Effects of varying forest edge permeability on seed dispersal in a neotropical montane forest |
| |
| Authors: | Fabiola López-Barrera Robert H Manson Mario González-Espinosa Adrian C Newton |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Institute of Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Darwin Building, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JU, Scotland, United Kingdom;(2) Department of Functional Ecology, Institute of Ecology (INECOL, AC), Km 2.5 Carretera Antigua a Coatepec No. 351, Congregación El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, 91070, México;(3) Department of Terrestrial Ecology and Systematics, Biodiversity Conservation Division, The College of the Southern Borderlands (ECOSUR), San Cristóbal de Las Casas, P.O. Box 63, 29200 Chiapas, México;(4) School of Conservation Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, United Kingdom |
| |
| Abstract: | Hard (high-contrast with pastures) and soft (low-contrast with old-fields) forest edges created by slash-and-burn agriculture
have become common landscape features in regions dominated by neotropical montane forest. However, little is know about the
impacts of such edge types on forest regeneration dynamics. The consequences of varying forest edge permeability for oak acorn
dispersal were investigated in a forest mosaic in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Rates of acorn production and removal,
as well as the abundance and composition of small mammal seed consumers, were monitored along these different edge types (hard
vs. soft) at specific distances from forest edges into forest patches and adjacent grasslands during two consecutive years.
Results show that acorn removal declined significantly only in grasslands of sites characterised by hard edges (Logistic regression,
P < 0.05). Movements of metal-tagged acorns support the hypothesis that soft edges are more permeable to small mammals, with
rodents moving acorns up to 15 m into grasslands of sites with soft edges. In sites with hard edges, higher rates of acorn
dispersal were recorded from the forest edge towards the forest interior. Peromyscus spp. were the main acorn predators and/or dispersers of acorns present in our study sites. Rates of acorn removal during
a non-masting year were greater than the subsequent mast-seeding year (85% removal within 138 days vs. 75% within 213 days),
demonstrating that mast seeding may allow some seeds to escape predation. The implications of these results for oak dispersal
and regeneration along edges in fragmented tropical forest landscapes are discussed. |
| |
| Keywords: | Oak Quercus Highlands of Chiapas Rodents Acorn dispersal Seed predation Masting Edge contrast |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
