Tree species differentiation in growth, recruitment and allometry in relation to maximum height in a Bornean mixed dipterocarp forest

Abstract

Summary1 Maximum attainable height varies greatly between tree species in tropical rain forests and covaries with demographic and allometric traits. We examined these relationships in 27 abundant tree species in a mixed dipterocarp forest. These species were monitored over 3 years in two 1-ha plots in western Borneo. A 95-percentile upper height limit was used to represent maximum height, to avoid sample size differences among populations. 2 Average growth rate in trunk diameter was regressed against trunk diameter using a maximum likelihood model and assuming that growth rates were exponentially distributed around the average. Estimated average growth rate at small trunk diameters (up to 11 cm) was independent of maximum height among the 27 species, while the degree of growth reduction at larger diameters was larger for species with smaller maximum height. 3 The recruitment rate efficiency of saplings was negatively correlated with maximum height, regardless of the measure used to assess species abundance. In particular, sapling recruitment per unit basal area declined greatly with increasing maximum height, consistent with model predictions of the traits required for the stable coexistence of species at different heights within the canopy. 4 Allometric analyses showed that understorey species had shorter heights at the same trunk diameter, and deeper crowns at the same tree height, than canopy species. Therefore, understorey species showed adaptive morphology to deep shade. 5 The regressed size-dependent pattern of average growth rate and an assumption that the population was in a steady state readily explained the observed trunk diameter distributions for 21 species among 27 examined. These species, for which the projected size distribution hardly changed when the natural increase or decrease of the population was set at γ = ± 0.005 year − 1 , had mortality rates of more than four times the value of γ .

The structure of tropical forests and sphere packings

“…In this study, we reconstruct the packing of tree crowns by using data on stem location and stem diameter at breast height. Additionally, relationships between stem diameter d (cm) and other tree characteristics [like tree height h (m) or crown radius c (m)] are used (18,19).…”

“…Site-specific allometric relationships for tree geometry are not available for the Sinharaja forest. We therefore use allometric relationships for the Dipterocarpaceae family [i.e., c(d) = 0.4d 0.66 and h(d) = 2.78d 0.69 ] (19). This family shows the highest abundance of individuals, number of tree species, and basal area at Sinharaja (1,36).…”

Corrigendum to: New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

“…References on theory, significance and large datasets: Gaudet and Keddy (1988); ; Hirose and Werger (1995); Thomas (1996); Westoby (1998); Kohyama et al (2003); King et al (2006); ; Moles et al (2009).…”

Demographic Properties Shape Tree Size Distribution in a Malaysian Rain Forest

“…1) requires a detailed examination of the relationships between tree size distribution and demographic properties of tree species. While some previous studies (Kohyama 1992;Thomas 1996;Condit et al 1998;Kohyama et al 2003;Wright et al 2003Wright et al , 2010King et al 2006aKing et al , 2006bFeeley et al 2007;Poorter et al 2008;Bin et al 2012) have compared tree size distribution and demographic properties, they focused on either maximum size or the shape of size distribution but not both. In addition, a key limitation of these studies is that they estimated demographic parameters separately for each of some abundant species.…”