Van De Vijer, C.A.D.M., Kumar, L., Van De Koppel, J., De Ridder, N., Van Andel, J., Skidmore, A.K., Hearne, J.W., Stroosnijder, L., Bond, W.J., Prins, H.H.T. and Rietkerk, M. (2003) Effects of fire and herbivory on the stability of savanna ecosystems. Ecology 84, 337–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marod, D., Kutintara, U., Tanaka, H. and Nakashizuka, T. (2002) The effects of drought and fire on seed and seedling dynamics in a tropical seasonal forest in Thailand. Plant Ecology 161, 41–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIvor, J.G. and Gardener, C.J. (1991) Soil seed densities and emergence patterns in pastures in the seasonally dry tropics of northeastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 16, 159–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, K.M., Wiegand, K., Ward, D. and Moustakas, A. (2007) SATCHMO: a spatial simulation model of growth, competition, and mortality in cycling savanna patches. Ecological Modelling 209, 377–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveira, P.E. and Silva, J.C.S. (1993) Reproductive biology of two species of Kielmeyera (Guttiferae) in the cerrados of Central Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology 9, 67–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveira–Filho, T. and Ratter, J.A. (2002) Vegetation physiognomies and woody flora of the cerrado biome. pp. 33–51 in Oliveira, P.S.; Marquis, R.J. (Eds) The cerrados of Brazil: Ecology and natural history of a Neotropical savanna. New York, Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, T.R.H., Burslem, D.F.R.P., Mullins, C.E. and Dalling, J.D. (2003) Functional significance of photoblastic germination in neo-tropical pioneer trees: a seed's eye view. Functional Ecology 17, 394–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peco, B., Ortega, M. and Levassor, C. (1998) Similarity between seed bank and vegetation in Mediterranean grassland: A predicitve model. Journal of Vegetation Science 9, 815–828.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perez, E.M. and Santiago, E.T. (2001) Dinámica estacional del banco de semillas en una sabana en los llanos centro-orientales de Venezuela. Biotropica 33, 435–446.Google Scholar
Putz, F.E. (1983) Treefall pits and mounds, buried seeds, and the importance of soil disturbance for pioneer trees on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ecology 64, 1069–1074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratter, J.A., Ribeiro, J.F. and Bridgewater, S. (1997) The Brazilian cerrado vegetation and threats to its biodiversity. Annals of Botany 80, 223–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salazar, A. (2010) Seed dynamics and seedling establishment of woody species in the tropical savannas of Central Brazil (cerrado). PhD thesis, University of Miami, Florida, USA.Google Scholar
Sankaran, M., Ratnam, J. and Hanan, N.P. (2004) Tree-grass coexistence in savannas revisited insights from an examination of assumptions and mechanisms invoked in existing models. Ecology Letters 7, 480–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarmiento, G. (1984) The ecology of neotropical savannas. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sassaki, R.M., Rondon, J.N., Zaidan, L.B.P. and Felippe, G.M. (1999) Number of buried seeds and seedling emergence in cerradão, cerrado and gallery forest soils at Pedregulho, Itirapina (SP), Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 22, 147–152.Google Scholar
Saulei, S.M. and Swaine, M.D. (1988) Rain forest seed dynamics during succession at Gogol, Papua New Guinea. Journal of Ecology 76, 1133–1152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sautu, A., Baskin, J.M., Baskin, C.C. and Condit, R. (2006) Studies on the seed biology of 100 native species of trees in a seasonal moist tropical forest, Panama, Central America. Forest Ecology and Management 234, 245–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sautu, A., Baskin, J.M., Baskin, C.C., Deago, J. and Condit, R. (2007) Classification and ecological relationships of seed dormancy in a seasonal moist tropical forest, Panama, Central America. Seed Science Research 17, 127–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scholes, R.J. and Archer, S.R. (1997) Tree-grass interactions in savannas. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 28, 517–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silva Júnior, M.C. (2005) 100 Árvores do Cerrado: Guia de campo. Brasília, Rede de sementes do Cerrado.Google Scholar
Simpson, R.L., Leck, M.A. and Parker, V.T. (1989) Seed banks: general concepts and methodological issues. pp. 3–8 in Leck, M.A.; Parker, V.T.; Simpson, R.L. (Eds) Ecology of soil seed banks. San Diego, Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swaine, M.D. and Hall, J.B. (1983) Early succession on cleared forest land in Ghana. Journal of Ecology 71, 601–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, K. and Grime, J.P. (1979) Seasonal variation in the seed banks of herbaceous species in ten contrasting habitats. Journal of Ecology 67, 893–921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uhl, C., Clark, K., Clark, H. and Murphy, P. (1981) Early plant succession after cutting and burning in the upper Rio Negro region of the Amazon Basin. Biotropica 14, 249–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vázquez-Yanes, C. and Orozco-Segovia, A. (1993) Patterns of seed longevity and germination in the tropical rainforest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 24, 69–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vieira, D.L.M. and Scariot, A. (2006) Principles of natural regeneration of tropical dry forests for restoration. Restoration Ecology 14, 11–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, B.H., Ludwig, D., Holling, C.S. and Peterman, R.M. (1981) Stability of semi-arid savannah grazing systems. Journal of Ecology 69, 473–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmore, T.C. (1983) Secondary succession from seed in tropical rain forests. Forestry Abstracts 44, 767–779.Google Scholar
Williams, P.R., Congdon, R.A., Grice, A.C. and Clarke, P.J. (2005) Germinable soil seed banks in a tropical savanna: seasonal dynamics and effects of fire. Australian Ecology 30, 79–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, K.R., Ewel, J.J. and Brown, B.J. (1987) Seed dynamics during forest succession in Costa Rica. Vegetatio 71, 157–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar