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Conservation rule of stem surface area: a hypothesis

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Abstract

The relationship between stem surface area and stand density was analyzed using a large data set collected from 14 districts for Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) and 11 districts for Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl.) stands across Japan. The results demonstrated that the mean stem surface area in overcrowded stands was inversely proportional to the stand density for both species and all districts. The inverse relationship indicates that the total stem surface area in overcrowded stands becomes a maximum constant independent of stand density, which is termed the ‘conservation rule of stem surface area.’ Since the stem surface area is proportional to the amount of cambium cells in the stem, the conservation rule suggests that there is an upper limit to the total amount of cambium per unit area, i.e., conservation rule of cambium. The conservation rule of stem surface area was linked to the 3/2 power law of self-thinning by an allometric power exponent between stem surface area and volume. Since the allometric power exponent was approximately equal to 3/2, the self-thinning exponent would vary within a relatively narrow band around −3/2. In conclusion, we hypothesized that the conservation rule of stem surface area, or the conservation rule of cambium, may be an alternative starting point for understanding self-thinning in overcrowded tree populations.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute for publishing the large data set used in the present study. The authors wish to sincerely thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable and insightful comments. A.I. was funded by KAKENHI (24780155).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan

    Akio Inoue

  2. Department of Forest Management, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, 305-8687, Japan

    Tomohiro Nishizono

Authors
  1. Akio Inoue
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  2. Tomohiro Nishizono
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Correspondence to Akio Inoue.

Additional information

Communicated by Rainer Matyssek.

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Inoue, A., Nishizono, T. Conservation rule of stem surface area: a hypothesis. Eur J Forest Res 134, 599–608 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-015-0875-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-015-0875-1

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