Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Elevational changes in productivity of saplings relate to distribution of two congeneric tree species

  • Regular Paper – Ecology/Ecophysiology/Environmental Biology
  • Published:
Journal of Plant Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Elevational changes in vegetation are associated with changes in environmental factors, an example of which is provided by the shade-tolerant Abies mariesii and less shade-tolerant Abies veitchii, which dominate forests at high and low elevations, respectively, in subalpine zones of central Japan. In this study, we sought to establish the factors underlying the differential elevational dominance of these two species from the perspective of sapling growth and survival. It is assumed that the growth and survival of saplings is greater at higher rates of surplus production (the value obtained by subtracting the minimum net production to maintain the current sapling leaf mass from the total net production), as sapling leaf mass gradually declines with time if saplings cannot maintain the current sapling leaf mass, thereby increasing the risk of premature mortality. In this regard, we aimed to verify the following two hypotheses: (1) at low elevations, the surplus production rate of A. veitchii is greater than that of A. mariesii in canopy gaps, and vice versa in the forest understory; and (2) at high elevation, the surplus production rate of A. mariesii is greater than that of A. veitchii in both forest understory and canopy gaps. The results obtained in this study were consistent with our two stated hypotheses. In addition, at the low elevation site, the rate of the growth in height of A. veitchii in canopy gaps was greater than that of A. mariesii, indicating that A. veitchii can dominate after disturbance at low elevations. The findings of this study indicate that the differential elevational distribution of the two Abies species can be attributed to interspecific differences in surplus production rates. We believe that these findings will be useful for predicting changes in the distribution of vegetation in response to climate change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams HD, Kolb TE (2005) Tree growth response to drought and temperature in a mountain landscape in northern Arizona, USA. J Biogeogr 32:1629–1640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aizawa M, Kaji M (2003) The natural distribution patterns of subalpine conifers in central Japan. Bull Univ for Fac Agr, Univ Tokyo 110:27–70 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltzer JL, Thomas SC (2007) Determinants of whole-plant light requirements in Bornean rain forest tree saplings. J Ecol 95:1208–1221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Björkman O (1981) Responses to different quantum flux densities. In: Lange OL, Nobel PS, Osmond CB, Ziegler H (eds) Physiological plant ecology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Elith J, Leathwick JR (2009) Species distribution models: ecological explanation and prediction across space and time. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 40:677–697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewers FW, Schmid R (1981) Longevity of needle fascicles of Pinus Longaeva (Bristlecone pine) and other North American pines. Oecologia 51:107–115

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin JF, Maeda T, Ohsumi Y, Matsui M, Yagi H, Hawk GM (1979) Subalpine coniferous forests of central Honshu, Japan. Ecol Monogr 49:311–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavin DG, Hu FS (2006) Spatial variation of climatic and non-climatic controls on species distribution: the range limit of Tsuga heterophylla. J Biogeogr 33:1384–1396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Girardin CAJ, Malhi Y, Aragão LEOC, Mamani M, Huasco WH, Durand L, Feeley KJ, Rapp J, Silva-Espejo JE, Silman M, Salinas N, Whittaker RJ (2010) Net primary productivity allocation and cycling of carbon along a tropical forest elevational transect in the Peruvian Andes. Global Change Biol 16:3176–3192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kikuzawa K (1991) A cost-benefit analysis of leaf habit and leaf longevity of trees and their geographical pattern. Am Nat 138:1250–1263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kikuzawa K, Ackerly DA (1999) Significance of leaf longevity in plants. Plant Species Biol 14:39–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kikuzawa K, Lechowicz MJ (2006) Toward synthesis of relationships among leaf longevity, instantaneous photosynthetic rate, lifetime leaf carbon gain, and the gross primary production of forests. Am Nat 168:373–383

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura M (1963) Dynamics of vegetation in relation to soil development in northern Yatsugatake mountains. Jpn J Bot 18:255–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimura K, Ishida A, Uemura A, Matsumoto Y, Terashima I (1998) Effects of current-year and previous-year PPFDs on shoot gross morphology and leaf properties in Fagus japonica. Tree Physiol 18:459–466

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King DA (1991) Correlations between biomass allocation, relative growth rate and light environment in tropical forest saplings. Funct Ecol 5:485–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King DA (1994) Influence of light level on the growth and morphology of saplings in a Panamanian forest. Am J Bot 81:948–957

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King DA (1997) Branch growth and biomass allocation in Abies amabilis saplings in contrasting light environments. Tree Physiol 17:251–258

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kohyama T (1980) Growth pattern of Abies mariesii saplings under conditions of open-growth and suppression. Bot Mag Tokyo 93:13–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohyama T (1983) Seedling stage of two subalpine Abies species in distinction from sapling stage: a matter-economic analysis. Bot Mag Tokyo 96:49–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohyama T (1984) Regeneration and coexistence of two Abies species dominating subalpine forests in central Japan. Oecologia 62:156–161

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koike T (1988) Leaf structure and photosynthetic performance as related to the forest succession of deciduous broad-leaved trees. Plant Species Biol 3:77–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Körner C (2012) Alpine treelines. Springer, Basel

  • Kudo G (1991) Effects of snow-free period on the phenology of alpine plants inhabiting snow patches. Arc Alp Res 23:436–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kudo G (1999) A review of ecological studies on leaf-trait variations along environmental gradients—in the case of tundra plants. Jpn J Ecol 49:21–35 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kudo G, Nordenhäll U, Molau U (1999) Effects of snowmelt timing on leaf traits, leaf production, and shoot growth of alpine plants: comparisons along a snowmelt gradient in northern Sweden. Ecoscience 6:439–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kyereh B, Swaine MD, Thompson J (1999) Effect of light on the germination of forest trees in Ghana. J Ecol 87:772–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S, Garnier E (2002) Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisiting the Holy Grail. Funct Ecol 16:545–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lusk CH (2002) Leaf area accumulation helps juvenile evergreen trees tolerate shade in a temperate rainforest. Oecologia 132:188–196

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Massaccesi G, Roig FA, Pastur GJM, Barrera MD (2008) Growth patterns of Nothofagus pumilio trees along altitudinal gradients in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Trees 22:245–255

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer S, Cerovic ZG, Goulas Y, Montpied P, Demotes-Mainard S, Bidel LPR, Moya I, Dreyer E (2006) Relationships between optically assessed polyphenols and chlorophyll contents, and leaf mass per area ratio in woody plants: a signature of the carbon-nitrogen balance within leaves? Plant Cell Env 29:1338–1348

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miyajima Y, Takahashi K (2007) Changes with altitude of the stand structure of temperate forests on Mount Norikura, central Japan. J for Res 12:187–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyajima Y, Sato T, Takahashi K (2007) Altitudinal changes in vegetation of tree, herb and fern species on Mount Norikura, central Japan. Veg Sci 24:29–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori A, Takeda H (2004) Functional relationships between crown morphology and within-crown characteristics of understory saplings of three codominant conifers in a subalpine forest in central Japan. Tree Physiol 24:661–670

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moser G, Hertel D, Leuschner C (2007) Altitudinal change in LAI and stand leaf biomass in tropical montane forests: a transect study in Ecuador and a pan-tropical meta-analysis. Ecosystems 10:924–935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niinemets Ü (1997a) Role of foliar nitrogen in light harvesting and shade tolerance of four temperate deciduous woody species. Funct Ecol 11:518–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niinemets Ü (1997b) Acclimation to low irradiance in Picea abies: influences of past and present light climate on foliage structure and function. Tree Physiol 17:723–732

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ohdo T, Takahashi K (2020) Plant species richness and community assembly along gradients of elevation and soil nitrogen availability. AoB Plants 12:plaa014

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Peng J, Gou X, Chen F, Li J, Liu P, Zhang Y (2008) Altitudinal variability of climate-tree growth relationships along a consistent slope of Anyemaqen Mountains, northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Dendrochronologia 26:87–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poorter L, Bongers F (2006) Leaf traits are good predictors of plant performance across 53 rain forest species. Ecology 87:1733–1743

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Poorter H, Niklas KJ, Reich PB, Oleksyn J, Poot P, Mommer L (2012) Biomass allocation to leaves, stems and roots: meta-analyses of interspecific variation and environmental control. New Phytol 193:30–50

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2017) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/

  • Reich PB, Walters MB, Ellsworth DS (1992) Leaf life-span in relation to leaf, plant, and stand characteristics among diverse ecosystems. Ecol Monogr 62:365–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soberón J, Arroyo-Peña B (2017) Are fundamental niches larger than the realized? Testing a 50-year-old prediction by Hutchinson. PLoS ONE 12:e0175138

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sterck FJ, Poorter L, Schieving F (2006) Leaf traits determine the growth-survival trade-off across rain forest tree species. Am Nat 167:758–765

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki R, Takahashi K (2020) Effects of leaf age, elevation and light conditions on photosynthesis and leaf traits in saplings of two evergreen conifers, Abies veitchii and A. mariesii. J Plant Ecol 13:460–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki R, Takahashi K (2022) Responses of photosynthetic rates to temperature in two conifers dominating at different elevations. Landsc Ecol Engineer (in press)

  • Takahashi K, Koike S (2014) Altitudinal differences in bud burst and onset and cessation of cambial activity of four subalpine tree species. Landsc Ecol Eng 10:349–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Miyajima Y (2008) Relationship among leaf life span, leaf mass per area and leaf nitrogen causes different altitudinal changes in leaf δ13C between deciduous and evergreen species. Botany 86:1233–1241

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Obata Y (2014) Growth, allometry and shade tolerance of understory saplings of four subalpine conifers in central Japan. J Plant Res 127:329–338

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Tokumitsu Y, Yasue K (2005) Climatic factors affecting the tree-ring width of Betula ermanii at the timberline on Mount Norikura, central Japan. Ecol Res 20:445–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Hirosawa T, Morishima R (2012) How the timberline formed: altitudinal changes in stand structure and dynamics around the timberline in central Japan. Ann Bot 109:1165–1174

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Otsubo S, Kobayashi H (2018) Comparison of photosynthetic traits of codominant subalpine conifers Abies veitchii and A. mariesii in central Japan. Landsc Ecol Eng 14:91–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Ikeda K, Okuhara I, Kurasawa R, Kobayashi S (2022) Competition and disturbance affect elevational distribution of two congeneric conifers. Ecol Evol 12:e8647

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Takeda S, Takahashi K (2020) Elevational variation in abundance of coarse woody debris in subalpine forests, central Japan. For Ecol Manag 473:118295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka N, Nakazono E, Tsuyama I, Matsui T (2009) Assessing impact of climate warming on potential habitats of ten conifer species in Japan. Earth Env 14:153–164 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters MB, Reich PB (1999) Low-light carbon balance and shade tolerance in the seedlings of woody plants: do winter deciduous and broad-leaved evergreen species differ? New Phytol 143:143–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang T, Ren H, Ma K (2005) Climatic signals in tree ring of Picea schrenkiana along an altitudinal gradient in the central Tianshan Mountains, northwestern China. Trees 19:735–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warton DI, Wright IJ, Falster DS, Westoby M (2006) Bivariate line-fitting methods for allometry. Biol Rev 33:1–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto S (1995) Gap characteristics and gap regeneration in subalpine old-growth coniferous forests, central Japan. Ecol Res 10:31–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was partially supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Asahi 3-1-1, Matsumoto, 390-8621, Japan

    Rina Suzuki

  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, 390-8621, Japan

    Koichi Takahashi

  3. Institute of Mountain Science, Shinshu University, Asahi 3-1-1, Matsumoto, 390-8621, Japan

    Koichi Takahashi

Authors
  1. Rina Suzuki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Koichi Takahashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Koichi Takahashi.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (PDF 908 KB)

Supplementary file2 (PDF 234 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Suzuki, R., Takahashi, K. Elevational changes in productivity of saplings relate to distribution of two congeneric tree species. J Plant Res 135, 647–658 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-022-01400-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-022-01400-0

Keyword

Search

Navigation