Multiple Recruitment Limitation Causes Arrested Succession in Mediterranean Cork Oak Systems

By V. Acácio, M. Holmgren, Patrick A. Jansen, Ondrej Schrotter. Ecosystems, 2007

190 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Lack of tree regeneration and persistency of species-poor shrublands represent a growing problem across Mediterranean evergreen oak forests. What constrains forest regeneration is poorly understood, and restoration attempts have been largely unsuccessful. We assessed the contribution of four different mechanisms of tree recruitment limitation (that is, source, dispersal, germination, and establishment) in a cork oak (Quercus suber) system in southern Portugal. Using a combination of field studies and experiments, we quantified seed production, seed removal and dispersal, seed survival and germination, seedling establishment and survival, as well as cork oak natural regeneration for the three dominant vegetation types in this system (Cistus ladanifer shrubland, oak forest, and oak savanna). We found that all four forms of cork oak recruitment limitation were significantly more severe in shrublands than in oak forests and savannas, so that oak seedling recruitment in shrubland was impeded in multiple ways. Our results explain why transitions from shrublands to oak savannas and forests are extremely difficult, and that the release from arrested succession in this system requires the simultaneous relief of multiple constraints on recruitment limitation in the early life history of oaks. These results have important implications for the restoration and conservation of Mediterranean oak systems.

Subfields: Nature and Landscape Conservation, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8dac098e146bcd20b35fe61d9668637963a54ed1

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Citations in the corpus

Mediterranean pine and oak distribution in southern Spain: Is there a mismatch between regeneration and adult distribution? (2011, background): “Forest inventory data revealed an overall scarce regeneration in pine and oak forests of southern Spain, as reported in other Mediterranean areas (e.g. Ac´acio et al. 2008; Plieninger et al. 2010).”
Factors affecting post-dispersal seed predation in two coexisting oak species: Microhabitat, burial and exclusion of large herbivores (2008, background): “In contrast, most seed losses in other oak forests are caused by rodents (Borchert et al., 1989; Gómez et al., 2003; Pons and Pausas, 2007; Acácio et al., 2007), which are not excluded by fencing.”
Spatial patterns of recruitment in Mediterranean plant species: linking the fate of seeds, seedlings and saplings in heterogeneous landscapes at different scales (2008, background): “However, because only one of the studies considered more than one site per habitat type (Acácio et al. 2007), it is not possible to discern to what extent patterns interpreted as habitat-specific were in fact site-specific.”