TITLE:
The effect of water-level fluctuations on swamp forest colonization by seedlings of Tabebuia cassinoides DC. (Bignoniaceae)
AUTHORS:
Mariana de Andrade Iguatemy, Pablo José Francisco Pena Rodrigues
KEYWORDS:
Tropical Rain Forest; Wetland; Seedling Establishment; Safe Site; Root Morphology
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.1 No.3,
November
10,
2011
ABSTRACT: Establishment of Tabebuia cassinoides seedlings is related to water-level fluctuations in southeastern Brazil swamp forests. Nine years of annual monitoring of 48 individuals established during a drought in November 1997, when the swamp was unflooded, suggested that their establishment depends on this unpredictable event. This conclusion is further sustained by the wide variability of the seedling cohort size structure, and the fascicular root conformation that holds the shoots erect.