BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Our knowledge about the influences of environmental factors on tree growth is principally based on the study of dominant trees. However, tree social status may influence intra-annual dynamics of growth, leading to differential responses to environmental conditions. The aim was to determine whether within-stand differences in stem diameters of trees belonging to different crown classes resulted from variations in the length of the growing period or in the rate of cell production. METHODS: Cambial activity was monitored weekly in 2006 for three crown classes in a 40-year-old silver-fir (Abies alba) plantation near Nancy (France). Timings, duration and rate of tracheid production were assessed from anatomical observations of the developing xylem. KEY RESULTS: Cambial activity started earlier, stopped later and lasted longer in dominant trees than in intermediate and suppressed ones. The onset of cambial activity was estimated to have taken 3 weeks to spread to 90 % of the trees in the stand, while the cessation needed 6 weeks. Cambial activity was more intense in dominant trees than in intermediate and suppressed ones. It was estimated that about 75 % of tree-ring width variability was attributable to the rate of cell production and only 25 % to its duration. Moreover, growth duration was correlated to tree height, while growth rate was better correlated to crown area. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that, in a closed conifer forest, stem diameter variations resulted principally from differences in the rate of xylem cell production rather than in its duration. Tree size interacts with environmental factors to control the timings, duration and rate of cambial activity through functional processes involving source-sink relationships principally, but also hormonal controls.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Our knowledge about the influences of environmental factors on tree growth is principally based on the study of dominant trees. However, tree social status may influence intra-annual dynamics of growth, leading to differential responses to environmental conditions. The aim was to determine whether within-stand differences in stem diameters of trees belonging to different crown classes resulted from variations in the length of the growing period or in the rate of cell production. METHODS: Cambial activity was monitored weekly in 2006 for three crown classes in a 40-year-old silver-fir (Abies alba) plantation near Nancy (France). Timings, duration and rate of tracheid production were assessed from anatomical observations of the developing xylem. KEY RESULTS: Cambial activity started earlier, stopped later and lasted longer in dominant trees than in intermediate and suppressed ones. The onset of cambial activity was estimated to have taken 3 weeks to spread to 90 % of the trees in the stand, while the cessation needed 6 weeks. Cambial activity was more intense in dominant trees than in intermediate and suppressed ones. It was estimated that about 75 % of tree-ring width variability was attributable to the rate of cell production and only 25 % to its duration. Moreover, growth duration was correlated to tree height, while growth rate was better correlated to crown area. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that, in a closed conifer forest, stem diameter variations resulted principally from differences in the rate of xylem cell production rather than in its duration. Tree size interacts with environmental factors to control the timings, duration and rate of cambial activity through functional processes involving source-sink relationships principally, but also hormonal controls.
Authors: Sergio Rossi; Tommaso Anfodillo; Katarina Cufar; Henri E Cuny; Annie Deslauriers; Patrick Fonti; David Frank; Jozica Gricar; Andreas Gruber; Gregory M King; Cornelia Krause; Hubert Morin; Walter Oberhuber; Peter Prislan; Cyrille B K Rathgeber Journal: Ann Bot Date: 2013-11-07 Impact factor: 4.357
Authors: José Miguel Olano; Juan Carlos Linares; Ana I García-Cervigón; Alberto Arzac; Antonio Delgado; Vicente Rozas Journal: Oecologia Date: 2014-06-24 Impact factor: 3.225
Authors: Richard L Peters; Georg von Arx; Daniel Nievergelt; Andreas Ibrom; Jonas Stillhard; Volodymyr Trotsiuk; Aleksandra Mazurkiewicz; Flurin Babst Journal: Tree Physiol Date: 2020-04-08 Impact factor: 4.196