Abstract
Spatial heterogeneity in microenvironments may provide unique regeneration niches for trees and may promote forest diversity. We examined how heterogeneity in understory cover, mineral nutrients, and moisture and their interactions with canopy gaps contribute to the coexistence of three common, co-occuring tree species. We measured survival and height growth of 1080 seedlings of
Acer rubrum (red maple),
Liriodendron tulipifera (yellow poplar), and
Quercus rubra (red oak) that were planted in one of five understory treatments: removal of understory vegetation, trenched, trenched plus removal of understory vegetation, fertilization, and a control. Understory treatments were replicated in 12 paired gap and canopy environments.
Keywords
Acer rubrum,
canopy gaps,
forest dynamics,
Liriodendron tulipifera,
Quercus rubra,
regeneration niche,
seedling growth,
seedling survival,
southern Appalachian forests,
spatial heterogeneity,
species diversity,
stochasticity
Citation
Beckage, Brian; Clark, James S. 2003. Seedling survival and growth of three forest tree species: The role of spatial heterogeneity. Ecology 84(7): 1849-1861