Pervasive intraspecific density-dependent rather than phylogenetic density-dependent recruitment enhances seedling diversity in a subtropical evergreen forest

摘要

Negative density-dependent mortality can promote species coexistence through a spacing mechanism that prevents species from becoming too locally abundant (Wright 2002). Recently, both evolutionary theory and empirical results suggest that the negativeeffect of other plants should be higher for closely related than for less related neighbors (Metz et al 2010). We tested two hypotheses: (i) phylogenetic density-dependent recruitment is pervasive from the seed to seedling stage; (ii) phylogenetic density-dependent recruitment enhances seedling diversity.