Evidence that fungal pathogens inhibit recruitment of a shade-intolerant tree, white birch ( Betula papyrifera), in understory habitats

Oecologia
D L O'Hanlon-Manners, P M Kotanen

Abstract

Evidence from tropical forests suggests understory habitats are associated with a high risk of disease, which may prevent the establishment of vulnerable tree species; in contrast, canopy gaps can act as refuges from these pathogens. However, few studies have investigated the impacts of pathogens on regeneration in temperate forests. To determine whether losses to fungi of seeds of Betula papyrifera, a light-loving species, varied between habitats that differed in their degree of openness, we applied fungicide to seeds buried in old fields, treefall gaps, and forest understory sites. We found that the application of fungicide significantly reduced losses in all habitats, relative to control values. This effect was habitat-dependent: the benefit of fungicide was greater in forest understory than in openings. This suggests that B. papyrifera is prevented from establishing in understory environments in part by its susceptibility to pathogen attack, and not solely because of a high light requirement.

References

Apr 27, 2000·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·N Brokaw, R T Busing
Nov 22, 1985·Science·P D ColeyF S Chapin
Mar 1, 2002·Oecologia·Frank J MessinaDurant E McArthur

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Citations

Feb 26, 2013·Ecology·Sarah McCarthy-Neumann, Inés Ibáñez
Apr 29, 2006·Ecology Letters·Thomas BellOwen T Lewis
Apr 22, 2006·The New Phytologist·Kurt O Reinhart, Ragan M Callaway
Aug 29, 2014·Ecology and Evolution·Meng Xu, Shixiao Yu
Apr 19, 2017·Ecology·Lorena Gómez-AparicioLuis V García
Jul 14, 2019·Global Change Biology·Dries LanduytKris Verheyen

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