DOI: 10.5061/dryad.b5mkkwhr9
title: Data from: Seed survival in tropical pioneer trees is unrelated to conspecific distance but linked to fungal infection

description: Plant demography is heavily influenced by individual survival at local
 scales, with host-specific natural enemies potentially reducing the
 survival of seeds and seedlings in high-density patches near conspecific
 adults, favoring heterospecific recruitment, and ultimately increasing
 local plant diversity. Enemy pressure should differ between sites directly
 beneath and away from their hosts’ crowns, between sites where their hosts
 are abundant versus rare, and among potentially competing plant species.
 Assessing the potential pathways by which enemies affect diversity at
 local scales requires coupling experimental approaches that track plant
 performance with characterization of their enemy communities. We focused
 on the fate of individuals at the seed stage, a critical demographic
 bottleneck in the plant life cycle. We tested how seed germination is
 affected by fungal infection, distance from the adult tree, burial
 duration, and host tree identity. We conducted a seed burial experiment on
 BCI, Panama, using four pioneer tree species. Seeds were buried beneath
 and 30 m away from adult trees and retrieved after 3 and 12 months. We
 measured germination, cultured seed-infecting fungi, and evaluated fungal
 communities using amplicon sequencing. Germination of all tree species
 declined with burial time. Germination of seeds buried below vs. away from
 focal trees also did not differ. Fungal isolation frequency and richness
 increased after burial but did not change with distance or identity of the
 adult tree. Fungal communities in seeds differed markedly among species,
 but distance, burial duration, and seed viability status had little effect
 on community composition. We found limited evidence that distance from
 conspecifics drives seed mortality in the soil. Nonetheless, seed exposure
 to the soil increases fungal infections and decreases seed survival,
 highlighting the role of fungi in seed demography. We recommend that
 future research explore the mechanisms by which host-generalist soilborne
 fungi may drive seed mortality in plant communities.
description: # Data from: Seed survival in tropical pioneer trees is unrelated to
 conspecific distance but linked to fungal infection Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.b5mkkwhr9](10.5061/dryad.b5mkkwhr9) ## Description of the
 data and file structure Seed survival in tropical pioneer trees is
 unrelated to conspecific distance but linked to fungal infection.
  **Authors**:  Daniela Varon-Garcia, Carolina Sarmiento, A. Elizabeth
 Arnold, James W. Dalling, Adam S. Davis, Elizabeth A. Bowman, Paul-Camilo
 Zalamea. Correspondence: Paul-Camilo Zalamea e-mail:
 [paulcamiloz@usf.edu](mailto:paulcamiloz@usf.edu) or
 [camilozalamea@gmail.com](mailto:camilozalamea@gmail.com) We conducted a
 seed burial experiment to investigate how fungal infection influences seed
 germination patterns and to examine the effects of distance from the adult
 tree, burial duration, and host tree identity on seed germination. We
 buried seeds of four pioneer trees (*Jacaranda copaia, Cecropia insignis,
 C. peltata, and* C. longipes) below and 30 m away from the crowns of adult
 trees of *C. insignis* and *J. copaia* at Barro Colorado Island, Panama.
 We retrieved seeds 3 and 12 months after burial, recorded germination,
 cultured seed-infecting fungal infections, and evaluated fungal community
 structure via a culture-independent approach. This dataset includes two
 files: i) the germination and MEA slant colonization for individual seeds
 of four tropical pioneer trees used in this study
 (slants_germination_all.csv, and ii) OTU abundance based on 97% sequence
 similarity for groups of 20 seeds per species
 (fulldata_p20_abundance.csv). The missing data are represented as NA. ###
 Files and variables #### File: fulldata_p20_abundance.csv
 **Description:**  ##### Variables * sample: pool of 20 seeds number *
 seed_species: species of seeds incubated in soil * time: burial time (3 or
 12 months, 0 corresponds to seeds that were never buried) * pool_type: 20
 seeds * tree_n: tree unique number * tree_species: species of tree *
 treatment: below or 30 m away from the crown * viability: 1 viable seed 0
 inviable seeds * distance_m: 0 or 30 m * Column J to column BXX: OTU
 abundance based on 97% sequence similarity for groups of 20 seeds per
 species #### File: slants_germination_all.csv **Description:**  #####
 Variables * seed_id: Seed unique number * seed_species: species of seed *
 seed_sp_init: species initials * time: burial time (3 or 12 months, 0
 corresponds to seeds that were never buried) * maternal_source: unique
 maternal source number * tree_number: unique tree number * tree_species:
 species of tree where seeds were buried * distance: 0 or 30 m * replicate:
 four cardinal directions * burial_date: burial date * recolection_date:
 retrieval date * measure: slants or germination * fit_to_use: 1 fit to
 use, 0 unfit to use * germination: 1 germination, 0 no germination *
 germ_date: germination date * box: unique box number for DNA extractions *
 position: unique position on the box for DNA extractions * cul_ID: unique
 ID for the culture * slant_date: culture date * viability: 1 viable seed,
 0 inviable seeds * TZ_confidence: 1: 100%, 0: 0% * fungal_growth: 1
 growth, 0 no growth * bacterial_growth: 1 growth, 0 no growth *
 contamination: bacteria or fungal contamination  * notes: notes