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Life history scaling and the division of energy in forests

View ORCID ProfileJohn M. Grady, Quentin D. Read, Sydne Record, Nadja Rüger, Phoebe L. Zarnetske, Anthony I. Dell, Stephen P. Hubbell, Sean T. Michaletz, Alexander Shenkin, Brian J. Enquist
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.22.163659
John M. Grady
1National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, East Alton, IL, USA
2Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
3Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA
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  • ORCID record for John M. Grady
  • For correspondence: jgradym@gmail.com
Quentin D. Read
2Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
4National Socio-Economic Environmental Synthesis Center, Annapolis, MD, USA
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Sydne Record
3Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA
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Nadja Rüger
5German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
6Department of Economics, University of Leipzig, Grimmaische Straße 12, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
7Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
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Phoebe L. Zarnetske
2Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
8Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
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Anthony I. Dell
1National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, East Alton, IL, USA
9Washington University of St. Louis, Department of Biology, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
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Stephen P. Hubbell
7Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama
10Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Sean T. Michaletz
11Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
12Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
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Alexander Shenkin
13Department of Geography, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
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Brian J. Enquist
11Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
14The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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Abstract

The competition for light has long been regarded as a key axis of niche partitioning that promotes forest diversity, but available evidence is contradictory. Despite strong tradeoffs between growth and survival with light, field tests suggest neutral forces govern tree composition across forest gaps and resource use across size classes. Here we integrate scaling and niche theory, and use data from >114,000 woody plants in a tropical, old growth forest to test and predict patterns of niche partitioning with size and light. Consistent with predictions, the relative abundance, production, light capture, and richness of species in life histories with fast growth follow a power law relationship, increasing 1–2 orders of magnitude along a solar and size gradient. Competitive neutrality between size classes emerges above the sapling layer, where increasing access to light is counterbalanced by stronger self-shading. Convergent power law patterns of resource partitioning across taxa and spatial scale suggest general life history tradeoffs drive the organization of diverse communities.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://github.com/qdread/forestscalingworkflow

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted June 23, 2020.
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Life history scaling and the division of energy in forests
John M. Grady, Quentin D. Read, Sydne Record, Nadja Rüger, Phoebe L. Zarnetske, Anthony I. Dell, Stephen P. Hubbell, Sean T. Michaletz, Alexander Shenkin, Brian J. Enquist
bioRxiv 2020.06.22.163659; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.22.163659
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Life history scaling and the division of energy in forests
John M. Grady, Quentin D. Read, Sydne Record, Nadja Rüger, Phoebe L. Zarnetske, Anthony I. Dell, Stephen P. Hubbell, Sean T. Michaletz, Alexander Shenkin, Brian J. Enquist
bioRxiv 2020.06.22.163659; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.22.163659

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