Jun 25, 2021
Influence of neighbourhoods on the crowns and root systems of 5 tropical tree species
Six native plant species were planted in the Sardinilla tropical planted forest experiment; Cordia alliodora exhibited very high mortality and was consequently excluded from analyses. This image was created by colleague and artist Marina Duarte.
Key message:
Though competition operates distinctly above and below ground, competition with near neighbours explained more variation in crown and root system morphology of young tropical trees than did abiotic conditions.
Background:
Comparisons of above- and below-ground tree architecture and variation remain scarce in the literature of competition dynamics in forests. Trees compete above and below ground with neighbours, but the extent of such a neighbourhood and the relative importance of above- or below-ground neighbours in determining tree growth rates remain poorly understood. We combined terrestrial laser scans and a root excavation campaign in the tropical planted Sardinilla forest experiment with annual diameter-at-breast height measurements to test how the crowns and root systems of five tropical tree species varied with biotic neighbourhood and abiotic environmental characteristics. We identified which neighbourhood and environmental variables explained most of the variation in mean crown and root system extent and compactness (a measure of morphological homogeneity) at the plot level and for species separately.
See more details in our recent publication in Trees - Structure and Functions:
Madsen, C.P.; Kunz, M.; von Oheimb, G.; Hall, J.; Sinacore, K.A.; Turner, B.J.; Potvin, C. (2021): Influence of neighbourhoods on the extent and compactness of tropical tree crowns and root systems. Trees – Structure and Functions. DOI: 10.1007/s00468-021-02146-3