Abstract
We compared aboveground tree forms among closely related species in two genera of the Sterculiaceae (Scaphium and Heritiera) in a Bornean mixed dipterocarp forest. Two significant allometric patterns were detected: a negative correlation between the height at the onset of branching and the slope of the species-specific Cr (crown width)-D (stem diameter) allometric relationship for juveniles (D<10 cm), and a negative correlation between H max (observed maximum height) and the Cr-D slope. The slope of the Cr-D allometric relationship of branched trees was significantly steeper than that of monoaxial (unbranched) trees in most species. These results suggest that the branching growth habit is better adapted than the monoaxial growth habit to crown expansion, and that the morphology of short species is better adapted to crown expansion than that of tall species. We did not detected significant correlations between the height at the onset of branching and the slope of the H (height)-D allometric relationship for juvenile trees, and between H max and the H-D slope. In addition, the monoaxial and branched juvenile of most species did not differ significantly in the allometric slopes of the H-D relationship. Therefore, the study does not support the hypotheses that a monoaxial growth habit favors rapid height growth and that tall species have allometries better adapted to height growth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiba S, Kohyama T (1996) Tree species stratification in relation to allometry and demography in a warm-temperate rain forest. J Ecol 84:207–218
Aiba S, Kohyama T (1997) Crown architecture and life-history traits of 14 tree species in a warm-temperate rain forest: Significance of spatial heterogeneity. J Ecol 85:611–624
Ashton PS (1988) Dipterocarp biology as a window to the understanding of tropical forest structure. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 19:347–370
Davies SJ, Palmiotto PA, Ashton PS, Lee HS, LaFrankie JV (1998) Comparative ecology of 11 sympatric species of Macaranga in Borneo: Tree distribution in relation to horizontal and vertical resource heterogeneity. J Ecol 86:662–673
Felsenstein J (1985) Phylogenies and the comparative method. Am Nat 125:1–15
Givnish TJ (1978) On the adaptation significance of compound leaves: With particular reference to tropical rain trees. In: Tomlinson PB, Zimmerman MH (eds.) Tropical trees as living systems. Cambridge University Press, pp. 351–380
Givnish TJ (1984) Leaf and canopy adaptations in tropical forests. In: Medina E, Mooney HA, Vasquez-Yanes C (eds.) Physiological ecology of plants of the wet tropics. Dr. Junk, The Hague, pp. 51–84
Halle F, Oldemann RAA, Tomlinson PB (1978) Tropical trees and forests: An architectural analysis. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Horn HS (1971) The adaptive geometry of trees. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
King DA (1990) Allometry of saplings and understory trees of a Panamanian forest. Funct Ecol 4:27–32
King DA (1994) Influence of light level on the growth and morphology of saplings in a Panamanian forest. Am J Bot 81:948–957
Kohyama T (1987) Significance of architecture and allometry in saplings. Funct Ecol 1:399–404
Kohyama T, Grubb PJ (1994) Below- and above-ground allometries of shade-tolerant seedlings in a Japanese warm-temperate rain forest. Funct Ecol 8:229–236
Kohyama T, Hotta M (1990) Significance of allometry in tropical saplings. Funct Ecol 4:515–521
Kohyama T, Suzuki E, Partomohardjo T, Yamada T, Kubo T (2003) Tree species differentiation in growth, recruitment and allometry in relation to maximum height in a Bornean mixed dipterocarp forest. J Ecol 91:797–806
Labarbera M (1989) Analyzing body size as a factor in ecology and evolution. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 20:97–117
Lee HS, Davies SJ, LaFrankie JV, Tan S, Yamakura T, Itoh A, Ohkubo T, Ashton PS (2002) Floristic and structural diversity of mixed dipterocarp forest in Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia. J Trop For Sci 14:379–400
Nakagawa M, Tanaka K, Nakashizuka T, Ohkubo T, Kato T, Maeda T, Sato K, Miguchi H, Nagamasu H, Ogino K, Teo S, Hamid AA, Lee HS (2000) Impact of severe drought associated with the 1997–1998 El Niño in a tropical forest in Sarawak. J Trop Ecol 16:355–367
Neinhuis C, Speck T (2004) Plant growth: A biomechanical perspective. J Plant Growth Regul 23:59–60
Niklas KJ (1994) Plant allometry: The scaling of form and process. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Poorter L, Werger MJA (1999) Light environment, sapling architecture, and leaf display in six rain forest tree species. Am J Bot 86:1464–1473
Poorter L, Bongers F, Sterck FJ, Wöll H (2003) Architecture of 53 rain forest tree species differing in adult stature and shade tolerance. Ecology 84:602–608
Rogstad HS (1989) The biosystematics and evolution of the Polyalthia hypoleuca complex (Annonaceae) of Malesia: I. A systematic treatment. J Arnold Arbor 70:153–246
Rogstad HS (1990) The biosystematics and evolution of the Polyalthia hypoleuca species complex (Annonaceae) of Malesia: II. Comparative distributional ecology. J Trop Ecol 6:387–408
Snedecor GW, Cochran WG (1980) Statistical Methods, 7th edn. Iowa State University Press, IA
Sposito T, Santos FAM (2001) Scaling of stem and crown in eight Cecropia (Cecropiaceae) species of Brazil. Am J Bot 88:939–949
Thomas S (1996a) Relative size at onset of matuarity in rain forest trees: A comparative analysis of 37 Malaysian species. Oikos 76:145–154
Thomas S (1996b) Asymptotic height as a predictor of growth and allometric characteristics in Malaysian rain forest trees. Am J Bot 83:556–566
Watson H (1985) Lambir Hills National Park. Kuching Forest Department, Sarawak
Yamada T, Ngakan PO, Suzuki E (2005) Differences in growth trajectory and strategy of two sympatric congeneric species in an Indonesian flood-plain forest. Am J Bot 92:45–52
Yamada T, Suzuki E (1998) Plasticity of biomass allocation and tree form in relation to the light environment of a tropical tree, Scaphium macropodum (Sterculiaceae) in Borneo. Tropics 7:173–182
Yamakura T, Kanzaki M, Itoh A, Ohkubo T, Ogino K, Chai EOK, Lee HS, Ashton PS (1996) Forest structure of a tropical rain forest at Lambir, Sarawak, with special reference to dependency of its forest physiognomic dimensions on topography. Tropics 6:1–18
Acknowledgements
We thank A. Tomita and M. Hamabe for their field assistance; Dr. S. Aiba for valuable comments on earlier versions of this manuscript; Dr. T. Kohyama for permission to use his computer program for non-linear regression; Drs. S. Tamura, Y. Takai, K. Ogino, P.S. Ashton, J.V. LaFrankie, P. Palmiotto, A. Itoh, H.S. Lee, and Hj. Abang Abdul Hamid for arranging a long-term ecological project in Lambir Hills National Park; and Mr. E.O. Chai and the staff of the Silviculture Research Office (Sibu, Sarawak) for their enthusiastic field work during the survey of the 52-ha study plot. The State Government and Forest Department of Sarawak offered full use of their facilities during the research. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan and Marinus Werger provided the opportunity for T. Yamada to study at Utrecht University. The study was financially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Encouragement of Young Scientists No. 50316189 to T. Yamada from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yamada, T., Tan, S. & Yamakura, T. Interspecific patterns underlying variations in allometric relationship of sympatric Sterculiaceae species in a Bornean rainforest. Trees 20, 186–195 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-005-0025-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-005-0025-3