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Effects of light availability on morphology, growth and biomass allocation of Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur seedlings
Sevillano, Ignacio Short, Ian
Grant, Jim O'Reilly, Conor
Sevillano, Ignacio
Grant, Jim
O'Reilly, Conor
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2016-08-15
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Ignacio Sevillano, Ian Short, Jim Grant, Conor O’Reilly, Effects of light availability on morphology, growth and biomass allocation of Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur seedlings, Forest Ecology and Management, Volume 374, 2016, Pages 11-19, ISSN 0378-1127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.04.048.
Abstract
The survival, morphological, and growth responses of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) seedlings to different light intensities, from full sunlight to heavy shade, were studied over two growing seasons in a shadehouse experiment. Although shade treatments significantly affected seedling growth, they did not influence seedling survival. Both growth and biomass increased as light intensity increased. Diameter growth of oak seedlings was higher than that of beech. Beech and oak seedlings showed typical acclimation to shade, including greater specific leaf area and height to diameter ratios, and lower leaf thickness and root:shoot ratios with increasing shade. Beech seedlings exhibited greater specific leaf area, and lower leaf thickness and root:shoot ratios than oak seedlings. In spite of the greater growth at full sunlight, the results from this study suggest that beech and oak seedlings would have high survival rates and would acclimate well if underplanted below overstories that reduce the available light to as low as 28% of full light.