Background:Oneofthemostimportantdriversofforestbiopersityisconspecificnegativedensitydependence(CNDD),areductioninperformancewhenconspecificdensitiesarehigh.WhilethemajorityofCNDDresearchhasfocusedontropicalforests,evidenceismountingthatCNDDmayalsoplayanimportantroleintemperateforests.Tofurtherexplorethepotentialreachofthisphenomenon,weinvestigatedCNDDinAmericanbeech(Fagusgrandifolia)inamaturemid-Atlanticforest.Methods:Weusedbivariatepointpatternanalysestoexaminespatialrelationshipsbetweenlargebeechtreesandconspecificsaplings,andwealsocontrastedthesepatternswithcomparablepatternsforheterospecifics.Inaddition,toaddressthepossibilityofdispersallimitationandtheassociatedeffectsonspatialpatterns,weanalyzedseedlingdensityasafunctionofadultconspecificabundance.Results:Wefoundthatbeechsaplingsweremorerepeledfromlargeconspecificsthanlargeheterospecifics,despitethefactthatbeechseedlingdensitywaspositivelycorrelatedwithbeechbasalarea.However,saplingsofothercanopytreespecieswerealsorepeledfromadultbeechtrees,suggestingageneralsuppressiveeffect.Nonetheless,thediscrepancybetweenbeechseedlingandsaplingdensitiesbeneathadultconspecificssuggeststhatbeechseedlingsurvivalrateswerereducedinvicinityofconspecificadults.Conclusions:Regardlessoftheextenttowhichbeechinhibitsheterospecifictrees,anegativeeffectonconspecificrecruitsmaybecriticalforbiopersitymaintenance.Withoutthisconspecificsuppression,adenselayerofshade-tolerantbeechsaplingscouldformbeneathadultbeechtrees.Ifthisweretooccur,beechwouldhaveasubstantialhead-startfolowingcanopydisturbance,andthislate-successionalspeciescouldpotentialydominateastandinperpetuity,throughrepeateddisturbancecycles.
