Mr. Guariguata et Gs. Gilbert, INTERSPECIFIC VARIATION IN RATES OF TRUNK WOUND CLOSURE IN A PANAMANIAN LOWLAND FOREST, Biotropica, 28(1), 1996, pp. 23-29
We evaluated the ability to dose wounds inflicted with a drill to the
trunks of seven common tree species from Barro Colorado Nature Monumen
t, Panama. We predicted that species lacking wood antimicrobial activi
ty would rapidly dose wounds to prevent pathogen entrance, while those
species with wood antimicrobial defenses need nor necessarily exhibit
fast wound closure. The species studied were Alseis blackiana, Gustav
ia superba, Miconia argentea, Poulsenia armata, Protium panamense, P.
tenuifolium, and Tetragastris panamensis. Callus, resins, and latex we
re all involved in wound closure, but mechanisms varied among species:
after 3 months, the only pioneer species, Miconia, had minimal diamet
er closure; Alseis showed intermediate closure only by callus; and the
other five species (which did not differ) had almost completely plugg
ed their wounds by means of combined callus and resin production (Tetr
agastris and both species of Protium), latex (Poulsenia), or callus an
d woody Bakes (Gustavia). Our initial prediction was supported for Gus
tavia and Poulsenia (i.e., rapid wound closure and no wood antimicrobi
al activity) but not for Tetragastris and Protium (that showed both ra
pid wound closure and strong wood antimicrobial activity); Miconia sho
wed slow wound closure and no wood antimicrobial activity. Only for Al
seis, was wound closure rate proportional to stem diameter growth.