@Article{taiwania2010554373,
AUTHOR = {Su-Wei Fan and Cheng-Fu Hsieh},
TITLE = {Seedling Composition and Facilitative Effects of the Herbaceous Layer in
a Monsoon-Affected Forest in Nanjenshan, Southern Taiwan},
JOURNAL = {Taiwania},
VOLUME = {55},
YEAR = {2010},
ISSUE = {4},
PAGES = {373-385},
URL = {https://taiwania.ntu.edu.tw/abstract/1155},
ABSTRACT = {Tree seedlings play an important role in forest regeneration. To understand the factors that control seedling
establishment, we (1) compared the composition patterns of tree seedlings and their corresponding overstories, (2) examined the
relationships between seedling composition and environmental factors and (3) evaluated the interaction (competition or
facilitation) between seedlings and herbaceous layer in a wind-stressed forest in Nanjenshan, southern Taiwan. In the study plot,
seedling abundance of canopy, subcanopy and shrub species (with true leaves and < 1 cm diameter at breast height) and coverage
of herbaceous species (including herbaceous species, climbers and tree ferns ≤ ca. 1 m in height) were investigated on three
transects with a total of 180 contiguous 5 × 5 m quadrats. Clustering classification and ordination methods were used to reveal the
tree seedling composition patterns and the relationships between seedling composition and environmental factors. Correlation
coefficients were computed between herbaceous coverage and seedling abundance among herb-seedling species pairs and
between tall (≥ 1 m high)/short (< 0.5 m high) herbs and seedlings pairs to test the herb-seedling interaction. The spatial
distribution of tree seedlings presented a perfect match to the overstory vegetation pattern. There was a strong relationship among
seedling composition, herbaceous composition and topographic features, especially exposure to monsoon winds. Because of the
absence of strong correlations between herbaceous structure/species and seedling abundances, the strong linkage in spatial
patterns between seedling and herbaceous compositions suggests that certain plant species in the study plot have similar responses
to the monsoon exposure. Our results also indicated that seedlings < 1 cm in diameter were strongly influenced by wind stress,
similar to the response of the overstory composition, and that the facilitative/competitive effects of the herbaceous layer on tree
seedlings were relatively weak.},
DOI = {10.6165/tai.2010.55(4).373}
}