Abstract
Using branch data from 63 L.kaempferi and 36 L.gmelinii sampled trees in northeastern China, the responses of crown profiles with different tree classes (dominant, intermediate and suppressed trees) and aspects (north, east, south and west) to competition were studied. Crown displacement, defined as the distance between the centre of gravity of the crown and the stem base, was calculated for all the sampled trees to estimate the crown plasticity. The horizontal crown overlapping area (COAH) between sampled trees and the closest neighbouring trees was calculated to estimate the neighbour competition. A crown profile model that includes COAH as the explanatory variable was developed, and the effect of COAH on the crown profile of two tree species was analysed. The results showed that more than half of the trees had the largest crown radius and upper crown surface area on the north and east sides for L.kaempferi and on the north and south sides for L.gmelinii. The crown displacement of L.kaempferi was greater on the north and east sides, and that of L.gmelinii was greater on the south and east sides. COAH had a significant effect on the crown profile model for both species. The mean square error reduction (MSER) for the crown profile model including COAH relative to the model without COAH was 1.68% and 2.10% for L.kaempferi and L.gmelinii, respectively. The COAH had a greater impact on the crown profile of L.gmelinii than that of L.kaempferi. The inflexion point of the dominant and intermediate trees for both species was sensitive to COAH and gradually moved towards the crown base as the neighbour competition intensified, while the inflexion point of the suppressed tree showed a weak response to COAH. The crown profile in the four directions was closely related to the current radial stem growth.
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Acknowledgements
We are deeply indebted to the other researchers who contributed to this project. The authors also thank the PhD students who have worked hard in data collection. This study was financed by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0600401), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31901307), general project of Liaoning provincial department of education (LSNQN201901), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018M641527) and the talent introduction funding for scientific research start-up from Shenyang Agricultural University (880418014).
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Gao HL and Chen DS carried out the field work, ran the data analysis and discussed the results. Gao HL wrote the manuscript. Chen DS, Sun XM and Zhang SG discussed data analysis, commented on the results and discussion, revised the manuscript and co-ordinated the research project.
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Gao, H., Chen, D., Sun, X. et al. Modelling the responses of crown profiles to competition in terms of different tree classes and directions in two coniferous tree species in northeastern China. Eur J Forest Res 140, 159–174 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-020-01321-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-020-01321-4