The Fate of Seed Banks: Factors Influencing Seed Survival for Light-demanding Species in Moist Tropical Forests

摘要

Seed mass in species-rich moist tropical forests often varies over six or more orders of magnitude (Foster, 1982; Foster and Janson, 1985; Hammond and Brown, 1995). Most of these species, including some with the minutest seeds (Metcalfe, 1996; Metcalfe and Grubb, 1997), can be classified as 'shade-tolerant' with the ability to establish beneath a closed canopy. Seeds of the shade-tolerators vary widely in morphology and physiology, but many are recalcitrant, and most germinate within a few months of dispersal .