Summary: Ecology, 88(3), 2007, pp. 582­588
Ó 2007 by the Ecological Society of America
DIVERSITY, HOST AFFINITY, AND DISTRIBUTION OF SEED-INFECTING
FUNGI: A CASE STUDY WITH CECROPIA
RACHEL E. GALLERY,1,5
JAMES W. DALLING,2,3
AND A. ELIZABETH ARNOLD
4
1
Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801 USA
2
Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801 USA
3
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2072, Balboa, Panama
4
Division of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Abstract. Recruitment limitation has been proposed as an important mechanism
contributing to the maintenance of tropical tree diversity. For pioneer species, infection by
fungi significantly reduces seed survival in soil, potentially influencing both recruitment
success and adult distributions. We examined fresh seeds of four sympatric Cecropia species

Source: Arnold, A. Elizabeth - School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona

Collections: Biology and Medicine