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Modern high quality nursery trees pruning as knipboom grow and crop significantly better during the first years after planting in the orchard. High quality nursery trees perform better in the first years after plantation in the orchard than average or low quality nursery trees. Nurserymen are focused on production of such trees in the shortest time (one year). However, fruit tree species and varieties differ in their abilities to produce these trees. The goal of this work was to increase the quality and branching of one-year-old nursery trees at two plum and two sweet cherry varieties by the treatments of 12 different preparations of plant growth regulators (PGRs). Before lifting, branching and trunk parameters were recorded. Data showed that Ethephone+Putrescine+GA4+7 and Ethephone+Putrescine+6-BAP significantly increased almost all parameters at both plum varieties. Both sweet cherry varieties were sufficiently branching with Globaryl+epibrassinolide treatment, however the lateral shoots of ‘Celeste’ sweet cherry variety were of low quality. The same was observed after treatment with Progerbalin+4-CPPU+Putrescine. Sweet cherry ‘Kordia’ branched very well after Globaryl and TIBA+PBZ treatments too, however, the lateral shoots after treatment with the latter preparation were of low quality. ‘Kordia’ trees after Globaryl treatment were branched in 94% of cases with more than four lateral shoots.

In this study, 30 genotypes of genus Pyrus (five European cultivars, 16 Asian cultivars, three rootstocks, four interspecific hybrids, one landrace cultivar from Czech Republic (‘Krvavka’), Pyrus betulaefolia Bunge. and one intergeneric hybrid (Cydomalus)) were tested using AFLP markers. Twelve primer combinations generated a number of 1251 fragments of which 1064 were polymorphic with an average polymorphism of 85.3%. The dendrogram, created by using the UPGMA method, revealed a distinct genetic relationship between European and Asian pear groups. The intergeneric hybrid Cydomalus was separated in the cluster tree from both groups. The level of similarity coefficient between European and Asian pears was 0.75. Despite the fact that Pyrus betulaefolia Bunge was clustered in the European pear group, the average similarity coefficient between the European pear group and Pyrus betulaefolia Bunge (0.7704) was comparable to the similarity coefficient between the Asian pear group and Pyrus betulaefolia Bunge (0.768). Thus, the botanic species Pyrus betulaefolia Bunge can likely be considered as an intermediate genotype between European and Asian pears. The cultivar ‘Talgarskaja Krasavica’ (chance seedling of ‘Forest Beauty’), which pomologically belongs to the European pear group was clustered together with the interspecific hybrid ‘Wu Jiu Xinag’ (‘Ya Li’ × ‘Bartlett’) which on the other hand belongs to the Asian pear group. Thus, due to its position in the dendrogram the cultivar ‘Talgarskaja Krasavica’ could be considered as an interspecific hybrid.

The response of species to climate change is generally studied using ex situ manipulation of microclimate or by modeling species range shifts under simulated climate scenarios. In contrast, a reciprocal transplant experiment was used to investigate the in situ adaptive response of the elevationally widespread epiphytic fern Asplenium antiquum to simulated climate change conditions. Fern spores were collected at three elevations and germinated in a greenhouse. The sporelings (juvenile ferns) were reciprocally transplanted to each collection site. Growth and mortality rates were monitored for 2 years. Wild sporelings were monitored at two sites to assess possible transplant effects. Habitat suitability, indicated by overall growth and survival patterns, declined as elevation increased. Only the highland population showed significant adaptation to the “home” habitat, achieving the highest survival rates. Microclimate data suggest that the presumed genetic adaptation at the highland site occurred mainly in response to drought stress in winter. Based on our previous study on species distribution models, which projected an expansion in the range of A. antiquum under future climate change scenarios, the populations at the upper margins of the species’ elevational range may play an important role during this expansion, given their better adaptation to the shifting marginal conditions. Our study suggests that intraspecific variation should be considered when determining the potential impact of climate change on biodiversity.

We present the first checklist of vascular epiphytes in Taiwan, based on herbarium specimens, literature records, and field observations. Epiphyte phytogeography was analyzed using Takhtajan's modified division in floristic regions. We ascertain the presence of 336 species of vascular epiphytes (24 families, 105 genera) in Taiwan. Pteridophytes contribute most species (171 species), followed by orchids (120 species). Epiphytes contribute 8% to Taiwanese floristic diversity and epiphyte endemism is near 21.3%. The extensive mountain system is probably the most effective driver for epiphyte diversification and endemicity in Taiwan. Phytogeographically, Taiwanese epiphytes exhibit equal affinity to the Malesian region, southern China and Indo-China and Eastern Asiatic regions. However, some species have a disjunctive distribution between Taiwan and SW China and/or E Himalaya, presumably related to low habitat similarity with adjacent China and/or the legacy of Late Quaternary climate change. Vascular epiphyte distribution patterns corroborate the phytogeographical separation of the island of Lanyu from the main island of Taiwan along Kanto's Neo-Wallace Line.

Summary The bromeliad Tillandsia eizii is a striking species with large, colorful, and persistent inflorescences that can reach 1m in length. The value of this plant as an ornamental and its importance in cultural and religious activities has led to its overcollection in the wild. Clonal propagation via tissue culture may be a means to repopulate native stands while meeting the demands for this species as an ornamental and ceremonial plant. Adventitious bud proliferation was induced from axenically germinated seedling material. Parameters evaluated were the age of explant material at the time of transfer onto bud-induction medium, the concentration of plant growth regulators, and the period of exposure to induction medium. Light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) established the origin and development of buds. Twelve-week-old seedling explants rapidly initiated adventitious buds after a 30-d induction period on shoot-initiation medium. Adventitious buds were induced in 40% of the explants placed on media with 2mgl 21 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) (8.88mM) plus 0.1mgl 21 a-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (0.54 mM) with some cultures becoming highly prolific after repeated subculture. Shoots elongated in proliferating cultures, and plants were successfully acclimatized and planted into the greenhouse. The results indicate that tissue culture may be used as a means to propagate this epiphytic bromeliad species, which is being seriously affected by deforestation and habitat destruction. In addition, adventitious bud proliferation can provide a means to propagate superior genotypes.

Predispersal characteristics that affect the reproductive success in plants may influence their colonizing ability. We evaluated this hypothesis in two sympatric epiphytic bromeliads in Costa Rica, Guzmania monostachia and Tillandsia fasciculata, that show contrasting levels of local seedling recruitment. Genets of G. monostachia, the species with higher recruitment, may reach the reproductive stage faster because of a higher growth rate (6 vs. 13 yr). In addition, in established genets, new asexual ramets develop and reproduce annually, whereas in T. fasciculata, the slower offshoot development implies at least 3 yr to disperse a new batch of seeds. A higher and more continuous seed production in G. monostachia is possible because of a shorter time from flowering to seed dispersal (8–9 vs. 16–20 mo), along with the production of more flowers (29 vs. 22) and naturally pollinated fruits per inflorescence (89% vs. 79% fruit set) and more seeds per fruit (321 vs. 240). Both species showed a high occurrence of spontaneous autogamy that matched the highly selfing condition estimated using microsatellite markers. In all, G. monostachia displayed the reproductive traits of a pioneer species. Here, we emphasize the importance of seed availability in determining the population and community structure of epiphytic bromeliads in secondary and mature forests, along with factors affecting dispersal and plant survival. Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Tropical Research Museo Nacional de Costa Rica UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biología

The floral phenology, fruit and seed production, and self-compatibility of Werauhia gladioliflora, an epiphytic bromeliad with a wide distribution, were studied in a premontane forest in the Monteverde area in Costa Rica. The species presents the pollination syndrome of chiropterophily, and it is visited by the small bats Hylonycteris underwoodi and Glossophaga commissarisi (Glossophaginae). The population flowering period extended from October to early December (end of rainy season) and seed dispersal occurred from February to April (dry season). Most plants opened a single flower per night, either every day or at one-day intervals during the flowering period. In natural conditions, the average fruit set amounted to almost half of the potential output, but individual fecundity (number of seeds) remained high. Seed number per fruit and germination capacity after artificial selfing and out-crossing treatments did not differ from natural pollination conditions. Werauhia gladioliflora exhibited high levels of autonomous self-pollination and self-compatibility at the individual and population level, characters associated with the epiphytic habitat. These reproductive traits are also associated with early colonizer species, yet life history traits, such as seed dispersal, seedling establishment success, and growth, are likely to have a major role in determining the presence of this species in the successional vegetation patches scattered over the studied premontane area. Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Tropical Research Museo Nacional de Costa Rica UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biología

Each Christmas season, the abundance of terrestrial bryophytes in the Abies-dominated forests of the Sierra Chincua, part of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, attracts moss gatherers. Bryophyte mats are harvested as ornamentals, packed, and sold at the central auction of Mexico City. In 1996, we followed a group of about 10 family members in this activity and documented economic and ecological aspects. During the season they removed in total nearly 50 tons of fresh weight of bryophytes from the forest floor that was sold for approximately $3,500 USD, leaving behind a mosaic of gaps of bare soil in the mossy layer. The average gap size was 0.48 m2 and extraction intensity varied between 0.5 and 4.1% of the total surface area (2.14% on average). In addition, over 11,000 Abies seedlings were unintentionally removed. We are conceive that the Mexican norm for bryophyte harvesting is not in line with current practices and we recommend the inclusion of guidelines for patch size, and that harveste...

Se presenta una lista preliminar de 359 taxa de líquenes del estado de Chiapas, México, basada en datos de la literatura y colectas recientes de Breedlove y de Wolf y sus colaboradores. Se estima que el número total de especies para el estado es considerablemente más grande.

The epiphytic vegetation on host trees along an altitudinal transect on the west slope of the Central Cordillera in Colombia was sampled. Bark-type restricted sampling comprised four full-grown forest trees, not necessarily four species, at altitudinal intervals of c. 200 meters from 1000 to 4130 m a.s.l. and included the canopy. Both vascular and non-vascular epiphytes, the latter often more abundant in the montane rain forest, were included in the analyses. Using a method of direct gradient analysis, canonical correspondence analysis, the variation explained by various environmental variables could be discriminated from a great amount of variation that seemed not related to any ecological factor. To a large extent, the randomness in propagule supply appears to determine the floristic composition on branch/trunk segments. The grouping of releves in a phytosociological analysis concurred with a clustering of samples in an ordination diagram of the first two extracted constrained axes. The sample scores on these two axes were strongly correlated with the complex variables ‘altitude’ and ‘height within the host tree’. Specialists and generalists with respect to the two variables were defined based on tolerances provided by the canonical correspondence analysis as was the position of species on the gradients involved. Independently from any of the other variables entered, a relation between the epiphytic vegetation and host species was detected, particularly in the case of Brunellia occidentalis, a fast growing tree species of higher altitude. No relation between chemical characteristics of suspended soil in the Upper Montane Rain forest and its supporting species could be demonstrated.

The climate of forests along an altitudinal transect in the Central Cordillera of Colombia has been documented and their epiphytic vegetation described, using the Braun-Blanquet approach in phytosociology. With help of the classification computer program TWINSPAN, 528 releves have been grouped in 22 communities. Despite a considerable amount of heterogeneity between releves, the computer analysis revealed 4 main groups of communities, which proved to be altitudinally separated. In this paper, the first out of a series of two, the communities of a lowland forest and of the Lower Montane Rain forest are described. The recognized communities could be related to position within the host tree (...)

Flower predation or florivory may alter the sexual expression, floral display, and reduce the reproductive success in plants. In this article, we estimated the effect of florivory on the reproductive success of the epiphytic bromeliad Werauhia gladioliflora during 2001–2003 in a premontane area in Costa Rica. Floral buds of W. gladioliflora are attacked by the wasp Eurytoma werauhia (Eurytomidae), which inhibits flower anthesis. Nearly, a quarter of the sampled population flowers were lost due to wasp infection and it accounted for nearly 70% of the reduction in fruit set. Flowers located on the inflorescence upper segment had a higher attack incidence. In the studied population, florivory has a major role in the reproductive success of W. gladioliflora. Florivory on epiphytic plants is scarcely reported in the literature, but evidence suggests that this phenomenon is more spread in the epiphytic community. Whether florivory in W. gladioliflora is a selective pressure influencing the reproductive success or a localized factor operating at the studied population is a subject requiring additional data. Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Tropical Research UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biología

The difficult accessibility of the canopy of tropical rainforests is probably one of the main reasons why information about the nonvascular tree crown flora is scarce. In this paper full attention is paid to the epiphytic bryophytes and lichens of 59 barks type selected canopy trees, divided over 15 sites along an altitudinal transect ranging from 1,000 to 4,130 m in the Central Cordillera, Colombia. Species-area curves indicated that sampling at each investigated site (altitude) was adequate within the restrictions imposed by the sampling method. Ordination analysis revealed that altitude as a complex ecological factor explained most of the variation in the data. Alpha and beta diversity patterns along the gradient were different for mosses, liverworts, and macrolichens