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Tree and Sapling Growth and Mortality

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Book cover North American Temperate Deciduous Forest Responses to Changing Precipitation Regimes

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 166))

Abstract

Plant-dry-matter accumulation ultimately depends on the yield of carbon building blocks (i.e., nonstructural carbohydrates) from the difference between carbon assimilation (Chapter 3, this volume) and autotrophic respiration (Chapter 4, this volume). Accumulated sugar and starch reserves in roots and shoots (Chapter 5, this volume) represent the primary compounds, along with stored elements, that must be present to support mass accumulation in the stems of saplings and trees. Waring and Pitman (1985) proposed a hierarchy of photosynthate allocation priorities for trees that considers stem growth to be a relatively low allocation priority, suggesting that changes in stem-growth rates would be a sensitive indicator of water stress response. Sustained low stem-growth rates have also been linked to mortality (Kohyama and Hara 1989; Pedersen 1998; Swaine et al. 1987; Tainter et al. 1984). Because growth and mortality are the integrated result of of physiological responses to environmental stress, they represent key end points for investigations of forest response to changing precipitation regimes. This chapter describes the annual growth and mortality of saplings and large trees during 7 full years of throughfall manipulation (1994–2000) and provides a quantitative description of the response of tree growth to soil-water deficits. The Throughfall Displacement Experiment (TDE) observations are also contrasted with published data for other deciduous hardwood forests, and their application for predicting growth responses to soil-water deficits throughout the eastern deciduous hardwood forest is discussed.

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Authors
  1. Paul J. Hanson
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  2. Donald E. Todd
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  3. Darrell C. West
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  4. Nelson T. Edwards
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  5. M. Lynn Tharp
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  6. William A. Simpson Jr.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Bethel Valley Road, Building 1059, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6422, USA

    Paul J. Hanson  & Stan D. Wullschleger  & 

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Hanson, P.J., Todd, D.E., West, D.C., Edwards, N.T., Tharp, M.L., Simpson, W.A. (2003). Tree and Sapling Growth and Mortality. In: Hanson, P.J., Wullschleger, S.D. (eds) North American Temperate Deciduous Forest Responses to Changing Precipitation Regimes. Ecological Studies, vol 166. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0021-2_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0021-2_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6506-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0021-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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