Mixing effects on growth efficiency in mixed pine forests
Increased interest in mixed forests is due to evidence of them being more resource-use efficient and stable forest systems. However, intrinsic and extrinsic factors moderate interspecific species interactions generating different effects in productivity. Here, we explore a method to detect mixing effects in a specific mixture combination (Pinus sylvestris L.;Pinus pinaster Ait.), comparing the growth of mixed stands with that of monocultures. Combined tree and stand-level analyses also helped determine which mixing effects are most important for forest functioning and how changes at one level influence patterns at another level. Data from the Spanish National Forest Inventory were used to compare growth efficiency in mixed and pure stands; we relied on relative stand density indices to determine species-specific site occupancy. This same concept was used to evaluate competition status and inter/intra-specific competition effects as modifiers of potential growth at the tree-level. We observed that growth efficiency in both species increased with the proportion of the complementary species in the stand. At the tree-level, intraspecific competition was higher than interspecific competition in Scots pine tree growth, showing that it had benefited from the mixture. In contrast, maritime pine did not show a competitive response to the interspecific interaction, indicating that tree growth was more strongly influenced by the competition structure (size-symmetric and size-asymmetric) than by the species of the competitors. Our results highlight the importance of combining stand-level analysis with that of tree-specific competition relationships when studying mixed-species forests. © Institute of Chartered Foresters, 2016.
Main Authors: | Riofrío, J., Del Río, M., Bravo, F. |
---|---|
Format: | journal article biblioteca |
Language: | eng |
Published: |
2017
|
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12792/3710 |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Similar Items
-
Mixing effects on growth efficiency in mixed pine forests
by: Riofrío, J., et al.
Published: (2017) -
Changes in structural heterogeneity and stand productivity by mixing Scots pine and Maritime pine
by: Riofrío, J., et al.
Published: (2017) -
Changes in structural heterogeneity and stand productivity by mixing Scots pine and Maritime pine
by: Riofrío, J., et al.
Published: (2017) -
Short-term effect of thinning on inter- and intra-annual radial increment in Mediterranean Scots pine-oak mixed forests
by: Aldea, Jorge, et al.
Published: (2023-12-01) -
Radial increment dynamics of Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) in pure and mixed stands with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) under changing environmental conditions
by: Askarieh, Ali, et al.
Published: (2024-01-13)