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Seed Rain–Successional Feedbacks In Wet Tropical Forests, Nohemi Huanca Nuñez, Robin L. Chazdon, Sabrina E. Russo
Seed Rain–Successional Feedbacks In Wet Tropical Forests, Nohemi Huanca Nuñez, Robin L. Chazdon, Sabrina E. Russo
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
Abstract
Tropical forest regeneration after abandonment of former agricultural land depends critically on the input of tree seeds, yet seed dispersal is increasingly disrupted in contemporary human-modified landscapes. Here, we introduce the concept of seed rain–successional feedbacks as a deterministic process in which seed rain is shaped by successional dynamics internal to a forest site and that acts to reinforce priority effects. We used a combination of time series and chronosequence approaches to investigate how the quantity and taxonomic and functional composition of seed rain change during succession and to evaluate the strength of seed rain–successional feedbacks, relative to other …