Cargando…

Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States

The relationship between tree height and diameter is fundamental in determining community and ecosystem structure as well as estimates of biomass and carbon storage. Yet our understanding of how tree allometry relates to climate and whole organismal function is limited. We used the Forest Inventory...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hulshof, Catherine M, Swenson, Nathan G, Weiser, Michael D
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BlackWell Publishing Ltd 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4377263/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25859325
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1328
_version_ 1782363876819468288
author Hulshof, Catherine M
Swenson, Nathan G
Weiser, Michael D
author_facet Hulshof, Catherine M
Swenson, Nathan G
Weiser, Michael D
author_sort Hulshof, Catherine M
collection PubMed
description The relationship between tree height and diameter is fundamental in determining community and ecosystem structure as well as estimates of biomass and carbon storage. Yet our understanding of how tree allometry relates to climate and whole organismal function is limited. We used the Forest Inventory and Analysis National Program database to determine height–diameter allometries of 2,976,937 individuals of 293 tree species across the United States. The shape of the allometric relationship was determined by comparing linear and nonlinear functional forms. Mixed-effects models were used to test for allometric differences due to climate and floristic (between angiosperms and gymnosperms) and functional groups (leaf habit and shade tolerance). Tree allometry significantly differed across the United States largely because of climate. Temperature, and to some extent precipitation, in part explained tree allometric variation. The magnitude of allometric variation due to climate, however, had a phylogenetic signal. Specifically, angiosperm allometry was more sensitive to differences in temperature compared to gymnosperms. Most notably, angiosperm height was more negatively influenced by increasing temperature variability, whereas gymnosperm height was negatively influenced by decreasing precipitation and increasing altitude. There was little evidence to suggest that shade tolerance influenced tree allometry except for very shade-intolerant trees which were taller for any given diameter. Tree allometry is plastic rather than fixed and scaling parameters vary around predicted central tendencies. This allometric variation provides insight into life-history strategies, phylogenetic history, and environmental limitations at biogeographical scales.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4377263
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher BlackWell Publishing Ltd
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-43772632015-04-09 Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States Hulshof, Catherine M Swenson, Nathan G Weiser, Michael D Ecol Evol Original Research The relationship between tree height and diameter is fundamental in determining community and ecosystem structure as well as estimates of biomass and carbon storage. Yet our understanding of how tree allometry relates to climate and whole organismal function is limited. We used the Forest Inventory and Analysis National Program database to determine height–diameter allometries of 2,976,937 individuals of 293 tree species across the United States. The shape of the allometric relationship was determined by comparing linear and nonlinear functional forms. Mixed-effects models were used to test for allometric differences due to climate and floristic (between angiosperms and gymnosperms) and functional groups (leaf habit and shade tolerance). Tree allometry significantly differed across the United States largely because of climate. Temperature, and to some extent precipitation, in part explained tree allometric variation. The magnitude of allometric variation due to climate, however, had a phylogenetic signal. Specifically, angiosperm allometry was more sensitive to differences in temperature compared to gymnosperms. Most notably, angiosperm height was more negatively influenced by increasing temperature variability, whereas gymnosperm height was negatively influenced by decreasing precipitation and increasing altitude. There was little evidence to suggest that shade tolerance influenced tree allometry except for very shade-intolerant trees which were taller for any given diameter. Tree allometry is plastic rather than fixed and scaling parameters vary around predicted central tendencies. This allometric variation provides insight into life-history strategies, phylogenetic history, and environmental limitations at biogeographical scales. BlackWell Publishing Ltd 2015-03 2015-02-20 /pmc/articles/PMC4377263/ /pubmed/25859325 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1328 Text en © 2015 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Hulshof, Catherine M
Swenson, Nathan G
Weiser, Michael D
Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States
title Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States
title_full Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States
title_fullStr Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States
title_full_unstemmed Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States
title_short Tree height–diameter allometry across the United States
title_sort tree height–diameter allometry across the united states
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4377263/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25859325
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1328
work_keys_str_mv AT hulshofcatherinem treeheightdiameterallometryacrosstheunitedstates
AT swensonnathang treeheightdiameterallometryacrosstheunitedstates
AT weisermichaeld treeheightdiameterallometryacrosstheunitedstates