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Falling palm fronds structure amazonian rainforest sapling communities.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Peters, HA; Pauw, A; Silman, MR; Terborgh, JW
Published in: Proceedings. Biological sciences
August 2004

The senescence and loss of photosynthetic and support structures is a nearly universal aspect of tree life history, and can be a major source of disturbance in forest understoreys, but the ability of falling canopy debris in determining the stature and composition of understorey communities seems not to have been documented. In this study, we show that senescent fronds of the palm Iriartea deltoidea cause substantial disturbance in tropical forest sapling communities. This disturbance influences the species composition of the canopy and subcanopy by acting as an ecological filter, favouring sapling species with characteristics conducive to recovery after physical damage. The scale of this dominance suggests that falling I. deltoidea debris may be influencing sapling community structure and species composition in Amazonian rainforests over very large spatial scales.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

August 2004

Volume

271 Suppl 5

Start / End Page

S367 / S369

Related Subject Headings

  • Tropical Climate
  • Trees
  • Selection, Genetic
  • Population Dynamics
  • Plant Leaves
  • Peru
  • Ecosystem
  • Arecaceae
  • Analysis of Variance
  • 41 Environmental sciences
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Peters, H. A., Pauw, A., Silman, M. R., & Terborgh, J. W. (2004). Falling palm fronds structure amazonian rainforest sapling communities. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 271 Suppl 5, S367–S369. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2004.0197
Peters, Halton A., Anton Pauw, Miles R. Silman, and John W. Terborgh. “Falling palm fronds structure amazonian rainforest sapling communities.Proceedings. Biological Sciences 271 Suppl 5 (August 2004): S367–69. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2004.0197.
Peters HA, Pauw A, Silman MR, Terborgh JW. Falling palm fronds structure amazonian rainforest sapling communities. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2004 Aug;271 Suppl 5:S367–9.
Peters, Halton A., et al. “Falling palm fronds structure amazonian rainforest sapling communities.Proceedings. Biological Sciences, vol. 271 Suppl 5, Aug. 2004, pp. S367–69. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2004.0197.
Peters HA, Pauw A, Silman MR, Terborgh JW. Falling palm fronds structure amazonian rainforest sapling communities. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2004 Aug;271 Suppl 5:S367–S369.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

August 2004

Volume

271 Suppl 5

Start / End Page

S367 / S369

Related Subject Headings

  • Tropical Climate
  • Trees
  • Selection, Genetic
  • Population Dynamics
  • Plant Leaves
  • Peru
  • Ecosystem
  • Arecaceae
  • Analysis of Variance
  • 41 Environmental sciences