Buttress Arrangement in Pterocarpus officinalis (Fabaceae): Effects of Crown Asymmetry and Wind

Lewis, Allen R.

doi:10.2307/2388317

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Lewis (1988), found no differences in distribution and sizes of buttress of failed and alive trees of Pterocarpus officinalis Jacq. (Leguminosae) subject to strong winds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…There must be a reason for the association with the upper soil layer, and even the litter layer, besides supporting the stem above ground. Earlier authors also noticed that buttress-like wings were sometimes developed on horizontal roots at some distance from the stem where they could be of no value as supports and could not play a role in countering tensile stress (Henwood 1973;Lewis 1988). When M. bisulcata trees were leaning or twisted their buttresses were very tall and narrow showing that they could respond strongly to pronounced decentralization of the canopy mass.…”

Section: Buttress Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Navez 1930;Richter 1984;Lewis 1988;Ennos 1993). Strong gusts of wind ahead of thunderstorms over Korup are known but not with a consistent wind direction.…”

Section: Buttress Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strong gusts of wind ahead of thunderstorms over Korup are known but not with a consistent wind direction. If buttresses grew up where the lateral roots first spread out, and their sizes and shapes adjusted to deal with the tree asymmetry in patterns different and special to each tree, this provides the best strategy against rare wind events (Kaufman 1988;Lewis 1988), and it would allow most resistance to torque forces (Mattheck 1991;Young and Perkocha 1994). A large gap south of the main P-plot, caused in 2000 by strong winds, brought down several trees of Tetraberlinia and other species, but not one of M. bisulcata (unpublished data).…”

Section: Buttress Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Buttress form of the central African rain forest tree Microberlinia bisulcata, and its possible role in nutrient acquisition

Newbery

Schwan

Chuyong

et al. 2008

Trees

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Buttressing is a trait special to tropical trees but explanations for its occurrence remain inconclusive. The two main hypotheses are that they provide structural support and/or promote nutrient acquisition. Studies of the first are common but the second has received much less attention. Architectural measurements were made on adult and juvenile trees of the ectomycorrhizal species Microberlinia bisulcata, in Korup (Cameroon). Buttressing on this species is highly distinctive with strong lateral extension of surface roots of the juveniles leading to a mature buttress system of a shallow spreading form on adults. This contrasts with more vertical buttresses, closer to the stem, found on many other tropical tree species. No clear relationship between main buttress and large branch distribution was found. Whilst this does not argue against the essential structural role of buttresses for these very large tropical trees, the form on M. bisulcata does suggest a likely second role, that of aiding nutrient acquisition. At the Korup site, with its deep sandy soils of very low phosphorus status, and where most nutrient cycling takes place in a thin surface layer of fine roots and mycorrhizas, it appears that buttress form could develop from soil-surface root exploration for nutrients by juvenile trees. It may accordingly allow M. bisulcata to attain the higher greater competitive ability, faster growth rate, and maximum tree size that it does compared with other co-occurring tree species. For sites across the tropics in general, the degree of shallowness and spatial extension of buttresses of the dominant species is hypothesized to increase with decreasing nutrient availability.

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“…Lewis (1988), found no differences in distribution and sizes of buttress of failed and alive trees of Pterocarpus officinalis Jacq. (Leguminosae) subject to strong winds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Buttress Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Navez 1930;Richter 1984;Lewis 1988;Ennos 1993). Strong gusts of wind ahead of thunderstorms over Korup are known but not with a consistent wind direction.…”

Section: Buttress Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Buttress Formmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Buttress form of the central African rain forest tree Microberlinia bisulcata, and its possible role in nutrient acquisition

Newbery

Schwan

Chuyong

et al. 2008

Trees

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lewis (1988) found that buttresses are distributed independently of compass direction in Pterocarpus officinalis at a site in western Puerto Rico where prevailing winds were from east-northeast. He found that buttress length was associated with same-side crown radius.…”

Section: Forest Structurementioning

confidence: 95%