1 We examined how seed size and seedling growth rate influence recruitment success of neotropical pioneer species. We investigated the soil seed bank, and followed seedlings from emergence and establishment to the sapling stage in artificially created gaps in secondary forest on the Barro Colorado Nature Monument, Panamá. 2 To simulate microsite variation within gaps, litter addition/removal an...

In order to differentiate between mechanisms of species coexistence, we examined the relative importance of local biotic neighbourhood, abiotic habitat factors and species differences as factors influencing the survival of 2330 spatially mapped tropical tree seedlings of 15 species of Myristicaceae in two separate analyses in which individuals were identified first to species and then to genus....

It is generally accepted that larger seeds give rise to seedlings with better performance. On the other hand, the size that a seed reaches is genetically determined by at least two different traits ; the genetic variability of the developing embryo and the genetic variability of the maternal plant. Thus, the relative contributions of these two traits affect seedling performance by influencing s...

A field experiment with six treatments was conducted to study the nitrogen reserves in summer maize topsoil on the north China plain. Results showed that topdressing significantly increased topsoil nitrogen reserves. Summer corn topsoil nitrogen reserves were affected by several management measures. Shallow tillage, wheat straw no-returning and deep intertillage at the corn seedling stage signi...

Sod cutting (i.e. top soil removal) is a restoration management option for enhancing seedling establishment and for lowering the nutrient concentration in eutrophicated soils of nutrient-poor species-rich grasslands. Removal of the upper soil changes not only abiotic soil properties but may also affect the resident soil community. We investigated the effects of sod cutting on the establishment ...

Quantifying the relative importance of the multiple processes that limit recruitment may hold the key to understanding tropical tree diversity. Here we couple theoretical models with a large-scale, multi-species seed-sowing experiment to assess the degree to which seed and establishment limitation shape patterns of tropical tree seedling recruitment in a central African forest. Of five randomly...

Several factors decrease plant survival throughout their lifecycles. Among them, seed dispersal limitation may play a major role by resulting in highly aggregated (contagious) seed and seedling distributions entailing increased mortality. The arrival of seeds, furthermore, may not match suitable environments for seed survival and, consequently, for seedling establishment. In this study, we inve...

The Gilbert damping of ferromagnetic materials is arguably the most important but least understood phenomenological parameter that dictates real-time magnetization dynamics. Understanding the physical origin of the Gilbert damping is highly relevant to developing future fast switching spintronics devices such as magnetic sensors and magnetic random access memory. Here, we report an experimental...

Little is known of the co-occurrence and implications of competitive and facilitative interactions within sites. Here we show spatially disjunct competition and facilitation at forest edges, with beneficial influences of trees on seedling growth via increased ectomycorrhizal infection apparent from 12 to 20 m while closer to trees seedling growth is negatively correlated with canopy closure. As...

Patterns of seed predation, germination, and seedling herbivory were investigated in Panamanian forests. We hypothesized that seed and seedling survival would vary with differences in mammal community composition. We tested this hypothesis at five sites in mainland forests adjacent to Gatun Lake, full terrestrial mammalian granivore/ herbivore communities with top predators; at five sites on Ba...