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The diversity of forest stands may be affected by landscape fragmentation during periods of climatic change. A modified version of the Image model of the dynamic processes of establishment, growth, and death of forest trees is used in a spatially explicit framework to elucidate differences in the effects of both spatial structure and spatial processes. In cases with and without climatic change, the effects of including random or structured fragmentation and successively lower dispersal probabilities (increased chance of long-distance dispersal) are examined in simulation experiments. The exclusion of very low dispersal probability (p < 0.001) has an important effect on species richness. Barriers and random fragmentation...
With increasing elevation and corresponding changes in the macroclimate, forest zones in the Intermountain Region of western North America are often dominated in turn by Pinus ponderosa, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Abies grandis, an Thuja plicata. Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), and introduced annual grass now abundant in the Region's steppe, is uncommon in mature stands representative of these forest zones. In order to determine whether B. tectorum is largely excluded from these forests by insufficient seed dispersal or environmental restriction(s), the grass's demography was compared in each of four years among populations experimentally-introduced into mature forests. The number of recruits did not differ among the...
Studies examining plant distribution patterns across environmental gradients have generally focused on perennial-dominated systems, and we know relatively little about the processes structuring annual communities. Here, the ecological factors determining local distribution patterns of five dominant annual species distributed across micro-topographic gradients in ephemeral California wetlands are examined. Over two growing seasons in three vernal pools, patterns of inundation and above-ground biomass were characterized across the microtopographic gradient, population boundaries for five dominant species were documented and a reciprocal transplant experiment and neighbor removal treatment were conducted to test the...
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We quantified seed dispersal in a guild of Sonoran Desert winter desert annuals at a protected natural field site in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Seed production was suppressed under shrub canopies, in the open areas between shrubs, or both by applying an herbicide prior to seed set in large, randomly assigned removal plots (10-30 m diameter). Seedlings were censused along transects crossing the reproductive suppression borders shortly after germination. Dispersal kernels were estimated for Pectocarya recurvata and Schismus barbatus from the change in seedling densities with distance from these borders via inverse modeling. Estimated dispersal distances were short, with most seeds traveling less than a meter. The adhesive...
Ephedra (Gymnosperma, Gnetales, Ephedraceae) includes 13 species in the arid American Southwest that have three morphological types of propagules. We performed field and laboratory experiments on five species (E. torreyana, E. antisyphilitica, E. viridis, E. funerea, and E. nevadensis) that represent the three morphological types (dispersal syndromes) and two intermediate forms. Ephedra torreyana has large, winged cone bracts and small seeds that are largely ignored by animals and that are dispersed by the wind. Ephedra antisyphilitica has succulent cone bracts that are eaten by birds that disperse the seeds in their feces. Ephedra viridis has large, conspicuous seeds that are attractive to some rodents, which gather...
Abstract (from https://peerj.com/articles/286/): Climate change affects communities both directly and indirectly via changes in interspecific interactions. One such interaction that may be altered under climate change is the ant-plant seed dispersal mutualism common in deciduous forests of eastern North America. As climatic warming alters the abundance and activity levels of ants, the potential exists for shifts in rates of ant-mediated seed dispersal. We used an experimental temperature manipulation at two sites in the eastern US (Harvard Forest in Massachusetts and Duke Forest in North Carolina) to examine the potential impacts of climatic warming on overall rates of seed dispersal (using Asarum canadenseseeds)...
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Throughout western North America, warming associated with climate change is leading to both earlier spring peak streamflows and earlier seed dispersal, potentially reducing seedling establishment and in turn reducing the quality of riparian (near-river) forests, which provide critical habitat for diverse birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects, and food and shade for fish and other aquatic animals. This project aimed to predict these effects of climate change on cottonwood and willow tree regeneration in western forests by linking models of seed dispersal timing, streamflow hydrology, and seedling establishment, focusing on the upper South Platte River Basin as a study area. Results are expected to help...
    map background search result map search result map Seed dispersal of desert annuals. Projecting Future Climate Effects on Cottonwood and Willow Seed Dispersal and Tree Regeneration in Western Riparian Forests Seed dispersal of desert annuals. Projecting Future Climate Effects on Cottonwood and Willow Seed Dispersal and Tree Regeneration in Western Riparian Forests