Stem architecture of shade tolerant species in a low-stature tropical rain forest in Mexico
Paper Details
Stem architecture of shade tolerant species in a low-stature tropical rain forest in Mexico
Abstract
The relationship of diameter and height of the stem is an architectural feature that is related to shade tolerance of the trees, as well as mechanical resistance to stem buckling. Theoretically it is postulated a high value of this coefficient for shade-tolerant species. The tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico is a low-stature forest with higher light levels in the understory, in comparison with other forests in the world. It was estimated the value of the diameter/height coefficient for 275 tree saplings (100-300 cm) of three shade-tolerant species and compared with the theoretically proposed values of stem buckling limit in trees. Particularly for this forest and contrary to general assumptions, we expect to find a low coefficient value due to increased height growth in comparison to diameter growth caused by high light levels in the understory. Indeed the three species showed a low coefficient of 0.492 for Guamia sp., 0.745 for Pseudolmedia oxyphyllaira, and 1.15 for Trophis mexicana. This may suggest that the height-diameter coefficient value ofthe stem for these species is in relation to the high levels of light in this forest in particular.
Alexandre DY. 1982. Penetration de la lumiere au niveau de sous-bois d’une foret dense tropicale. Annals Science Forest 39, 419-38.
Aoki M, Yabuki K, Koyama H. 1978. Micrometeorology of Pasoh Forest. Malayan Nature Journal 30, 149-59.
Putz FE, Brokaw NVL. 1989. Sprouting of broken trees on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ecology 70, 508–512.
Bjorkman O, Ludlow MM. 1972. Characterization of the light climate on the floor of a Queensland rainforest. Carnegie Inst. Wasth Yearb 71, 85-94.
Bongers F, Sterck FJ. 1998. The architecture of tropical rain forest trees: responses to light, In: Newbery DM, Prins HHT, Brown ND, eds. Dynamics of tropical communities. 37th Symposium of the British Ecological Society. Blackwell Science, Oxford, 126–162.
Bongers F, Popma J. 1988. Is exposure-related variation in leaf characteristic of tropical rain forest adaptive? In: Werger MJA, Van-der-Aart PJM, During HJ, Verhoeven JTA, eds. Plant Form and Vegetation Structure. Academic Publishing, Holanda, 192-200.
Bongers F, Popma J, Meave del Castillo J, Carabias J. 1988. Structure and floristic composition of the lowland rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Vegetatio 74, 55-80.
Claussen JW, Maycock CR. 1995. Stem allometry in a North Queensland tropical rain forest. Biotropica 4, 421–426.
Canham CD, Denslow JS, Platt WJ, Runkle JE, Spies TA, White PS. 1990. Light regimes beneath closed canopies and tree-fall gaps in temperate and tropical forests. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research 20, 620-631.
Chazdon R, Fetcher N. 1984. Photosynthetic light environments in a lowland tropical rain forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology 72, 553-564.
Dean TJ, Long JN. 1986. Validity of constant-stress and elastic-instability principles of stem formation in Pinus contorta and Trifolium pratense. Annals of Botany 58, 833–840.
Clark DB, Clark DA. 1991. The impact of physical damage on canopy tree regeneration in tropical rain forest. Journal of Ecology 79, 447–457.
Ennos AR. 1996. Wind as an ecological factor. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12, 108–111.
Gartner BL. 1989. Breakage and regrowth of Piper species in rain forest understorey. Biotropica 21, 303–307.
González-Soriano E, Dirzo R, Vogt RC. 1997. Historia Natural de los Tuxtlas. Instituto de Biología, UNAM, CONABIO e Instituto de Ecología, UNAM. México, D. F. 647 pp.
Halle´ F, Oldeman RAA. 1970. Essai sur l’architecture et dynamique de croissance des arbres tropicaux. Masson, Paris.
Horn HS. 1971. The adaptive geometry of trees. Princeton University Press, London.
King DA. 1991. Tree size. Research and Exploration 7, 342–351.
King DA. 1996. Allometry and life history of tropical trees. Journal of Tropical Ecology 12, 25–44.
King DA, Davies SJ, Nur Supardi MN, Tan S. 2005. Tree growth is related to light interception and wood density in two mixed dipterocarp forests of Malaysia. Functional Ecology 19, 445–453.
Kohyama T. 1991. A functional model describing sapling growth under a tropical forest canopy. Functional Ecology 5, 83-90.
Kohyama T, Hotta M. 1990. Significance of allometry in tropical saplings. Functional Ecology 4, 515–521.
Martinez-Sanchez JL, Meave J, Bongers F. 2008. Light-related variation in sapling architecture of three shade-tolerant tree species of the Mexican rain forest. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 81, 361-371.
Mcmahon TA. 1973. Size and shape in biology: elastic criteria impose limits on biological proportions, and consequently on metabolic rates. Science 179, 1201–1204.
Murray NA. 1993. Revision of Cymbopetalum and Porcelia (Annonaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs 40, 1-121.
Norberg RA. 1988. Theory of growth geometry of plants and self-thinning of plant populations: Geometric similarity, elastic similarity, and different growth modes of plant parts. American Naturalist 131, 220-256.
O’Brien ST, Hubbell SP, Spiro P, Condit R, Foster RB. 1995. Diameter, height, crown, and age relationships in eight neotropical tree species. Ecology 76, 1926–1939.
Paciorek CJ, Condit R, Hubbell SP, Foster RB. 2000. The demographics of resprouting in tree and shrub species of a tropical moist forest. Journal of Ecology, 765–777.
Pearcy RW. 1983. The light environment and growth of C3 and C4 tree species in the understorey of a Hawaiian forest. Oecologia 58, 19-25.
Putz FE, Coley PD, LU K, Montalvo A, Aiello A. 1983. Uprooting and snapping in trees: structural determinants and ecological consequences. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research 13, 1011–1020.
Putz FA, Brokaw NVL. 1989. Sprouting of broken trees on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ecology 70, 508-512.
Rich PM, Helenurm K, Kearns D, Morse SR, Palmer MR, Short L. 1986. Height and stem diameter relationships for dicotyledonous trees and arborescent palms of Costa Rican tropical wet forest. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 133, 241–246.
Shukla RP, Ramakirshnan PS. 1986. Architecture and growth strategies of tropical tres in relation to successional status. Journal of Ecology 74, 33-46.
Sterck FJ, Clark DB, Clark DA, Bongers F. 1999. Light fluctuations, crown traits, and response delays for tree saplings in a Costa Rican lowland rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15, 83–95.
Sterck FJ, Bongers F, Newbery DM. 2001. Tree architecture in a Bornean lowland rain forest: intraspecific and interspecific patterns. Plant Ecology 153, 279–292.
Poorter L, Bongers F, Sterck FJ, Wöll H. 2003. Architecture of 53 rain forest tree species differing in adult stature and shade tolerance. Ecology 84, 602–608.
Sterck FJ, Bongers F. 1998. Ontogenetic changes in size, allometry, and mechanical design of tropical rain forest tres. American Journal of Botany 85, 266–272.
Sterck FJ, Clark DB, Clark DA, Bongers F. 1999. Light fluctuations, crown traits, and response delays for tree saplings in a Costa Rican lowland rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15, 83–95.
Jose Luis Martinez-Sanchez, Humberto Hernandez Trejo, 2011. Stem architecture of shade tolerant species in a low-stature tropical rain forest in Mexico. Int. J. Biosci., 1(3), 78-84.
Copyright © 2011 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.