Limitations to seedling establishment in a mesic Hawaiian forest

Author:

Denslow, Julie S., Uowolo, Amanda L., Hughes, R. Flint

Title:

Limitations to seedling establishment in a mesic Hawaiian forest

Periodical:

Oecologia

Year:

2006

Volume:

148

Pages:

118-128

Subject:

Acacia koa Grasses Invasive species Metrosideros polymorpha

Summary:

While invasive species may be visible indicators of plant community degradation, they may not constitute the single or even the main cause of limitation with regard to stand regeneration. As a result, the limitation to stand restoration that specifically addresses the relative importance of 1) dispersal limitation, 2) resource availability, and 3) competition on seedling establishment, was investigated in this study. Here, seed-augmentation and grass-removal experiments were done under different canopy conditions in an effort to assess the relative importance of these three conditions in the understory shrubs of the Sophora chrysophilla, the Dodonea viscosa, and the Pipturus albidus in a montane mesic forest in Hawaii. The study area was located in an Acacia koa-Metrosideros polymorpha forest that was at the 1000–1500 meter elevation on the leeward side of the island of Hawaii. This was a closed-canopy forest that had been historically subjected to logging and grazing by cattle and sheep. In addition, this forest was currently dominated by the exotic grass, Ehrharta stipoides, in the herb layer at the time of this study.

Label:

Ecology - Conservation

URL:

http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2074/10.1007/s00442-005-0342-7

Date:

May 2006

Collection:

Periodicals