Spatial ecology and host diversity of three arboreal plants from Lord Howe Island
Thomas N. Dawes
A C , Ian Hutton B and Kevin C. Burns A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand.
B Lord Howe Island Museum, Lord Howe Island, NSW 2898, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: tom.dawes@vuw.ac.nz
Australian Journal of Botany 68(6) 458-465 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT20017
Submitted: 10 February 2020 Accepted: 1 October 2020 Published: 20 November 2020
Abstract
In canopy ecology, it has long been understood that different guilds of arboreal plants have different spatial distributions and degrees of host specificity. Here, we present a case study looking at how within-crown spatial niche and host specificity vary between three very different morphologies of arboreal plant on Lord Howe Island, interpreting these in terms of different water acquisition strategies. We quantify within-crown spatial niche and created a null model to test host specificity in three species with very different water acquisition strategies (a mistletoe, an orchid and a detritus-collecting fern). The mistletoe had greater host specificity than the two epiphyte species, and was restricted to thinner branches. The fern occurred further from the outer crown than the other species including on the trunks of host trees, and was the only species to show no indication of host specificity. Differences in distribution are consistent with differences in water acquisition strategy, providing an initial link between traits and spatial distribution, a potentially fruitful avenue of future research.
Keywords: arboreal plants, Dendrobium, ectoparasites, epiphytes, host specificity, Korthalsella, Lord Howe Island, micronutrients, mistletoes, parasitic plants, Platycerium, spatial ecology.
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