Dataset Information

Net Assimilation Rate Determines the Growth Rates of 14 Species of Subtropical Forest Trees.

ABSTRACT: Growth rates are of fundamental importance for plants, as individual size affects myriad ecological processes. We determined the factors that generate variation in RGR among 14 species of trees and shrubs that are abundant in subtropical Chinese forests. We grew seedlings for two years at four light levels in a shade-house experiment. We monitored the growth of every juvenile plant every two weeks. After one and two years, we destructively harvested individuals and measured their functional traits and gas-exchange rates. After calculating individual biomass trajectories, we estimated relative growth rates using nonlinear growth functions. We decomposed the variance in log(RGR) to evaluate the relationships of RGR with its components: specific leaf area (SLA), net assimilation rate (NAR) and leaf mass ratio (LMR). We found that variation in NAR was the primary determinant of variation in RGR at all light levels, whereas SLA and LMR made smaller contributions. Furthermore, NAR was strongly and positively associated with area-based photosynthetic rate and leaf nitrogen content. Photosynthetic rate and leaf nitrogen concentration can, therefore, be good predictors of growth in woody species.

SUBMITTER: Li X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4783115 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Net Assimilation Rate Determines the Growth Rates of 14 Species of Subtropical Forest Trees.

Li Xuefei X Schmid Bernhard B Wang Fei F Paine C E Timothy CE

PloS one 20160308 3

Growth rates are of fundamental importance for plants, as individual size affects myriad ecological processes. We determined the factors that generate variation in RGR among 14 species of trees and shrubs that are abundant in subtropical Chinese forests. We grew seedlings for two years at four light levels in a shade-house experiment. We monitored the growth of every juvenile plant every two weeks. After one and two years, we destructively harvested individuals and measured their functional trai ...[more]

PMID: 26953884

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Project description:As countries advance in greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for climate change mitigation, consistent estimates of aboveground net biomass change (?AGB) are needed. Countries with limited forest monitoring capabilities in the tropics and subtropics rely on IPCC 2006 default ?AGB rates, which are values per ecological zone, per continent. Similarly, research into forest biomass change at a large scale also makes use of these rates. IPCC 2006 default rates come from a handful of studies, provide no uncertainty indications and do not distinguish between older secondary forests and old-growth forests. As part of the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, we incorporate ?AGB data available from 2006 onwards, comprising 176 chronosequences in secondary forests and 536 permanent plots in old-growth and managed/logged forests located in 42 countries in Africa, North and South America and Asia. We generated ?AGB rate estimates for younger secondary forests (?20 years), older secondary forests (>20 years and up to 100 years) and old-growth forests, and accounted for uncertainties in our estimates. In tropical rainforests, for which data availability was the highest, our ?AGB rate estimates ranged from 3.4 (Asia) to 7.6 (Africa) Mg ha-1 year-1 in younger secondary forests, from 2.3 (North and South America) to 3.5 (Africa) Mg ha-1 year-1 in older secondary forests, and 0.7 (Asia) to 1.3 (Africa) Mg ha-1 year-1 in old-growth forests. We provide a rigorous and traceable refinement of the IPCC 2006 default rates in tropical and subtropical ecological zones, and identify which areas require more research on ?AGB. In this respect, this study should be considered as an important step towards quantifying the role of tropical and subtropical forests as carbon sinks with higher accuracy; our new rates can be used for large-scale GHG accounting by governmental bodies, nongovernmental organizations and in scientific research.

Dataset Information

Net Assimilation Rate Determines the Growth Rates of 14 Species of Subtropical Forest Trees.

Publications

Net Assimilation Rate Determines the Growth Rates of 14 Species of Subtropical Forest Trees.

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