Spatial patterns and demographics of Streblus macrophyllus trees in a tropical evergreen forest, Vietnam.

Abstract

Streblus macrophyllus is a shade-tolerant and subcanopy tree species common to tropical evergreen forests in northern Vietnam. However, its ecology is poorly known. We used spatial point pattern analysis to describe the spatial arrangement of tree individuals within a forest community dominated by S. macrophyllus. All individual trees with diameter at breast height larger than 2.5 cm in a 1-ha plot were mapped and measured. The overall pattern of this species was a regular distribution at scales up to 2 m. Its juveniles and subadults were strongly aggregated, but adult trees were regular at scales of up to 3 m, implying evidence of density dependent thinning. The spatial pattern of S. macrophyllus strongly affected the patterning of the whole plot. In S. macrophyllus, juveniles and subadults were similarly distributed relative to adults and showed additional clumping independent of the adults. The overall interspecific association between adults of other species and S. macrophyllus at different life-history stages also showed independence. We conclude that S. macrophyllus is a predominant competitor within the community and it follows a gap-phase regeneration mode.