scholarly journals Acclimation of seedlings of three Mexican tropical rain forest tree species to a change in light availability

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Popma ◽  
F. Bongers
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Tropical Rain Forest ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Gap Dynamics ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Relative Growth Rates ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
Acclimation Potential

ABSTRACTA comparison is made of the light acclimation potential of seedlings of three canopy species of the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico: Cordia megalantha, Lonchocarpus guatemalensis, and Omphalea oleifera. These species showed similar growth rates in a range of microhabitats. Gap dynamics were simulated by transferring plants between three environments: beneath a closed canopy, a small gap, and a large gap. Plants of all three species were able to adjust their morphology and growth rates in response to changes in light availability. Growth rates increased when plants were moved to a (larger) gap, and decreased when plants were moved to a more shaded environment. Shade-grown plants were able to acclimate faster to increasing light availability than sun-grown plants to decreasing light availability. Also, plants moved from shady to sunny conditions showed higher relative growth rates than sun control plants, whereas sun-grown plants when moved to the shade showed lower relative growth rates than shade control plants. Species differed in their response to gap dynamics. Omphalea could not acclimate morphologically to shading, but reacted faster than the other species in response to the occurrence of a large gap. Acclimation potential seemed to be related to plasticity in physiological rather than in morphological traits. Suppressed seedlings of all three species performed well in the shade, and were able to acclimate rapidly to gap-conditions.

scholarly journals Differential growth responses in seedlings of ten species of Dipterocarpaceae to experimental shading and defoliation

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Timothy Paine ◽  
Martin Stenflo ◽  
Christopher D. Philipson ◽  
Philippe Saner ◽  
Robert Bagchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Tree Seedlings ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Differential Growth ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Relative Growth Rates ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Tropical Tree Seedlings

Abstract:The responses of plants to shade and foliar herbivory jointly affect growth rates and community assembly. We grew 600 seedlings of ten species of the economically important Dipterocarpaceae in experimental gradients of shading (0.3–47.0% of full sunlight) and defoliation (0, 25%, 50% or 75% of leaf area removed). We assessed stem diameters initially, after 2 and 4 mo, and calculated relative growth rates (RGR) with a linear model. Shading interacted with defoliation, reducing RGR by 21.6% in shaded conditions and 8.9% in well-lit conditions. We tested three hypotheses for interspecific trade-offs in growth responses to shading and defoliation. They could be positively related, because both reduce a plant's access to carbon, or inversely related because of trade-offs between herbivore resistance and tolerance. We observed, however, that species varied in their response to shading, but not defoliation, precluding an interspecific trade-off and suggesting that plants tolerate shade and herbivory with differing strategies. Shading most strongly reduced the growth of species with less-dense wood and larger seeds. The strong and variable growth responses to shade, contrasted with the weak and uniform responses to defoliation, suggest that variation in light availability more strongly affects the growth of tropical tree seedlings, and thus community assembly, than does variation in herbivory.

Selection for biomass production based on respiration parameters in eucalypts: effects of origin and growth climates on growth rates

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1556-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thimmappa S. Anekonda ◽  
Richard S. Criddle ◽  
Lee D. Hansen ◽  
Mike Bacca
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Dependence ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Heat Rate ◽  
Eucalyptus Species ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Relative Growth Rates ◽  
Metabolic Heat ◽  
Respiratory Parameters ◽  
Metabolic Heat Rate ◽  
Different Climates

Seventeen Eucalyptus species and 30 rapid-growing Eucalyptuscamaldulensis trees (referred to as plus trees), growing in a plantation were studied to examine relationships among measured plant growth and respiratory parameters, geographical origins, and growth climate. The respiratory parameters measured at two different temperatures by isothermal calorimetry were metabolic heat rate, rate of CO2 production, and the ratio of heat rate to CO2 rate. Metabolic heat rate was also measured as a continuous function of temperature by differential scanning calorimetry in the range of 10 to 40 °C. Tree growth was measured as rates of height and stem volume growth. The values of respiratory and growth variables of Eucalyptus species are significantly correlated with latitude and altitude of origin of their seed sources. The maximum metabolic heat rate, the temperature of the maximum heat rate, the temperature coefficients of metabolic rate, and the temperatures at which the slopes of Arrhenius plots change are all genetically determined parameters that vary both within and among species. Measurement of growth rate–respiration rate–temperature relationships guide understanding of why relative growth rates of Eucalyptus species and individual genotypes differ with climate, making it possible to identify genotypes best suited for rapid growth in different climates. The temperature dependence of respiration rates is an important factor determining relative growth rates of eucalypts in different climates. To achieve optimum biomass production the temperature dependence of individual plants must be matched to growth climate.

Irradiance and Spectral Quality Affect Asian Tropical Rain Forest Tree Seedling Development

Ecology ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 568-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Lee ◽  
Krishnapillay Baskaran ◽  
Marzalina Mansor ◽  
Haris Mohamad ◽  
Son Kheong Yap
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Tropical Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Seedling Development ◽  
Spectral Quality ◽  
Tree Seedling

Studies on the sowing dates of cotton in the Sudan Gezira: I. The influence of date of sowing on plant growth and development

1967 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Slow Growth ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Relative Growth Rates ◽  
Research Division ◽  
Sowing Dates ◽  
Net Assimilation ◽  
State Growth ◽  
Sudan Gezira

Growth analysis of cotton crops sown in the Sudan Gezira at monthly intervals between August and May revealed a marked seasonal pattern of growth. Irrespective of plant age and fruiting state growth of non-senescent plants was slowest during the cool winter months. Relative growth rates of young plants were highest in August, September and early October due to the high specific leaf areas and fairly high net assimilation rates found then. They were lowest when minimum temperatures were lowest. Net assimilation rates were also lowest in the coolest months, probably as a result of restricted growth. High temperatures in the spring reduced fruiting. It is concluded that low minimum temperatures and high evaporation rates are both associated with slow growth, and play a large part in determining the characteristic decline of growth rates of cotton sown at the usual date in August.I wish to thank the Chief of the Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Sudan, for permission to publish this paper and to record my gratitude to the team of field and laboratory assistants, especially Salih Saad and Hassan Osman, who helped in the work.

Molecular Systematic Analysis Reveals Cryptic Tertiary Diversification of a Widespread Tropical Rain Forest Tree

2003 ◽  
Vol 162 (6) ◽  
pp. 691-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher W. Dick ◽  
Kobinah Abdul‐Salim ◽  
Eldredge Bermingham
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Tropical Rain Forest ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Molecular Systematic ◽  
Systematic Analysis

The effect of barley yellow dwarf virus on early plant growth in ryegrass (Lolium spp.)

1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
DR Eagling ◽  
RJ Sward ◽  
GM Halloran
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Relative Growth Rates ◽  
Root Dry Weight ◽  
Shoot Dry Weight ◽  
Barley Yellow Dwarf ◽  
Yellow Dwarf Virus

Measurements were made on the effect of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) infection on the early growth of four commercial cultivars of ryegrass (Lolium spp.) under two different temperatures (24�C and 16�C). At 24'C, BYDV infection was associated with reduced root dry weight (30-40%) in all cultivars; the effect of infection on shoot dry weight and leaf area was variable. At 16�C, the effect of BYDV infection was variable, being associated with increases in root dry weight, shoot dry weight, and leaf area in one cultivar (Grasslands Ariki) and decreases in another (Victorian). In two other cultivars, root dry weight, shoot dry weight and leaf area were not significantly affected (P>0.05) by infection with BYDV.At 24�C, the reductions in root dry weight associated with BYDV infection were not concomitant with reductions in the root relative growth rates. Up to at least 28 days after inoculation (46-50 days after germination) reductions in root dry weight were associated with both aphid-feeding damage and virus infection. Experiments with the cultivar Victorian, showed that shoot dry weight was not significantly affected (P>0.05) by feeding with viruliferous (BYDV) or non-viruliferous aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi L.). At 16�C, changes in root and shoot dry weight were associated with changes in the root and shoot relative growth rates.

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