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Multiscale phenological niches of seed fall in diverse Amazonian plant communities.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Pak, D; Swamy, V; Alvarez-Loayza, P; Cornejo-Valverde, F; Queenborough, SA; Metz, MR; Terborgh, J; Valencia, R; Wright, SJ; Garwood, NC; Lasky, JR
Published in: Ecology
May 2023

Phenology has long been hypothesized as an avenue for niche partitioning or interspecific facilitation, both promoting species coexistence. Tropical plant communities exhibit striking diversity in reproductive phenology, but many are also noted for large synchronous reproductive events. Here we study whether the phenology of seed fall in such communities is nonrandom, the temporal scales of phenological patterns, and ecological factors that drive reproductive phenology. We applied multivariate wavelet analysis to test for phenological synchrony versus compensatory dynamics (i.e., antisynchronous patterns where one species' decline is compensated by the rise of another) among species and across temporal scales. We used data from long-term seed rain monitoring of hyperdiverse plant communities in the western Amazon. We found significant synchronous whole-community phenology at multiple timescales, consistent with shared environmental responses or positive interactions among species. We also observed both compensatory and synchronous phenology within groups of species (confamilials) likely to share traits and seed dispersal mechanisms. Wind-dispersed species exhibited significant synchrony at ~6-month scales, suggesting these species might share phenological niches to match the seasonality of wind. Our results suggest that community phenology is shaped by shared environmental responses but that the diversity of tropical plant phenology may partly result from temporal niche partitioning. The scale-specificity and time-localized nature of community phenology patterns highlights the importance of multiple and shifting drivers of phenology.

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Published In

Ecology

DOI

EISSN

1939-9170

ISSN

1939-9170

Publication Date

May 2023

Volume

104

Issue

5

Start / End Page

e4022

Related Subject Headings

  • Time Factors
  • Seeds
  • Seasons
  • Reproduction
  • Plants
  • Ecology
  • Climate Change
  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Pak, D., Swamy, V., Alvarez-Loayza, P., Cornejo-Valverde, F., Queenborough, S. A., Metz, M. R., … Lasky, J. R. (2023). Multiscale phenological niches of seed fall in diverse Amazonian plant communities. Ecology, 104(5), e4022. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4022
Pak, Damie, Varun Swamy, Patricia Alvarez-Loayza, Fernando Cornejo-Valverde, Simon A. Queenborough, Margaret R. Metz, John Terborgh, et al. “Multiscale phenological niches of seed fall in diverse Amazonian plant communities.Ecology 104, no. 5 (May 2023): e4022. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4022.
Pak D, Swamy V, Alvarez-Loayza P, Cornejo-Valverde F, Queenborough SA, Metz MR, et al. Multiscale phenological niches of seed fall in diverse Amazonian plant communities. Ecology. 2023 May;104(5):e4022.
Pak, Damie, et al. “Multiscale phenological niches of seed fall in diverse Amazonian plant communities.Ecology, vol. 104, no. 5, May 2023, p. e4022. Epmc, doi:10.1002/ecy.4022.
Pak D, Swamy V, Alvarez-Loayza P, Cornejo-Valverde F, Queenborough SA, Metz MR, Terborgh J, Valencia R, Wright SJ, Garwood NC, Lasky JR. Multiscale phenological niches of seed fall in diverse Amazonian plant communities. Ecology. 2023 May;104(5):e4022.
Journal cover image

Published In

Ecology

DOI

EISSN

1939-9170

ISSN

1939-9170

Publication Date

May 2023

Volume

104

Issue

5

Start / End Page

e4022

Related Subject Headings

  • Time Factors
  • Seeds
  • Seasons
  • Reproduction
  • Plants
  • Ecology
  • Climate Change
  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 3103 Ecology