Spatial patterning and floral synchrony among trillium populations with contrasting histories of herbivory.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the spatial patterning and floral synchrony within and among populations of a non-clonal, forest understory herb, Trillium catesbaei. Two populations of T. catesbaei within Great Smoky Mountains National Park were monitored for five years: Cades Cove (high deer abundance) and Whiteoak Sink (low deer abundance). All individuals within each population were mapped during year one and five. Only flowering and single-leaf juveniles were mapped during intervening years. Greater distances between flowering plants (plants currently in flower) and substantially lower population densities and smaller patch sizes were observed at Cades Cove versus Whiteoak Sink. However, with the exception of flowering plants, contrasting histories of herbivory did not appear to fundamentally alter th

SUBMITTER: Webster CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4338797 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature