Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tradeoffs in basal area growth and reproduction shift over the lifetime of a long-lived tropical species

  • Physiological ecology - Original research
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Understanding of the extent to which reproductive costs drive growth largely derives from reproductively mature temperate trees in masting and non-masting years. We modeled basal area increment (BAI) and explored current growth–reproduction tradeoffs and changes in such allocation over the life span of a long-lived, non-masting tropical tree. We integrated rainfall and soil variables with data from 190 Bertholletia excelsa trees of different diameter at breast height (DBH) sizes, crown characteristics, and liana loads, quantifying BAI and reproductive output over 4 and 6 years, respectively. While rainfall explains BAI in all models, regardless of DBH class or ontogenic stage, light (based on canopy position and crown form) is most critical in the juvenile (5 cm ≤ DBH < 50 cm) phase. Suppressed trees are only present as juveniles and grow ten times slower (1.45 ± 2.73 m2 year−1) than trees in dominant and co-dominant positions (13.25 ± 0.82 and 12.90 ± 1.35 m2 year−1, respectively). Additionally, few juvenile trees are reproductive, and those that are, demonstrate reduced growth, as do reproductive trees in the next 50 to 100 cm DBH class, suggesting growth–reproduction tradeoffs. Upon reaching the canopy, however, and attaining a sizeable girth, this pattern gradually shifts to one where BAI and reproduction are influenced independently by variables such as liana load, crown size and soil properties. At this stage, BAI is largely unaffected by fruit production levels. Thus, while growth–reproduction tradeoffs clearly exist during early life stages, effects of reproductive allocation diminish as B. excelsa increases in size and maturity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akaike H (1973) Information theory as an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In: Pretrov BN, Csaki FF (eds) Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Information Theory. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, pp 267–281

  • Brienen RJW, Zuidema PA (2005) Relating tree growth to rainfall in Bolivian rain forests: a test for six species using tree ring analysis. Oecologia 146:1–2

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brienen RJW, Zuidema PA (2006) Lifetime growth patterns and ages of Bolivian rain forest trees obtained by tree ring analysis. J Ecol 94:481–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multi-model inference: a practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Camargo PB, Salomão RP, Trumbore S, Martinelli LA (1994) How old are large Brazil-nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) in the Amazon? Scientia Agricola 51:389–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Chazdon RL, Pearcy RW, Lee DW, Fetcher N (1996) Photosynthetic responses of tropical forest plants to contrasting light environments. In: Mulkey SS, Chazdon RL, Smith AP (eds) Tropical forest plant ecophysiology. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp 5–55

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Clark DA, Clark DB (1992) Life-history diversity of canopy and emergent trees in a neotropical rain-forest. Ecol Monogr 62:315–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark DB, Clark DA (1996) Abundance, growth and mortality of very large trees in neotropical lowland rain forest. For Ecol Manage 80:235–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denslow JS, Schultz JC, Vitousek PM, Strain BR (1990) Growth-responses of tropical shrubs to treefall gap environments. Ecology 71:165–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diniz TD de AS, Bastos TX (1974) Contribuição ao conhecimento do clima típico da castanha do Brasil. Boletim Técnico. Instituto de Pesquisas e Experimentação Agropecuárias do Norte 64:59–7

  • EMBRAPA—Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (1997) Manual de métodos de análise de solos, 2ª edn. Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Solos, Rio de Janeiro

    Google Scholar 

  • FUNTAC—Fundação de Tecnologia do Estado do Acre (2008) Atlas do estado do Acre. FUNTAC, Rio Branco

    Google Scholar 

  • Gama JRNF, Kushaba T, Ota T, Amano Y (1992) Influência de material vulcânico em alguns solos do estado do Acre. Rev Bras Ciência do Solo 16:103–106

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harper JL, White J (1974) The demography of plants. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 5:419–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrera C, Jordano P, Guitian J, Ttaveset A (1998) Annual variability in seed production by wood plants and the masting concept: reassessment of principles and relationship to pollination and seed dispersal. Am Nat 152:576–594

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • IMAC—Instituto de Meio Ambiente do Acre (1991) Atlas geográfico ambiental do Acre. IMAC, Rio Branco

    Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH (1974) Tropical blackwater rivers, animals, and mast fruiting by the Dipterocarpaceae. Biotropica 7:347–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH (1976) Why bamboos wait so long to flower. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 7:347–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kainer KA, Wadt LHO, Gomes-Silva DAP, Capanu M (2006) Liana loads and their association with Bertholletia excelsa fruit and nut production, diameter growth and crown attributes. J Trop Ecol 22:147–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kainer KA, Wadt LHO, Staudhammer CL (2007) Explaining variation in Brazil nut fruit production. For Ecol Manage 250:244–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly D (1994) The evolutionary ecology of mast seeding. Trends Ecol Evol 9:465–470

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly D, Sork VL (2002) Mast seeding in perennial plants: why, how, where? Ann Rev Ecol Syst 33:427–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King DA, Davies SJ, Supardi MNN, Tan S (2005) Tree growth is related to light interception and wood density in two mixed dipterocarp forests of Malaysia. Funct Ecol 19:445–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knops JMH, Koenig WD, Carmen WJ (2007) Negative correlation does not imply a tradeoff between growth and reproduction in California oaks. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:16982–16985

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig WD, Knops JMH (2000) Patterns of annual seed production by northern hemisphere trees: a global perspective. Am Nat 155(1):59–69

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig WD, Mumme RL, Carmen WJ, Stanback MT (1994) Acorn production by oaks in central coastal California: variation within an among years. Ecology 75:99–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littell RC, Milliken GA, Stroup WW, Wolfinger RD, Schabenberger O (2006) SAS for mixed models, 2nd edn. SAS Institute Inc., Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • Maués MM (2002) Reproductive phenology and pollination of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl. Lecythidaceae) in Eastern Amazonia. In: Kevan P, Imperatriz Fonseca VL (eds) Pollinating bees: the conservation link between agriculture and nature. Ministry of the Environment, Brasilia, Brazil, pp 245–254

  • Monks A, Kelly D (2006) Testing the resource-matching hypothesis in the mast seeding tree Nothofagus truncate (Fagaceae). Austral Ecol 31:366–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newberry DM, Chuyong GB, Zimmermann L (2006) Mast fruiting of large ectomycorrhizal African rain forest trees: importance of dry season intensity, and the resource-limitation hypothesis. New Phytol 170:561–579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Malley DM, Buckley DP, Prance GT, Bawa KS (1988) Genetics of Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl.: lecythidaceae). Theor Appl Genet 76:929–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obeso JR (2002) The costs of reproduction in plants. New Phytol 155:321–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver CD, Larson BC (1996) Forest stand dynamics, update edition. Wiley, New York

  • Pélissier R, Pascal J-P (2000) Two-year tree growth patterns investigated from monthly girth records using dendrometer bands in a wet evergreen forest in India. J Trop Ecol 16:429–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poorter L, Kitajima K (2007) Carbohydrate storage and light requirements of tropical moist and dry forest tree species. Ecology 88:1000–1011

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prance GT (1990) Bertholletia. In: Mori SA, Prance GT (eds) Lecythidaceae-Part II: the zygomorphic-flowered New World genera. Flora Neotropica Monograph 21. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York, pp 114–118

  • Rüger N, Berger U, Hubbell SP, Vieilledent G, Condit R (2011a) Growth strategies of tropical tree species: disentangling light and size effects. PLoS ONE 6:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rüger N, Huth A, Hubbell SP, Condit R (2011b) Determinants of mortality across a tropical lowland rainforest community. Oikos 120:1047–1056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-Humanes B, Sork VL (2011) Trade-offs between vegetative growth and acorn production in Quercus lobata during a mast year: the relevance of crop size and hierarchical level within the canopy. Oecologia 166:101–110

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schabenberger O, Pierce FJ (2001) Contemporary statistical models for the plant and soil sciences. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schnitzer SA, Bongers F (2002) The ecology of lianas and their role in forests. Trends Ecol Evol 17:223–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland S (1986) Patterns of fruit-set: what controls fruit-flower ratios in plants? Evolution 40:117–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Synnott TJ (1979) A manual of permanent sample plot procedures for tropical rainforests. Tropical Forestry Papers No. 14. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford

  • Thomas SC (2011) Age-related changes in tree growth and functional biology: the role if reproduction. In: Meinzer FC, Lachenbruch B, Dawson TE (eds) Size- and age-related changes in tree structure and function. 1st edn. Tree Physiol 4, Springer, New York, pp 33–64

  • Tonini H (2011) Fenologia da castanheira-do-brasil (Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl., Lecythidaceae) no Sul do Estado de Roraima. Cerne 17:123–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Souza C Jr, Veríssimo, A, Silva Costa A de, Salomão Reis R, Balieiro C, Ribeiro J (2006) Dinâmica do desmatamento no estado do Acre (1988-2004). IMAZON (Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiento da Amazônia), Belém, Pará, Brazil

  • Vieira S, de Camargo PB, Selhorst D, da Silva R, Hutyra L, Chambers JQ, Brown IF, Higuchi N, dos Santos J, Wofsy SC, Trumbore SE, Martinelli LA (2004) Forest structure and carbono dynamics in Amazonian tropical rain forests. Oecologia 140:468–479

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vieira S, Trumbore S, Camargo PB, Selhorst D, Chambers JQ, Higuchi N (2005) Slow growth rates of Amazonian trees: consequences for carbon cycling. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:18502–18507

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wadt LHO, Kainer KA, Gomes-Silva DAP (2005) Population structure and nut yield of a Bertholletia excelsa stand in Southwestern Amazonia. For Ecol Manage 211:371–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright SJ, Muller-Landau HC, Calderon O, Hernandéz A (2005) Annual and spatial variation in seedfall and seedling recruitment in a neotropical forest. Ecology 86:848–860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yasumura Y, Hikosaka K, Hirose T (2006) Resource allocation to vegetative and reproductive growth in relation to mast seeding in Fagus crenata. For Ecol Manage 229:228–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico do Acre (ZEE) (2000) Recursos naturais e meio ambiente. Volume I. Secretaria de Estado de Ciência, Tecnologia e Meio Ambiente, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil

  • Zuidema PA (2003) Ecology and management of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa). PROMAB (Programa Manejo de Bosques de la Amazonia Boliviana), Ribertalta, Bolivia

  • Zuidema PA, Boot RGA (2002) Demography of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) in the Bolivian Amazon: impact of seed extraction on recruitment and population dynamics. J Trop Ecol 18:1–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from Embrapa (Kamukaia Project), FINEP/MCT/CNPq (Castanhac Project), MCT/CNPq (Proc. 480016/2008-9 Universal) in Brazil, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in the US, and the International Science Foundation, Sweden through a grant to Dr Wadt. We also thank the Embrapa technicians and research interns for their superior field assistance. Finally, we are most grateful to Valderi and Maria Alzenira who graciously shared their forest home.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Christina L. Staudhammer

  2. Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal do Acre (Embrapa Acre), Rio Branco, Acre, 69901-108, Brazil

    Lúcia H. O. Wadt

  3. School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0410, USA

    Karen A. Kainer

  4. Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-5530, USA

    Karen A. Kainer

Authors
  1. Christina L. Staudhammer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lúcia H. O. Wadt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karen A. Kainer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen A. Kainer.

Additional information

Communicated by Ram Oren.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Staudhammer, C.L., Wadt, L.H.O. & Kainer, K.A. Tradeoffs in basal area growth and reproduction shift over the lifetime of a long-lived tropical species. Oecologia 173, 45–57 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2603-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2603-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation