Abstract
BackgroundPredicting how natural and anthropogenic drivers shape different ecological indicators, such as plant populations along environmental gradients, can be a relevant tool for establishing management and conservation criteria of tropical wetlands. We aimed to assess the effects of seasonal flood disturbance, type of grasslands and topographical conditions on Croton trinitatis population distribution in a tropical wetland.MethodsThe study was carried out in a seasonally flooded grassland (Central-West Brazil). We conducted samplings of soil on the dry and flood hydrophases of the Pantanal. We took the samples in eight seasonal ponds, with 1 km interval between them. Transects were marked during the flood period, observing the water level, one in the lowest zone, in the middle of the pond = low (ca. 60 cm deep), one at the pond edge = mid (ca. 30 cm deep) and one in the higher zone, on the external part = high (ca. 1 cm deep).ResultsThe results showed that the topography, seasonality, and types of grassland determine differences in the abundance patterns of adult plants and seedlings, and seed bank and seed predation. The abiotic factors can shape plant population-related ecological processes and patterns, with outputs (germination and predation) and inputs (local dispersion and from neighbouring areas) of proportional seeds for the population maintenance in this environment.ConclusionWe emphasize the importance of these findings, to show that abiotic factors are not the only ones to be considered in ecological studies of distribution and structuring of populations in habitats with extreme seasonal events.
Highlights
Tropical wetlands are among the most biodiverse wetlands and productive ecosystems on earth, harboring unique aquatic and terrestrial plant communities (Junk et al 2006; Kolka et al 2016)
After knowing the effect of predation on some key species, this may be a relevant premise to avoid underestimating or overestimating the effect size of environmental filters on those species whose predation is not possible to measure in the seed bank
We asked, what are the specific situations that seed predation changes on plant population-related ecological processes and patterns in wetlands? Based on this question, we propose a specific study on a population of Croton trinitatis, which is abundant (2.884 seeds·m2) in the Brazilian Pantanal seed banks (Bao et al 2014), as well as in the seedling banks (1.430 seedlings·m2) (Bao et al 2018a, b) and the standing vegetation in native and cultivated grasslands (Bao et al 2015)
Summary
Tropical wetlands are among the most biodiverse wetlands and productive ecosystems on earth, harboring unique aquatic and terrestrial plant communities (Junk et al 2006; Kolka et al 2016). The soil seed bank is the soil compartment, where persistent seeds are stored and remain dormant for a long time, and where transient seeds remain without dormancy for a short time (Boedeltje et al 2002) This storage allows the seeds to remain dormant without losing their viability; when these seeds (persistent and transient) have favorable environmental conditions they can germinate, or they either lose their viability or are attacked by herbivores (Huang et al 2020). To select a reference/key indicator species that allows monitoring and predicting ecosystem dynamics and stability (e.g., Stapanian et al 2013; White et al 2020), it is necessary to further evaluate anthropogenic and environmental filters (such as seasonality, type of grasslands and topography), and measure biotic factors on population-related ecological processes (e.g., predation on seed bank) (Maron and Crone 2006). We aimed to assess the effects of seasonal flood disturbance, type of grasslands and topographical conditions on Croton trinitatis population distribution in a tropical wetland
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