Does life form affect tree species assembly? A demographic study across the life history of a temperate forest in Japan

Abstract In this study, the dominant mechanism that defines the species assembly in an old‐growth temperate forest was investigated by analyzing the species specificity of demographic parameters in relation to the life history stage, testing the hypotheses that early life stages should be more critical for sub‐canopy species than canopy species. Data for 17 major tree species in the Ogawa Forest Reserve (OFR) in Japan were analyzed, together with data from early stages (seed production, seed dispersal, and seedling emergence) to dbh‐based transition probability and survival stages (5–80 cm). Both datasets were subjected to principal components analysis (PCA): one included tree of dbh