Including time on the study of plant-plant interactions through dendroecology

Abstract:

As a general rule, facilitation prevails over competition in stressful environments, but stress levels shift over time. Ideally, time should be included in plant-plant interactions studies by monitoring plants throughout their entire life-cycles, but this would require long study periods prior to reach any conclusive result. In this paper I present different ways to include time on the study of plant-plant interactions using dendrochronological techniques. By introducing different study cases I show how to include the information provided by plant age-related to ontogeny and age structure of the population- and ring width-related to secondary growth-in studies at the community, population and individual level. I highlight the potential for ecological studies to include the analysis of growth rings existing in shrubs and perennial herbs. To conclude, I introduce several variables registered in growth rings such as carbon stable isotope content or variables related to quantitative wood anatomy, which could be included as a complement in studies on plant-plant interactions.

Año de publicación:

2016

Keywords:

• Perennial herbs
• plant-plant interactions
• Shrub
• Ontogeny
• Secondary growth

Fuente:

scopus