Many roads to success: different combinations of life‐history traits provide accurate germination timing in seasonally dry environments

• Published in: Oikos Vol. 130; no. 11; pp. 1865 - 1879
• Main Authors: Escobar, Diego Fernando Escobar, Rubio de Casas, Rafael, Morellato, Leonor Patricia Cerdeira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Brazilian savanna; cerrado; Coexistence; Community composition; Dispersion; Dormancy; Dry season; Ecological effects; environmental heterogeneity; fruiting phenology; Germination; germination niche; Heterogeneity; life history; Patchiness; Phenology; Phenotypes; Phylogeny; Rainy season; risk reduction; risk-reduction strategies; Savannahs; savannas; Seasons; Seed dispersal; seed dispersal syndromes; seed dormancy; Seed germination; Seeds; Spatial heterogeneity; spatial variation; Species; Species diversity; Wet season; Cerrado Biome

Germination timing is determined by several plant life‐history traits. Seed dormancy regulates the time and place of early plant development and spreads recruitment risks over time. Dispersal phenology and syndrome can influence germination timing and buffer spatial heterogeneity. The ecological req...