Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-4ks9w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-09T03:49:01.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seed damage tolerance and seedling resprouting ability of Prioria copaifera in Panamá

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

J. W. Dalling ,
Kyle E. Harms  and
Rafael Aizprúa
J. W. Dalling
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2072, Balboa, República de Panamá;
Kyle E. Harms
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
Rafael Aizprúa
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Panamá, República de Panamá
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Germination and seedling resprouting capacity of the very large-seeded tree species Prioria copaifera Griseb. (Fabaceae) was studied in the seasonally moist forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panamá. Seeds with 60% of their cotyledonary mass removed did not suffer a reduced probability of germination compared to unmanipulated seeds and seeds infested with up to eight insect larvae germinated as well as uninfested seeds. Unmanipulated seeds were able to consecutively produce up to four functional resprout shoots after excision of the initial, and subsequent, fully expanded shoots. Even seeds with up to 60% of their reserves removed showed some capacity to resprout. Less than 10% of seeds we encountered in the field 2 mo after the end of the fruiting season were in a viable state, with the majority (55%) of mortality attributable to insect or pathogen damage. Of the 46 seeds that were viable, 30% had suffered partial removal of seed reserves similar to our manipulation treatments. These results indicate that P. copaifera seeds are capable of tolerating severe seed and shoot damage. The selective advantage conferred by damage tolerance may in part have contributed to the evolution of large seed size in this species.

Keywords

El CativoPanamáPrioria copaiferaresproutseed predationseed sizeseedling damage
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , July 1997 , pp. 481 - 490
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

LITERATURE CITED

Bradford, D. F. & Smith, C. C. 1977. Seed predation and seed number in Scheelea palm fruits. Ecology 58:667–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cipollini, M. L. & Stiles, E. W. 1991. Seed predation by the bean weevil Acanthosalides obtectus on Phaseolus species: consequences for seed size, early growth and reproduction. Oikos 60:205–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D. B. & Clark, D. A. 1991. The impact of physical damage on canopy tree regeneration in tropical rain forest. Journal of Ecology 79:447–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coley, P. D. 1983. Herbivory and defensive characteristics of tree species in a lowland tropical forest. Ecological Monographs 53:209–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Condit, R., Hubbell, S. P. & Foster, R. B. 1993. Mortality and growth of a commericial hardwood ‘el cativo’, Prioria copaifera, in Panama. Forest Ecology and Management 62:107–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Croat, T. R. 1978. Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.943 pp.Google Scholar
De Steven, D. & Putz, F. E. 1984. Impact of mammals on early recruitment of the tropical canopy tree Dipteryx panamensis in Panama. Oikos 43:207–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forget, P.-M. 1993. Post-dispersal predation and scatterhoarding of Dipteryx panamensis (Papilionaceae) seeds by rodents in Panama. Oecologia 94:255–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foster, S. A. & Janson, C. H. 1985. The relationship between seed size and establishment conditions in tropical woody plants. Ecology 66:773–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, S. A. 1986. On the adaptive value of large seeds for tropical moist forest trees: a review and synthesis. Botanical Review 52:260–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geritz, S. A. H. 1995. Evolutionarily stable seed polymorphism and small-scale spatial variation in seedling density. American Naturalist 146:685–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, D. S. & Brown, V. K. 1995. Seed size of woody plants in relation to disturbance, dispersal, soil type in wet neotropical forests. Ecology 76:2544–2561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harms, K. E. & Aiello, A. 1995. Seed-boring by tropical clearwing moths (Sesiidae): aberrant behavior or widespread habit? Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 49:43–48.Google Scholar
Harms, K. E. & Dalling, J. W. 1997. Damage and herbivory tolerance through resprouting as an advantage of large seed size in tropical trees and lianas. Journal of Tropical Ecology 13:617–621.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartshorn, G. S. 1983. Pentaclethra macroloba (Gavilan). Pp. 301–303 in Janzen, D. H. (ed.). Costa Rican natural history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Holdridge, L. R. & Budowski, G. 1956. Report on ah ecological survey of the Republic of Panama. Caribbean Forester 17:92–110.Google Scholar
Howe, H. F. & Richter, W. M. 1982. Effects of seed size on seedling size in Virola surinamensis; a within and between tree analysis. Oecologia 53:347–351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howe, H. F., Schupp, E. W. & Westley, L. C. 1985. Early consequences of seed dispersal for a neotropical tree (Virola surinamensis). Ecology 66:781–791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inrenare, . 1990. Plan de acción forestal tropical de Panamá. Government of Panamá.Google Scholar
Janzen, D. H. 1969. Seed-eaters versus seed size, number, toxicity and dispersal. Evolution 23:1–27.Google ScholarPubMed
Janzen, D. H. 1983. Mora megistospema (Alcornoque, Mora) Pp. 280–281 in Janzen, D. H. (ed.). Costa Rican natural history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, C. D., Zona, S. & Nilsson, J. A. 1995. Bruchid beetles and palm seeds: recorded relationships. Prindpes 39:25–35.Google Scholar
Kelly, C. K. & Purvis, A. 1993. Seed size and establishment conditions in tropical trees; on the use of taxonomic relatedness in determining ecological patterns. Oecologia 94:356–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamb, F. B. 1953. The forests of the Darién, Panamá. Caribbean Forester 14:128–135.Google Scholar
Leigh, E. G. Jr., Rand, A. S. & Windsor, D. M. 1982. The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long-term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C.468 pp.Google Scholar
McHargue, L. A. & Hartshorn, G. S. 1983. Carapa guianensis (Cedro Macho, Caobilla). Pp. 206–207 in Janzen, D. H. (ed.). Costa Rican natural history. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Smith, C. C. & Fretwell, S. D. 1974. The optimal balance between size and number of offspring. American Naturalist 108:499–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smythe, N., Glanz, W. E. & Leigh, E. G. Jr., 1982. Population regulation of some terrestrial frugivores Pp. 227–238 in Leigh, E. G. Jr., Rand, A. S. & Windsor, D. M. (eds). The ecology of a tropical forest. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Snow, D. W. 1971. Evolutionary aspects of fruit-eating in birds. Ibis 113:194–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Troup, R. S. 1921. The sylviculture of Indian trees. Vol 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1195 pp.Google Scholar
Westoby, M., Jurado, E. & Leishman, M. 1992. Comparative evolutionary ecology of seed size. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 7:368–372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Windsor, D. M. 1990. Climate and moisture variability in a tropical forest: long-term records from Barro Colorado Island, Panamá. Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences 29:1–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar