Limited contributions of plant pathogens to density-dependent seedling mortality of mast fruiting Bornean trees.

ABSTRACT: Fungal pathogens are implicated in driving tropical plant diversity by facilitating strong, negative density-dependent mortality of conspecific seedlings (C-NDD). Assessment of the role of fungal pathogens in mediating coexistence derives from relatively few tree species and predominantly the Neotropics, limiting our understanding of their role in maintaining hyper-diversity in many tropical forests. A key question is whether fungal pathogen-mediated C-NDD seedling mortality is ubiquitous across diverse plant communities. Using a manipulative shadehouse experiment, we tested the role of fungal pathogens in mediating C-NDD seedling mortality of eight mast fruiting Bornean trees, typical of the species-rich forests of South East Asia. We demonstrate species-specific responses of seedlings to

SUBMITTER: Cannon PG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7713929 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature