1
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Guo Z, Miao W, Lyu Y, Sun H, Fan D, Wang X. Are fine roots ‘leaves underground' in terms of allometry? A test in a tropical forest successional series in southwest China. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zijian Guo
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry Univ. Haidian District Beijing China
| | - Wenhao Miao
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry Univ. Haidian District Beijing China
| | - Yueming Lyu
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry Univ. Haidian District Beijing China
| | - Han Sun
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry Univ. Haidian District Beijing China
| | - Dayong Fan
- School of Forestry, Beijing Forestry Univ. Haidian District Beijing China
| | - Xiangping Wang
- School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry Univ. Haidian District Beijing China
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2
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Zhou J, Yu K, Lin G, Wang Z. Variance in tree growth rates provides a key link for completing the theory of forest size structure formation. J Theor Biol 2021; 529:110857. [PMID: 34384836 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 06/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
In natural forests at a demographic equilibrium state, the size frequency distribution (SFD) of trees is linked with their size-dependent growth and mortality rates. While the mean growth rate (MGR) of each size class is generally used for determining the SFD, the variance in the growth rate (VGR) has always been ignored. Here, based on the analyses with Kolmogorov forward equation, we show that in general, the VGR can flatten the slope of the SFD and, in particular, can address the contradiction between the size-dependent MGR and the -2 power-law SFD in the metabolic scaling theory. We traced the origin of the VGR to the intrinsic stochasticity in the allometric growth coefficients of trees and deduced its functional form based on variance propagation. Using the forest censuses data from Barro Colorado Island, we verified the prediction of the VGR and indicated its indispensability in the theory of forest size-structure formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Zhou
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
| | - Kailiang Yu
- High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Guanghui Lin
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Earth Ecosystem Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Zhiheng Wang
- Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
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3
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Disentangling herbivore impacts in primary succession by refocusing the plant stress and vigor hypotheses on phenology. ECOL MONOGR 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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4
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Will forest size structure follow the −2 power-law distribution under ideal demographic equilibrium state? J Theor Biol 2018; 452:17-21. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2017] [Revised: 04/16/2018] [Accepted: 05/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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5
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Vasseur F, Exposito-Alonso M, Ayala-Garay OJ, Wang G, Enquist BJ, Vile D, Violle C, Weigel D. Adaptive diversification of growth allometry in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:3416-3421. [PMID: 29540570 PMCID: PMC5879651 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1709141115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Seed plants vary tremendously in size and morphology; however, variation and covariation in plant traits may be governed, at least in part, by universal biophysical laws and biological constants. Metabolic scaling theory (MST) posits that whole-organismal metabolism and growth rate are under stabilizing selection that minimizes the scaling of hydrodynamic resistance and maximizes the scaling of resource uptake. This constrains variation in physiological traits and in the rate of biomass accumulation, so that they can be expressed as mathematical functions of plant size with near-constant allometric scaling exponents across species. However, the observed variation in scaling exponents calls into question the evolutionary drivers and the universality of allometric equations. We have measured growth scaling and fitness traits of 451 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions with sequenced genomes. Variation among accessions around the scaling exponent predicted by MST was correlated with relative growth rate, seed production, and stress resistance. Genomic analyses indicate that growth allometry is affected by many genes associated with local climate and abiotic stress response. The gene with the strongest effect, PUB4, has molecular signatures of balancing selection, suggesting that intraspecific variation in growth scaling is maintained by opposing selection on the trade-off between seed production and abiotic stress resistance. Our findings suggest that variation in allometry contributes to local adaptation to contrasting environments. Our results help reconcile past debates on the origin of allometric scaling in biology and begin to link adaptive variation in allometric scaling to specific genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Vasseur
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany;
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), CNRS, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), 34090 Montpellier, France
- Laboratoire d'Ecophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress Environnementaux, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Montpellier SupAgro, UMR759, 34060 Montpellier, France
| | | | - Oscar J Ayala-Garay
- Laboratoire d'Ecophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress Environnementaux, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Montpellier SupAgro, UMR759, 34060 Montpellier, France
- Programa de Recursos Genéticos y Productividad (RGP)-Fisiología Vegetal, Colegio de Postgraduados, 56230 Texcoco, Mexico
| | - George Wang
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Brian J Enquist
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501
| | - Denis Vile
- Laboratoire d'Ecophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress Environnementaux, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Montpellier SupAgro, UMR759, 34060 Montpellier, France
| | - Cyrille Violle
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), CNRS, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), 34090 Montpellier, France
| | - Detlef Weigel
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany;
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6
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Thomas FM, Vesk PA. Are trait-growth models transferable? Predicting multi-species growth trajectories between ecosystems using plant functional traits. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0176959. [PMID: 28486535 PMCID: PMC5423618 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Plant functional traits are increasingly used to generalize across species, however few examples exist of predictions from trait-based models being evaluated in new species or new places. Can we use functional traits to predict growth of unknown species in different areas? We used three independently collected datasets, each containing data on heights of individuals from non-resprouting species over a chronosquence of time-since-fire sites from three ecosystems in south-eastern Australia. We examined the influence of specific leaf area, woody density, seed size and leaf nitrogen content on three aspects of plant growth; maximum relative growth rate, age at maximum growth and asymptotic height. We tested our capacity to perform out-of-sample prediction of growth trajectories between ecosystems using species functional traits. We found strong trait-growth relationships in one of the datasets; whereby species with low SLA achieved the greatest asymptotic heights, species with high leaf-nitrogen content achieved relatively fast growth rates, and species with low seed mass reached their time of maximum growth early. However these same growth-trait relationships did not hold across the two other datasets, making accurate prediction from one dataset to another unachievable. We believe there is evidence to suggest that growth trajectories themselves may be fundamentally different between ecosystems and that trait-height-growth relationships may change over environmental gradients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Freya M. Thomas
- School of BioSciences, ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Peter A. Vesk
- School of BioSciences, ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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7
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Sheil D, Eastaugh CS, Vlam M, Zuidema PA, Groenendijk P, Sleen P, Jay A, Vanclay J. Does biomass growth increase in the largest trees? Flaws, fallacies and alternative analyses. Funct Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Douglas Sheil
- Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences P.O. Box 5003 NO‐1432 Ås Norway
| | - Chris S. Eastaugh
- Forest Research Centre Southern Cross University PO Box 157 Lismore NSW 2480 Australia
- Forestry Corporation NSW Western Division PO Box 865 Dubbo NSW 2830 Australia
| | - Mart Vlam
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group Wageningen University & Research PO Box 47 6700 AA Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Pieter A. Zuidema
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group Wageningen University & Research PO Box 47 6700 AA Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Peter Groenendijk
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group Wageningen University & Research PO Box 47 6700 AA Wageningen The Netherlands
- Departamento de Botánica Escola Politécnica Superior Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Campus de Lugo Lugo 27002 Spain
| | - Peter Sleen
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group Wageningen University & Research PO Box 47 6700 AA Wageningen The Netherlands
- Marine Science Institute University of Texas at Austin Port Aransas TX 78373 USA
- Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal Km 9 carretera al norte Casilla 6204 Santa Cruz de la Sierra Bolivia
| | - Alex Jay
- Forest Research Centre Southern Cross University PO Box 157 Lismore NSW 2480 Australia
| | - Jerome Vanclay
- Forest Research Centre Southern Cross University PO Box 157 Lismore NSW 2480 Australia
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Jucker T, Sanchez AC, Lindsell JA, Allen HD, Amable GS, Coomes DA. Drivers of aboveground wood production in a lowland tropical forest of West Africa: teasing apart the roles of tree density, tree diversity, soil phosphorus, and historical logging. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:4004-17. [PMID: 27516859 PMCID: PMC4875916 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2016] [Accepted: 04/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Tropical forests currently play a key role in regulating the terrestrial carbon cycle and abating climate change by storing carbon in wood. However, there remains considerable uncertainty as to whether tropical forests will continue to act as carbon sinks in the face of increased pressure from expanding human activities. Consequently, understanding what drives productivity in tropical forests is critical. We used permanent forest plot data from the Gola Rainforest National Park (Sierra Leone) – one of the largest tracts of intact tropical moist forest in West Africa – to explore how (1) stand basal area and tree diversity, (2) past disturbance associated with past logging, and (3) underlying soil nutrient gradients interact to determine rates of aboveground wood production (AWP). We started by statistically modeling the diameter growth of individual trees and used these models to estimate AWP for 142 permanent forest plots. We then used structural equation modeling to explore the direct and indirect pathways which shape rates of AWP. Across the plot network, stand basal area emerged as the strongest determinant of AWP, with densely packed stands exhibiting the fastest rates of AWP. In addition to stand packing density, both tree diversity and soil phosphorus content were also positively related to productivity. By contrast, historical logging activities negatively impacted AWP through the removal of large trees, which contributed disproportionately to productivity. Understanding what determines variation in wood production across tropical forest landscapes requires accounting for multiple interacting drivers – with stand structure, tree diversity, and soil nutrients all playing a key role. Importantly, our results also indicate that logging activities can have a long‐lasting impact on a forest's ability to sequester and store carbon, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding old‐growth tropical forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommaso Jucker
- Forest Ecology and Conservation Group Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EA UK
| | - Aida Cuni Sanchez
- RSPB Centre for Conservation Science The Lodge Sandy Bedfordshire SG19 2DL UK; Department of Biology Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 15DK-2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Jeremy A Lindsell
- RSPB Centre for Conservation Science The Lodge Sandy Bedfordshire SG19 2DL UK; A Rocha International 89 Worship Street London EC2A 2BF UK
| | - Harriet D Allen
- Department of Geography University of Cambridge Downing Place Cambridge CB2 3EN UK
| | - Gabriel S Amable
- Department of Geography University of Cambridge Downing Place Cambridge CB2 3EN UK
| | - David A Coomes
- Forest Ecology and Conservation Group Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EA UK
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9
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Dalponte M, Coomes DA. Tree-centric mapping of forest carbon density from airborne laser scanning and hyperspectral data. Methods Ecol Evol 2016; 7:1236-1245. [PMID: 28008347 PMCID: PMC5137341 DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2015] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Forests are a major component of the global carbon cycle, and accurate estimation of forest carbon stocks and fluxes is important in the context of anthropogenic global change. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) data sets are increasingly recognized as outstanding data sources for high‐fidelity mapping of carbon stocks at regional scales. We develop a tree‐centric approach to carbon mapping, based on identifying individual tree crowns (ITCs) and species from airborne remote sensing data, from which individual tree carbon stocks are calculated. We identify ITCs from the laser scanning point cloud using a region‐growing algorithm and identifying species from airborne hyperspectral data by machine learning. For each detected tree, we predict stem diameter from its height and crown‐width estimate. From that point on, we use well‐established approaches developed for field‐based inventories: above‐ground biomasses of trees are estimated using published allometries and summed within plots to estimate carbon density. We show this approach is highly reliable: tests in the Italian Alps demonstrated a close relationship between field‐ and ALS‐based estimates of carbon stocks (r2 = 0·98). Small trees are invisible from the air, and a correction factor is required to accommodate this effect. An advantage of the tree‐centric approach over existing area‐based methods is that it can produce maps at any scale and is fundamentally based on field‐based inventory methods, making it intuitive and transparent. Airborne laser scanning, hyperspectral sensing and computational power are all advancing rapidly, making it increasingly feasible to use ITC approaches for effective mapping of forest carbon density also inside wider carbon mapping programs like REDD++.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Dalponte
- Department of Sustainable Agro-ecosystems and Bioresources Research and Innovation Centre Fondazione E. Mach Via E. Mach 138010 San Michele all'Adige (TN) Italy; Forest Ecology and Conservation Group Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EA UK
| | - David A Coomes
- Forest Ecology and Conservation Group Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3EA UK
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10
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How do size distributions relate to concurrently measured demographic rates? Evidence from over 150 tree species in Panama. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1017/s0266467416000146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Abstract:In stable populations with constant demographic rates, size distributions reflect size-dependent patterns of growth and mortality. However, population growth can also affect size distributions, which may not be aligned with current growth and mortality. Using 25 y of demographic data from the 50-ha Barro Colorado Island plot, we examined how interspecific variation in diameter distributions of over 150 tropical trees relates to growth–diameter and mortality–diameter curves and to population growth rates. Diameter distributions were more skewed in species with faster increases/slower decreases in absolute growth and mortality with diameter and higher population growth rates. The strongest predictor of the diameter distribution shape was the exponent governing the scaling of growth with diameter (partial R2 = 0.20–0.34), which differed among growth forms, indicating a role of life history variation. However, interspecific variation in diameter distributions was also significantly related to population growth rates (partial R2 = 0.03–0.23), reinforcing that many populations are not at equilibrium. Consequently, although fitted size distribution parameters were positively related to theoretical predictions based on current size-dependent growth and mortality, there was considerable deviation. These analyses show that temporally variable demographic rates, probably related to cyclic climate variation, are important influences on forest structure.
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11
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Farrior CE, Bohlman SA, Hubbell S, Pacala SW. Dominance of the suppressed: Power-law size structure in tropical forests. Science 2016; 351:155-7. [PMID: 26744402 DOI: 10.1126/science.aad0592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Tropical tree size distributions are remarkably consistent despite differences in the environments that support them. With data analysis and theory, we found a simple and biologically intuitive hypothesis to explain this property, which is the foundation of forest dynamics modeling and carbon storage estimates. After a disturbance, new individuals in the forest gap grow quickly in full sun until they begin to overtop one another. The two-dimensional space-filling of the growing crowns of the tallest individuals relegates a group of losing, slow-growing individuals to the understory. Those left in the understory follow a power-law size distribution, the scaling of which depends on only the crown area-to-diameter allometry exponent: a well-conserved value across tropical forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- C E Farrior
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - S A Bohlman
- School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - S Hubbell
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - S W Pacala
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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12
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Anderson‐Teixeira KJ, McGarvey JC, Muller‐Landau HC, Park JY, Gonzalez‐Akre EB, Herrmann V, Bennett AC, So CV, Bourg NA, Thompson JR, McMahon SM, McShea WJ. Size‐related scaling of tree form and function in a mixed‐age forest. Funct Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristina J. Anderson‐Teixeira
- Center for Tropical Forest Science‐Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama Republic of Panama 9100 Panama City PlWashingtonDC 20521‐9100 USA
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | - Jennifer C. McGarvey
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | - Helene C. Muller‐Landau
- Center for Tropical Forest Science‐Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama Republic of Panama 9100 Panama City PlWashingtonDC 20521‐9100 USA
| | - Janice Y. Park
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | - Erika B. Gonzalez‐Akre
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | - Valentine Herrmann
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | - Amy C. Bennett
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | - Christopher V. So
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | - Norman A. Bourg
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
| | | | - Sean M. McMahon
- Center for Tropical Forest Science‐Forest Global Earth Observatory Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama Republic of Panama 9100 Panama City PlWashingtonDC 20521‐9100 USA
- Forest Ecology Group Smithsonian Environmental Research Center PO Box 28 Edgewater MD 21037USA
| | - William J. McShea
- Conservation Ecology Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park 1500 Remount Rd. Front Royal VA 22630USA
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13
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Newman EA, Harte ME, Lowell N, Wilber M, Harte J. Empirical tests of within- and across-species energetics in a diverse plant community. Ecology 2014. [DOI: 10.1890/13-1955.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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14
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15
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Marquet PA, Allen AP, Brown JH, Dunne JA, Enquist BJ, Gillooly JF, Gowaty PA, Green JL, Harte J, Hubbell SP, O’Dwyer J, Okie JG, Ostling A, Ritchie M, Storch D, West GB. On Theory in Ecology. Bioscience 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biu098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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16
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Glazier DS. Is metabolic rate a universal ‘pacemaker’ for biological processes? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2014; 90:377-407. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 218] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2013] [Revised: 04/16/2014] [Accepted: 04/17/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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17
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Rüger N, Wirth C, Wright SJ, Condit R. Functional traits explain light and size response of growth rates in tropical tree species. Ecology 2013; 93:2626-36. [PMID: 23431593 DOI: 10.1890/12-0622.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Relationships between functional traits and average or potential demographic rates have provided insight into the functional constraints and trade-offs underlying life-history strategies of tropical tree species. We have extended this framework by decomposing growth rates of -130 000 trees of 171 Neotropical tree species into intrinsic growth and the response of growth to light and size. We related these growth characteristics to multiple functional traits (wood density, adult stature, seed mass, leaf traits) in a hierarchical Bayesian model that accounted for measurement error and intraspecific variability of functional traits. Wood density was the most important trait determining all three growth characteristics. Intrinsic growth rates were additionally strongly related to adult stature, while all traits contributed to light response. Our analysis yielded a predictive model that allows estimation of growth characteristics for rare species on the basis of a few easily measurable morphological traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadja Rüger
- Universität Leipzig, AG Spezielle Botanik und Funktionelle Biodiversität, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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18
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Tredennick AT, Bentley LP, Hanan NP. Allometric convergence in savanna trees and implications for the use of plant scaling models in variable ecosystems. PLoS One 2013; 8:e58241. [PMID: 23484003 PMCID: PMC3590121 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2012] [Accepted: 01/31/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Theoretical models of allometric scaling provide frameworks for understanding and predicting how and why the morphology and function of organisms vary with scale. It remains unclear, however, if the predictions of ‘universal’ scaling models for vascular plants hold across diverse species in variable environments. Phenomena such as competition and disturbance may drive allometric scaling relationships away from theoretical predictions based on an optimized tree. Here, we use a hierarchical Bayesian approach to calculate tree-specific, species-specific, and ‘global’ (i.e. interspecific) scaling exponents for several allometric relationships using tree- and branch-level data harvested from three savanna sites across a rainfall gradient in Mali, West Africa. We use these exponents to provide a rigorous test of three plant scaling models (Metabolic Scaling Theory (MST), Geometric Similarity, and Stress Similarity) in savanna systems. For the allometric relationships we evaluated (diameter vs. length, aboveground mass, stem mass, and leaf mass) the empirically calculated exponents broadly overlapped among species from diverse environments, except for the scaling exponents for length, which increased with tree cover and density. When we compare empirical scaling exponents to the theoretical predictions from the three models we find MST predictions are most consistent with our observed allometries. In those situations where observations are inconsistent with MST we find that departure from theory corresponds with expected tradeoffs related to disturbance and competitive interactions. We hypothesize savanna trees have greater length-scaling exponents than predicted by MST due to an evolutionary tradeoff between fire escape and optimization of mechanical stability and internal resource transport. Future research on the drivers of systematic allometric variation could reconcile the differences between observed scaling relationships in variable ecosystems and those predicted by ideal models such as MST.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T Tredennick
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
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Lin Y, Berger U, Grimm V, Huth F, Weiner J. Plant interactions alter the predictions of metabolic scaling theory. PLoS One 2013; 8:e57612. [PMID: 23460884 PMCID: PMC3584043 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2012] [Accepted: 01/24/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Metabolic scaling theory (MST) is an attempt to link physiological processes of individual organisms with macroecology. It predicts a power law relationship with an exponent of −4/3 between mean individual biomass and density during density-dependent mortality (self-thinning). Empirical tests have produced variable results, and the validity of MST is intensely debated. MST focuses on organisms’ internal physiological mechanisms but we hypothesize that ecological interactions can be more important in determining plant mass-density relationships induced by density. We employ an individual-based model of plant stand development that includes three elements: a model of individual plant growth based on MST, different modes of local competition (size-symmetric vs. -asymmetric), and different resource levels. Our model is consistent with the observed variation in the slopes of self-thinning trajectories. Slopes were significantly shallower than −4/3 if competition was size-symmetric. We conclude that when the size of survivors is influenced by strong ecological interactions, these can override predictions of MST, whereas when surviving plants are less affected by interactions, individual-level metabolic processes can scale up to the population level. MST, like thermodynamics or biomechanics, sets limits within which organisms can live and function, but there may be stronger limits determined by ecological interactions. In such cases MST will not be predictive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Lin
- Institute of Forest Growth and Computer Science, Dresden University of Technology, Tharandt, Germany.
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