Abiotic niche partitioning and negative density dependence drive tree seedling survival in a tropical forest.

ABSTRACT: In tropical tree communities, processes occurring during early life stages play a critical role in shaping forest composition and diversity through differences in species' performance. Predicting the future of tropical forests depends on a solid understanding of the drivers of seedling survival. At the same time, factors determining spatial and temporal patterns of seedling survival can play a large role in permitting species coexistence in diverse communities. Using long-term data on the survival of more than 45 000 seedlings of 238 species in a Neotropical forest, we assessed the relative importance of key abiotic and biotic neighbourhood variables thought to influence individual seedling survival and tested whether species vary significantly in their responses to these variables, consis

SUBMITTER: Johnson DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5745420 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature