Allometric convergence in savanna trees and implications for the use of plant scaling models in variable ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Theoretical models of allometric scaling provide frameworks for understanding and predicting how and why the morphology and function of organisms vary with scale. It remains unclear, however, if the predictions of 'universal' scaling models for vascular plants hold across diverse species in variable environments. Phenomena such as competition and disturbance may drive allometric scaling relationships away from theoretical predictions based on an optimized tree. Here, we use a hierarchical Bayesian approach to calculate tree-specific, species-specific, and 'global' (i.e. interspecific) scaling exponents for several allometric relationships using tree- and branch-level data harvested from three savanna sites across a rainfall gradient in Mali, West Africa. We use these exponents to provide a

SUBMITTER: Tredennick AT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3590121 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature