Introduction It is important in biology to understand how species traits determine their “demographic performance” in an ecosystem (Iida et al., 2014). Trees are vital to the environment as they are able to take in carbon dioxide that is excreted from non-photosynthetic organisms and replace it with oxygen. Previous studies have found that the growth rate of trees is the main trait responsible for the mortality and prosperity of that species of tree (Iida et al., 2014, Kohyama et al. 2003). However, to properly understand growth rate of trees and the causations, it is vital to understand the shoot growth of tree branches. The growth of a tree occurs within its branches which happens cyclically. The terminal bud develops at the end of the …show more content…
The first graph (Figure 1) shows the length that each branch grew from 4 years ago to this year. The second graph (Figure 2) shows the cumulative growth of each branch from four years ago to now. The trend in both graphs describes a decrease in total growth over the years. Using the measurements from the sassafras tree that were collected outside of lab, two bar graphs were made using this data. The first bar graph (Figure 3) shows the length that each individual branch grew in each year. The second bar graph (Figure 4) shows the cumulative growth of each branch from four years ago to now. The trend in both graphs show an increase from 3 years ago to 2, and then a decrease to the present date. The cumulative growth of each single branch was found by cumulatively adding each year on to the next. Both trees were plotted on the same graph. The scatterplot below (Figure 5) shows the results of this. The trend shows that the Sassafras has a steeper change in growth than the …show more content…
Monthly Climatology.
Reproduction and passing on genetic and behavioral traits to an offspring is a common fundamental to all the species on this planet. When studying forest ecology, it is crucial to study the proportion of individuals surviving at each stage of their growth as the lives and mortality experienced in a species population describes a characteristic of the species in question. In the case of American beech and sugar maple, their attempt to produce seeds is analogous to entering lottery, where every seedling has a potential chance of becoming a canopy but only some will survive and reach the canopy size; thus, becoming the fit ‘winners’. Our information shows that together, based on size class distribution, both the species display a ‘winner takes all’ pattern, which supports our hypothesis. The results showed a greater count for seedlings and short saplings than for tall saplings, sub-canopies and canopies. This is evident for a Type III survivorship curve. In Type III curve all individuals initially having a very low chance of survival. However, once the individuals pass their threshold age and survive, they live an advanced age. Only some individuals out the mast seeding production mature to become fully fit canopy trees. On the other hand, our hypothesis of canopy trees representing the bulk of the biomass was supported as the basal areas decreased going from growth stages of canopy to seedlings. This is evidence that once the individuals survive the bottleneck where there is high mortality of young individuals (seedlings), who are then considered as ‘losers’, will allow for the other larger size class individuals to flourish. Here, having considerable amount of dbh (diameter at breast height) accounts for greater surfac...
trees get the stronger they usually get. When one looks at the cracks and features of the tree, one can notice
I will now describe characteristics of various sugar maple growth stages, beginning with the seed stage.
...le would be more than that of American beech because sugar maple produce more seeds than American beech. Furthermore, we study whether the two species co-exist via reciprocal replacement, habitat preference or merely by chance. We believe that habitat preference may be the mechanism of coexistence here and therefore we hypothesize that there will be more American beech tree neighbors as they may represent the most biomass as per our third hypothesis. Thereafter, root sprouting is effective in American beech to give them a greater horizontal growth than sugar maple. Hence, we hypothesize that sugar maple canopies will be less asymmetrical than American beech. Finally, because a nearby canopy may restrict a tree canopy growth in the same direction, we hypothesize that a tree will grow its respective canopy away from its neighboring canopy to receive maximum sunlight.
The following paper will explore two different biomes: Boreal Forest and the Tropical Rainforest. An examination of these two biomes will provide an understanding of how these biomes exists and the various types and forms of processes that acted on it and are acting on it both biologically and through abiotic factors.
This was done by imagining four dots in a grid and counting up how many dots were covered out of a total of 96. 1.04 was multiplied to each total of covered dots. An average of the densitometer counts in both transects were calculated to provide the percent canopy in that region. The percentage of the slope was measured with a clinometer. We were to face the downhill direction and record the number that corresponds to that specific slope. An aspect was then taken at that point, which would note for the direction of the slope. An additional 15 degrees was added to include any uncertainties. That value was then converted to randians and consined. The number of canopies was observed by starting from the forest floor, to the herbaceous layer, to the understory mid canopy layer, to the overstory canopy layer, and to the emergent layer, if there was any. From the data received from our particular sites, there were no emergents. The stem density was also measured by adding up all the trees observed in the circular plot and was multiplied by 10 to measure the stems per hectares. Basal area was calculated by converting the tree diameters into area (m2), which were all added and multiplied by 10. This was the same way Basal
The bald cypress is a large, slow growing but long-lived deciduous conifer. It frequently reaches 100 to 120 feet in height and 3 to 6 feet in diameter (United States Department of Agriculture). The bald cypress is a massive tree that can live for hundreds and even thousands of years. “Individual trees have been reported up to 1,200 years old in Georgia and South Carolina” (Coladonato, 1992). The bald cypress is well known for its garnishing moss. In the forest, the bald cypress typically has a broad, irregular crown, often draped in curtains and streams of gray Spanish moss (Coladonato, 1992). The leaves of the bald cypress are 1/3 to ¾ of an inch long and are usually spread in a flat plane on feather like branchlets; these branchlets are shed in the fall (Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry). The bark of the bald cypress is reddish brown. It is usually quite thin and fibrous with an interwoven pattern of narrow flat ridges and narrow furrows (Coladonato, 1992). The bald cypress has an extensive rooting system. It develops a taproot as well as horizontal roots that lie just below the surface and extend 20 to 50 feet before the bending down (C...
3. From the ground up - cirle diagram of stats/percents of entire forest (goes near intro)
As a tree grows, it grows in diameter from the inside to the outside. The new growth for each year is added as a tree ring or growth ring. The growth during spring and early summer is more rapid and forms a lighter ring referred to as early wood. During the winter the tree grows at a slower rate and forms more of a dense, darker ring (late wood). The formation of the growth rings are dependent on several different environmental factors. This means that since the ring represents the growth of the tree for a specific year,
A rain forest can be merely defined as a evergreen forest inhabiting a tropical region, filled with a wide variety of plants and animals, with an annual rainfall of at least 2.5 meters. Simply speaking, they are the richest, oldest, most productive ecosystems on earth. An ecosystem is a living community together with its environment, together both functioning as a unit. Biologist, Norman Myers, states "rainforests are the finest celebration of nature ever known to the planet" (1). There are three main types of rainforests; temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical. Most of the rain forests still left in the world today are tropical. Tropical rain forests cover less then 6% of the earth, yet they contain half of the world’s species. As a matter of fact, rain forests support 90,000 of the 250,000 identifies plant species. A tropical rain forest has three layers: the canopy (treetops), the understory (young trees, ferns, shrubs), and the forest floor. Rain forests have been known as the "womb of life" (1) because they are home to so many species. Temperate (much younger, and more full of nutrients, located along Canada and the United States, among others) and sub-tropical rain forests also contain many ranges of animals (monkeys, birds, snakes, jaguars), however they are not as different. Regardless, the rain forests possess an array of foliage and fauna. Tropical rain forests lie near the equator, which means the temperature is extremely hot, above eighty degrees year round, and the climate is extremely wet. Rainforests cover about two percent of the earth’s surface, or six percent of it’s land mass, and yet they are the primary shelter for over half of the plant and animal species on earth....
• Dendroecology: The use of tree rings to study changes in ecological processes over time such as defoliation by insect outbreaks; the effects of air, water, and soil pollution on tree growth and forest health; the age, maturity, and successional status of forest stands; and the effects of human disturbances and management on forest vitality.
Restate thesis: In reality forests are better left alone, forests provide the earth with a regulated climate, strong biodiversity, and good nutrient rich soil for plants to strive on.
...aller also. Waitutu Forest has a mixed range of trees, as i only sampled saplings from study plots of either 1.5 hectares or 2.25 hectares i could expect my findings would be similar and could apply my findings throughout Waitutu forest. To make this investigation more specific and more accurate I could take my data of specific species in the Waitutu forest. Another thing that would need to be taken into account is the weather situation. The saplings would grow differently in other weather conditions. Because of this if you took data from a forest in the North Island of New Zealand you would expect different results due to the difference in whether. The saplings would probably grow faster in the North Island because it would be warmer.
Tropical rainforests are highly important to the global ecosystem and human existence in the world. Occupying only 6% of the earth’s land areas, tropical rainforests sustain 10-50 million species, which is over half of the world’s biodiversity, far higher than biodiversity in sub-tropical, temperate, and boreal ecosystems (IUCN, 2006). They occur between the latitudes 23.5° N and 23.5° S of the equator (Mongabay, 2014). The largest tropical rainforest area is located in America continent
...th and stated its cause shoot biomass due to a lower one (Samadi et al., 2014). However, in our study increased stem length.