Premium
Juvenile Demography of Copaifera pubiflora Benth. (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae) near Parent Tree
Author(s) -
RAMIREZ NELSON,
HOKCHE OMAIRA
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
plant species biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1442-1984
pISSN - 0913-557X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-1984.1995.tb00133.x
Subject(s) - biology , juvenile , caesalpinioideae , biomass (ecology) , botany , age structure , fabaceae , horticulture , demography , ecology , population , sociology
The age structure and distribution of seeds, seedlings, and non‐reproductive (juveniles) plants of Copaifera pubiflora relative to the distance from parent trees were studied in the Venezuelan central plains. Age structure differentiated between years when comparisons were made for plants in one‐year interval classes. This difference was associated with the proportion of plants less than one year old and those eight years old. Age structure did not differ between years when comparisons were made for five‐year age intervals. The age‐specific death rate ( q x ) of non‐reproductive plants grouped in five‐year intervals showed a zig‐zag pattern until 30 years of age. The age‐specific death rate in the first five years was lower in 1977 than in 1982. The finite rate of increase of juvenile plants was 1.06, and the average figures of age, biomass, height and density of plants per plot did not differ between 1977 and 1982. These parameters indicated a demographic equilibrium and the absence of an age‐plant hierarchy. The number of seeds and juvenile plants decreased with distance from parent trees. The correlation between plant and seed densities was significant. Multivariate canonical analysis indicated that the age, height and number of leaves of individual plants tended to increase with distance from the parent tree. A second canonical correlation, between density and distance, and the traits of plants by plot indicated that the maximum age and biomass per plot increased simultaneously with the density. These results exhibited a dichotomy between individual plants and the plant per plot behavior. Plant survival rate tends to increase with distance from the parent trees, but plants at high densities near the parent are never more than 30 years old.