Abstract
Tropical tree size distributions are remarkably consistent despite differences in the environments that support them. With data analysis and theory, we found a simple and biologically intuitive hypothesis to explain this property, which is the foundation of forest dynamics modeling and carbon storage estimates. After a disturbance, new individuals in the forest gap grow quickly in full sun until they begin to overtop one another. The two-dimensional space-filling of the growing crowns of the tallest individuals relegates a group of losing, slow-growing individuals to the understory. Those left in the understory follow a power-law size distribution, the scaling of which depends on only the crown area-to-diameter allometry exponent: a well-conserved value across tropical forests.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 155-157 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 351 |
| Issue number | 6269 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 8 2016 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General
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Dominance of the suppressed : Power-law size structure in tropical forests. / Farrior, C. E.; Bohlman, S. A.; Hubbell, S.; Pacala, Stephen Wilson.
In: Science, Vol. 351, No. 6269, 08.01.2016, p. 155-157.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Dominance of the suppressed
T2 - Power-law size structure in tropical forests
AU - Farrior, C. E.
AU - Bohlman, S. A.
AU - Hubbell, S.
AU - Pacala, Stephen Wilson
PY - 2016/1/8
Y1 - 2016/1/8
N2 - Tropical tree size distributions are remarkably consistent despite differences in the environments that support them. With data analysis and theory, we found a simple and biologically intuitive hypothesis to explain this property, which is the foundation of forest dynamics modeling and carbon storage estimates. After a disturbance, new individuals in the forest gap grow quickly in full sun until they begin to overtop one another. The two-dimensional space-filling of the growing crowns of the tallest individuals relegates a group of losing, slow-growing individuals to the understory. Those left in the understory follow a power-law size distribution, the scaling of which depends on only the crown area-to-diameter allometry exponent: a well-conserved value across tropical forests.
AB - Tropical tree size distributions are remarkably consistent despite differences in the environments that support them. With data analysis and theory, we found a simple and biologically intuitive hypothesis to explain this property, which is the foundation of forest dynamics modeling and carbon storage estimates. After a disturbance, new individuals in the forest gap grow quickly in full sun until they begin to overtop one another. The two-dimensional space-filling of the growing crowns of the tallest individuals relegates a group of losing, slow-growing individuals to the understory. Those left in the understory follow a power-law size distribution, the scaling of which depends on only the crown area-to-diameter allometry exponent: a well-conserved value across tropical forests.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84955166589&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84955166589&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.aad0592
DO - 10.1126/science.aad0592
M3 - Article
C2 - 26744402
AN - SCOPUS:84955166589
VL - 351
SP - 155
EP - 157
JO - Science
JF - Science
SN - 0036-8075
IS - 6269
ER -