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Spatial organisation of a bimodal forest stand

  • Original Article
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Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

Many populations have a bimodal size distribution, even when composed of a single cohort. In developing forest stands, this pattern is usually attributed to asymmetric competition at canopy closure among trees which have access to the upper canopy and those which have failed to reach it. Nevertheless, alternative explanations for bimodality exist, and in sessile organisms spatial pattern analysis can be used to compare their predictions. A 0.25-ha plot was created in a maturing stand of Asiatic white birch (Betula platyphylla Sukacz.) in Central Kamchatka. All stems >1 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were fully mapped. Mark correlation analysis revealed size compensation among stems up to 3.5 m apart, providing evidence that competition affected the distribution of stem sizes. The spatial pattern of trees was analysed using the pair correlation function g(r). Large trees (>20 cm DBH) had a dispersed distribution to which a Strauss soft-core Gibbs process model was fitted. This suggested that large trees interacted at scales up to 4.16 m. Small trees (1–20 cm DBH) were distributed randomly, but a cross-pair correlation analysis revealed a greater likelihood of occurrence beginning at 4.3 m from large trees, closely matching the modelled interaction distance. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that asymmetric competition is structuring this bimodal cohort of trees: large stems tend towards a dispersed pattern, exerting competitive effects at scales up to approximately 4 m, whereas smaller stems are more commonly found in the interstices within the pattern of large trees.

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Acknowledgments

Field data were collected with the assistance of Kim Warren, Tim Kell, Joe Wright, and Fredi Baumgarten. Logistical support was provided by Bystrinsky Nature Park and Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University. Funding was provided by The University of Nottingham, The British Ecological Society, The Royal Geographical Society, The Albert Reckitt Charitable Trust, and The Andrew Croft Memorial Fund. For further information, including raw data and photographs, see http://www.kamchatka2008.org.uk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    M. P. Eichhorn

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  1. M. P. Eichhorn
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Correspondence to M. P. Eichhorn.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

10310_2010_200_MOESM1_ESM.eps

Supplementary Appendix A. Positions of live B. platyphylla trees >1 cm DBH in a 0.25-ha plot in central Kamchatka. Circle size is an arbitrary scale representing DBH (EPS 3414 kb)

10310_2010_200_MOESM2_ESM.eps

Supplementary Appendix B. Pair correlation function g(r) of large trees against simulation envelopes for the fitted Strauss process (EPS 2127 kb)

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Eichhorn, M.P. Spatial organisation of a bimodal forest stand. J For Res 15, 391–397 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0200-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0200-2

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