Open AccessA STRUCTURALLY BASED ANALYTIC MODEL OF GROWTH AND BIOMASS DYNAMICS IN SINGLE SPECIES STANDS OF CONIFERS
Author(s) -
TAUSCH ROBIN J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
natural resource modeling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.28
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1939-7445
pISSN - 0890-8575
DOI - 10.1111/nrm.12069
Subject(s) - biomass (ecology) , ecology , crown (dentistry) , variable (mathematics) , stand development , table (database) , resource (disambiguation) , environmental science , mathematics , biology , computer science , medicine , mathematical analysis , computer network , dentistry , data mining
A theoretically based analytic model of plant growth in single species conifer communities based on the species fully occupying a site and fully using the site resources is introduced. Model derivations result in a single equation simultaneously describes changes over both, different site conditions (or resources available), and over time for each variable for each species. Leaf area or biomass, or a related plant community measurement, such as site class, can be used as an indicator of available site resources. Relationships over time (years) are determined by the interaction between a stable foliage biomass in balance with site resources, and by the increase in the total heterotrophic biomass of the stand with increasing tree size. This structurally based, analytic model describes the relationships between plant growth and each species’ functional depth for foliage, its mature crown size, and stand dynamics, including the self‐thinning. Stand table data for seven conifer species are used for verification of the model. Results closely duplicate those data for each variable and species. Assumptions used provide a basis for interpreting variations within and between the species. Better understanding of the relationships between the MacArthur consumer resource model, the Chapman–Richards growth functions, the metabolic theory of ecology, and stand development resulted.