Disentangling biotic and abiotic drivers of intraspecific trait variation in woody plant seedlings at forest edges.

ABSTRACT: In fragmented forests, edge effects can drive intraspecific variation in seedling performance that influences forest regeneration and plant composition. However, few studies have attempted to disentangle the relative biotic and abiotic drivers of intraspecific variation in seedling performance. In this study, we carried out a seedling transplant experiment with a factorial experimental design on three land-bridge islands in the Thousand Island Lake, China, using four common native woody plant species. At different distances from the forest edge (2, 8, 32, 128 m), we transplanted four seedlings of each species into each of three cages: full-cage, for herbivore exclusion; half-cage, that allowed herbivore access but controlled for caging artifacts; and no-cage control. In the 576 cages, we r

SUBMITTER: Zheng S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8293732 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature