Fig. 1

Locations of the experimental sites (a), timeline (b), and experiment design for the seed‒seedling transition experiment (c). b After seed collection in October and November, the seed‒seedling transition experiment was carried out from December to May of the next year, comprising the seed-dispersal, over-winter, and seedling-emergence stages. c In each experimental site, we set up two parallel transects that were about 5 m apart and placed five seed stations along each transect with an interval of c. 5 m; searching radius was 60 m from the geometric center of seed stations; at each seed‒seedling transition stage, we measured the distance to the nearest conspecific tree (DTNCT) for each tracked seed and the distance to the nearest intact seed/seedling (DTNIS) for each intact seed/surviving seedling