scholarly journals Linking individual-level functional traits to tree growth in a subtropical forest

Ecology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (9) ◽  
pp. 2396-2405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojuan Liu ◽  
Nathan G. Swenson ◽  
Dunmei Lin ◽  
Xiangcheng Mi ◽  
María Natalia Umaña ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Individual Level

Disentangling the role of competition, light interception, and functional traits in tree growth rate variation in South Asian tropical moist forests

2021 ◽  
Vol 483 ◽  
pp. 118908
Author(s):  
Mizanur Rahman ◽  
Masum Billah ◽  
Md Obydur Rahman ◽  
Debit Datta ◽  
Muhammad Ahsanuzzaman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Light Interception ◽  
Rate Variation ◽  
Tree Growth Rate

Size dependent associations between tree diameter growth rates and functional traits in an Asian tropical seasonal rainforest

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Yu-Mei Yan ◽  
Ze-Xin Fan ◽  
Pei-Li Fu ◽  
Hui Chen ◽  
Lu-Xiang Lin
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Diameter Growth ◽  
Ontogenetic Shifts ◽  
Size Classes ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Leaf Economic Spectrum

Many studies focus on the relationships between plant functional traits and tree growth performances. However, little is known about the ontogenetic shifts of the relationships between functional traits and tree growth. This study examined associations between stem and leaf functional traits and growth rates and their ontogenetic shifts across 20 tropical tree species in a tropical seasonal rainforest in Xishuangbanna, south-west China. For each species, physiological active branches of individual trees belonged to three size classes (i.e. small, diameter at breast height (DBH) 5–10 cm; middle, DBH 10–20 cm; big, DBH >20 cm) were sampled respectively. We measured 18 morphological and structural traits, which characterised plant hydraulic properties or leaf economic spectrum. Associations between diameter growth rates and functional traits were analysed across three size classes. Our results revealed that diameter growth rates of big-sized trees were mainly related to traits related to plant hydraulic efficiency (i.e. theoretical hydraulic conductivity (Ktheo) and leaf vein density (Dvein)), which suggests that the growth of large trees is limited mainly by their xylem water transport capacity. For middle-sized trees, growth rates were significantly related to traits representing leaf economic spectrum (i.e. specific leaf area (SLA), individual leaf mass (ILM), palisade thickness (PT) and spongy thickness (SP)). Diameter growth rates of small-sized trees were not correlated with hydraulic or leaf economic traits. Thus, the associations between tree growth rates and functional traits are size dependent. Our results suggest ontogenetic shift of functional traits which could potential contribute to different growth response to climate change.

scholarly journals Are Commonly Measured Functional Traits Involved in Tropical Tree Responses to Climate?

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Wagner ◽  
Vivien Rossi ◽  
Christopher Baraloto ◽  
Damien Bonal ◽  
Clément Stahl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Growth Response ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Growth Strategy ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Growth Responses

Climate models predict significant rainfall reduction in Amazonia, reducing water availability for trees. We present how functional traits modulate the tree growth response to climate. We used data from 3 years of bimestrial growth measurements for 204 trees of 53 species in the forest of Paracou, French Guiana. We integrated climate variables from an eddy covariance tower and functional trait values describing life history, leaf, and stem economics. Our results indicated that the measured functional traits are to some extent linked to the response of trees to climate but they are poor predictors of the tree climate-induced growth variation. Tree growth was affected by water availability for most of the species with different species growth strategies in drought conditions. These strategies were linked to some functional traits, especially maximum height and wood density. These results suggest that (i) trees seem adapted to the dry season at Paracou but they show different growth responses to drought, (ii) drought response is linked to growth strategy and is partly explained by functional traits, and (iii) the limited part of the variation of tree growth explained by functional traits may be a strong limiting factor for the prediction of tree growth response to climate.

scholarly journals Contrasting growth responses among plant growth forms to nitrogen fertilization in a subtropical forest in China

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Tian ◽  
Peng Li ◽  
Wenjing Fang ◽  
Jun Xu ◽  
Yongkai Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
N Fertilization ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Forest Community ◽  
Growth Forms ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Understory Shrubs

Abstract. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been a noteworthy aspect of global change. Previous observational studies in temperate and tropical forests have focused on the effects of N deposition on tree growth. Here we asked how trees and other plant growth forms respond to experimental N deposition in a subtropical forest in China. We conducted a four-year N fertilization experiment in a subtropical evergreen forest in southeastern China with three treatment levels applied to 9 20 × 20 m plots and replicated in three blocks. We classified the plants to trees, saplings, shrubs(including tree seedlings) and ground-cover plants (ferns) according to the growth forms, then we measured the absolute and relative basal area increments of trees and saplings, and the aboveground biomass of understory shrubs and ferns. In addition, we grouped individuals of the dominant tree species Castanopsis eyrei into three size classes and analyzed their growth responses to N fertilization separately. Although the total tree growth on plot level did not show a significant response to the N fertilization, the small trees with DBH (diameter at breast height) values of 5–10 cm were hindered by N fertilization, while the growth of large trees with DBH > 10 cm showed neutral or weakly positive responses to N fertilization. Small trees, saplings and particularly understory shrubs and ground-cover ferns suppressed seriously by increasing N fertilization. The proportions of plant mortality in N-fertilized plots were higher than in unfertilized plots and most of the dead individuals were small trees, saplings, shrubs and ferns. N deposition potentially leads to increased growth of larger plant individuals at tree layer in the forest community and suppresses the growth and survival of other individuals at understory and ground-cover layers. Therefore, differences in the growth responses of different plant growth forms and individual sizes should be taken into account when evaluating the effects of N deposition on the functioning of these forest ecosystems, including their potential for carbon storage.

Root functional traits mediate rhizosphere soil carbon stability in a subtropical forest

2021 ◽  
pp. 108431
Author(s):  
Haidong Xu ◽  
Biao Zhu ◽  
Xiaomeng Wei ◽  
Mukui Yu ◽  
Xiangrong Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Rhizosphere Soil ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Root Functional Traits

Intraspecific variation in traits and tree growth along an elevational gradient in a subtropical forest

Oecologia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 191 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Natalia Umaña ◽  
Nathan G. Swenson
Keyword(s):  
Intraspecific Variation ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Subtropical Forest

scholarly journals On the modelling of tropical tree growth: the importance of intra-specific trait variation, non-linear functions and phenotypic integration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Yang ◽  
Xiaoyang Song ◽  
Min Cao ◽  
Xiaobao Deng ◽  
Wenfu Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tree Growth ◽  
Bayesian Models ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Linear Functions ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Trees

Abstract Background and Aims The composition and dynamics of plant communities arise from individual-level demographic outcomes, which are driven by interactions between phenotypes and the environment. Functional traits that can be measured across plants are frequently used to model plant growth and survival. Perhaps surprisingly, species average trait values are often used in these studies and, in some cases, these trait values come from other regions or averages calculated from global databases. This data aggregation potentially results in a large loss of valuable information that probably results in models of plant performance that are weak or even misleading. Methods We present individual-level trait and fine-scale growth data from >500 co-occurring individual trees from 20 species in a Chinese tropical rain forest. We construct Bayesian models of growth informed by theory and construct hierarchical Bayesian models that utilize both individual- and species-level trait data, and compare these models with models only using individual-level data. Key Results We show that trait–growth relationships measured at the individual level vary across species, are often weak using commonly measured traits and do not align with the results of analyses conducted at the species level. However, when we construct individual-level models of growth using leaf area ratio approximations and integrated phenotypes, we generated strong predictive models of tree growth. Conclusions Here, we have shown that individual-level models of tree growth that are built using integrative traits always outperform individual-level models of tree growth that use commonly measured traits. Furthermore, individual-level models, generally, do not support the findings of trait–growth relationships quantified at the species level. This indicates that aggregating trait and growth data to the species level results in poorer and probably misleading models of how traits are related to tree performance.

scholarly journals Similarity of plant functional traits and aggregation pattern in a subtropical forest

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 4086-4098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Xiaozhen Lu ◽  
Jiang Jiang ◽  
Donald L. DeAngelis ◽  
Zhiyuan Fu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Aggregation Pattern

Are functional traits a good predictor of global change impacts on tree species abundance dynamics in a subtropical forest?

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 1181-1189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronghua Li ◽  
Shidan Zhu ◽  
Han Y. H. Chen ◽  
Robert John ◽  
Guoyi Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Good Predictor ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Subtropical Forest ◽  
Abundance Dynamics

scholarly journals How to predict tree death from inventory data — lessons from a systematic assessment of European tree mortality models

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 890-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Hülsmann ◽  
Harald Bugmann ◽  
Peter Brang
Keyword(s):  
Tree Growth ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Systematic Assessment ◽  
Influence Model ◽  
Mortality Models ◽  
The Individual

The future development of forest ecosystems depends critically on tree mortality. However, the suitability of empirical mortality algorithms for extrapolation in space or time remains untested. We systematically analyzed the performance of 46 inventory-based mortality models available from the literature using nearly 80 000 independent records from 54 strict forest reserves in Germany and Switzerland covering 11 species. Mortality rates were predicted with higher accuracy if covariates for tree growth and (or) competition at the individual level were included and if models were applied within the same ecological zone. In contrast, classification of dead vs. living trees was only improved by growth variables. Management intensity in the calibration stands, as well as the census interval and size of the calibration datasets, did not influence model performance. Consequently, future approaches should make use of tree growth and competition at the level of individual trees. Mortality algorithms for applications over a restricted spatial extent and under current climate should be calibrated based on datasets from the same region, even if they are small. To obtain models with wide applicability and enhanced climatic sensitivity, the spatial variability of mortality should be addressed explicitly by considering environmental influences using data of high temporal resolution covering large ecological gradients. Finally, such models need to be validated and documented thoroughly.

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