Competition between Eucalyptus victrix seedlings and grass species

Competition in a natural system may be interspecific or intraspecific. In semiarid ecosystems, competition for resources between established neighboring grass species and newly recruited seedlings is very high. To examine the effects of grass species density, growing space and time of establishment on Eucalyptus victrix seedlings (interspecific competition), and the effect of density and growing space within E. victrix (intraspecific competition) we conducted an experiment under controlled conditions. We tested four hypotheses (i) E. victrix seedling growth is not affected by grass density; (ii) there is no difference in E. victrix survival and growth between early and later grass establishment; (iii) interspecific competition is not more intense than intraspecific competition in E. victrix ; and (iv) growth of E. victrix seedlings is not dependent on available growing space. In a monoculture of E. victrix , seedling mortality was higher (10%) in large pots. In mixed culture pots, where E. victrix seedlings and grass seedlings were planted on the same day, E. victrix seedlings survived for up to 4 weeks, but started to die after week five in the smallest pots. However, mortalities occurred in pots of all sizes when grass was established before E. victrix seedlings. Results also indicated that the resources necessary for the growth of individual E. victrix seedlings were more limiting under conditions of increased density of neighboring grass species rather than intraspecific competition. In particular, photosynthetic area of E. victrix seedlings was drastically reduced in mixed cultures. Although density, pot size and time of planting had impacts on E. victrix seedlings, the patterns of these impacts were variable.