Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, North Carolina, 27701, USA.
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York City, New York, 10027, USA.
Ecology. 2017 Mar;98(3):712-720. doi: 10.1002/ecy.1683.
Negative population feedbacks mediated by natural enemies can promote species coexistence at the community scale through disproportionate mortality of numerically dominant (common) tree species. Simultaneously, associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can result in positive effects on tree populations. Coupling data on seedling foliar damage from herbivores and pathogens and DNA sequencing of soil AMF diversity, we assessed the effects of these factors on tree seedling mortality at local (1 m ) and community (16 ha plot) scales in a tropical rainforest in Puerto Rico. At the local scale, AMF diversity in soil counteracted negative effects from foliar damage on seedling mortality. At the community scale, mortality of seedlings of common tree species increased with foliar damage while rare tree species benefited from soil AMF diversity. Together, the effects of foliar damage and soil AMF diversity on seedling mortality might foster tree species coexistence in this forest.
天敌介导的负人口反馈可以通过不成比例地杀死数量占优势（常见）的树种，促进群落尺度上的物种共存。同时，与丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）的联系可以对树木种群产生积极影响。我们结合了对来自食草动物和病原体的幼苗叶片损伤的数据以及土壤 AMF 多样性的 DNA 测序结果，评估了这些因素对波多黎各热带雨林中幼苗死亡率的影响，范围从局部（1 米）到群落（16 公顷样地）。在局部尺度上，土壤中 AMF 多样性抵消了叶片损伤对幼苗死亡率的负面影响。在群落尺度上，常见树种幼苗的死亡率随着叶片损伤的增加而增加，而稀有树种则受益于土壤 AMF 多样性。总的来说，叶片损伤和土壤 AMF 多样性对幼苗死亡率的影响可能会促进该森林中树种的共存。
