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Location Near Grass Patches Influences Establishment of Native Woody Species in a Puerto Rican Subtropical Dry Forest

Juan Gilberto García-Cancel1,2,* and Merari Feliciano-Rivera3

1Biology Department, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, PO Box 5000, Mayagüez, PR 00681-5000, USA. 2Current address - Department of Natural Resources Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. 3Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Kentucky University, 521 Lancaster Avenue Richmond, KY 40475, USA. *Corresponding author.

Caribbean Naturalist, No. 51 (2018)

Abstract
Invasive grasses can influence the diversity and survival of native species by changing disturbance regimes, e.g., promoting fire and altering nutrient and resource fluxes. The goal of this study was to assess how non-native and native grasses influence the establishment of native woody seedlings in the Guánica subtropical dry forest, Puerto Rico. This forest has been experiencing the influence of introduced non-native plants, altered disturbance regimes, and resultant changes in the forest community over the past decades. We selected 2 field sites with the non-native grass Megathyrsus maximus (Guinea Grass) or the native grass Uniola virgata (Limestone Grass). At each site, we randomly selected 20 grass clumps and 20 adjacent bare soil patches in which to transplant seedlings of 3 native woody species. We recorded seedling survival over a 23-month study period, with soil-moisture content recorded for the first 6-month period. Seedling survival varied from 0–15%, with the best survival in all 3 species occurring in the U. virgata grass edges (15%) as compared to other treatments (0%). Patches of M. maximus displayed drastic fluctuations in moisture levels, which may have inhibited native-species establishment. We observed the highest seedling survivorship in Coccoloba microstachya (Puckhout) and Erythroxylum areolatum (Swamp-redwood) individuals, suggesting that these species are good candidates for restoration.

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