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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
general
Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size
Nature, Volume 507, No. 7490, Year 2014
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Description
Forests are major components of the global carbon cycle, providing substantial feedback to atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Our ability to understand and predict changes in the forest carbon cycle-particularly net primary productivity and carbon storage-increasingly relies on models that represent biological processes across several scales of biological organization, from tree leaves to forest stands. Yet, despite advances in our understanding of productivity at the scales of leaves and stands, no consensus exists about the nature of productivity at the scale of the individual tree, in part because we lack a broad empirical assessment of whether rates of absolute tree mass growth (and thus carbon accumulation) decrease, remain constant, or increase as trees increase in size and age. Here we present a global analysis of 403 tropical and temperate tree species, showing that for most species mass growth rate increases continuously with tree size. Thus, large, old trees do not act simply as senescent carbon reservoirs but actively fix large amounts of carbon compared to smaller trees; at the extreme, a single big tree can add the same amount of carbon to the forest within a year as is contained in an entire mid-sized tree. The apparent paradoxes of individual tree growth increasing with tree size despite declining leaf-level and stand-level productivity can be explained, respectively, by increases in a tree's total leaf area that outpace declines in productivity per unit of leaf area and, among other factors, age-related reductions in population density. Our results resolve conflicting assumptions about the nature of tree growth, inform efforts to undertand and model forest carbon dynamics, and have additional implications for theories of resource allocation and plant senescence. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
Authors & Co-Authors
Stephenson, N. L.
United States, Menlo Park
United States Geological Survey Western Region
Das, A. J.
United States, Menlo Park
United States Geological Survey Western Region
Condit, Richard S.
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Russo, Sabrina E.
United States, Lincoln
School of Biological Sciences
Baker, Patrick J.
Australia, Melbourne
School of Ecosystem and Forest Science
Beckman, Noelle G.
United States, Lincoln
School of Biological Sciences
United States, Columbus
The Ohio State University
Coomes, David Anthony
United Kingdom, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
Lines, Emily R.
United Kingdom, London
University College London
Morris, W. K.
Australia, Melbourne
University of Melbourne
Rüger, Nadja
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Germany, Leipzig
Universität Leipzig
Germany, Leipzig
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Idiv Halle-jena-leipzig
Alvarez-Davila, Esteban
Colombia, Medellin
Jardín Botánico de Medellín
Blundo, Cecilia M.
Argentina, Yerba Buena
Universidad Nacional de Tucumá n
Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh
Thailand, Bangkok
National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Thailand
Chuyong, George Bindeh
Unknown Affiliation
Davies, Stuart James
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Institution
Duque, Alvaro
Colombia, Medellin
Universidad Nacional de Colombia Medellin
Ewango, Corneille E.N.
Congo, Kinshasa
Wildlife Conservation Society
Flores, Olivier
France, Saint-denis
Peuplements Végétaux et Bioagresseurs en Milieu Tropical Pvbmt
Franklin, J. F.
United States, Seattle
University of Washington
Grau, Héctor Ricardo
Argentina, Yerba Buena
Universidad Nacional de Tucumá n
Hao, Zhanqing
China, Beijing
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Harmon, Mark E.
United States, Corvallis
Oregon State University
Hubbell, Stephen P.
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Kenfack, David
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Institution
Lin, Yiching
Taiwan, Taichung
Tunghai University
Makana, Jean Rémy
Congo, Kinshasa
Wildlife Conservation Society
Malizia, Agustina
Argentina, Yerba Buena
Universidad Nacional de Tucumá n
Malizia, Lucio Ricardo
Argentina, San Salvador de Jujuy
Universidad Nacional de Jujuy
Pabst, Robert J.
United States, Corvallis
Oregon State University
Pongpattananurak, Nantachai
Thailand, Bangkok
Kasetsart University
Su, Sheng Hsin
Taiwan, Taipei
Taiwan Forestry Research Institute
Sun, I. Fang
Taiwan, Shoufeng
National Dong Hwa University
Tan, Sylvester Kheng San
Malaysia, Kuching
Forest Department Sarawak
Thomas, Duncan W.
United States, Corvallis
Oregon State University
Van Mantgem, P. J.
United States, Menlo Park
United States Geological Survey Western Region
Wang, X.
China, Beijing
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wiser, Susan K.
New Zealand, Lincoln
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research
Zavala, Miguel A.
Spain, Alcala de Henares
Universidad de Alcalá
Statistics
Citations: 751
Authors: 38
Affiliations: 29
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/nature12914
ISSN:
00280836
e-ISSN:
14764687
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study