Author, Title, Journal, Year, Volume, Pages

Research Article Summary

BIOL 501-Senior Project

Author, Title, Journal, Year, Volume, Pages	Jonathan H. Titus, N. Michele Holbrook, and Francis E. Putz; Biotropica, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Dec., 1990), pp. 425-428
Key Terms	Autotoxicity, germination, seed dispersal methods
Introduction/ Purpose	Research Question/Hypothesis	Methods	Results	Conclusion/Discussion
To investigate the epiphytic distribution and germination of Ficus_pertusa_L'>Ficus pertusa L. and F. tuerckheimii to elucidate establishment site requirements and to determine whether autotoxicity influences seedling distribution	Release of autotoxic substances would reduce the likelihood of epiphytic fig seedling establishment on seed-producing trees.	Freshly dispersed seeds were taken from masticated fruits or fecal matter collected from 10 trees each of the two study species. Germination was monitored in all experiments at 2-3 day intervals for 9-12 weeks. Seeds were planted in pots, petri plates, dark boxes, and/or branch crotches and watered or sprayed with different treatments consisting of varying combinations of spring water, conspecific stem-flow, and mixed samples of stem-flow collected from the tree species that frequently host strangler figs.	No differences in germination success were found among sunlit treatments in either potting soil or petri plate experiments. No seeds germinated in any plots on the ground. Mastication or gut passage of Ficus fruits was not a prerequisite for germination, but little germination occurred in the dark in either pot or petri plate experiments.	Considering that neither stem-flow nor extracts if macerated Ficus leaves affected germination of Ficus pertusa. or F. tuerckheimii seeds, autotoxic effects on germination can be ruled out. The possibility that pathogens prevent figs from strangling other strangler figs needs to be tested as does the likelihood of epiphytic fig seedlings fusing with conspecific hosts.