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Regeneration of deep‐forest Stemmadenia donnell‐smithii (Apocynaceae) at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico
Author(s) -
SHWEIKI SONIA,
HOWE HENRY F.
Publication year - 2009
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.1442-1984.2009.00259.x
Subject(s) - biology , apocynaceae , pioneer species , habitat , canopy , tree canopy , regeneration (biology) , ecology , old growth forest , ecological succession , microbiology and biotechnology
Stemmadenia donnell‐smithii is a subcanopy neotropical tree that occurs in a wide variety of forest and successional habitats. Often regarded as a species of highly disturbed habitats, we tested the hypothesis that regeneration in old‐growth forest is consistent with that of a late‐pioneer tree, with the number of established seedlings (stature <50 cm) near fruiting trees directly proportional to canopy openness ( r s = 0.82, P < 0.01). Scarce larger juveniles (stature >50 cm in forest conditions) occurred only under broken canopies.