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- Title
Influence of shade tolerance and development stage on the allometry of ten temperate tree species.
- Authors
Franceschini, Tony; Schneider, Robert
- Abstract
Allometry studies the change in scale between two dimensions of an organism. The metabolic theory of ecology predicts invariant allometric scaling exponents, while empirical studies evidenced inter- and intra-specific variations. This work aimed at identifying the sources of variations of the allometric exponents at both inter- and intra-specific levels using stem analysis from 9,363 trees for ten Eastern Canada species with a large shade-tolerance gradient. Specifically, the yearly allometric exponents, α [volume ( v) and diameter at breast height (DBH)], β [ v and height ( h)], and γ ( h and DBH) were modelled as a function of tree age for each species. α, and γ increased with tree age and then reached a plateau ranging from 2.45 to 3.12 for α, and 0.874-1.48 for γ. Pine species presented a local maximum. No effect of tree age on β was found for conifers, while it increased until a plateau ranging from 3.71 to 5.16 for broadleaves. The influence of shade tolerance on the growth trajectories was then explored. In the juvenile stage, α, and γ increased with shade tolerance while β was shade-tolerance independent. In the mature stage, β increased with shade tolerance, whereas γ decreased and α was shade-tolerance independent. The interaction between development stage and shade tolerance for allometric exponents demonstrates the importance of the changing functional requirements of trees for resource allocation at both the inter- and intra-specific level. These results indicate the need to also integrate specific functional traits, growth strategies and allocation, in allometric theoretical frameworks.
- Subjects
QUEBEC (Province); ALLOMETRY in plants; TREE growth; DEVELOPMENT of plant stems; POPULUS tremuloides; POPULUS grandidentata; PAPER birch; JACK pine
- Publication
Oecologia, 2014, Vol 176, Issue 3, p739
- ISSN
0029-8549
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00442-014-3050-3