Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sapling growth and survivorship as affected by light and flooding in a river floodplain forest of southeast Texas

  • Community Ecology
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigated the effects of light and flooding on growth and survivorship of saplings in a river floodplain forest of southeast Texas. Growth responses to light were consistent with the expectation that shade-intolerant species grow faster than shade-tolerant species in high light, and vice versa. Mortality risk was not associated with shade tolerance level unless high mortality risks associated with a period of high flooding were removed. These results support the hypothesis that shade-tolerant species in floodplains may be limited by flooding as previous studies suggested. Also, compared to their performance at a nearby mesic site, common species showed little intraspecific difference in shade tolerance, especially for shade-intolerant species. Finally, the positive correlation between low-light growth and survivorship suggests that carbon allocation to continued growth may be favored as a sapling strategy in floodplains.

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
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson MC (1964) Studies of the woodland light climate. I. The photographic computation of light conditions. J Ecol 52:27–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Battaglia LL, Fore SA, Sharitz RR (2000) Seedling emergence, survival and size in relation to light and water availability in two bottomland hardwood species. J Ecol 88:1041–1050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker P, Erhart DW, Smith AP (1989) Analysis of forest light environments. Part I. Computerized estimation of solar radiation from hemispherical canopy photographs. Agric For Meteorol 44:217–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boardman NK (1977) Comparative photosynthesis of sun and shade plants. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 28:355–377

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burns RM, Honkala BH (1990) Silvics of North America. Vol 2. Hardwoods. U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook 654, USDA, Washington, D.C.

  • Canham CD, Kobe RK, Latty EF, Chazdon RL (1999) Interspecific and intraspecific variation in tree seedlings survival: effects of allocation to roots versus carbohydrate reserves. Oecologia 121:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fulton MR (1991) Adult recruitment as a function of juvenile growth rate in a size-structured plant population. Oikos 62:102–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Givnish TJ (1988) Adaptation to sun and shade: a whole plant perspective. Aust J Plant Physiol 15:63–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Glitzenstein JS, Harcombe PA, Streng DR (1986) Disturbance, succession, and maintenance of species diversity in an east Texas forest. Ecol Monogr 56:243–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall RBW (1993) Sapling growth and recruitment as affected by flooding and gap canopy formation in a river floodplain forest in southeast Texas. Ph.D. Dissertation. Rice University, Houston, Tex.

  • Hall RBW, Harcombe PA (1998) Flooding alters apparent position of floodplain saplings on a light gradient. Ecology 79:847–855

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall RBW, Harcombe PA (2001) Sapling dynamics in an Southeastern Texas floodplain forest. J Veg Sci 12:427–438

    Google Scholar 

  • Harcombe PA, Glitzenstein JS, Krusic P, Hall RBW, Cook ES, Fulton M, Streng DR (1998) Sensitivity of Gulf forests to climate change. In: Vulnerability of coastal wetlands in southeastern United States. Biological science report USGS/BRD/BSR-1998–0002, pp 45–66

  • Jones RH, McLeod KW (1989) Shade tolerance in seedlings of Chinese tallow trees, American sycamore and cherrybark oak. Bull Torrey Bot Club 116:371–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones RH, Sharitz RR (1998) Survival and growth of woody plant seedlings in the understorey of floodplain forests in South Carolina. J Ecol 86:574–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones RH, Sharitz RR, McLeod KW (1989) Effects of flooding and root competition on growth of shaded bottomland hardwood seedlings. Am Midl Nat 121:165–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones RH, Sharitz RR, Dixon PM, Segal DS, Schneider RL (1994) Woody plant regeneration in four floodplain forests. Ecol Monogr 64:345–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones RH, Sharitz RR, James SM, Dixon PM (1995) Tree population dynamics in seven South Carolina mixed-species forests. Bull Torrey Bot Club 121:360–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobe RK (1997) Carbohydrate allocation to storage as a basis of interspecific variation in sapling survivorship and growth. Oikos 80:226–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobe RK, Pacala SW, Silander JA, Canham CD (1995) Juvenile tree survivorship as a component of shade tolerance. Ecol Applic 5:517–532

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee ET (1992) Statistical methods for survival data analysis. Wiley, New York

  • Lin J, Harcombe PA, Fulton MR (2001) Characterizing shade tolerance by the relationship between mortality and growth in tree saplings in a southeastern Texas forest. Can J For Res 31:345–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin J, Harcombe PA, Fulton MR, Hall RW (2002) Sapling growth and survivorship as a function of light in a mesic forest of southeast Texas, USA. Oecologia 132:428–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorimer CG (1981) Survival and growth of understory trees in oak forests of the Hudson Highlands. New York. Can J For Res 11:689–695

    Google Scholar 

  • Marks PL, Harcombe PA (1981) Forest vegetation of Big Thicket, southeast Texas. Ecol Monogr 51:287–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Menges ES, Waller DM (1983) Plant strategies in relation to elevation and light in floodplain forests. Am Nat 122:454–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacala SW, Canham CD, Silander JA (1993) Forest models defined by field measurements. I. The design of a northeastern forest simulator. Can J For Res 23:1980–1988

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacala SW, Canham CD, Silander JA, Kobe RK (1994) Sapling growth as a function of resources in a north temperate forest. Can J For Res 24:2172–2183

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacala SW, Canham CD, Saponara J, Silander JA, Kobe RK, Ribbens E (1996) Forest models defined by field measurements: estimation, error analysis and dynamics. Ecol Monogr 66:1–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco MA (2001) Effects of flooding and herbivores on variation in recruitment of palms between habitats. J Ecol 89:358–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rich PM (1989) A manual for analysis of hemispherical canopy photography. Los Alamos National Laboratory Technical Report LA-11733-M, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.

  • Rich PM (1990) Characterizing plant canopies with hemispherical photographs. Remote Sensing Rev 5:13–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Streng DR, Glitzenstein JS, Harcombe PA (1989) Woody seedling dynamics in an east Texas floodplain forest. Ecol Monogr 59:117–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright EF, Coates KD, Canham CD, Bartemucci P (1998) Species variability in growth response to light across climatic regions in northwestern British Columbia. Can J For Res 28:871–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank all people involved in collecting the long-term data set of this forest, including former graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and undergraduates. Special thanks go to I.S. Elsik who also manages the data. Lisa Sweeney, Wendy Park, Tina Snyder helped taking hemispherical photos in the fields. Cherri Higgins scanned the photos. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments that improve the manuscripts. Funding for this study was provided by NSF grants to P.H. (DEB-9726467) and M.F. (DEB-9816493) and a Wray-Todd Fellowship to J.L.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Mark R. Fulton

    Present address: Department of Biology, Bemidji State University, 1500 Birchmont Dr. NE, Bemidji, MN 56601, USA

  2. Rosine W. Hall

    Present address: Department of Biology, Auburn University at Montgomery, 7300 University Drive, Montgomery, AL 36117, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA

    Jie Lin, Paul A. Harcombe, Mark R. Fulton & Rosine W. Hall

Authors
  1. Jie Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paul A. Harcombe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mark R. Fulton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rosine W. Hall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul A. Harcombe.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lin, J., Harcombe, P.A., Fulton, M.R. et al. Sapling growth and survivorship as affected by light and flooding in a river floodplain forest of southeast Texas. Oecologia 139, 399–407 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1522-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1522-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation