The Relationship Between Maturation Size and Maximum Tree Size From Tropical to Boreal Climates
Tree maturation size rises with maximum size but not proportionally: the largest species reproduce at smaller relative sizes, especially in cold climates. Using data from 486 species worldwide, the study shows maturation traits vary with environment, improving predictions of forest responses to disturbance and climate change.
Subject Tags
- Climate resilience
- Forest
- Physical Sciences
Abstract
The fundamental trade-off between current and future reproduction has long been considered to result in a tendency for species that can grow large to begin reproduction at a larger size. Due to the prolonged time required to reach maturity, estimates of tree maturation size remain very rare and we lack a global view on the generality and the shape of this trade-off. Using seed production from five continents, we estimate tree maturation sizes for 486 tree species spanning tropical to boreal climates. Results show that a species' maturation size increases with maximum size, but in a non-proportional way: the largest species begin reproduction at smaller sizes than would be expected if maturation were simply proportional to maximum size. Furthermore, the decrease in relative maturation size is steepest in cold climates. These findings on maturation size drivers are key to accurately represent forests' responses to disturbance and climate change.
Citation
Journé, V., Bogdziewicz, M., Courbaud, B., Kunstler, G., Qiu, T., Acuña, M.C.A., Ascoli, D., Bergeron, Y., Berveiller, D., Boivin, T. and Bonal, R., 2024. The relationship between maturation size and maximum tree size from tropical to boreal climates. Ecology letters, 27(9), p.e14500. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14500
TNC Authors
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John Poulsen
Global Director of Science Capacity
The Nature Conservancy
Email: john.poulsen@tnc.org