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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 10, 2025

Development of an Individual-Tree Basal Area Increment Model using a Linear Mixed-Effects Approach

Development of an Individual-Tree Basal Area Increment Model using a Linear Mixed-Effects Approach

Published on: July 3, 2020

Forest Age Rivals Climate to Explain Reproductive Allocation Patterns in Forest Ecosystems Globally.

Rachel E Ward¹, Huanyuan Zhang-Zheng², Kate Abernethy^3,4

¹Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.

Ecology Letters

|August 25, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Global forest reproductive allocation (RA) increases from boreal to tropical regions, influenced by climate, forest age, and soil. This challenges assumptions in vegetation models, improving forest regeneration and carbon cycle predictions.

Keywords:

climate ecosystem modelling forest age forest ecosystems forest regeneration reproductive allocation soil fertility

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Forest Science
Biogeochemistry

Background:

Forest reproductive allocation (RA) is crucial for regeneration but globally unquantified.
A trade-off exists between RA and growth, impacting ecosystem dynamics.
Existing vegetation models often assume a fixed global RA fraction of net primary productivity (NPP).

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize global data on forest reproductive allocation (RA).
To investigate environmental and stand-age drivers of RA.
To improve vegetation and ecosystem models by challenging fixed RA assumptions.

Main Methods:

Compiled a global dataset of 824 observations from 393 sites.
Used a biometric proxy for ecosystem-scale reproductive allocation (RA).
Analyzed RA across environmental (climate, soil) and stand-age gradients.

Main Results:

Ecosystem-scale RA increases by ~60% from boreal to tropical forests.
Climate, forest age, and soil fertility significantly influence RA.
RA magnitude is comparable between climate and forest age effects.
Soil pH and nitrogen show smaller but significant relationships with RA.

Conclusions:

Ecosystem-scale RA is mediated by climate, forest age, and soil conditions.
RA is not a fixed global fraction of NPP as commonly assumed.
Findings and dataset can enhance predictions of forest regeneration and carbon cycling.