The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States

Abstract Juvenile tree survival will play an important role in the persistence of coniferous forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States (SWUS). Vulnerability to climatic and environmental stress declines as trees grow, such that larger, more deeply rooted juveniles are less likely to ex...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	N. L. Pirtel, R. M. Hubbard, J. B. Bradford, T. E. Kolb, M. E. Litvak, S. R. Abella, S. L. Porter, M. D. Petrie
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wiley 2021
Materias:	Douglas fir juniper piñon pine pinyon pine ponderosa pine regeneration Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/155a70ac76894e2c8931a732b95b42d7
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:155a70ac76894e2c8931a732b95b42d7
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:155a70ac76894e2c8931a732b95b42d72021-11-29T07:06:43ZThe aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States2150-892510.1002/ecs2.3839https://doaj.org/article/155a70ac76894e2c8931a732b95b42d72021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3839https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925Abstract Juvenile tree survival will play an important role in the persistence of coniferous forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States (SWUS). Vulnerability to climatic and environmental stress declines as trees grow, such that larger, more deeply rooted juveniles are less likely to experience mortality. It is unclear how juvenile conifers partition the aboveground and belowground components of early growth, if growth differs between species and ecosystem types, and what environmental factors influence juvenile carbon allocation above‐ or belowground. We developed a novel data set for four juvenile conifer groups (junipers, piñon pines, ponderosa pines, firs; 1121 juveniles sampled, 221 destructively) in three height classes (<150 mm, 150–300 mm, and 300+ mm), across 25 SWUS sites. We compared growth characteristics across groups and height classes and related differences to climatic and environmental factors. As tree height increased from <150 mm to 300+ mm, belowground growth increased, root:shoot ratio declined, and specific leaf area declined for all conifers except firs. Maximum rooting depth was shallower than previous estimates (<˜400 mm). Lower elevation juveniles were frequently located in sheltered microsites that provided high shading, whereas mid‐ and higher elevation juveniles were frequently unsheltered. Across all forest and woodland sites, herbaceous cover was positively correlated with aboveground growth. At study locations comprised of multiple sites, differences in aboveground growth were best explained by ecosystem type (piñon pine‐juniper woodland, ponderosa pine forest, mixed‐conifer forest) and local environmental variation. Our results indicate generally more belowground early growth and more aboveground later growth, but specific allocation patterns varied among ecosystem (greater proportional shoot growth at lower and mid‐elevations compared with higher elevations). Juvenile conifers had similar magnitudes of proportional growth across conifer groups, displaying limited capacity to acclimate growth to differences in climate that control ecosystem type. If juvenile conifers also do not acclimate physiologically to their environment, our findings suggest that local environmental variation will play a primary role in regulating forest and woodland persistence and modify the effects of climate change in the SWUS.N. L. PirtelR. M. HubbardJ. B. BradfordT. E. KolbM. E. LitvakS. R. AbellaS. L. PorterM. D. PetrieWileyarticleDouglas firjuniperpiñon pinepinyon pineponderosa pineregenerationEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcosphere, Vol 12, Iss 11, Pp n/a-n/a (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Douglas fir juniper piñon pine pinyon pine ponderosa pine regeneration Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Douglas fir juniper piñon pine pinyon pine ponderosa pine regeneration Ecology QH540-549.5 N. L. Pirtel R. M. Hubbard J. B. Bradford T. E. Kolb M. E. Litvak S. R. Abella S. L. Porter M. D. Petrie The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States
description	Abstract Juvenile tree survival will play an important role in the persistence of coniferous forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States (SWUS). Vulnerability to climatic and environmental stress declines as trees grow, such that larger, more deeply rooted juveniles are less likely to experience mortality. It is unclear how juvenile conifers partition the aboveground and belowground components of early growth, if growth differs between species and ecosystem types, and what environmental factors influence juvenile carbon allocation above‐ or belowground. We developed a novel data set for four juvenile conifer groups (junipers, piñon pines, ponderosa pines, firs; 1121 juveniles sampled, 221 destructively) in three height classes (<150 mm, 150–300 mm, and 300+ mm), across 25 SWUS sites. We compared growth characteristics across groups and height classes and related differences to climatic and environmental factors. As tree height increased from <150 mm to 300+ mm, belowground growth increased, root:shoot ratio declined, and specific leaf area declined for all conifers except firs. Maximum rooting depth was shallower than previous estimates (<˜400 mm). Lower elevation juveniles were frequently located in sheltered microsites that provided high shading, whereas mid‐ and higher elevation juveniles were frequently unsheltered. Across all forest and woodland sites, herbaceous cover was positively correlated with aboveground growth. At study locations comprised of multiple sites, differences in aboveground growth were best explained by ecosystem type (piñon pine‐juniper woodland, ponderosa pine forest, mixed‐conifer forest) and local environmental variation. Our results indicate generally more belowground early growth and more aboveground later growth, but specific allocation patterns varied among ecosystem (greater proportional shoot growth at lower and mid‐elevations compared with higher elevations). Juvenile conifers had similar magnitudes of proportional growth across conifer groups, displaying limited capacity to acclimate growth to differences in climate that control ecosystem type. If juvenile conifers also do not acclimate physiologically to their environment, our findings suggest that local environmental variation will play a primary role in regulating forest and woodland persistence and modify the effects of climate change in the SWUS.
format	article
author	N. L. Pirtel R. M. Hubbard J. B. Bradford T. E. Kolb M. E. Litvak S. R. Abella S. L. Porter M. D. Petrie
author_facet	N. L. Pirtel R. M. Hubbard J. B. Bradford T. E. Kolb M. E. Litvak S. R. Abella S. L. Porter M. D. Petrie
author_sort	N. L. Pirtel
title	The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States
title_short	The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States
title_full	The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States
title_fullStr	The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States
title_full_unstemmed	The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States
title_sort	aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern united states
publisher	Wiley
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/155a70ac76894e2c8931a732b95b42d7
work_keys_str_mv	AT nlpirtel theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT rmhubbard theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT jbbradford theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT tekolb theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT melitvak theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT srabella theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT slporter theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT mdpetrie theabovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT nlpirtel abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT rmhubbard abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT jbbradford abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT tekolb abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT melitvak abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT srabella abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT slporter abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates AT mdpetrie abovegroundandbelowgroundgrowthcharacteristicsofjuvenileconifersinthesouthwesternunitedstates
_version_	1718407508623622144

The aboveground and belowground growth characteristics of juvenile conifers in the southwestern United States

Ejemplares similares