Abstract
Approximately two thirds of the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands is national park territory. However, the land has been threatened with tourism and development, greatly impacting island biodiversity. One species that may become extinct due to this degradation is Solanum conocarpum (Marron Bacoba). It is a rare shrub, endemic to the dry tropical forests of St. John. This species is one of few native endemic plants on this island. Little is known about the ecology and reproduction of S. conocarpum. Recent observations have indicated that the greatest threat may be lack of seedling recruitment, possibly due to acute disturbances. This study investigated the ecology of S. conocarpum in order to identify optimal areas for establishing populations. We recorded a total of 202 individuals at 4 sites and for each also noted plant growth and presence/absence of flowers and fruit. Indicators of plant health differed significantly between the 4 populations. The population closest to the shoreline (Nanny Point) had the greatest number of individuals (N = 161) and largest size (diameter of stem) but also had the lowest survival due to the 2017 hurricane season. The site furthest from the shoreline (Reef Bay) had the greatest number of individuals flowering and fruiting. However, the populations were not regenerating. Our findings indicate that sites further away from the shoreline and of non-eastern aspect (similar to the orientation of Reef Bay) are optimal locations for establishing new populations of S. conocarpum.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Indicators of plant health of Solanum conocarpum differed significantly between the four populations.
- Taxon
- Solanum conocarpum
_Figure_1.jpg?width=60)
Solanum conocarpumt0 - Outcome
- Indicators of plant healthe0
- Qualifier
- between the 4 populationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Figure_1.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
t0“Solanum conocarpum”
e0“Indicators of plant health differed significantly between the 4 populations”
Claim · model-written summary
The Nanny Point population had the greatest number of individuals (N = 161).
- Taxon
- Solanum conocarpumSolanum conocarpumt0
- Outcome
- number of individualse1
- Direction
- greateste1
- Value
- N = 161e1
- Setting
- Nanny Pointe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Solanum conocarpum”
e1“The population closest to the shoreline (Nanny Point) had the greatest number of individuals (N = 161) and largest size (diameter of stem) but also had the lowest survival due to the 2017 hurricane season”
Claim · model-written summary
The Nanny Point population had the largest stem diameter.
- Taxon
- Solanum conocarpumSolanum conocarpumt0
- Outcome
- size (diameter of stem)e1
- Direction
- largeste1
- Setting
- Nanny Pointe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Solanum conocarpum”
e1“The population closest to the shoreline (Nanny Point) had the greatest number of individuals (N = 161) and largest size (diameter of stem) but also had the lowest survival due to the 2017 hurricane season”
Claim · model-written summary
The Nanny Point population had the lowest survival, attributed to the 2017 hurricane season.
- Taxon
- Solanum conocarpumSolanum conocarpumt0
- Treatment
- 2017 hurricane seasone1
- Outcome
- survivale1
- Direction
- loweste1
- Setting
- Nanny Pointe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Solanum conocarpum”
e1“The population closest to the shoreline (Nanny Point) had the greatest number of individuals (N = 161) and largest size (diameter of stem) but also had the lowest survival due to the 2017 hurricane season”
Claim · model-written summary
The Reef Bay population had the greatest number of individuals flowering and fruiting.
- Taxon
- Solanum conocarpumSolanum conocarpumt0
- Outcome
- individuals flowering and fruitinge2
- Direction
- greateste2
- Setting
- Reef Baye2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Solanum conocarpum”
e2“The site furthest from the shoreline (Reef Bay) had the greatest number of individuals flowering and fruiting”
Claim · model-written summary
The Solanum conocarpum populations were not regenerating.
- Taxon
- Solanum conocarpumSolanum conocarpumt0
- Outcome
- regeneratinge3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Solanum conocarpum”
e3“However, the populations were not regenerating”
Claim · model-written summary
Sites further from the shoreline and of non-eastern aspect are optimal locations for establishing new Solanum conocarpum populations.
- Taxon
- Solanum conocarpumSolanum conocarpumt0
- Outcome
- optimal locations for establishing new populationse4
- Setting
- sites further away from the shoreline and of non-eastern aspecte4
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Solanum conocarpum”
e4“Our findings indicate that sites further away from the shoreline and of non-eastern aspect (similar to the orientation of Reef Bay) are optimal locations for establishing new populations of S. conocarpum”