<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Seed removal in two coexisting oak species: ecological consequences of seed size, plant cover and seed-drop timing</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oikos</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2008</style></year></dates><publisher><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Blackwell Publishing Ltd</style></publisher><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">117</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1386-1396</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Seed predation and dispersal can critically influence plant community structure and dynamics. Inter-specific differences arising at these early stages play a crucial role on tree recruitment patterns, which in turn could influence forest dynamics and species segregation in heterogeneous environments such as Mediterranean forests. We investigated removal rates from acorns set onto the ground in two coexisting Mediterranean oak species –Quercus canariensis and Q. suber– in southern Spain. We developed maximum likelihood estimators to investigate the main factors controlling probabilities of seed removal and to describe species-specific functional responses. To account for inter-specific differences in seed-drop timing, two experiments were established: a simultaneous exposure of acorns of the two species (synchronous experiments) and a seed exposure following their natural seed-drop phenology (diachronic experiments). A total of 1536 acorns were experimentally distributed along a wide and natural gradient of plant cover, and removal was periodically monitored for three months at two consecutive years (with contrasting differences in seed production and thus seed availability on the ground). The probability of seed removal increased with plant cover (leaf area index, LAI) for the two oak species. Inter-specific differences in acorn removal were higher in open areas and disappeared in closed microhabitats, especially during a non-mast year. Despite later seed-drop, Q. suber acorns were removed faster and at a higher proportion than those of Q. canariensis. The higher probability of seed removal for this species could be attributed to its larger seed size compared to Q. canariensis, as inter-specific differences were less pronounced when similar sized acorns were exposed. Inter-specific differences in seed removal, arising from seed size variability and microsite heterogeneity, could be of paramount importance in oak species niche separation, driving stand dynamics and composition along environmental gradients.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Constraints and trade-offs in Mediterranean plant communities: The case of holm oak-Aleppo pine forests</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The Botanical Review</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2000</style></year></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">66</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">119-149</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">In this paper we review those aspects that are relevant to the development of a mechanistic ecological theory to account for the structure and dynamics of Mediterranean forests, focus- ing our attention on mixed forests of holm oak (Quercus ilex L.), a shade-tolerant, slow- growing species that resprouts vigorously after disturbance, and Aleppo pine (Pinus halepen- sis M.), a fast-growing, nonresprouting, shade-intolerant species. The main objectives of this report are: to introduce some of the primary features of these forests, showing their structural complexity and historical peculiarities; to show that much of this complexity can be concep- tually reduced to two main factors of variation, soil-moisture gradients and a complex inter- action of historical management and disturbance regimes; and to contrast the unique features of Mediterranean systems with other communities that have inspired generalization in ecol- ogy. Plants in Mediterranean-climate regions must face several environmental constraints dur- ing their life cycle: water limitation, competition for light, and a complex set of disturbance regimes, mainly fire, herbivory, and human exploitation. The response of co-occurring spe- cies to a given set of environmental constraints depends on a combination of physiological and morphological traits. In holm oak-Aleppo pine forests, the lower limit of distribution along a soil-moisture gradient appears to be controlled by dry-season water stress on seedling performance, and the upper limit seems to be controlled by shade tolerance relative to com- petitors. The processes that generate and maintain these patterns are related to the responses of the two species to the water and light environments that result from interacting gradients of disturbance and resource availability. The dynamics of mixed holm oak-Aleppo pine forests may be represented along two major environmental axes: water availability and light intensity; namely, time since last disturbance. At the regional scale, the presence of holm oak and Aleppo pine is expected to be driven mainly by the precipitation regime, with the proportion of Aleppo pine in- creasing toward the driest border and with holm oak being the dominant species in areas with higher precipitation. Changes of dominance of holm oak and Aleppo pine also re- spond to water availability at the local scale. In this case, variations between species de- pend on different factors in a complex way, because reduced soil-moisture levels may re- sult either from low precipitation or from topography and edaphic features. The dynamics of holm oak-Aleppo pine forests are also determined by temporal changes in canopy clo- sure; that is, forest recovery after disturbance. In this case, the proportion of Aleppo pine would increase in recently disturbed stands (i.e., with high light intensity reaching the for- est floor), whereas regeneration of holm oak would be dominant under partially closed canopies. Theories of forest dynamics developed in humid regions may apply only poorly to Medi- terranean plant communities, where vegetation change is qualitatively or quantitatively dif- ferent. Thus, succession in temperate forests appears to be driven by differences in light availability and shade tolerance; but in Mediterranean plant communities, water limitation is of greater importance for the distribution of forest species. In Mediterranean landscapes the interaction of life-history strategies with changing environments is difficult to infer from observational and experimental studies. A mechanistic approach, in which competi- tion or plant performance is measured as a function of resource availability, seems more feasible. The idea should be to develop multispeeies models calibrated specifically for Mediterranean forests in a combined program of modeling, field research, and experimenta- tion.</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>7</ref-type><contributors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">A model of stand dynamics for holm oak-aleppo pine forests</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ecology of Mediterranean Evergreen Oak Forests</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1999</style></year></dates><publisher><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Springer Berlin Heidelberg</style></publisher><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">137</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">105-117</style></pages><isbn><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">0070-8356</style></isbn><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Understanding the mechanisms controlling forest species dynamics and composition is a fundamental issue in silviculture and plant ecology (Oliver and Larson 1990; Crawley 1997). Over the last few decades a growing literature on ecophysiology, population biology and ecosystem ecology has contributed to the empirical, expertise developed by practical forestry during the last century. As a whole these disciplines have documented some of the most important processes that take place in forest ecosystems at different levels of biological organization, from leaf physiology to ecosystem function. Nevertheless, there is a rather limited understanding of how species differences scale from physiology to whole plant performance and how these whole plant processes interact with competition to determine stand dynamics and composition.</style></abstract><notes><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">APS</style></notes><research-notes><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">APS</style></research-notes><label><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Modelacao - crescimento</style></label></record></records></xml>