Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia
Aboveground competition is often argued to be the main process determining patterns of natural forest regeneration. However, the theory of multiple resource limitation suggests that seedling performance also depends on belowground competition and, thus, that their relative influence is of fundamenta...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0ae597e27ab74e4eb595a77d42eee33f 2023-05-15T16:12:00+02:00 Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia E. Petter Axelsson Tomas Lundmark Peter Högberg Annika Nordin 2014-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/f5092106 https://doaj.org/article/0ae597e27ab74e4eb595a77d42eee33f EN eng MDPI AG http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/5/9/2106 https://doaj.org/toc/1999-4907 1999-4907 doi:10.3390/f5092106 https://doaj.org/article/0ae597e27ab74e4eb595a77d42eee33f Forests, Vol 5, Iss 9, Pp 2106-2121 (2014) boreal forest forest edge pine regeneration asymmetric competition tree girdling Plant ecology QK900-989 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/f5092106 2022-12-30T20:48:21Z Aboveground competition is often argued to be the main process determining patterns of natural forest regeneration. However, the theory of multiple resource limitation suggests that seedling performance also depends on belowground competition and, thus, that their relative influence is of fundamental importance. Two approaches were used to address the relative importance of above- and below-ground competition on regeneration in a nutrient-poor pine (Pinus sylvestris) boreal forest. Firstly, seedling establishment beneath trees stem-girdled 12 years ago show that a substantial proportion of the seedlings were established within two years after girdling, which corresponds to a time when nutrient uptake by tree roots was severely reduced without disrupting water transport to the tree canopy, which consequently was maintained. The establishment during these two years also corresponds to abundances high enough for normal stand replacement. Secondly, surveys of regeneration within forest gaps showed that surrounding forests depressed seedlings, so that satisfactory growth occurred only more than 5 m from forest edges and that higher solar radiation in south facing edges was not enough to mediate these effects. We conclude that disruption of belowground competitive interactions mediates regeneration and, thus, that belowground competition has a strong limiting influence on seedling establishment in these forests. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fennoscandia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Forests 5 9 2106 2121 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
boreal forest forest edge pine regeneration asymmetric competition tree girdling Plant ecology QK900-989 |
spellingShingle |
boreal forest forest edge pine regeneration asymmetric competition tree girdling Plant ecology QK900-989 E. Petter Axelsson Tomas Lundmark Peter Högberg Annika Nordin Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia |
topic_facet |
boreal forest forest edge pine regeneration asymmetric competition tree girdling Plant ecology QK900-989 |
description |
Aboveground competition is often argued to be the main process determining patterns of natural forest regeneration. However, the theory of multiple resource limitation suggests that seedling performance also depends on belowground competition and, thus, that their relative influence is of fundamental importance. Two approaches were used to address the relative importance of above- and below-ground competition on regeneration in a nutrient-poor pine (Pinus sylvestris) boreal forest. Firstly, seedling establishment beneath trees stem-girdled 12 years ago show that a substantial proportion of the seedlings were established within two years after girdling, which corresponds to a time when nutrient uptake by tree roots was severely reduced without disrupting water transport to the tree canopy, which consequently was maintained. The establishment during these two years also corresponds to abundances high enough for normal stand replacement. Secondly, surveys of regeneration within forest gaps showed that surrounding forests depressed seedlings, so that satisfactory growth occurred only more than 5 m from forest edges and that higher solar radiation in south facing edges was not enough to mediate these effects. We conclude that disruption of belowground competitive interactions mediates regeneration and, thus, that belowground competition has a strong limiting influence on seedling establishment in these forests. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
E. Petter Axelsson Tomas Lundmark Peter Högberg Annika Nordin |
author_facet |
E. Petter Axelsson Tomas Lundmark Peter Högberg Annika Nordin |
author_sort |
E. Petter Axelsson |
title |
Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia |
title_short |
Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia |
title_full |
Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia |
title_fullStr |
Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia |
title_sort |
belowground competition directs spatial patterns of seedling growth in boreal pine forests in fennoscandia |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/f5092106 https://doaj.org/article/0ae597e27ab74e4eb595a77d42eee33f |
genre |
Fennoscandia |
genre_facet |
Fennoscandia |
op_source |
Forests, Vol 5, Iss 9, Pp 2106-2121 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/5/9/2106 https://doaj.org/toc/1999-4907 1999-4907 doi:10.3390/f5092106 https://doaj.org/article/0ae597e27ab74e4eb595a77d42eee33f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/f5092106 |
container_title |
Forests |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2106 |
op_container_end_page |
2121 |
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1765997220472029184 |