Shoot growth of woody trees and shrubs is predicted by maximum plant height and associated traits

Gleason, SM; Stephens, AEA; Tozer, WC; Blackman, CJ; Butler, DW; Chang, Y; Cook, AM; Cooke, J; Laws, CA; Rosell, JA; Stuart, SA; Westoby, M

Shoot growth of woody trees and shrubs is predicted by maximum plant height and associated traits

Gleason, SM Stephens, AEA Tozer, WC

Blackman, CJ Butler, DW Chang, Y Cook, AM

Cooke, J Laws, CA Rosell, JA Stuart, SA Westoby, M

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Functional Ecology, 2018, 32 (2), pp. 247 - 259
Issue Date:: 2018-02-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Gleason, SM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Stephens, AEA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Tozer, WC https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4235-462X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Blackman, CJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Butler, DW	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Chang, Y	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cook, AM https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3594-3220	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cooke, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Laws, CA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rosell, JA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Stuart, SA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Westoby, M	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-02-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Functional Ecology, 2018, 32 (2), pp. 247 - 259	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0269-8463	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/134299
dc.description.abstract	© 2017 The Authors. Functional Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society The rate of elongation and thickening of individual branches (shoots) varies across plant species. This variation is important for the outcome of competition and other plant–plant interactions. Here, we compared rates of shoot growth across 44 species from tropical, warm temperate and cool temperate forests of eastern Australia. Shoot growth rate was found to correlate with a suite of traits including the potential height of the species, xylem-specific conductivity, leaf size, leaf area per xylem cross-section (LA/XA), twig diameter (at 40 cm length), wood density and modulus of elasticity. Within this suite of traits, maximum plant height was the clearest correlate of growth rates, explaining 50%–67% of the variation in growth overall (p <.0001), and 23%–32% of the variation (p <.05) in growth when holding the influence of the other traits constant. Structural equation models suggest that traits associated with “hydraulics,” “biomechanics” and the “leaf economics spectrum” represent three clearly separated axes of variation, with the hydraulic axis exhibiting the strongest alignment with height and largest independent contribution to growth (in the case of branch thickening). However, most of the capacity of these axes to predict growth was also associated with maximum height, presumably reflecting coordinated selection on multiple traits that together influence life histories. Growth rates were not strongly correlated with leaf nitrogen or leaf mass per unit leaf area. Correlations between growth and maximum height arose both across latitude (47%, p <.0001) and from within-site differences between species (30%, p <.0001). Covariation between growth and maximum height was driven in part by variation in irradiance across sites as well as among canopy positions within sites (23%, p <.0001). A significant fraction of this shared variation was independent of irradiance (45%, p <.0001), reflecting intrinsic differences across species and sites. A plain language summary is available for this article.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Functional Ecology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1111/1365-2435.12972	en_US
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject.classification	Ecology	en_US
dc.title	Shoot growth of woody trees and shrubs is predicted by maximum plant height and associated traits	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	32	en_US
utslib.for	0607 Plant Biology	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Research Office
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Research Office/Research Office (Development)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	32	en_US

Abstract:

© 2017 The Authors. Functional Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society The rate of elongation and thickening of individual branches (shoots) varies across plant species. This variation is important for the outcome of competition and other plant–plant interactions. Here, we compared rates of shoot growth across 44 species from tropical, warm temperate and cool temperate forests of eastern Australia. Shoot growth rate was found to correlate with a suite of traits including the potential height of the species, xylem-specific conductivity, leaf size, leaf area per xylem cross-section (LA/XA), twig diameter (at 40 cm length), wood density and modulus of elasticity. Within this suite of traits, maximum plant height was the clearest correlate of growth rates, explaining 50%–67% of the variation in growth overall (p <.0001), and 23%–32% of the variation (p <.05) in growth when holding the influence of the other traits constant. Structural equation models suggest that traits associated with “hydraulics,” “biomechanics” and the “leaf economics spectrum” represent three clearly separated axes of variation, with the hydraulic axis exhibiting the strongest alignment with height and largest independent contribution to growth (in the case of branch thickening). However, most of the capacity of these axes to predict growth was also associated with maximum height, presumably reflecting coordinated selection on multiple traits that together influence life histories. Growth rates were not strongly correlated with leaf nitrogen or leaf mass per unit leaf area. Correlations between growth and maximum height arose both across latitude (47%, p <.0001) and from within-site differences between species (30%, p <.0001). Covariation between growth and maximum height was driven in part by variation in irradiance across sites as well as among canopy positions within sites (23%, p <.0001). A significant fraction of this shared variation was independent of irradiance (45%, p <.0001), reflecting intrinsic differences across species and sites. A plain language summary is available for this article.

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