Plasticity as a link between spatially explicit, distance-independent, and whole-stand forest growth models

TL;DR

This paper explores how incorporating plasticity in crown and root structures enhances the connection between spatially explicit and non-spatial forest growth models, improving realism and understanding of stand dynamics.

Contribution

It demonstrates that accounting for plasticity creates more accurate links between different modeling approaches and discusses the evolution of size distributions over time.

Findings

Plasticity improves model realism.

Distance-independent models partially explain size distributions.

Stand-level knowledge can inform individual-tree models.

Abstract

Models at various levels of resolution are commonly used, both for forest management and in ecological research. They all have comparative advantages and disadvantages, making desirable a better understanding of the relationships between the various approaches. It is found that accounting for crown and root plasticity creates more realistic links between spatial and non-spatial models than simply ignoring spatial structure. The article reviews also the connection between distance-independent models and size distributions, and how distributions evolve over time and relate to whole-stand descriptions. In addition, some ways in which stand-level knowledge feeds back into detailed individual-tree formulations are demonstrated. The presentation intends to be accessible to non-specialists. Study implications: Introducing plasticity improves the representation of physio-ecological processes in spatial modelling. Plasticity explains in part the practical success of distance-independent models. The nature of size distributions and their relationship to individual-tree and whole-stand models are discussed. I point out limitations of various approaches and questions for future research.