Evolutionary history and distance dependence control survival of dipterocarp seedlings

• Published in: Ecology letters Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 51 - 59
• Main Authors: Bagchi, Robert, Press, Malcolm C, Scholes, Julie D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2010; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; Borneo; Coexistence; community compensatory trend; density dependence; Dipterocarpaceae; Dipterocarpaceae - physiology; Ecology; Ecosystem; Evolutionary biology; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; General forest ecology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; herbivores; herbivory; host-range; Janzen-Connell hypothesis; Malaysia; phylodiversity; Plant reproduction; Population Density; Population Dynamics; Rainforests; Seedlings - physiology; species coexistence; Trees; Trees - physiology; tropical rain forest; tropical rain forests; Borneo; Asia; Malaysia; Borneo; host-range; Herbivorous; Plant juvenile growth stage; community compensatory trend; Tropical rain forest; Coexistence; Dipterocarpaceae; phylodiversity; Survival; Janzen-Connell hypothesis; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Host range; herbivory; Spermatophyta; Density dependence; Community; Distance; species coexistence
• ISSN: 1461-023X; 1461-0248
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01397.x

One important hypothesis to explain tree-species coexistence in tropical forests suggests that increased attack by natural enemies near conspecific trees gives locally rare species a competitive advantage. Host ranges of natural enemies generally encompass several closely related plant taxa suggesting that seedlings should also do poorly around adults of closely related species. We investigated the effects of adult Parashorea malaanonan on seedling survival in a Bornean rain forest. Survival of P. malaanonan seedlings was highest at intermediate distances from parent trees while heterospecific seedlings were unaffected by distance. Leaf herbivores did not drive this relationship. Survival of seedlings was lowest for P. malaanonan, and increased with phylogenetic dissimilarity from this species, suggesting that survival of close relatives of common species is reduced. This study suggests that distance dependence contributes to species coexistence and highlights the need for further investigation into the role of shared plant enemies in community dynamics. Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 51-59