Branch xylem density variations across the Amazon Basin

By S. Patiño, J. Lloyd, R. Paiva, Timothy R. Baker, C. Quesada, L. Mercado, J. Schmerler, M. Schwarz, A. J. Santos, A. Aguilar and 43 more. 2009

123 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Xylem density is a physical property of wood that varies between individuals, species and environments. It reflects the physiological strategies of trees that lead to growth, survival and reproduction. Measurements of branch xylem density, ρx, were made for 1653 trees representing 598 species, sampled from 87 sites across the Amazon basin. Measured values ranged from 218 kg m−3 for a Cordia sagotii (Boraginaceae) from Mountagne de Tortue, French Guiana to 1130 kg m−3 for an Aiouea sp. (Lauraceae) from Caxiuana, Central Para, Brazil. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in average ρx across regions and sampled plots as well as significant differences between families, genera and species. A partitioning of the total variance in the dataset showed that species identity (family, genera and species) accounted for 33% with environment (geographic location and plot) accounting for an additional 26%; the remaining "residual" variance accounted for 41% of the total variance. Variations in plot means, were, however, not only accountable by differences in species composition because xylem density of the most widely distributed species in our dataset varied systematically from plot to plot. Thus, as well as having a genetic component, branch xylem density is a plastic trait that, for any given species, varies according to where the tree is growing in a predictable manner. Within the analysed taxa, exceptions to this general rule seem to be pioneer species belonging for example to the Urticaceae whose branch xylem density is more constrained than most species sampled in this study. These patterns of variation of branch xylem density across Amazonia suggest a large functional diversity amongst Amazonian trees which is not well understood.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d72a7a2a2cd489cd7457932b10a7936ccfd8adab

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Citations in the corpus

Spatial patterns of wood traits in China are controlled by phylogeny and the environment (2011, background): “…that WD was negatively correlated with mean annual precipitation (MAP) and positively with mean annual temperature (MAT) in North and South American forests, while Patiño et al. (2009) found WD to be curvilinearly related to MAP, and showed a maximum at MAP of 2000– 3000 mm in Amazonian forests.”
Functional traits and the growth-mortality trade-off in tropical trees. (2010, background): “There is a strong negative relationship between LMA and early seedling growth rates; however, direct limitation of growth rates by large LMA decreases in importance as trees mature and leaf number increases (Lambers and Poorter 1992, Reich et al. 1992, Poorter et al. 2009).”
Functional trait variation and sampling strategies in species-rich plant communities (2010, methodology): “Journal compilation 2009 British Ecological Society, Functional Ecology, 24, 208–216 with recent Amazon-wide estimates for tree xylem density, where local environmental factors explained up to 22% of variability in sapwood density (Patiño et al. 2009).”