3. Results
3.1. Temporal variations in the propagules
During the study period and considering the traps for hydrochory and for
other types of dispersal, a total of 43,025 propagules belonging to 106
species were collected. In the traps for hydrochory 5,435 propagules
belonging to 46 species were collected and in the traps for other types
of dispersal 37,590 propagules of 66 species were captured. No
differences were observed in the number of propagules collected between
the dry and rainy seasons in the hydrochory traps (rainy:\(\overset{\overline{}}{x}\) = 152, S.D. = 410, dry:\(\overset{\overline{}}{\text{x\ }}\)= 57.38, S.D.= 102.83, Mann-WhitneyU = 441, p = 0.06) or in the traps for other types of
dispersal (rainy \(\overset{\overline{}}{x}\) = 513.85, S.D.=990.92,
dry: \(\overset{\overline{}}{x}\) = 173.39, S.D.= 324.77, Mann-WhitneyU = 1157, p = 0.44) (Fig. 2a). Regarding species richness,
a higher estimated species richness was observed in the rainy season
than in the dry season in the hydrochory traps (rainy: q0 =
37.82, 95% C.I.: 31.60‒44.34; dry: q0 = 10.12, 95% C.I.:
7.93‒12.31), while in the traps for other types of dispersal there is a
higher species richness estimated in the dry season than in the rainy
season (rainy: q0 = 17.79, 95% C.I.: 16.88‒18.72; dry: q0= 27.89, 95% C.I.: 25.33‒30.32) (Fig. 2b).
Regarding the composition, the PERMANOVA shows that in the hydrochory
traps the composition is different between the dry and rainy seasons
(pseudo-F= 2.55, p = 0.02). Some of the species that were only
observed in the rainy season were conifers (Abies hickelli yPinus sp.), some composites (Asteraceae, Asteraceae 2 y
Asteraceae 6) and a grass species (Poaceae), in the dry seasonRumex sp. was a characteristic species and species such asAlnus acuminata and Clematis dioica were observed in both
seasons (Fig. 3, Appendix 1). With respect to the propagules deposited
by other types of dispersion, no differences were observed in the
composition between the seasons (pseudo-F= 0.75, p = 0.62) (Fig.
3).
3.2. Spatial changes of propagule communities along the river
Regarding the number of propagules, no changes were observed with the
increase in the distance to the origin of the river in the traps for
hydrochory, while for other types of dispersal an increase in the number
of propagules deposited in the dry season was observed (Fig. 4, table
1).
Regarding to the changes in species richness, a decrease in estimated
species richness was observed with increasing distance from the river
origin in hydrochory traps in the rainy season but not in the dry
season. While for other types of dispersal, no changes were observed in
the estimated species richness with the distance to the site of origin
of the river in any of the seasons (Fig. 5, table 2).
Finally, nesting values were low and turnover was high in traps for
hydrochory and for other types of dispersion in both seasons. No
relationships of nesting or turnover values with increasing distance to
sites near the river origin were observed in any of the seasons for
propagules deposited by hydrochory. For other types of dispersion, a
positive relationship was observed with the turnover of species in the
dry season (Fig. 6, table 3).