| BACKGROUND: In arid environments, where light and water supply are patchy in space and time, differences in how seedlings tolerate drought and shade conditions will determine the ability of a species to establish. Understanding seedling responses to the interactive effects of water and shade is critical to predict the future impact of increasing drought frequencies on plant communities across many arid ecosystems of the world. In this study, we used an experimental field approach to assess how different light (15%, 75%, and 95%) and water (natural rainfall (NR), NR +50 mm, NR +100 mm) levels affect seedling survival and growth of four Atacama Desert shrub species (Calliandra chilensis, Encella canescens, Proustia cuneifolia, and Senna cumingii). We... |
