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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
Cambial Growth Season of Brevi-Deciduous Brachystegia spiciformis Trees from South Central Africa Restricted to Less than Four Months
PLoS ONE, Volume 7, No. 10, Article e47364, Year 2012
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Description
We investigate cambial growth periodicity in Brachystegia spiciformis, a dominant tree species in the seasonally dry miombo woodland of southern Africa. To better understand how the brevi-deciduous (experiencing a short, drought-induced leaf fall period) leaf phenology of this species can be linked to a distinct period of cambial activity, we applied a bi-weekly pinning to six trees in western Zambia over the course of one year. Our results show that the onset and end of cambial growth was synchronous between trees, but was not concurrent with the onset and end of the rainy season. The relatively short (three to four months maximum) cambial growth season corresponded to the core of the rainy season, when 75% of the annual precipitation fell, and to the period when the trees were at full photosynthetic capacity. Tree-ring studies of this species have found a significant relationship between annual tree growth and precipitation, but we did not observe such a correlation at intra-annual resolution in this study. Furthermore, a substantial rainfall event occurring after the end of the cambial growth season did not induce xylem initiation or false ring formation. Low sample replication should be taken into account when interpreting the results of this study, but our findings can be used to refine the carbon allocation component of process-based terrestrial ecosystem models and can thus contribute to a more detailed estimation of the role of the miombo woodland in the terrestrial carbon cycle. Furthermore, we provide a physiological foundation for the use of Brachystegia spiciformis tree-ring records in paleoclimate research. © 2012 Trouet et al.
Authors & Co-Authors
Trouet, Valerie M.
United States, Tucson
The University of Arizona
Mukelabai, Mukufute M.
Zambia
Zambia Meteorological Service
Verheyden, Anouk
United States, Schenectady
Union College, Schenectady
Beeckman, Hans
Belgium, Tervuren
Royal Museum for Central Africa
Statistics
Citations: 53
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0047364
e-ISSN:
19326203
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Locations
Zambia