scholarly journals Factors affecting the survival of tree seedlings following shifting cultivation in the Eastern Himalaya

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthik Teegalapalli ◽  
Rohan Arthur ◽  
Suhel Quader ◽  
Aparajita Datta

AbstractThe seedling stage is considered an important bottleneck determining forest community composition during succession. Seedling growth and survival are known to be affected by factors such as light availability, herbivory and competition with existing vegetation. A shifting cultivation landscape with a cycle of clearing and regeneration provides an experimental setup to understand secondary succession.We introduced tree seedlings of three species with differing life history strategies in an uncut forest and in sites formed 2, 6, 12, 25, 50 and 100 years following shifting cultivation in a subtropical landscape in the Eastern Himalaya. Seedlings of a pioneer species Saurauia nepalensis, a mid-successional species Terminalia myriocarpa and a mature forest species Castanopsis indica were introduced in plots with a control and three treatments: shading (light manipulated), clearing of vegetation (reduced competition), and exclosures (mammal herbivory excluded) and monitored for 18, 22 and 23 months, respectively.Saurauia survived relatively well in all sites, Terminalia seedlings survived relatively well in the 12 and 25 year sites, and Castanopsis seedlings survived well in the 100 year site and the uncut forest. In the early successional site, survival of Saurauia was higher within exclosures indicating negative effects of herbivory. In the same site, clearing vegetation improved the survival of Terminalia, implying competition with existing vegetation. Castanopsis had the highest survival in uncut forest and survival was almost nil in the early successional site.Synthesis: Seedling survival in a successional landscape depended on species-as well as site-specific factors. The existing vegetation in an early successional site had a negative effect on the survival of the mid-successional species, while herbivory had a negative effect on the pioneer species. Survival of the mature forest species in the early successional site was negligible but was high in old successional and uncut forest sites, indicating that mature forest species can colonize sites and survive only after certain physical and biotic aspects of the environment have been met. Our experiments were useful to examine factors that affect survival of tree species with differing life history strategies in a shifting cultivation landscape.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (24) ◽  
pp. 13966-13978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Catlin ◽  
Daniel Gibson ◽  
Meryl J. Friedrich ◽  
Kelsi L. Hunt ◽  
Sarah M. Karpanty ◽  
...  

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. TORIOLA ◽  
P. CHAREYRE ◽  
A. BUTTLER

Secondary succession in a 19-y old tropical rainforest of French Guiana was investigated through the distribution pattern of primary forest species. The experimental plot of 25 ha was logged to simulate conditions of a paper pulp cut. Enumeration of all plants of height ≥ 50 cm in 52 subplots 10 m × 10 m indicated the number of species and individuals in five species categories; short-lived pioneer species, pioneer species that persist in mature forest, primary forest species capable of germinating in shade, primary forest species that indicate a preference for clearings (small gaps) in mature forest and understorey primary forest species. Change in proportion of the most abundant species (≥ 1 cm dbh) over the last 15 y indicated a decrease in short-lived pioneer species and an increase in pioneers that can persist in the mature forest. Proportion of species categories per height class indicated that primary forest species were mainly found in the lower height class in this forest which is largely dominated by secondary forest tree species forming a canopy that rarely exceeds 20 m. Individuals of primary forest species were encountered on ARBOCEL as sprouts from large stumps, sprouts from juveniles or as untraumatised saplings or juveniles. The distribution pattern in a 4-ha area of 11 selected primary forest canopy tree species revealed an overall trend in recolonisation of this species category in the secondary forest. Considered individually, the clustered distribution of stems of Eperua grandiflora showed the importance of regeneration through sprouting or remaining individuals. The gradient distribution, oriented from the edge to the centre of the studied plot, and displayed by the stem densities of Virola michelii, suggested a recent progressive dispersal of seeds. A more dynamic recolonisation front was observed for the primary forest understorey species Cassipourea guianensis and was probably linked to both the initial logging conditions and the fact that this species fruits when relatively young.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Young Choi ◽  
Liliia R Abdulkina ◽  
Jun Yin ◽  
Inna B Chastukhina ◽  
John T Lovell ◽  
...  

Abstract Telomeres are highly repetitive DNA sequences found at the ends of chromosomes that protect the chromosomes from deterioration during cell division. Here, using whole genome re-sequencing and terminal restriction fragment assays, we found substantial natural intraspecific variation in telomere length in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice (Oryza sativa), and maize (Zea mays). Genome-wide association study (GWAS) mapping in A. thaliana identified 13 regions with GWAS-significant associations underlying telomere length variation, including a region that harbors the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene. Population genomic analysis provided evidence for a selective sweep at the TERT region associated with longer telomeres. We found that telomere length is negatively correlated with flowering time variation not only in A. thaliana, but also in maize and rice, indicating a link between life history traits and chromosome integrity. Our results point to several possible reasons for this correlation, including the possibility that longer telomeres may be more adaptive in plants that have faster developmental rates (and therefore flower earlier). Our work suggests that chromosomal structure itself might be an adaptive trait associated with plant life history strategies.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 939
Author(s):  
Yoko Watanabe ◽  
Kiyomi Hinata ◽  
Laiye Qu ◽  
Satoshi Kitaoka ◽  
Makoto Watanabe ◽  
...  

To elucidate changes in the defensive traits of tree seedlings under global environmental changes, we evaluated foliar defensive traits of the seedlings of successional trees, such as beech, oak, and magnolia grown in a natural-light phytotron. Potted seedlings were grown under the combination of two CO2 concentrations (360 vs. 720 ppm) and two nitrogen (N) treatments (4 vs. 15 kg N ha−1 yr−1) for two growing seasons using quantitative chemical analyses and anatomical method. We hypothesized that the effects of CO2 and N depend on the successional type, with late successional species providing greater defense of their leaves against herbivores, as this species exhibits determinate growth. Beech, a late successional species, responded the most to both elevated CO2 concentration (eCO2) and high N treatment. eCO2 and low N supply enhanced the defensive traits, such as the high leaf mass per area (LMA), high carbon to N ratio (C/N ratio), and increase in the concentrations of total phenolic and condensed tannin in agreement with the carbon–nutrient balance (CNB) hypothesis. High N supply decreased the C/N ratio due to the high N uptake in beech leaves. Oak, a mid–late successional species, exhibited different responses from beech: eCO2 enhanced the LMA, C/N ratio, and concentration of total phenolics of oak leaves, but only condensed tannin increased under high N supply. Magnolia did not respond to all treatments. No interactive effects were observed between CO2 and N supply in all species, except for the concentration of total phenolics in oak. Although the amounts of phenolic compounds in beech and oak varied under eCO2 and high N treatments, the distribution of these compounds did not change. Our results indicate that the changes in the defensive traits of forest tree species under eCO2 with N loading are related to the successional type.


2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1311-1329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Benvenuto ◽  
Sandrine Cheyppe-Buchmann ◽  
Gérald Bermond ◽  
Nicolas Ris ◽  
Xavier Fauvergue

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 363-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Facon ◽  
Jean-Pierre Pointier ◽  
Philippe Jarne ◽  
Violette Sarda ◽  
Patrice David

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carissa Jones ◽  
Isaac Rojas-González ◽  
Julio Lemos-Espinal ◽  
Jaime Zúñiga-Vega

Abstract There appears to be variation in life-history strategies even between populations of the same species. For ectothermic organisms such as lizards, it has been predicted that demographic and life-history traits should differ consistently between temperate and tropical populations. This study compares the demographic strategies of a temperate and a tropical population of the lizard Xenosaurus platyceps. Population growth rates in both types of environments indicated populations in numerical equilibrium. Of the two populations, we found that the temperate population experiences lower adult mortality. The relative importance (estimated as the relative contribution to population growth rate) of permanence and of the adult/reproductive size classes is higher in the temperate population. In contrast, the relative importance for average fitness of fecundity and growth is higher in the tropical population. These results are consistent with the theoretical frameworks about life-historical differences among tropical and temperate lizard populations.


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