Simplified inference about dominance in forest stands

Abstract

In a series of papers, Binkley and coauthors suggested dominance curves as a framework for understanding growth dominance and resource use efficiency in forest stands. Constructing a dominance curve requires three major supporting components: an appropriate allometric equation for biomass, sufficient data to characterize the size distribution of trees in the stand, and data on growth from a sufficient number of trees to characterize the relationship between tree size and growth across the entire size distribution. These components are not always available. Here, I propose a simplified approach to inference that can be used to diagnoze positive, neutral, and reverse dominance when the conditions for constructing a full dominance curve cannot be met. I illustrate the approach with published data from an old-growth kauri (Agathis australis) stand, which shows clear evidence of reverse dominance. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication Date

9-10-2010

Journal Title

Forest Ecology and Management

Publisher

Elsevier

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.foreco.2010.07.008

Scientific Contribution Number

2432

Document Type

Article

Rights

© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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