Disperser Limitation and Recruitment of an Endemic African Tree in a Fragmented Landscape

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dc.creatorCordeiro, Norbert J.
dc.creatorNdangalasi, Henry J.
dc.creatorMcEntee, Jay P.
dc.creatorHowe, Henry
dc.date2016-07-08T11:58:42Z
dc.date2016-07-08T11:58:42Z
dc.date2009-04
dc.date.accessioned2018-03-27T08:55:36Z
dc.date.available2018-03-27T08:55:36Z
dc.descriptionForest fragmentation may have positive or negative effects on tropical tree populations. Our earlier study of an endemic African tree, Leptonychia usambarensis (Sterculiaceae), in the East Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, found poorer recruitment of seedlings and juveniles in small fragments compared to continuous forest, and concomitant reduction of seed-dispersal agents and seed dispersal. However, the possibility that other biotic or abiotic consequences of the fragmentation process contribute to diminished recruitment in fragments was left open. Here we test whether excessive seed predation, diminished fecundity, low seed quality, or adverse abiotic effects acted independently or in concert with reduced seed dispersal to limit seedling and juvenile recruitment in fragments. Extended observations of disperser activity, a seed placement experiment, seed predator censuses, and reciprocal seedling transplants from forest and fragment sources failed to support the alternative hypotheses for poorer seedling and juvenile recruitment in fragments, leaving reduced seed dispersal as the most plausible mechanism. Poorer recruitment of this species in forest fragments, where high edge-to-area ratios admit more light than in continuous forest, is particularly striking because the tree is an early successional species that might be expected to thrive in disturbed microhabitats.
dc.identifierCordeiro, N.J., Ndangalasi, H.J., McEntee, J.P. and Howe, H.F., 2009. Disperser limitation and recruitment of an endemic African tree in a fragmented landscape. Ecology, 90(4), pp.1030-1041.
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/2869
dc.identifier10.1890/07-1208.1 ยท Source: PubMed
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/2869
dc.languageen
dc.publisherWiley
dc.subjectAfrica
dc.subjectDoves
dc.subjectEastern Arc Mountains
dc.subjectEdge effects
dc.subjectFrugivory
dc.subjectHabitat fragmentation
dc.subjectInbreeding
dc.subjectMutualism
dc.subjectRodents
dc.subjectSeed dispersal
dc.subjectSeed predation
dc.subjectTropical fores
dc.titleDisperser Limitation and Recruitment of an Endemic African Tree in a Fragmented Landscape
dc.typeJournal Article, Peer Reviewed

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