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ECOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON WOOD DENSITY IN A TROPICAL MONTANE RAIN FOREST
Author(s) -
Lawton Robert O.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1984.tb12512.x
Subject(s) - habitat , basal area , montane ecology , canopy , ecology , biology , rainforest , tropics , thicket , tree canopy , range (aeronautics) , materials science , composite material
In a Costa Rican tropical lower montane rain forest the wood densities of canopy tree species are related to the windiness of their preferred habitats, and to their abilities to tolerate shade. Shade‐intolerant species tend to have less dense wood than shade‐tolerant species from the same habitat. Species characteristic of windy sites tend to have denser wood than species characteristic of sheltered habitats. Stand mean wood density, the average of species’ wood densities weighted by their proportional contributions to stand basal area, increases with exposure to the wind. These trends in wood density should at least partially counteract the damaging effects of wind on exposed sites. Since investment in wood must come at the expense of growth elsewhere, such trends in wood density may help explain the small stature of elfin forest and montane thicket formations in tropical mountains.