A new species of Cyanea (Campanulaceae, Lobelioideae), from the Ko'olau Mountains of O'ahu, Hawaiian Islands.

Cyaneakonahuanuiensis Sporck-Koehler, M. Waite, A.M.

Short dry spells in the wet season increase mortality of tropical pioneer seedlings.

Variation in plant species performance in response to water availability offers a potential axis for temporal and spatial habitat partitioning and may therefore affect community composition in tropical forests. We hypothesized that short dry spells during the wet season are a significant source of mortality for the newly emerging seedlings of pioneer species that recruit in treefall gaps in tropical forests. An analysis of a 49-year rainfall record for three forests across a rainfall gradient in central Panama confirmed that dry spells of > or = 10 days during the wet season occur on average once a year in a deciduous forest, and once every other year in a semi-deciduous moist and an evergreen wet forest.