Where the lost seedlings go

A BLOG AND REPOSITORY ABOUT FOREST GENETICS, GENOMICS AND ECOLOGICAL GENETICS

Walk down a wild forest in spring (or during the rainy season, if you are walking down a tropical forest). You’ll walk on a carpet of tree seedlings, growing from the seeds dispersed by the trees in the canopy above your head.

It is a spectacular view, that gives you the feeling of how powerful forest dynamics are. It is also amazing to see all those tiny cubs, sitting at the feet of their enormous mothers.

But there is also a tragic side to this. Look better: there are much fewer saplings, even fewer sub-adults. No matter the tree species, most of those youngsters will die soon and suddenly, in a massacre that makes WWI trench warfare pale in comparison. The pyramid of ages is very steep.

What does this slaughter tell us about how forest ecosystems work? Jean-Pierre Pascal (‘JPP’), a brilliant and witty, now retired, CNRS (France)…

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