A paleoecological record from Lake Palotoa (1370 m elevation) in the Andean foothills of Peru spans the last 3800 years. Lake Palotoa lies near the modern cloud base in a location sensitive to changes in atmospheric moisture. In many areas, these forests have been destroyed, but Lake Palotoa shows no sign of human occupation today or in the past. The modern forest surrounding the lake is dominated by the Andean palm, Dictyocaryum lamarckianum, which is also the most abundant taxon in the fossil pollen record. Fossil pollen data show the vegetation assemblages have not experienced strong compositional changes in the late Holocene. Global-scale climatic events such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) are identified within the record, though the vegetation responses are subtle. Hedyosmum and Sloanea pollen percentages increase near the onset of the MCA and may reflect decreased seasonality. The LIA coincides with increased Hedyosmum pollen percentages, and increases in Clethra and Begonia, two elements that tend to occupy forests now found at higher elevations. Our findings demonstrate the stability of montane forest systems to natural Holocene climate change.

Some animal species are found in many environments and over wide distributions and may have adaptations to live in such different areas. The barn swallow Hirundo rustica is an example of a species that is able to thrive over a large geographic range and in many different environments. However, little is known of the breeding biology of this species in southern China. Here, we studied 18 breeding pairs of barn swallow H. r. gutturalis in Nanning, Guangxi, between April and July 2015. We studied its breeding fitness and parental investment. We found that tropical barn swallows bred from early April to early July and had from two to five fledglings per brood. We also recorded a strong seasonal decrease of breeding success and nestling condition that has also been found in temperate regions. Nevertheless, nestlings showed relatively long wings and low body masses, which may have enabled three sets of parents to raise three broods per breeding season, more than in other Chinese populations. Generally, barn swallows breeding in the tropics showed a similar ecology to their conspecifics from temperate regions, probably due to the species’ niche specificity in urban settings. Morphological differences detected in this study require further research based on larger sample sizes and on more detailed data from different climatic regions of Asia.

Effects of mammalian herbivory and seasonal drought were studied for Virola surinamensis (Myristicaceae) juveniles on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Seedlings were planted at three months of age and the juveniles were monitored for two years; Treatments included: intact plants protected from mammals by cages, defoliated plants similarly protected, and unprotected plants, each planted in treefall gaps, on gap edges, and in the shaded understorey.

Juveniles planted in treefall gaps survived seasonal drought far better than those planted on gap edges or in shaded understorey. Two years after establishment, juveniles protected from mammalian herbivory showed a 78% survival in gaps (mean 6.8% skylight), 50% survival on gap edges (mean 3.0% skylight), and 33% survival in shaded understorey (1.4% skylight). This advantage was due to accelerated growth in gaps. Juveniles in gaps increased 616% in height, 1075% in leaf number, and 1800% in total leaf area. Comparable numbers in edges were 247%, 378% and 690%; in understorey 33%, 222% and 289%. Accelerated growth in gaps permitted yearlings to survive drought that killed suppressed yearlings in understorey. Mean light differentials as small as 0.6% and 0.3% skylight significantly influenced survival on edges and in shaded understorey, respectively.

Mammalian herbivory killed juveniles directly, and defoliation by mammals strongly accentuated drought mortality by suppressing root development. Natural defoliation was not attributable to gap conditions. Demographic projections from experimental data suggest that mammalian herbivory kills at least 48% of the juveniles of this species over two years, and contributes to the death of 32% more that actually die of drought stress. These projections suggest that 14% of the juveniles of this species die of drought mortality, independent of herbivory, during the first two years. Herbivory most strongly affects plants < 0.5 m in height, and is a continuing source of mortality among suppressed juveniles in the understorey. Steep slopes and large seed size each enhanced juvenile growth and survival in the intermediate conditions of gap edges, but not under the extreme conditions of gaps or shaded understorey.

The context of establishment determines the ‘shade tolerance’ of this conspicuous canopy tree. Without serious mammalian herbivory or extreme dry seasons, V. surinamensis can easily recruit as a shade tolerant plant in the understorey. Under present conditions on Barro Colorado Island, it cannot. Persistence involves both the chances of arrival in different microhabitats, and survival therein. Projections that include both the forest area represented by gaps, gap edges, and understorey and the experimental results from this study indicate that juvenile V. surinamensis can survive for two years in gaps, edges, and understorey, but that the higher proportions of vigorous individuals survive in edges, gaps and understorey, respectively.

Much of the unique native vegetation of Mauritius has been destroyed. Coastal ebony (Diospyros egrettarum I.B.K. Richardson) forest forms an extreme type of Mauritian lowland forest which no longer exists on mainland Mauritius and only survives on one offshore islet, Ile aux Aigrettes. Undisturbed D. egrettarum forest is resistant to invasion by exotic plants, which have now invaded most relict patches of native lowland vegetation in Mauritius. Human disturbance however, has allowed many exotics (particularly Flacourtia indica (Burm. fil.) Merrill) to invade and form new vegetation types. Much of the disturbance was caused by illegal woodcutting up to 1985, prompted by an acute fuelwood shortage in Mauritius. On the basis of 132 4 X 4 m quadrats, we recognize 10 types of natural, semi-natural and exotic vegeta-tion. The conservation of the remaining natural ebony woodland vegetation requires the total cessation of woodcutting and the eradication of Tabebuia pallida (Lindl.) Miers (potentially the most damaging exotic species).

A total of 14 spotlight surveys were carried out from January 1992 to February 1993 along 37 km of the Klias River in north-western Sabah, Malaysia. Surveys were at low tide between 1900 and 0600 h from a survey boat at 15 km h−1 by two observers. A total of 221 sightings were made, which varied between 2 and 29 per survey (mean 15.8). A total of 55 juvenile crocodiles were captured, with 16 recaptures. Calculated density was 0.9–1.8 individuals km−1, while the estimated crocodile population was 46.1 ± 10.2 (SD) for the survey area. Percentage sightings according to total length were: 42% ≤0.5 m; 40% >0.5-≤1.0 m; 5% > 1.0-≤3.0; and 13% eyes only. Recapture of 16 tagged juveniles suggested that hatchlings ≤0.5 m total length remained within >0.5 km of their release point for at least one month, and juveniles 0.5-≤1.0 m more than one year. Hatchlings had growth rates between 0.01 and 0.08 cm d−1 and 0.3 and 1.5 g d−1, while larger juveniles grew at least 0.11 cm d−1 and 2.7–2.9 g d−1. Stomachs of hatchlings and juveniles contained crabs (Ocypodidae), prawns (Atyidae), insects and small fish (Hemiramphidae). Relatively large numbers of juvenile Crocodylus porosus (82.4%) in the Klias River suggests that the area, though under hunting pressure, is desirable as a site for the conservation of C. porosus in the Sabah.

Seed dispersal by frugivorous animals has the potential to affect both the demography and the patterns of gene flow of plant populations. In many tropical and subtropical forests a large number of seeds are efficiently dispersed by ‘non-restricted frugivores’ (NRFs, animals for which fruits do not represent the main bulk of their diet), a group commonly underestimated as seed dispersers. Here, we synthesize data from three different neotropical forests (Argentina, Panama and Costa Rica), evaluating several aspects of seed dispersal by two species of Cebus monkeys. Capuchin monkeys are NRFs broadly distributed throughout Central and South America that are potentially long-distance seed dispersers. In this study we evaluated the influence of the foraging behaviour of Cebus apella and C. capucinus on the patterns of seed dispersal. Even though the distribution of fruit types significantly differed among forests, no evidence of diet selection was found, indicating that the fruits consumed by monkeys represent a random sample of the pool available at each site. Neither seed treatment, nor the evenness with which fruit species were consumed, differed among forests. In contrast, the feeding time per fruiting tree (10–45 min), the diversity of fruits consumed (H = 2–3.3), and seed dispersal distances (100–400 m), differed among the three forests. Thus, capuchin monkeys consume a high diversity of fruits in transit producing a scattered dissemination of seeds in all study forests. This study highlights the ecological and evolutionary significance of seed shadows generated by NRFs, without neglecting the possibility that differences in the distribution of fruit patches, species richness and a range of environmental attributes among the studied forests, exert a strong influence on the outcome of the interaction between NRFs and plants.

Lianas are abundant in tropical forests around the world, yet little is known about their ecology. In this study we report the results of a survey of ten common liana species on 27 host tree species in Cooloola National Park, Queensland, Australia. We found significant associations between some liana and tree species. Our results indicate that host tree diameter was important in explaining liana presence or absence. Host tree fruit type was correlated with the presence or absence of different liana types. Tendrillar and root-climbing lianas tended to occur most often on mid-sized, fleshy-fruited trees, and on smaller, non-fleshy-fruited trees. The presence of stem twining lianas tended to decrease with increasing tree diameter for both fleshy- and non-fleshy-fruited trees, although this effect was more pronounced for fleshy-fruited trees. In general, lianas were most prevalent on trees possessing intermediate levels of bark roughness and flakiness. Although we established associative patterns between liana species and these host characteristics, the model suggested that other unidentified variables may also be important in determining presence or absence of liana species.