Crown depth as a result of evolutionary games: decreasing solar angle should lead to shallower, not deeper crowns

Vermeulen, P. J.

doi:10.1111/nph.12729

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Growth impairment was strongest for barnyard grass, where plant height, a major determinant of a plant’s ability to compete for light, as well as tiller number were also strongly negatively affected. Because plant height and traits such as leaf mass fraction, leaf area ratio, leaf mass per area and canopy area are correlated ( Falster and Westoby, 2003 ; Moles et al, 2009 ) and because plant height influences seed mass, time to reproduction and the number of seeds ( Moles and Leishman, 2008 ; Moles et al, 2009 ), we assume that the presence of buckwheat might affect the successful propagation of barnyard grass to a larger extent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fagopyrum esculentum Alters Its Root Exudation after Amaranthus retroflexus Recognition and Suppresses Weed Growth

et al. 2018

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Weed control by crops through growth suppressive root exudates is a promising alternative to herbicides. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is known for its weed suppression and redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) control is probably partly due to allelopathic root exudates. This work studies whether other weeds are also suppressed by buckwheat and if the presence of weeds is necessary to induce growth repression. Buckwheat and different weeds were co-cultivated in soil, separating roots by a mesh allowing to study effects due to diffusion. Buckwheat suppressed growth of pigweed, goosefoot and barnyard grass by 53, 42, and 77% respectively without physical root interactions, probably through allelopathic compounds. Root exudates were obtained from sand cultures of buckwheat (BK), pigweed (P), and a buckwheat/pigweed mixed culture (BK-P). BK-P root exudates inhibited pigweed root growth by 49%. Characterization of root exudates by UHPLC-HRMS and principal component analysis revealed that BK and BK-P had a different metabolic profile suggesting that buckwheat changes its root exudation in the presence of pigweed indicating heterospecific recognition. Among the 15 different markers, which were more abundant in BK-P, tryptophan was identified and four others were tentatively identified. Our findings might contribute to the selection of crops with weed suppressive effects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fagopyrum esculentum Alters Its Root Exudation after Amaranthus retroflexus Recognition and Suppresses Weed Growth

et al. 2018

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“…The simulation results and behavior of individual‐based models can be explained by game theoretic analyses (Maynard Smith, ). Game theoretic approaches have been employed to solve mathematically for the most competitive trait combination(s) in a continuous multivariate trait distribution, such as the competitively optimal biomass allocation among leaves, stems, and fine roots (Dybzinski et al ., , , ; Farrior et al ., ,b), crown depth (Vermeulen, ), tree height (King, ; Falster & Westoby, ), leaf angles (Hikosaka & Hirose, ), and leaf area index (LAI; Anten, ). Although game theoretic mathematical analyses have been useful in explaining field observations and experimental results (e.g., Dybzinski et al ., ; Farrior et al ., ) and improving our understanding of simulation results from complex models (e.g., Weng et al ., ), their obvious disadvantage is the model simplicity they require.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting vegetation type through physiological and environmental interactions with leaf traits: evergreen and deciduous forests in an earth system modeling framework

Weng

Farrior

Dybzinski

et al. 2016

Global Change Biology

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Earth system models are incorporating plant trait diversity into their land components to better predict vegetation dynamics in a changing climate. However, extant plant trait distributions will not allow extrapolations to novel community assemblages in future climates, which will require a mechanistic understanding of the trade-offs that determine trait diversity. In this study, we show how physiological trade-offs involving leaf mass per unit area (LMA), leaf lifespan, leaf nitrogen, and leaf respiration may explain the distribution patterns of evergreen and deciduous trees in the temperate and boreal zones based on (1) an evolutionary analysis of a simple mathematical model and (2) simulation experiments of an individual-based dynamic vegetation model (i.e., LM3-PPA). The evolutionary analysis shows that these leaf traits set up a trade-off between carbon- and nitrogen-use efficiency at the scale of individual trees and therefore determine competitively dominant leaf strategies. As soil nitrogen availability increases, the dominant leaf strategy switches from one that is high in nitrogen-use efficiency to one that is high in carbon-use efficiency or, equivalently, from high-LMA/long-lived leaves (i.e., evergreen) to low-LMA/short-lived leaves (i.e., deciduous). In a region of intermediate soil nitrogen availability, the dominant leaf strategy may be either deciduous or evergreen depending on the initial conditions of plant trait abundance (i.e., founder controlled) due to feedbacks of leaf traits on soil nitrogen mineralization through litter quality. Simulated successional patterns by LM3-PPA from the leaf physiological trade-offs are consistent with observed successional dynamics of evergreen and deciduous forests at three sites spanning the temperate to boreal zones.

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“…In real forests, stands are not usually uniform and static, but Kuuluvainen's results are still interesting and relevant. Recently, Vermeulen () investigated an evolutionary model of nongrowing trees competing for light and found, in contrast to Kuuluvainen, that low sun angles resulted in the evolution of shallow crowns (i.e., top‐heavy crowns) and vice versa. Our model does not support the results by Vermeulen, as decreasing the sun angle always gives narrower, less top‐heavy trees.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Later, Yokozawa, Kubota, and Hara () studied crown shape coexistence in an ecological time scale in a size‐structured model and found coexistence in some cases. A more recent example is Vermeulen (), who investigated the influence on light direction on the evolution of crown shapes, albeit in a forest without size structure. He showed that crown top‐heaviness (more precisely the crown ratio) was increasing, as the incident sun angle was decreasing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latitudinal effects on crown shape evolution

Lindh

Falster

Lai

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Large variations in crown shape are observed across the globe, from plants with wide and deep crowns to those with leaves clustered at the top. While there have been advances in the large‐scale monitoring of forests, little is known about factors driving variations in crown shape with environmental conditions. Previous theoretical research suggests a gradient in crown shape with latitude, due to the effects of sun angle. Yet, it remains unclear whether such changes are also predicted under competition. Using a size‐structured forest‐growth model that incorporates self‐shading from plants and competitive shading from their neighbors, we investigate how changes in site productivity and sun angle shape crown evolution. We consider evolution in two traits describing the top‐heaviness and width‐to‐height ratio of crowns, shaped by trade‐offs reflecting the costs and benefits of alternative architectures. In top‐heavy trees, most of the leaves are at the top half of the trunk. We show that, contrary to common belief, the angle of sun beams per se has only a weak influence on crown shapes, except at low site productivity. By contrast, reduced site productivity has a strong effect, with trees growing in less productive sites keeping their leaves closer to the ground. The crown width‐to‐height ratio is generally higher at a lower site productivity, but this trait is not strongly influenced by any environmental factor. This theoretical analysis brings into question established beliefs about the effects of latitude on crown shapes. By introducing geometry‐related growth constraints caused by shading from both the surrounding forest and the tree on itself, and costs for constructing and maintaining a three‐dimensional crown, our analysis suggests crown shapes may vary with latitude, mostly via effects on overall site productivity, and less because of the angle of the sun.

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Crown depth as a result of evolutionary games: decreasing solar angle should lead to shallower, not deeper crowns

Cited by 9 publications

References 53 publications

Fagopyrum esculentum Alters Its Root Exudation after Amaranthus retroflexus Recognition and Suppresses Weed Growth

Fagopyrum esculentum Alters Its Root Exudation after Amaranthus retroflexus Recognition and Suppresses Weed Growth

Predicting vegetation type through physiological and environmental interactions with leaf traits: evergreen and deciduous forests in an earth system modeling framework

Latitudinal effects on crown shape evolution

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