Seed rain, seed predation and germination of native species in Pinus radiata plantations in south-central Chile: Effects of distance to native forest and presence of understory Lluvia de semillas, depredación de semillas y germinación de especies nativas

Abstract

© 2016, Universidad Austral de Chile. All rights reserved. Native vegetation development in forestry plantations may depend on seed dispersal, seed predation and seed germination. These processes may depend on distance to native forest fragments and presence of understory. In this study we evaluated the effect of distance to native forests on seed rain and seed predation and the effect of presence of understory on seed rain, post-dispersal predation and germination in Pinus radiata plantations of Chile. We installed seed traps, Petri dishes with Quillaja saponaria seeds and sowed seeds of this species at different distances to native forest fragments, in plantations with and without understory. The total number of seeds and species richness in the seed rain was negatively correlated to distance to native forests, although only in plantations with understory. The total number of seeds did not vary between plantations with and without understory, but the species richness in the seed rain