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Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2003; 5(4): 359-365
DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-42717
Original Paper

Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Seed Dispersal and Demography of Pioneer Trees: The Case of Hortia arborea

F. P. L. Melo 1 , M. Tabarelli 1
  • 1Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
02 October 2003 (online)

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Abstract

This study investigates the relationships among seed dispersal, patterns of seedling recruitment and the spatial distribution of a pioneer tree (Hortia arborea, Rutaceae) in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. The study was carried out at Dois Irmãos Reserve, a 387.4 ha reserve in northeastern Brazil. Fruit shadow concentrated beneath parental trees (74.6 % < 6 m distant) and fruit removal averaged 5.6 % (0 - 25.5 %). Agoutis (Dasyprocta prymnolopha, Rodentia) ate fruits in the forest and in captivity and were the only vertebrates recorded feeding on Hortia fruits. Agoutis, however, destroyed 86.7 % of the seeds they ingested. In addition, only one seed from an expected number of 1980 germinated in a treefall gap after it passed through the digestive tract of agoutis. Both seed germination and seedling recruitment were restricted to gaps, and occurred among seeds manually released from the pulp or among those from fruits that naturally rotted in gaps. Moreover, exposed seedlings were taller than those covered by plants in a gap. H. arborea appears to self-maintain populations in the same patches of forest, which are delimited by a pool of old and newly created gaps. More specifically, there is successful recruitment in patches occupied by parents, resulting in dense clumps of H. arborea.

Key words

Brazilian Atlantic forest - Hortia arborea - pioneer species - Rutaceae - seed dispersal - treefall gaps.

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M. Tabarelli

Departamento de Botânica
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Recife, PE 50670-901

Brazil

Email: mtrelli@ufpe.br

Section Editor: U. Lüttge

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