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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biophysics and Modeling
Volume 16 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1545892
This article is part of the Research Topic Integrative Biophysical Models to Uncover Fundamental Processes in Plant Growth, Development, and Physiology View all articles
Unraveling the individual and interactive effects of climate and competition on branch growth dynamics in Pinus koraiensis in Northeast China
Provisionally accepted- Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
The quantitative modeling of dynamic branch growth in Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) and the analysis of the factors influencing branch growth are essential prerequisites for making scientifically sound management decisions in Korean pine plantations. To date, the effects of competition, climate and their interactions on branch growth have been insufficiently investigated. Additionally, limited knowledge exists regarding whether these impacts vary depending on the social status of trees. In the face of the current challenges posed by climate change, accurate information to inform forest management and policy-making is urgently needed. We collected 745 branches from 54 Korean pine trees and employed a mixed-effects model to assess the effects of tree variables, competition, climate, and their interactions on branch growth. Furthermore, we simulated branch growth under different combinations of competition and climatic conditions to provide practical and targeted recommendations for Korean pine plantation management. Our results demonstrate that (1) in addition to branch age, size, and tree height growth, competition, climate, and their interactions significantly improved the branch growth model, with the effects of interactions surpassing the individual effects of climate, which highlights the importance of considering interactive effects; (2) the effects of climate and competition varied depending on the social status of the trees, with dominant and intermediate individuals showing greater sensitivity to competition and climate than suppressed individuals did, suggesting that, for future research in this direction, prioritizing sampling of dominant and intermediate individuals would be a cost-effective approach; and (3) owing to the presence of interactions, the influence of climate on branch growth was modulated by competition, suggesting that adjusting competition levels in response to climate stress could lead to desirable branch growth outcomes. Understanding the different sources of variation in branch growth is crucial for advancing our understanding of tree growth and crown dynamics, as well as for formulating sustainable management policies amidst the uncertainties of climate change.
Keywords: Pinus koraiensis, Branch dynamic growth, competition, Climate Change, forest management
Received: 16 Dec 2024; Accepted: 21 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Miao, Li, Hao, Jiang and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zheng Miao, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Lihu Dong, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
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