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Wood Specific Gravity (wood + specific_gravity)

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Life Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Age-Dependent Radial Increases in Wood Specific Gravity of Tropical Pioneers in Costa Rica

BIOTROPICA, Issue 5 2010
G. Bruce Williamson
ABSTRACT Wood specific gravity is the single best descriptor of wood functional properties and tree life-history traits, and it is the most important variable in estimating carbon stocks in forests. Tropical pioneer trees produce wood of increasing specific gravity across the trunk radius as they grow in stature. Here, we tested whether radial increases in wood specific gravity were dependent on a tree's diameter or its age by comparing trees of different diameters within cohorts. We cored trunks of four pioneer species in naturally regenerating, even-aged stands in the lowland, wet forests of Costa Rica. For each core, specific gravity was determined for 1-cm radial wood segments, pith to bark. Increases across the radius were evident in all four species studied, and in four different stands for one species. For any given species in a given stand, the rate of radial increase in specific gravity as a function of radial distance from the pith was greater in smaller diameter trees. As the trees in a stand represent a colonizing cohort, these results strongly suggest that the radial increases in specific gravity in lowland pioneers are associated with tree age, not with tree diameter. Furthermore, the specific gravity of the outermost wood was not associated with tree radius, further negating size dependence. One consequence of these results is that species-specific biomass estimates for trees in secondary forests are likely to be confounded by age, as diameter alone may be a poor indicator of specific gravity in individual trees for pioneers of tropical wet forests. Abstract in Spanish is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/btp [source]

Interspecific and Inter-site Variation in Wood Specific Gravity of Tropical Trees

BIOTROPICA, Issue 1 2004
Article first published online: 15 MAR 200, Helene C. Muller-Landau
ABSTRACT Variation in climate and soils results in inter-site differences in the assemblages of tree life history strategies within a community, which has important implications for ecosystem structure and dynamics. I investigated interspecific and inter-site variation in wood specific gravity,an easily measured indicator of tree life history strategy,in four Neotropical forests and analyzed its correlates. Mean wood specific gravity (oven-dry weight divided by fresh volume, sometimes also referred to as wood density in the literature) differed significantly among sites, varying inversely with soil fertility and independently of rainfall, seasonality, and temperature. Mean wood specific gravity values were much higher at Kilometer 41, Manaus, Brazil, where soils are extremely poor, than at Cocha Cashu, Peru, Barro Colorado Island, Panama, or La Selva, Costa Rica, where soils are better and mortality rates of trees are higher. Within sites, wood specific gravity varied widely among species. On Barro Colorado Island, among-species variation was significantly, albeit weakly, negatively correlated with sapling and tree mortality and relative growth rates. Altogether, the results suggest that the distribution of tree life history strategies in a community varies substantially among sites, with important consequences for community and ecosystem properties such as aboveground carbon stores. RESUMEN La variación climática y edáfica da lugar a diferencias entre sitios con respecto a los ensambles de las estrategias de historia de vida de los árboles de una comunidad, lo cual tiene consecuencias importantes para la estructura y la dinámica del ecosistema. Investigué la variación interespecífica y espacial en la gravedad específica de la Madera,un indicador de fácil medición de la estrategia de historia de vida de los árboles,en cuatro bosques neotropicales y analizé sus factores asociados. La gravedad especifica media de la madera (el peso seco dividido por el volumen fresco, frecuentemente llamado "densidad de la madera" en la literatura ecológica) fue significativamente diferente entre sitios, variando inversamente con la fertilidad del suelo, e independientemence de la precipitación, la estacionalidad, y la temperatura. La gravedad especifica media de la madera fue mucho más alta en Kilómetro 41, Manaus, Brasil, donde los suelos son extremadamente pobres, en comparación con Cocha Cashu, Perú, Barro Colorado, Panamá, o La Selva, Costa Rica, donde los suelos son mejores y las tasas de mortalidad de los árboles son más altas. Dentro de los sitios, la gravedad especifica de la madera varió extensamente entre especies. En Barro Colorado, la variación entre especies estuvo correlacionada negativamente, aunque sólo débilmente, con las tasas de mortalidad y de crecimiento relativo de los árboles juveniles y adultos. En conjunto, los resultados sugieren que la distribución de las estrategias de historia de vida de los árboles en una comunidad varía sustancialmente entre sitios, con consecuencias importantes para características comunitarias y del ecosistema tales como las reservas de carbono. [source]

Age-Dependent Radial Increases in Wood Specific Gravity of Tropical Pioneers in Costa Rica

BIOTROPICA, Issue 5 2010
G. Bruce Williamson
ABSTRACT Wood specific gravity is the single best descriptor of wood functional properties and tree life-history traits, and it is the most important variable in estimating carbon stocks in forests. Tropical pioneer trees produce wood of increasing specific gravity across the trunk radius as they grow in stature. Here, we tested whether radial increases in wood specific gravity were dependent on a tree's diameter or its age by comparing trees of different diameters within cohorts. We cored trunks of four pioneer species in naturally regenerating, even-aged stands in the lowland, wet forests of Costa Rica. For each core, specific gravity was determined for 1-cm radial wood segments, pith to bark. Increases across the radius were evident in all four species studied, and in four different stands for one species. For any given species in a given stand, the rate of radial increase in specific gravity as a function of radial distance from the pith was greater in smaller diameter trees. As the trees in a stand represent a colonizing cohort, these results strongly suggest that the radial increases in specific gravity in lowland pioneers are associated with tree age, not with tree diameter. Furthermore, the specific gravity of the outermost wood was not associated with tree radius, further negating size dependence. One consequence of these results is that species-specific biomass estimates for trees in secondary forests are likely to be confounded by age, as diameter alone may be a poor indicator of specific gravity in individual trees for pioneers of tropical wet forests. Abstract in Spanish is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/btp [source]

Variation in wood density determines spatial patterns inAmazonian forest biomass

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2004
Timothy R. Baker
Abstract Uncertainty in biomass estimates is one of the greatest limitations to models of carbon flux in tropical forests. Previous comparisons of field-based estimates of the aboveground biomass (AGB) of trees greater than 10 cm diameter within Amazonia have been limited by the paucity of data for western Amazon forests, and the use of site-specific methods to estimate biomass from inventory data. In addition, the role of regional variation in stand-level wood specific gravity has not previously been considered. Using data from 56 mature forest plots across Amazonia, we consider the relative roles of species composition (wood specific gravity) and forest structure (basal area) in determining variation in AGB. Mean stand-level wood specific gravity, on a per stem basis, is 15.8% higher in forests in central and eastern, compared with northwestern Amazonia. This pattern is due to the higher diversity and abundance of taxa with high specific gravity values in central and eastern Amazonia, and the greater diversity and abundance of taxa with low specific gravity values in western Amazonia. For two estimates of AGB derived using different allometric equations, basal area explains 51.7% and 63.4%, and stand-level specific gravity 45.4% and 29.7%, of the total variation in AGB. The variation in specific gravity is important because it determines the regional scale, spatial pattern of AGB. When weighting by specific gravity is included, central and eastern Amazon forests have significantly higher AGB than stands in northwest or southwest Amazonia. The regional-scale pattern of species composition therefore defines a broad gradient of AGB across Amazonia. [source]

Age-Dependent Radial Increases in Wood Specific Gravity of Tropical Pioneers in Costa Rica

BIOTROPICA, Issue 5 2010
G. Bruce Williamson
ABSTRACT Wood specific gravity is the single best descriptor of wood functional properties and tree life-history traits, and it is the most important variable in estimating carbon stocks in forests. Tropical pioneer trees produce wood of increasing specific gravity across the trunk radius as they grow in stature. Here, we tested whether radial increases in wood specific gravity were dependent on a tree's diameter or its age by comparing trees of different diameters within cohorts. We cored trunks of four pioneer species in naturally regenerating, even-aged stands in the lowland, wet forests of Costa Rica. For each core, specific gravity was determined for 1-cm radial wood segments, pith to bark. Increases across the radius were evident in all four species studied, and in four different stands for one species. For any given species in a given stand, the rate of radial increase in specific gravity as a function of radial distance from the pith was greater in smaller diameter trees. As the trees in a stand represent a colonizing cohort, these results strongly suggest that the radial increases in specific gravity in lowland pioneers are associated with tree age, not with tree diameter. Furthermore, the specific gravity of the outermost wood was not associated with tree radius, further negating size dependence. One consequence of these results is that species-specific biomass estimates for trees in secondary forests are likely to be confounded by age, as diameter alone may be a poor indicator of specific gravity in individual trees for pioneers of tropical wet forests. Abstract in Spanish is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/btp [source]

Interspecific and Inter-site Variation in Wood Specific Gravity of Tropical Trees

BIOTROPICA, Issue 1 2004
Article first published online: 15 MAR 200, Helene C. Muller-Landau
ABSTRACT Variation in climate and soils results in inter-site differences in the assemblages of tree life history strategies within a community, which has important implications for ecosystem structure and dynamics. I investigated interspecific and inter-site variation in wood specific gravity,an easily measured indicator of tree life history strategy,in four Neotropical forests and analyzed its correlates. Mean wood specific gravity (oven-dry weight divided by fresh volume, sometimes also referred to as wood density in the literature) differed significantly among sites, varying inversely with soil fertility and independently of rainfall, seasonality, and temperature. Mean wood specific gravity values were much higher at Kilometer 41, Manaus, Brazil, where soils are extremely poor, than at Cocha Cashu, Peru, Barro Colorado Island, Panama, or La Selva, Costa Rica, where soils are better and mortality rates of trees are higher. Within sites, wood specific gravity varied widely among species. On Barro Colorado Island, among-species variation was significantly, albeit weakly, negatively correlated with sapling and tree mortality and relative growth rates. Altogether, the results suggest that the distribution of tree life history strategies in a community varies substantially among sites, with important consequences for community and ecosystem properties such as aboveground carbon stores. RESUMEN La variación climática y edáfica da lugar a diferencias entre sitios con respecto a los ensambles de las estrategias de historia de vida de los árboles de una comunidad, lo cual tiene consecuencias importantes para la estructura y la dinámica del ecosistema. Investigué la variación interespecífica y espacial en la gravedad específica de la Madera,un indicador de fácil medición de la estrategia de historia de vida de los árboles,en cuatro bosques neotropicales y analizé sus factores asociados. La gravedad especifica media de la madera (el peso seco dividido por el volumen fresco, frecuentemente llamado "densidad de la madera" en la literatura ecológica) fue significativamente diferente entre sitios, variando inversamente con la fertilidad del suelo, e independientemence de la precipitación, la estacionalidad, y la temperatura. La gravedad especifica media de la madera fue mucho más alta en Kilómetro 41, Manaus, Brasil, donde los suelos son extremadamente pobres, en comparación con Cocha Cashu, Perú, Barro Colorado, Panamá, o La Selva, Costa Rica, donde los suelos son mejores y las tasas de mortalidad de los árboles son más altas. Dentro de los sitios, la gravedad especifica de la madera varió extensamente entre especies. En Barro Colorado, la variación entre especies estuvo correlacionada negativamente, aunque sólo débilmente, con las tasas de mortalidad y de crecimiento relativo de los árboles juveniles y adultos. En conjunto, los resultados sugieren que la distribución de las estrategias de historia de vida de los árboles en una comunidad varía sustancialmente entre sitios, con consecuencias importantes para características comunitarias y del ecosistema tales como las reservas de carbono. [source]