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Radial stem variations of Tabebuia chrysantha (Bignoniaceae) in different tropical forest ecosystems of southern Ecuador

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Abstract

Stem diameter increments of the broadleaved deciduous tree species Tabebuia chrysantha were measured with high-resolution dendrometers in a tropical lower montane forest and in a dry forest in southern Ecuador, the latter showing a distinct dry season. Those analyses were complemented by wood anatomical studies on regularly collected microcores to determine the season of active cambial growth and the time of formation of annual growth boundaries. The length of the cambial active period varied between 3 and 7 months at the tropical lower montane forest and 2 and 4 months in the dry forest, respectively. During dry days, amplitudes of daily stem diameter variations correlated with vapour pressure deficit. During October and November, inter-annual climate variations may lead to dry and sunny conditions in the tropical lower montane forest, causing water deficit and stem diameter shrinkage in T. chrysantha. The results of the climate–growth analysis show a positive relationship between tree growth and rainfall as well as vapour pressure deficit in certain periods of the year, indicating that rainfall plays a major role for tree growth.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded within the project BR 1895/14-1 (FOR 816) by the German Research Foundation (DFG). We also thank Ing. Eduardo Cueva for providing phenology data of Tabebuia in the dry forest of Laipuna.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Kochstr. 4/4, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Franziska Volland-Voigt, Achim Bräuning & Thorsten Peters

  2. Carrera de Ingenieria Forestal “Ciudadela Guillermo Falconi Espinoza”, Universidád Nacional de Loja, Loja, Ecuador

    Oswaldo Ganzhi & Hector Maza

Authors
  1. Franziska Volland-Voigt
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  2. Achim Bräuning
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  3. Oswaldo Ganzhi
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  4. Thorsten Peters
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  5. Hector Maza
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Correspondence to Franziska Volland-Voigt.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Bräuning.

Contribution to the special issue “Tropical Dendroecology”.

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Volland-Voigt, F., Bräuning, A., Ganzhi, O. et al. Radial stem variations of Tabebuia chrysantha (Bignoniaceae) in different tropical forest ecosystems of southern Ecuador. Trees 25, 39–48 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-010-0461-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-010-0461-6

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