DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9g785
title: Data from: Dispersal and establishment limitation slows plant community recovery in post-agricultural longleaf pine savannas

description: Abandoned agricultural lands often have distinct plant communities from
 areas with no history of agriculture because plant species fail to
 recolonize. This may be due to dispersal limitation from a lack of seeds,
 or establishment limitation because of unsuitable environmental
 conditions. However, few experiments have directly tested how restoration
 activities may overcome these limitations. We studied longleaf pine
 savannas in South Carolina abandoned from agriculture &gt;60 years ago
 that were immediately adjacent to remnant habitats (areas with no history
 of agriculture). Using 27 sites, we conducted a factorial experiment that
 sowed seeds of 12 species indicative of remnant communities and conducted
 restoration thinning of overstorey trees in half of 126, 1-ha patches to
 mimic canopy density of natural savannas. We also established vegetation
 transects to examine if restoration promotes spread of remnant species
 into post-agricultural areas. We found strong evidence for dispersal
 limitation in post-agricultural areas as over 99% of the occurrences of
 our focal species were in seed addition plots. Seed additions increased
 total species richness by 27%. Restoration thinning increased
 establishment in seed addition plots (measured as richness of sown
 species) by 126% and increased total richness by 88%. Restoration thinning
 also increased seed production in remnant habitats by an average of 6506%
 across our focal species. However, after 4 years, restoration thinning did
 not facilitate the natural spread of remnant species into adjacent
 post-agricultural sites. Synthesis and applications. We show that both
 dispersal and establishment limitation are key factors causing some plant
 species to be absent from post-agricultural sites. Dense canopy conditions
 limit seed production in remnant habitats and reduce establishment in post
 agricultural areas. Restoration thinning helps overcome these limitations
 and should facilitate the natural spread of species from remnant habitats
 but natural recovery may still be slow. Our results suggest that
 accelerating the recovery of post-agricultural habitats will require
 active restoration that reduces dispersal limitation (seed additions) and
 reinstates appropriate ecological conditions.
description: turley_et_al_2017_Plant_Community_data_2010-2015Plant community data from 10 x 100 m transects. See read me file for more info.turley_et_al_2017_seed_addition_plots_all_species_percent_cover_2015Plant community data with percent covers of all species within seed addition plots and paired control plots. See read me file for more info.turley_et_al_2017_seed_addition_plots_focal_abndances_2015Counts of focal species in seed addition plots and paired control plots. See read me file for more info.turley_et_al_2017_fecundity_2013Fecundity data (flowering and seed production) for several species growing in thinned and unthinned longleaf pine savanna remnants. See read me file for more info.turley_et_al_2017_species_codes_to_speciesList of 6-letter species codes and corresponding full scientific names based on up-to-date nomenclature. See read me file for more info.