The regeneration niche differentiation helps to explain plant coexistence and thus biodiversity. The study of the regeneration niche has been traditionally based on sexual recruitment, while overlooking clonal growth. Root suckering offers a successful alternative for local dispersal under suboptimal conditions for sexual reproduction. For light-limited forests, we hypothesized that: 1) root suckering would increase the regeneration niche towards high-light conditions in shade-tolerant trees and towards dark conditions in light-demanding species; 2) contrasting responses of survival and growth to light availability would explain niche differentiation of both suckers and saplings; and 3) distinct responsiveness to light among species and recruit-types would reflect differences in functional traits. We tested these hypotheses with two evergreen tree species that coexist in the temperate rainforest of southern South America: Embothrium coccineum (light-demanding) and Eucryphia cordifolia (shade-tolerant). We measured the light availability in two study plots above each recruit and along transects established in the understory. Niche selection, niche differentiation and changes in survival probability with light were inferred from the analysis of the light frequency distributions. We evaluated the effect of light on the relative volumetric change in stems over a 1-year period. Functional traits of leaves, stems, and crowns were measured in suckers and saplings growing under similar light conditions; these traits were then compared among size classes, recruit-types and species. Root suckering was the prevalent reproduction mode of both studied species, extending the light niche towards open microenvironments only during the earliest ontogenetic stages. The poor structural strength of the leaves and wood of small Eucryphia saplings explains its underuse of open microsites. Neither photosynthetic assimilation nor carbon subsidy can sustain Embothrium suckers at the shadiest microsites. Suckering proved to increase the persistence of Embothrium until advanced stages of forest succession, facilitating its coexistence with the late-successional Eucryphia. Our study emphasizes that clonal growth is essential to understand the dynamics of temperate rainforests.

再生生态位的分化有助于解释植物的共存，从而解释生物多样性。传统上，对再生位的研究基于性募集，而忽略了克隆的生长。根吸盘在有性生殖的次佳条件下为局部扩散提供了成功的替代方法。对于光线有限的森林，我们假设：1）抽根会增加耐荫树木中高光照条件下的再生生态位，而对光需求树种则朝向黑暗条件；2）将生存和生长对光的利用的响应进行对比，可以解释吸盘和幼树的生态位分化；3）物种和募集类型对光的不同响应将反映功能性状的差异。球茎花椰菜（需光）和堇菜（耐阴影）。我们在每个新兵上方的两个研究用地中以及沿地下室建立的样带中测量了光的利用率。从光频率分布的分析可以推断出生态位的选择，生态位的分化以及光的存活概率的变化。我们评估了光对一年内茎相对体积变化的影响。在相似的光照条件下生长的吸盘和幼树中测量了叶子，茎和冠的功能特征。然后在大小分类，新兵类型和物种之间比较这些特征。根吸盘是两个研究物种的普遍繁殖方式，仅在最早的发育阶段才将光生境扩展到开放的微环境。树叶和木头的结构强度差Eucryphia树苗解释了其对开放式微场所的利用不足。光合作用和碳补贴都无法维持最阴暗的微地点的Emb吸盘。Suckering证明增加的持久性Embothrium直到森林演替的高级阶段，促进与演替后期的共存Eucryphia。我们的研究强调，克隆生长对于了解温带雨林的动态至关重要。