The emergence, establishment and growth of tree seedlings face very heterogeneous situations in tropical dry forests (TDFs). The pronounced seasonality in soil moisture availability affects the patterns of seed production, germination, survival and seedling development in plants. Light conditions vary seasonally in understorey of these forests, thereby affecting the growth of species components growing there. The patchy distribution and pulsation of nutrient release in the nutrient poor soils of these forests further restricts the growth of plants spatially and temporally. The plants in TDFs,...