SaldanaAcosta2009
Data contributor: Angela Saldaña-Acosta
Email: angelasld130@gmail.com
Address:
- Facultad de Ciencias Universidad Nacional Autanoma de Mexico, Mexico
Citation: Saldaña-Acosta A, Meave JA and Sánchez-Velásquez LR (2009). 'Seedling biomass allocation and vital rates of cloud forest tree species: Responses to light in shade house conditions.' Forest Ecology and Management, 258(7), pp. 1650-1659.
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2009.07.027
Abstract: Patterns of above- and below-ground biomass allocation in seedlings of nine common cloud forest (CF) tree species of western Mexico were examined under varying controlled light conditions using artificial shade houses. We analysed the relationships between vital rates (growth and survival) and four morphological traits (SLA, biomass allocation to stems, leaves and roots). We hypothesised that these traits represent differentiation axes in the way seedlings face the heterogeneous light regime typical of the CF understorey. For all species, traits between the different light levels, i.e. allocation to leaves, roots and stems differed among light levels. Five species had the largest SLA in the lowest light levels at the end of the experiment (Citharexylum, Dendropanax, Fraxinus, Quercus and Magnolia). Juglans was the only species with a large SLA at the highest light level (377.47 cm2 g-1). In contrast, light levels did not cause any significant variation in SLA of Persea and Simplococarpon at the end of the experiment. The relative height growth rates (RHGR) of the seedlings of five species were significantly different between light levels (P <0.05). Overall, all species grew better in the highest light levels. The RHGR of three species were correlated positively with SLA. In turn, allocation to stem, leaves and root biomass were strongly correlated with the RHGR of five species (e.g. Citharexylum, Dendropanax and Fraxinus). Survival did not vary significantly between treatments in any species, only in the case of Simplococarpon (P<0.05) and was correlated with all morphological variables. For this species, Peto and Peto's test showed a significantly larger survival of seedlings in the highest light level. The mean responses of these species based on all traits to the controlled light variation did not differed significantly. Our results show that these species display a wide range of resource allocation patterns when exposed to the varying light conditions that may be found in the forest understorey and highlight the role of morphological traits in this variation.
The dataset includes records for 1268 individuals from 8 species belonging to 8 family(ies), presenting 2 functional type(s), growing in 1 condition(s) within 1 major type(s) of habitat, with data included for the following variables:
| Variable | Label | Units | N | Min | Median | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| latitude | Latitude | deg | 1268 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| longitude | Longitude | deg | 1268 | -104 | -104 | -104 |
| a.lf | Leaf area | m2 | 1149 | 0.000064 | 0.015 | 0.4 |
| h.t | Height | m | 1268 | 0.034 | 0.11 | 1.2 |
| m.lf | Leaf mass | kg | 1149 | 0.000004 | 0.00064 | 0.0095 |
| m.st | Total stem mass | kg | 1267 | 0.000002 | 0.00011 | 0.0079 |
| m.so | Aboveground mass | kg | 1149 | 0.000011 | 0.00095 | 0.011 |
| m.rt | Total root mass | kg | 1267 | 0.000001 | 0.00026 | 0.0095 |
| m.to | Total mass | kg | 1149 | 0.000024 | 0.0011 | 0.019 |
| ma.ilf | Leaf mass per area | kg m-2 | 1237 | 0.01 | 0.041 | 0.26 |
And locally within the country:
The sites sampled are:
| Location | Longitude | Latitude | Vegetation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Joyas Scientific Station,Sierra de Manantlan Biosphere Reserve, Jalisco State, western Mexico | -104.2833 | 19.583 | Tropical rainforest |
The growing conditions of sampled plants was:
| Location | growingCondition |
|---|---|
| Las Joyas Scientific Station,Sierra de Manantlan Biosphere Reserve, Jalisco State, western Mexico | glasshouse |
| Species | Family | Pft |
|---|---|---|
| Citharexylum mocinnii | Verbenaceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
| Dendropanax arboreus | Araliaceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
| Fraxinus uhdei | Oleaceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
| Juglans major | Juglandaceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
| Magnolia iltisiana | Magnoliaceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
| Persea hintonii | Lauraceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
| Quercus salicifolia | Fagaceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
| Symplococarpon purpusii | Theaceae | evergreen angiosperm, deciduous angiosperm |
Sampling strategy: Of the 90 tree species of the cloud forest in the Sierra de Manantlán Biophere Reserve, Jalisco State, western Mexico we selected eight trees species common in the understory. Mature seeds of these 8 species were collected from natural populations and germinated.
Leaf area: All leaves were scanned for leaf area using the SigmaScan Pro1 5 software (SPSS Inc., 1999); veins were included. Leaves were then dried at 80oC and SLA was be calculated. Data of SLA and leaf mass is absent in the database for species which lose their leaves seasonally (e.g. Juglans).
Height: Height was measured for each seedling from the ground surface to the stem apex.
Biomass: Seedlings were divided in stems, leaves (with petioles) and roots; 10 seedlings per species (5 in Quesal) were randomly harvested at 45 day intervals ( 5 times), 225 days in total. Plant material was then dried at 80oC for at least 48 hours and weighed.
Growth environment: Glasshouse.
Other variables: Four levels of PAR were used: 3-5% of PAR (a), 8-10% of PAR (b), 18-20% of PAR (c ), 55-60% of PAR (d).
Year collected: 2004
This is how the study SaldanaAcosta2009 fits in the entire dataset (grey). each colour represents a species. A legend of species names with colours is included at the end for reports with 1 < n < 20 species.
