AOBPreview originally published online on July 3, 2008
Annals of Botany 2008 102(3):435-441; doi:10.1093/aob/mcn113
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Development of a Local Size Hierarchy Causes Regular Spacing of Trees in an Even-aged Abies Forest: Analyses Using Spatial Autocorrelation and the Mark Correlation Function
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Ohsawa, Hachiohji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
* For correspondence. E-mail s-suzuki{at}ed.tmu.ac.jp
Received: 23 April 2008 Returned for revision: 15 May 2008 Accepted: 6 June 2008 Published electronically: 3 July 2008
Background and Aims: During the development of an even-aged plant population, the spatial distribution of individuals often changes from a clumped pattern to a random or regular one. The development of local size hierarchies in an Abies forest was analysed for a period of 47 years following a large disturbance in 1959.
Methods: In 1980 all trees in an 8 x 8 m plot were mapped and their height growth after the disturbance was estimated. Their mortality and growth were then recorded at 1- to 4-year intervals between 1980 and 2006. Spatial distribution patterns of trees were analysed by the pair correlation function. Spatial correlations between tree heights were analysed with a spatial autocorrelation function and the mark correlation function. The mark correlation function was able to detect a local size hierarchy that could not be detected by the spatial autocorrelation function alone.
Key Results: The small-scale spatial distribution pattern of trees changed from clumped to slightly regular during the 47 years. Mortality occurred in a density-dependent manner, which resulted in regular spacing between trees after 1980. The spatial autocorrelation and mark correlation functions revealed the existence of tree patches consisting of large trees at the initial stage. Development of a local size hierarchy was detected within the first decade after the disturbance, although the spatial autocorrelation was not negative. Local size hierarchies that developed persisted until 2006, and the spatial autocorrelation became negative at later stages (after about 40 years).
Conclusions: This is the first study to detect local size hierarchies as a prelude to regular spacing using the mark correlation function. The results confirm that use of the mark correlation function together with the spatial autocorrelation function is an effective tool to analyse the development of a local size hierarchy of trees in a forest.
Key words: Abies, local size hierarchy, mark correlation function, pair correlation function, regenerating forest, regular spacing, spatial autocorrelation