Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-06T23:52:12.318Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spatial distribution, fruit production and seed removal of a rare, dioecious canopy tree species (Aglaia aff. flavida Merr. et Perr.) in Papua New Guinea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Andrew L. Mack
Andrew L. Mack
Affiliation:
University of Miami, Department of Biology, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

All mature individuals of Aglaia aff. flavida (Meliaceae) were mapped in a 260 ha study area at the Crater Mountain Biological Research Station in Papua New Guinea. Sixty-four reproductively mature trees were found in an aggregated distribution with a mean inter-tree distance of 88.9 m. The sample consisted of 35 female and 29 male trees with a mean shortest distance between sexes of 232 m. Seed production and seed removal of 22 female trees was monitored throughout the 1992 fruiting season. Female trees with in 200 m of male trees generally produced large seeds crops (> 100 seeds) whereas trees farther than 200 m from the nearest male had small seed crops (< 100 seeds) regardless of female size (DBH). Most seeds (63.2%, n = 3312) produced in a sub-sample of 22 trees came from the five most fecund trees, which also produced 74.1% of the seeds that were removed by vertebrate dispersers. Where a minority of a population of rare tropical trees produce the majority of progeny, sustainable harvest practices would be most effective where highly fecund individuals are identified and conserved.

Keywords

cassowaryconservationdioecyMeliaceaePapua New Guineaseed dispersaltropical rainforest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , May 1997 , pp. 305 - 316
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.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Ashton, P. S. 1984. Biosystematics of tropical forest plants: a problem of rare species. Pp. 497–518 in Grant, W. F. (ed.). Plant biosystematics. Academic Press, Orlando.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, S. C. H. & Thomson, J. D. 1982. Spatial pattern, floral sex ratios, and fecundity in dioecious Aralia nudicaulis (Araliaceae). Canadian Journal of Botany 60:1662–1670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bawa, K. S. 1980. Evolution of dioecy in flowering plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11:15–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bawa, K. S. 1992. Mating systems, genetic differentiation and speciation in tropical rain forest plants. Biotropica 24:250–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bawa, K. S. 1994. Pollinators of tropical dioecious angiosperms: a reassessment? No, not yet. American Journal of Botany 81:456–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bawa, K. S., Bullock, S. H., Perry, D. R., Coville, R. E. & Grayum, M. H. 1985a. Reproductive biology of tropical lowland rainforest trees. II. Pollination systems. American Journal of Botany 72:346–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bawa, K. S. & Krugman, S. L. 1991. Reproductive biology and genetics of tropical trees in relation to conservation and management. Pp. 119–136 in Gomez-Pompa, A., Whitmore, T. C. & Hadley, M. (eds). Rain forest regeneration and management, Man and Biosphere Series, vol. 6. Parthenon Publishing Co., Park Ridge, N.J., USA.Google Scholar
Bawa, K. S. & Opler, P. A. 1975. Dioecism in tropical forest trees. Evolution 29:167–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bawa, K. S., Perry, D. R. & Beach, J. H. 1985b. Reproductive biology of tropical lowland rain forest trees. I. Sexual systems and incompatibility mechanisms. American Journal of Botany 72:331–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beehler, B. M., Pratt, T. K. & Zimmerman, D. A. 1986. Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Bullock, S. H. & Bawa, K. S. 1981. Sexual dimorphism and the annual flowering pattern in Jacaratia dolichaula (D. Smith) Woodson (Caricaceae) in a Costan Rican rain forest. Ecology 62:1494–1504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, K. M., Whitham, T. G. & Balda, R. P. 1991. Discrimination among pinyon pine trees by Clark's Nutcrackers: effects of cone crop size and cone characters. Oecologia 86:402–407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, D. A. & Clark, D. B. 1984. Spacing dynamics of a tropical rainforest tree: evaluation of the Janzen-Connell model. American Naturalist 124:769–788.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D. A. & Clark, D. B. 1992. Life history diversity of canopy and emergent trees in a neotropical rain forest. Ecology Monographs 62:315–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, P. J. & Evans, F. C. 1954. Distance to nearest neighbor as a measure of spatial relationships in populations. Ecology 35:445–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denslow, J. S. 1987. Fruit removal rates from aggregated and isolated bushes of the red elderberry, Sambucus pubens. Canadian Journal of Botany 65:1229–1235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, M. S. 1990. Factors influencing bird foraging preferences among conspecific fruit trees. Condor 92:844–854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
French, K., O'Dowd, D. J. & Lill, A. 1992. Fruit removal of Coprosma quadrifida (Rubiaceae) by birds in south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 17:35–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gentry, A. H. 1974. Flowering phenology and diversity in tropical Bignoniaceae. Biotropica 6:64–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Givnish, T. J. 1980. Ecological constraints on the evolution of breeding systems in seed plants: dioecy and dispersal in gymnosperms. Evolution 34:959–972.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gomez-Pompa, A. & Burley, F. W. 1991. The management of natural tropical forests. Pp. 3–18 in Gomez-Pompa, A., Whitmore, T. C. & Hadley, M. (eds). Rain forest regeneration and management, Man and Biosphere Series, vol. 6. Parthenon Publishing Co., Park Ridge, N.J. USA.Google Scholar
House, S. M. 1992. Population density and fruit set in three dioecious tree species in an Australian tropical rain forest. Journal of Ecology 80:57–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howe, H. F. & De Steven, D. 1979. Fruit production, migrant bird visitation, and seed dispersal of Guarea glabra in Panama. Oecologia 39:185–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hubbell, S. P. & Foster, R. B. 1986. Commonness and rarity in a neotropical forest: implications for tropical tree conservation. Pp. 205–231 in Soulé, M. E. (ed.). Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA.Google Scholar
Jordano, P. 1982. Migrant birds are the main seed dispersers of blackberries in southern Spain. Oikos 38:183–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunin, W. E. 1992. Density and reproductive success in wild populations of Diplotaxis erucoides (Brassicaceae). Oecologia 91:129–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kunin, W. E. 1993. Sex and the single mustard: population density and pollinator behavior effects on seed-set. Ecology 74:2145–2160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mack, A. L. 1995a. Distance and non-randomness of seed dispersal by the dwarf cassowary Casuarius bennetti. Ecography 18:286–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mack, A. L. 1995b. Seed dispersal by the Dwarf Cassowary, Casuarius bennetti, in Papua New Guinea. PhD Dissertation, Unviersity of Miami, Florida, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manasse, R. S. & Howe, H. F. 1983. Competition for dispersal agents among tropical trees: influences of neighbors. Oecologia 59:185–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, T. E. 1985. Resource selection by tropical frugivorous birds: integrating multiple interactions. Oecologia 66:563–573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, L. A. & Willson, M. F. 1982. The effect of microhabitat, spatial distribution, and display size on dispersal of Lindera benzoin by avian frugivores. Canadian Journal of Botany 60:557–560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oldeman, R. A. A. & Van Dijk, R. 1991. Diagnosis of the temperament of tropical rain forest trees. Pp. 21–65 in Gomez-Pompa, A., Whitmore, T. C. & Hadley, M. (eds). Rain forest regeneration and management, Man and Biosphere Series, vol. 6. Parthenon Publishing Co., Park Ridge, N.J., USA.Google Scholar
Paijmans, K. (ed.) 1976. New Guinea vegetation. National University Press, Canberra.Google Scholar
Pannell, C- M. 1992. A taxonomic monograph of the genus Aglaia Lour. (Meliaceae), Kew Bulletin Additional Series, vol. 16. HMSO, London, England.Google Scholar
Platt, W. J., Hill, G. R. & Clark, S. 1974. Seed production in a prairie legume (Astragalus canadensis L). Oecologia 17:55–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pratt, T. K. 1983. The diet of the dwarf cassowary, Casuarius bennetti picticollis, at Wau, Papua New Guinea. Emu 82:283–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowitz, D., Cairns, S. & Dillon, T. 1986. Seven forms of rarity and their frequency in the flora of the British Isles. Pp. 182–204 in Soulé, M. E. (ed.). Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA.Google Scholar
Rodan, B. D., Newton, A. C. & Verissimo, A. 1992. Mahogany conservation: status and policy initiatives. Environment Conservation 19:331–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sargent, S. 1990. Neighborhood effects on fruit removal by birds: a field experiment with Viburnum dentatum (Caprifoliaceae). Ecology 71:1289–1298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silander, J. A. J. 1978. Density-dependent control of reproductive success in Cassia biflora. Biotropica 10:292–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, D. F. 1985. On tests of spatial randomness using mean nearest neighbor distance. Ecology 66:1084–1085.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terborgh, J. 1990. Seed and fruit dispersal – Commentary. Pp. 181–190 in Bawa, K. S. & Hadley, M. (eds). Reproductive ecology of tropical forest plants, Man and Biosphere Series, vol. 7. Parthenon Publishing Co., Park Ridge, N.J., USA.Google Scholar
Thomas, S. C. & Lafrankie, J. V. 1993. Sex, size, and interyear variation in flowering among dioecious trees of the Malayan rain forest. Ecology 74:1529–1537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, J. D. & Brunet, J. 1990. Hypotheses for the evolution of dioecy in seed plants. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 5:11–16.Google Scholar