Data from: Functional traits as predictors of vital rates across the life cycle of tropical trees

The growth, recruitment and mortality of seedlings ≥20 cm tall on Barro Colorado Island, Panama (625773 easting and 1011774 northing in UTM Zone 17). Seedlings were monitored in ~20,000 one square-meter plots within the 50-ha forest dynamics plot (FDP). The 50-ha FDP plot is a 1000 m by 500 m rectangle of lowland tropical moist forest inside of which all woody trees and shrubs with stems at least 1 cm in diameter at 1.3m tall (dbh) have been censused at ~5 year intervals since the early 1980’s. In 2001, 20,000 1 m2 seedling plots were established in a 5-m grid across the FDP, where all freestanding woody plants greater than 20 cm in height and less than 1 cm d.b.h. are measured, tagged and identified yearly until 2013 (except in 2005, 2007 and 2010; seedlings were not censused in a small subset of the 20,000 plots to avoid damage to previously established research plots; see Comita et al. 2007 and Comita and Hubbell 2009 for more details)

Potential of the seedling community of a forest fragment for tropical forest restoration Potencial da comunidade de plântulas de um fragmento florestal para a restauração de florestas tropicais

Forest restoration projects are usually planted with a reduced number of species as compared to standing forests, largely due to the low availability of native species in seedling nurseries. In the present study, the potential of the native seedling community as a source of seedlings for forest restoration is analyzed. To do so, the seedling community from a forest fragment located in the southeast of Brazil was evaluated. Individuals (tree and shrub species) up to 30 cm height were measured and identified in 20 4 × 4 m plots. Altogether, 6,136 individuals (17 individuals m-2) belonging to 119 species were sampled. The seedling community showed a spatial heterogeneity with respect to the density of individuals and composition of species, and also a spatial aggregation for the 10 most abundant species. Several species that occurred in high densities in the seedling community are not presently available in regional forest nurseries and are therefore not used in restoration projects. This result and the high number of individuals and species found in the fragment suggest a great potential of this type of forest remnants as a source of highly diverse seedling banks for use in restoration projects.<br>Devido à baixa disponibilidade de mudas nos viveiros florestais, os projetos de restauração florestal são freqüentemente implantados com um número reduzido de espécies. Avaliou-se o potencial da comunidade de plântulas como fonte de mudas para a restauração florestal. Para tanto, a comunidade de plântulas de um remanescente florestal localizado no Sudeste do Brasil foi avaliada. Indivíduos arbustivos ou arbóreos com até 30 cm foram medidos e identificados em 20 parcelas de 4 × 4 m cada. Ao todo foram amostrados 6.136 indivíduos (17 indivíduos m-2), pertencentes a 119 espécies. A comunidade estudada apresentou heterogeneidade espacial em relação à densidade de indivíduos e a composição de espécies e agregação espacial para as 10 espécies mais abundantes. Várias espécies encontradas em alta densidade na comunidade de plântulas não estão disponíveis nos viveiros florestais regionais e, portanto, não são utilizadas em projetos de restauração. Esse resultado e a presença de um alto número de indivíduos e espécies no fragmento florestal sugerem um alto potencial desses tipos de remanescentes como bancos de plântulas com alta diversidade, disponíveis para uso em projetos de restauração