Journal
NEW PHYTOLOGIST
Volume 181, Issue 4, Pages 880-889Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02708.x
Keywords
bamboo flowering; Chusquea culeou; forest regeneration; light quality; Nothofagusforest; phytochrome; red:far red ratios; seed germination
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Funding
- Fundacion Antorchas of Argentina
- US National Science Foundation
- Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research [CRN-012]
- Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica (ANPCyT) [PICT 2004-21247, PICT 2005-31970]
- University of Buenos Aires [G812]
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Rare gregarious flowering of understorey bamboo species occurs in temperate and subtropical forests around the world, but the ecological consequences of this phenomenon for forest regeneration are not well understood. Field experiments were conducted in an old-growth temperate forest in Patagonia, Argentina after a massive bamboo flowering event, to examine whether light quality and other changes in microhabitats could affect seed germination and growth of overstorey species. Germination of southern beech (Nothofagus obliqua) was positively correlated with red:far red (R:FR) ratios in a range of microhabitats generated by the death of the understorey bamboo (Chusquea culeou). Experimental modification of understorey R:FR ratios to mimic alternative light environments reversed this germination response in plots with senescent understorey, but not in plots with live bamboo. Laboratory incubations demonstrated a significant interaction between R:FR ratios and thermal amplitude in promoting seed germination. Microhabitats also significantly affected the growth of emerged seedlings. Microenvironmental changes generated by this flowering event appear to have opened a window of opportunity for germination and growth of overstorey species. We demonstrate that natural gradients in light quality associated with this ecological phenomenon are a major component affecting forest regeneration in this ecosystem. New Phytologist (2009) 181: 880-889doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02708.x.
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