Seed germination in rainforest fragments

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation remain the greatest threats to the world's biodiversity¹. The local extinction of plant species from habitat fragments is common², although the reasons for this are not fully understood. Fragmentation is known to influence both birth- and death-related processes³, but the disruption of plant reproduction, especially pollination and seed production, is thought to be particularly important^4,5. The effects of fragmentation on post-pollination processes such as seed dispersal and germination have rarely been explored experimentally⁶. Here I show that seeds planted in forest fragments are less likely to germinate than those in continuous forest. This finding can have negative demographic consequences because it reduces the emergence of seedlings.