Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T07:07:54.702Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of water supply on tree seed germination and seedling survival in a tropical seasonal forest in Veracruz, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Dominique Blain  and
Martin Kellman
Dominique Blain
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, York University, North York, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3
Martin Kellman
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, York University, North York, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In Iropical seasonal forests, mass seedling death may incidentally occur early in the rainy season following untimely germination provoked by an isolated heavy rainfall. We hypothesized that, in a soil with little moisture retention capacity, irregular rainfall patterns would result in large fluctuations of water supply and, in the early wet season, drought episodes could cause seedling death. This hypothesis was tested in a seasonal tropical forest in Mexico where seedling density is low and the soil consists of almost pure sand with a low water retention capacity. Various patterns of simulated rainfall were applied in the forest to seeds and seedlings of three common tree species. Overall very little difference in germination and seedling survival was observed between the various rainfall treatments. The results showed that rainfall patterns and the soil texture may interact in a much more complex way than was initially hypothesized, and that water availability to seeds and seedlings is not necessarily predictable. The absence of seedlings of the three tree species might be better explained by high seed predation and low light level in the understorey.

Keywords

Brosimum alicaslrumCedrela odorataEnterolobium cyclocarpumgerminationMexicoseasonalseedlingtropical forestwater supply
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 69 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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

LITERATURE CITED

Augspurger, C. K. 1979. Irregular rain cues and the germination and seedling survival of a Panamanian shrub (Hybanthus prunifolius). Oecologia 44: 53–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blain, D. 1988. Factors affecting the early stages of regeneration of three tropical tree species in a seasonal forest, Veracruz, Mexico. Unpub. thesis. York University, Toronto.Google Scholar
DeBano, L. F. 1971. The effect of hydrophobic substances on water movement in soil during infiltration. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 35(2):340–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeBano, L. F. 1981. Water repellent soils: a state-of-the-art. General Technical Report PSW-46 Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experimental Station, Forest Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Berkeley, California.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
Hubbell, S. P. & Foster, R. B. 1986. Canopy gaps and the dynamics of a Neotropical forest. Pp. 77–98 in Crawley, M.J. (ed.). Plant Ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Janzen, D. H. 1982. Seed removal from fallen Guanacaste fruits (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) by spiny pocket mice (Lyomis salvini). Brenesia 19/20:425–429.Google Scholar
Lawless, J. F. 1982. Statistical models and methods for lifetime data. Wiley Pub. N.Y.Google Scholar
Miller, D. E. & Gardner, W. H. 1962. Water infiltration into stratified soil. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 26(2):115–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, R. H. & Wilkinson, J. F. 1977. Nature of the organic coating on sand grains of nonwettable golf greens. Soil Science Society of America Journal 41:1203–1204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moreno-Casasola, P. 1982. Ecologia de la vegetatión de dunas costeras: factores fisicos. Biotica 7(4):577–602.Google Scholar
Ng, F. S. P. 1978. Strategies of establishment in Malayan forest trees. Pp. 129–162 in Tomlinson, P. B. & Zimmerman, M. H. (eds). Tropical trees as living systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
O'Brien, R. G. & Kaiser, M. K. 1985. MANOVA method for analyzing repeated measures designs: an extensive primer. Psychological Bulletin 97(2):316–333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pennington, T. D. & SarukhÁn, j. 1968. Arboles tropicales de México. Institute Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Mexico.Google Scholar
Peters, C. M. 1983. Observations on Maya subsistence and the ecology of a tropical tree. American Antiquity 48(3):610–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rzedowski, J. 1978. Vegetación de México. Editorial Limusa, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Sas Institute Inc. 1985. SAS/GRAPH User's Guide (5th edition). SAS Institute Inc. Publisher, Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Schupp, E. W. 1988. Seed and early seedling predation in the forest understorey and in treefall gaps. Oikos 51:71–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zar, J. H. 1984. Biostatistical analysis (2nd edition). Prentice-Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.Google Scholar