IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/thpobi/v130y2019icp83-93.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Asymmetric competition, ontogenetic growth and size inequality drive the difference in productivity between two-strata and one-stratum forest stands

Author

Listed:
  • Cordonnier, Thomas
  • Smadi, Charline
  • Kunstler, Georges
  • Courbaud, Benoît

Abstract

Size inequality has been considered a key feature of plant population structure with impacts on ecosystem functions. In forest ecosystems, studies examining the relationship between tree size inequality and stand productivity have produced mixed outcomes. These studies found positive, neutral or negative relationships and discussed how this could be influenced by competition for light between trees (e.g. light interception efficiency), but far less attention has been paid to the role played by tree ontogenetic growth. In this article, we present a simple mathematical model that predicts the basal area growth of a two-strata stand as a function of tree basal areas and asymmetric competition. Comparing the growth of this stand to the growth of a spatially homogeneous one-stratum stand and a spatially heterogeneous one-stratum stand, we show that higher growth of the two-strata stand is achieved for concave shape, increasing functions of ontogenetic growth and for low intensities of absolute size-asymmetric competition. We also demonstrate that the difference in growth between the two-strata stand and the one-stratum stands depends on tree size inequality, mean tree basal area and total basal area in the two-strata stand. We finally found that the relationships between tree size inequality and productivity can vary from positive to negative and even non-monotonous. However, we highlight that negative relationships may be more frequent. As a conclusion, our results indicate that ontogenetic growth can have a major impact on the form and the magnitude of the size inequality–productivity relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Cordonnier, Thomas & Smadi, Charline & Kunstler, Georges & Courbaud, Benoît, 2019. "Asymmetric competition, ontogenetic growth and size inequality drive the difference in productivity between two-strata and one-stratum forest stands," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 83-93.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:thpobi:v:130:y:2019:i:c:p:83-93
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2019.07.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004058091930022X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tpb.2019.07.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Courbaud, B. & Lafond, V. & Lagarrigues, G. & Vieilledent, G. & Cordonnier, T. & Jabot, F. & de Coligny, F., 2015. "Applying ecological model evaludation: Lessons learned with the forest dynamics model Samsara2," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 314(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Rasmussen, Camilla Ruø & Weiner, Jacob, 2017. "Modelling the effect of size-asymmetric competition on size inequality: Simple models with two plants," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 343(C), pages 101-108.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Picard, Nicolas, 2021. "The role of spatial competitive interactions between trees in shaping forest patterns," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 36-45.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pommerening, Arne & Sterba, Hubert & West, Philip, 2022. "Sampling theory inspires quantitative forest ecology: The story of the relascope kernel function," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 467(C).
    2. Huber, Nica & Bugmann, Harald & Lafond, Valentine, 2018. "Global sensitivity analysis of a dynamic vegetation model: Model sensitivity depends on successional time, climate and competitive interactions," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 368(C), pages 377-390.
    3. Schmid, Ueli & Frehner, Monika & Glatthorn, Jonas & Bugmann, Harald, 2023. "ProForM: A simulation model for the management of mountain protection forests," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 478(C).
    4. Zhu, Sai-Yong & Cheng, Zheng-Guo & Tian, Tao & Gong, Dong-Shan & Lv, Guang-Chao & Wang, Jing & Xiong, You-Cai, 2021. "Screening optimum population density in response to soil water availability in dryland wheat: From laboratory to field," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    5. Irauschek, Florian & Barka, Ivan & Bugmann, Harald & Courbaud, Benoit & Elkin, Che & Hlásny, Tomáš & Klopcic, Matija & Mina, Marco & Rammer, Werner & Lexer, Manfred J, 2021. "Evaluating five forest models using multi-decadal inventory data from mountain forests," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 445(C).
    6. Forrester, David I. & England, Jacqueline R. & Paul, Keryn I. & Roxburgh, Stephen H., 2024. "Sensitivity analysis of the FullCAM model: Context dependency and implications for model development to predict Australia's forest carbon stocks," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 489(C).
    7. Gauzere, Julie & Lucas, Camille & Ronce, Ophélie & Davi, Hendrik & Chuine, Isabelle, 2019. "Sensitivity analysis of tree phenology models reveals increasing sensitivity of their predictions to winter chilling temperature and photoperiod with warming climate," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 411(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:thpobi:v:130:y:2019:i:c:p:83-93. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/intelligence .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.