Sessile organisms interact locallyon the scaleof their body sizes, and one of the great advances in population and community ecology is the use of individual-based models to examine species interactions (Biondini 2001, Bolker & Pacala 1999, Pacala & Deutschman 1995, Pacala & Silander 1985, 1987; Silander & Pacala 1985). Canopies are often taken as a proxy for body size in the plant literature, ...

Leaf properties vary significantly within plant canopies, due to the strong gradient in light availability through the canopy, and the need for plants to use resources efficiently. At high light, photosynthesis is maximized when leaves have a high nitrogen content and water supply, whereas at low light leaves have a lower requirement for both nitrogen and water. Studies of the distribution of l...

The successful invasion of exotic plants is often attributed to the absence of coevolved enemies in the introduced range (i.e., the enemy release hypothesis). Nevertheless, several components of this hypothesis, including the role of generalist herbivores, remain relatively unexplored. We used repeated censuses of exclosures and paired controls to investigate the role of a generalist herbivore,...

The effect of tobacco etch virus (TEV) (Genus: Potyvirus, Family: Potyviridae) on growth and yield of Capsicum chinense Jacquin cv. ‘Scotch Bonnet’ and ‘West Indian Red’ peppers was investigated. Peppers were manually inoculated at 7, 28 and 56-57 days after transplanting (DAT), which corresponded with early vegetative stage, onset of flowering and completion of first stage of flowering, respec...

The ability of giant hogweeds to form monodominant communities and even pure monostands in invaded areas has been well documented. Understanding of the mechanisms leading to monostand formation can aid in determining the limitations of existing community ecology models and establishing an effective management plan for invasive species elimination. The aim of this observational study was to inve...

Light models for vegetation canopies based on the turbid medium analogy are usually limited by the basic assumption of random foliage dispersion in the canopy space. The objective of this paper was to assess the effect of three possible sources of non-randomness in tree canopies on light interception properties. For this purpose, four threedimensional (3-D) digitized trees and four theoretical ...

Plants with simple architecture and strong constraints on their growth may offer critical insights into how growth strategies affect the tolerance of plants to herbivory. Although Dioscorea praehensilis, a wild yam of African forests, is perennial, both aerial apparatus and tuber are annually renewed. Each year, the tuber produces a single stem that climbs from the ground to the forest canopy. ...

Responses of understory plant diversity to nitrogen (N) additions were investigated in reforested forests of contrasting disturbance regimes in southern China from 2003 to 2008: disturbed forest (with harvesting of understory vegetation and litter) and rehabilitated forest (without harvesting). Experimental additions of N were administered as the following treatments: Control, 50 kg N ha(-1) yr...