XVI International Botanical Congess
Ecological processes that influence plant performance and respond negatively to conspecific density at the largest scales can cause long-term species coexistence. We assessed evidence for the dependence of seedling survival over 19 months on the abundance of conspecific trees and seedlings at both wide (150 ha) and local (0.16 ha and 1 m2) scales, in a species-rich Bornean rain forest. At the 150 ha scale, we identified a community-level compensatory trend in seedling survival: more abundant species had higher seedling mortality among the 149 species. There were parallel trends at the population level on a local scale. Vertebrate exclosures had little effect on seedling performance, but weak density dependence in seedlings' pathogen-induced symptoms suggests that pathogens may be a source of the community compensatory pattern.