Eriksson O, Ehrlén J
Department of Botany, Stockholm University, S-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Oecologia. 1992 Sep;91(3):360-364. doi: 10.1007/BF00317624.
Availability of seed and microsites, respectively, are two factors that potentially may limit recruitment in plant populations. Microsites are small-scale sites suitable for germination and survival of seedlings. We discuss this dichotomy of recruitment limitation both from a theoretical and empirical point of view. Investigations of recruitment in 14 woodland species showed that 3 species were seed limited, 6 species were limited by a combination of seed and microsite availability, and 5 species were found not to be seed limited, but the limiting factor was not identified. A "combination of seed and microsite limitation" implies that recruitment is promoted by increasing both seed and microsite availability. We suggest that the importance of seed limitation in plant populations has been underestimated, and that the operating limiting factors may be dependent on spatial and temporal scale. We expect that many species, if adequately studied, will turn out to be both seed and microsite limited. Experimental field studies that incorporate a range of seed and microsite "densities" in various spatial and temporal scales are needed to examine the extent to which plant populations are seed and microsite limited.
种子的可获得性和微生境分别是可能限制植物种群补充更新的两个因素。微生境是适合幼苗发芽和存活的小规模场所。我们从理论和实证的角度讨论这种补充更新限制的二分法。对14种林地物种补充更新的调查表明，3种物种受种子限制，6种物种受种子和微生境可获得性共同限制，5种物种未受种子限制，但限制因素未明确。“种子和微生境限制共同作用”意味着增加种子和微生境的可获得性都能促进补充更新。我们认为植物种群中种子限制的重要性被低估了，而且起作用的限制因素可能取决于空间和时间尺度。我们预计，如果进行充分研究，许多物种将被证明同时受到种子和微生境的限制。需要开展实验性田间研究，在不同的空间和时间尺度上纳入一系列种子和微生境“密度”，以研究植物种群受种子和微生境限制的程度。
