We investigated the role of the fern understory of closed-canopy forests as
an ecological filter shaping the density, species composition, size struct
ure, and spatial distribution of the seedling bank. In New England deciduou
s forests we tested the hypothesis that the understory stratum is a selecti
ve filter that differentially influences growth and survival of tree-seedli
ng species by comparing performance of Acer rubrum, Betula alleghaniensis,
and Quercus rubra seedlings in plots where the fern understory was undistur
bed, partially removed, or completely removed. We related seedling growth a
nd survival to microenvironmental characteristics of experimental plots in
order to further explore mechanisms responsible for the filtering capacity
of the fern understory.
The presence of a fern understory reduced growth and survival of all seedli
ng species, but the magnitude of the effect differed among species. Mortali
ty resulting from resource limitation in Quercus below the fern understory
was balanced by mortality resulting from insect herbivory in fern-free area
s. Relative biomass growth rates of all species were negatively influenced
by the presence of fern cover, whereas relative height growth rates of Acer
and Quercus were uniformly low and insensitive to the presence of fern cov
er. Growth and survival rates indicate that only Quercus seedlings can emer
ge from the fern stratum in the absence of understory or overstory canopy d
isturbance. A trade-off between persistence in low light and maximum growth
in understory light levels was observed among species. The relative growth
rate of Betula in terms of biomass and height was more responsive to light
levels than were relative growth rates of Acer or Quercus, and the growth
rate of Betula was higher than that of Acer and Quercus in all light levels
. However, survival of Betula below the fern stratum was lower than surviva
l of Acer and Quercus.
The fern understory has the capacity to selectively filter tree seedlings a
s they grow up through it because seedling species respond differentially t
o the presence of fern cover. The selective filtering of tree seedlings by
the fern understory results in a seedling spatial structure that reflects t
he spatial heterogeneity of the fern stratum. The seedling pool below the f
ern stratum has a lower seedling density and different species composition
and size structure than the seedling pool in fern-free areas.