L. Poorter, Growth responses of 15 rain-forest tree species to a light gradient: the relative importance of morphological and physiological traits, FUNCT ECOL, 13(3), 1999, pp. 396-410
1. Growth of seedlings of 15 rain-forest tree species was compared under co
ntrolled conditions, at six different light levels (3, 6, 12, 25, 50 and 10
0% daylight).
2. Most plant variables showed strong ontogenetic changes; they were highly
dependent on the biomass of the plant.
3. Growth rate was highest at intermediate fight levels (25-50%) above whic
h it declined. Most plant variables showed a curvilinear response to irradi
ance, with the largest changes at the lowest Light levels.
4. There was a consistent ranking in growth between species; species that w
ere fast growing in a low-light environment were also fast growing in a hig
h-light environment.
5. At low light, interspecific variation in relative growth rate was determ
ined mainly by differences in a morphological trait, the leaf area ratio (L
AR), whereas at high light it was determined mainly by differences in a phy
siological trait, the net assimilation rate (NAR).
6. NAR became a stronger determinant of growth than LAR in more than 10-15%
daylight. As light availability in the forest is generally much lower than
this threshold level, it follows that interspecific variation in growth in
a forest environment is mainly owing to variation in morphology.