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Scaling of stem diameter and height allometry in 14 neotropical palm species of different forest strata

  • Physiological ecology – original research
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Abstract

Tropical palms reach tree-like heights without a vascular cambium through sustained cell expansion and lignification of primary tissues, but only a fraction of palms have been explored in their allometric relationships. Here, our main question was to determine how palms depart from the traditional mechanical models developed for trees and how they approach the theoretical buckling limit. We analyzed the stem allometry of 1603 palms of 14 species from different strata at 10 sites in Costa Rica and Peru. We measured their fit to the stress, elastic, and geometric similarity models, and their position relative to the maximum theoretical buckling limit calculated for trees. We evaluated the slope of the linear and logarithmic regressions between stem diameter and height using logarithmic least squares, and standardized major axis regression (SMA), expecting segregation according to canopy position and geographic location. Seventeen out of 19 statistically significant models had SMA slopes > 1, and 11 had SMA slopes ≥ 2, departing from traditional mechanical models developed for trees. Many species varied their allometry relative to geographic location. Canopy palms showed the highest regression fit but had less steep slopes than understory and subcanopy species. Subcanopy and understory species were more underbuilt than canopy palms, increasing height faster than diameter. Some of the tallest canopy palms surpassed the maximum buckling limit whereas subcanopy and understory species were consistently below the buckling limit of record-size trees. Palm stem allometry changed in response to environmental conditions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the students and staff of The School for Field Studies for their help during field work, the staff of La Selva, Santa Elena, Tirimbina, El Rodeo, and Los Amigos for facilitating research at their field stations. Two anonymous reviewers provided key feedback that improved the original manuscript. This research was supported by the Directorate of Research of the University of Costa Rica Project number 111-A3-129, the International Palm Society, the Organization for Tropical Studies, Tirimbina Biological Reserve, IdeaWild, and The School for Field Studies. Alexandra Donahue corrected the final text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, San José, 11501-2060, Costa Rica

    Gerardo Avalos, Maga Gei, Mauricio Fernández Otárola, Milena Cambronero, Carolina Alvarez-Vergnani & Gustavo Rojas

  2. The School for Field Studies, Center for Sustainable Development Studies, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 534G, Beverly, MA, 01915, USA

    Gerardo Avalos

  3. Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Luis Diego Ríos

  4. Department of Environment and Development, University for Peace, Ciudad Colón, San José, Costa Rica

    Olivia Sylvester

Authors
  1. Gerardo Avalos
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  2. Maga Gei
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  3. Luis Diego Ríos
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  4. Mauricio Fernández Otárola
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  5. Milena Cambronero
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  6. Carolina Alvarez-Vergnani
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  7. Olivia Sylvester
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  8. Gustavo Rojas
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Contributions

GA conceived, designed, implemented the study and wrote the manuscript. MG, LDR, MFO, MC, CAV, OS, and GR edited the ms and contributed data. GA analyzed the results.

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Correspondence to Gerardo Avalos.

Additional information

Communicated by Fernando Valladares.

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Avalos, G., Gei, M., Ríos, L.D. et al. Scaling of stem diameter and height allometry in 14 neotropical palm species of different forest strata. Oecologia 190, 757–767 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04452-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04452-7

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