Cambial activity related to tree size in a mature silver-fir plantation

作者：Cyrille Rathgeber, Sergio Rossi, Jean‐Daniel Bontemps · 发表于：Annals of Botany · 年份：2011 · DOI：10.1093/aob/mcr168 · 被引用次数：217 · 研究领域：Tree-ring climate responses、Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics、Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

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...