James W. Dalling

TL;DR: It is found that belowground resource availability plays an important role in the assembly of tropical tree communities at local scales and provide the basis for future investigations on the mechanisms of resource competition among tropical tree species.

TL;DR: A trade-off between growth and mortality rates characterizes tree species in closed canopy forests and a growing consensus that seed mass, leaf mass per area, wood density, and maximum height are key traits among forest trees is agreed.

TL;DR: G gap-phase regeneration in an old-growth tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island in Panama is investigated, suggesting that lianas appear to inhibit non-pioneer tree survival while indirectly enhancing that of pioneer trees.

TL;DR: It is proposed that a seed size-dependent trade-off between dispersal success, and emergence‐establishment success (selecting for large seed size) can explain the maintenance of wide variation in seed size among pioneer species.

TL;DR: Evidence is found that limited seed dispersal is an important factor contributing, together with factors affecting post-dispersal recruitment success, to seedling distribution patterns in gaps, and regression models incorporating predicted seed rain were significantly better predictors of seedling recruitment than models in which recruitment probability was assumed constant in all sites.