Redwood forests contain some of the largest and most structurally complex trees on Earth. The most abundant vascular epiphyte in these forests is the fern Polypodium scouleri (Polypodiaceae). We measured dimensions of all 765 P. scouleri mats on 32 trees (27 Sequoia sempervirens, 5 Picea sitchensis). Eighteen P. scouleri mats from 11 trees were randomly selected for removal and dissection in th...

The processes that govern diverse tropical plant communities have rarely been studied in life forms other than trees. Structurally dependent vascular epiphytes, a major part of tropical biodiversity, grow in a three-dimensional matrix defined by their hosts, but trees differ in their architecture, bark structure/chemistry and leaf phenology. We hypothesized that the resulting seasonal differenc...

Information on dietary habits of mesograzers in Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows is scarce and restricted to a few species. Here we provide data on the most likely food sources for eight gastropod species inferred from stable isotope data. We observed very similar isotopic signals for all species regardless of trophic guild category, indicating similar consumption behaviour with a main diet ...

Recently, a number of publications have reported that many physiological properties of vascular epiphytes are a function of plant size. This short review will summarize what is known to date about this phenomenon, describe the possible mechanism and will discuss the consequences for the present understanding of epiphyte biology. Size-related changes are also known from other plant groups and it...

The study was carried out in a 3,000 m2 area of coastal Atlantic rain forest at Ilha do Mel island (25 degrees 30"S 48 degrees 23'W), on 100 assorted trees separated into 2 meter-high strata starting from the ground. In each stratum all of the occurring epiphytic species were recorded. The sampled species were grouped into three categories: exclusive, preferential, and indifferent, according to...

Despite experimental evidence for effects of primary producer diversity and consumer species diversity on population and community processes, little is known about how diversity at these multiple trophic levels may interact. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to examine the independent and interactive effects of seagrass Zostera marina genotypic diversity and grazer species diversity on seagras...

Plant leaves are inhabited by a diverse group of microorganisms that are important contributors to optimal growth. Biotic and abiotic effects on plant growth are usually studied in controlled settings examining response to variation in single factors and in field settings with large numbers of variables. Multi-factor experiments with combinations of stresses bridge this gap, increasing our unde...

Recent research on ecological networks suggests that mutualistic networks are more nested than antagonistic ones and, as a result, they are more robust against chains of extinctions caused by disturbances. We evaluate whether mutualistic networks are more nested than comensalistic and antagonistic networks, and whether highly nested, host-epiphyte comensalistic networks fit the prediction of hi...

Understanding how species assemble into communities is a key goal in ecology. However, assembly rules are rarely tested experimentally, and their ability to shape real communities is poorly known. We surveyed a diverse community of epiphyte-dwelling ants and found that similar-sized species co-occurred less often than expected. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that invasion was discouraged b...