Cover

Frontmatter

Contents

Contributors

Foreword by Peter J. Grubb

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Why seedlings?

1.1 Seedlings as part of a plant's life cycle

1.2 Vulnerabilities and bottlenecks

1.3 Making it: filters, safe sites, and establishment

1.4 Seedlings: a primer

1.5 What seedlings can tell us

1.6 The scope of Seedling Ecology and Evolution

Seedling diversity

Seedling natural history

2.1 Introduction

2.2 The seedling stage and fate of seedlings

2.3 Seedling types

2.4 Seedling diversity – morphology

2.5 Seedling diversity – ecophysiology

2.6 Vivipary and seedling equivalents

2.7 Longevity

2.8 Dispersal

2.9 Environmental filters and safe sites

2.10 Summary

2.11 Acknowledgments

Appendixes

Specialized seedling strategies I: seedlings in stressful environments

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Seedling establishment in dense shade

3.3 Effects of litter on seedling establishment

3.4 Seedling establishment in dry environments

3.5 Seedling establishment in saline environments

3.6 Seedling establishment in cold environments

3.7 Physical damage to seedlings

3.8 Interactive effects of stress agents and biological interactions

3.9 Overview: adaptations of seedlings to stressful environments

3.10 Acknowledgments

Specialized seedling strategies II: orchids, bromeliads, carnivorous plants, and parasites

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Epiphytic and terrestrial orchids

4.3 Bromeliads

4.4 Carnivorous plants

4.5 Parasitic plants

4.6 Summary and future needs

4.7 Acknowledgments

Seedling morphology, evolution, and physiology

Embryo morphology and seedling evolution

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Embryophyte phylogeny

5.3 Embryo structure

5.4 Embryophyte embryogenesis

5.5 Phylogenetic patterns

5.6 Concluding remarks

Regeneration ecology of early angiosperm seeds and seedlings: integrating inferences from extant basal lineages and fossils

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Previous views of ancestral angiosperm ecology and seed/seedling morphology

6.3 The phylogenetic revolution: inferences on early angiosperm regeneration ecology from extant basal angiosperms

6.4 Functional biology of basal angiosperm seeds

6.5 Functional biology of basal angiosperm seedlings

6.6 Outlook and recommendations for future research

6.7 Acknowledgments

Physiological and morphological changes during early seedling growth: roles of phytohormones

7.1 Introduction: phytohormones, molecular biology, and the “real world” of early seedling ecology

7.2 Seedling responses to light

7.3 Seedling responses to temperature

7.4 Seedling responses to water

7.5 Seedling responses to nutrients

7.6 Insights and common themes

7.7 Summary

7.8 Acknowledgments

Seedling ecophysiology: strategies toward achievement of positive net carbon balance

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Seed reserve utilization

8.3 Ontogenetic trajectories of seedling carbon balance

8.4 Species differences in inherent relative growth rate (RGR)

8.5 Opportunistic versus conservative strategies

8.6 Carbohydrate reserves

8.7 Phenotypic plasticity

8.8 Concluding remarks

8.9 Acknowledgments

The role of symbioses in seedling establishment and survival

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Ectomycorrhizal fungi and seedling establishment

9.3 Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and seedling establishment

9.4 Other plant symbionts and seedling establishment

9.5 Conclusions

9.6 Acknowledgments

Life history implications

The seedling as part of a plant's life history strategy

10.1 Introduction

10.2 The trade-off between offspring production and seedling survival

10.3 Understanding seed and seedling ecology as parts of a plant's life history strategy

10.4 Correlations between seed and seedling strategy and other aspects of plant ecology

10.5 Seed and seedling strategies within species

10.6 Implications of a holistic understanding of plant life history strategies

10.7 Conclusions

Seedling recruitment and population ecology

11.1 Introduction

11.2 The causes of seedling mortality

11.3 Recruitment limitation

11.4 Seedling recruitment and population dynamics

11.5 Genetic structure and selection in seedling populations

11.6 Concluding remarks

11.7 Acknowledgments

Seedling communities

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Internal drivers

12.3 External drivers affecting seedling communities

12.4 Seedling community assembly rules

12.5 Conclusions

Spatial variation in seedling emergence and establishment – functional groups among and within habitats?

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Description of the seedling stage

13.3 Definition of spatial scales

13.4 Microhabitat effects on seedling dynamics

13.5 Habitat effects on seedling dynamics

13.6 Landscape effects on seedling dynamics

13.7 Region effects on seedling dynamics

13.8 Biome effects on seedling dynamics: seed size and seedling survival

13.9 Synthesis

13.10 Acknowledgments

Applications

Does seedling ecology matter for biological invasions?

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Invasive seedlings

14.3 Invasive effects on native seedlings

14.4 Conclusions

14.5 Acknowledgments

The role of seedlings in the dynamics of dryland ecosystems – their response to and involvement in dryland heterogeneity, degradation, and restoration

15.1 Introduction

15.2 Importance of the seedling stage

15.3 Seedlings and spatial heterogeneity of drylands

15.4 Seedlings and dryland system degradation

15.5 Conclusions

Anthropogenic disturbance in tropical forests: toward a functional understanding of seedling responses

16.1 Introduction

16.2 Significance of the seedling stage for forest management

16.3 Effects of human disturbances on seedling regeneration

16.4 Application of seedling functional ecology to tropical forest management and restoration

16.5 Future directions

16.6 Acknowledgments

Seedling establishment in restored ecosystems

17.1 Introduction

17.2 Selecting initial community composition for restoration

17.3 Creating safe sites to promote seedling establishment

17.4 Managing biotic interactions that affect seedling survival and growth

17.5 Mimicking the effects of disturbances in restoration

17.6 Conclusions

Synthesis

The seedling in an ecological and evolutionary context

18.1 Introduction

18.2 Dispersal, seed bank dynamics, and seedling banks

18.3 Dynamics of individual seedlings

18.4 Seedlings in heterogeneous environments

18.5 Alternative strategies

18.6 Conclusions

References

Index