Factors affecting seedling establishment in a warm-temperate secondary forest affected by oak wilt disease.

ABSTRACT: Diseases are major natural disturbances to forest ecosystems that cause changes to overstory tree structure and influence seedling dynamics by altering environmental conditions via functional traits. Thus, identifying factors affecting seedling dynamics would improve broader understanding of the seedling regeneration process after disease disturbance. We investigated 13,010 current year seedlings from 59 woody species, 44 genera, and 21 families in a Japanese warm-temperate secondary forest, following Japanese oak wilt disease (JOW) in 2009-2013 and in 2018-2020. We also quantified temporal changes in canopy openness and soil moisture. Structural equation model (SEM) was used to explore the effects of environmental conditions and seedling functional traits on current year seedling density

SUBMITTER: Celegeer 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12477313 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature