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AOBPreview published online on July 9, 2003
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcg144
© 2003 by Annals of Botany Company
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Submitted on December 11, 2002
Revised on April 8, 2003
Accepted on May 14, 2003

Size Structure of Current-year Shoots in Mature Crowns

MAKI SUZUKI1*

Affiliation of the authors: 1 Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Sakyoku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: makizoh{at}hitohaku.jp.

Characteristics of current-year shoot populations were examined for three mature trees of each of three deciduous broad-leaved species. For first-order branches (branches emerging from the vertical trunk) of the trees examined, lengths or diameters of all current-year shoots were measured. Total leaf mass and total current-year stem mass of first-order branches were estimated using an allometric relationship between leaf or stem mass and length or diameter of current-year stems. For each tree, the number of current-year shoots on a first-order branch was proportional to the basal stem cross-sectional area of the branch. On the other hand, first-order branches had shoot populations with size structures similar to each other. As a result, the leaf mass of a first-order branch was proportional to the basal stem cross-sectional area of the branch, being compatible with the pipe-model relationship. All current-year shoot populations had positively skewed size structures. Because small shoots have a larger ratio of leaf mass to stem mass than large shoots, first-order branches had an extremely large ratio of leaf mass to current-year stem mass. This biased mass allocation will reduce costs for current stem production, respiration and future radial growth, and is beneficial to mature trees with a huge accumulation of non- photosynthetic organs. The allometric relationships between leaf mass and basal stem diameter and that between leaf mass and current-year stem mass of first-order branches were each similar across the trees examined. Characteristics of shoot populations tended to offset inter-species diversity of shoot allometry so that branch allometry shows inter-species convergence.
Key words: Allometry, Acer mono var. mayrii (Schwer.) Koidz., Betula maximowicziana Regel, biomass allocation, current-year shoot population, deciduous broad-leaved trees, first-order branch, mature crown, shoot size structure, pipe-model relationship, Quercus crispula Brume.


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