The Relationship Between Maturation Size and Maximum Tree Size From Tropical to Boreal Climates

Journé, Valentin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7324-7002, Bogdziewicz, Michał ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6777-9034, Courbaud, Benoit, Kunstler, Georges ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2544-1940, Qiu, Tong ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4499-437X, Acuña, Marie-Claire Aravena, Ascoli, Davide ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2671-5122, Bergeron, Yves, Berveiller, Daniel, Boivin, Thomas, Bonal, Raul, Caignard, Thomas, Cailleret, Maxime, Calama, Rafael, Camarero, J Julio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2436-2922, Chang-Yang, Chia-Hao ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3635-4946, Chave, Jerome, Chianucci, Francesco, Curt, Thomas, Cutini, Andrea, Das, Adrian, Daskalakou, Evangelia, Davi, Hendrik, Delpierre, Nicolas, Delzon, Sylvain, Dietze, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2324-2518, Calderon, Sergio Donoso, Dormont, Laurent, Espelta, Josep Maria, Farfan-Rios, William, Fenner, Michael, Franklin, Jerry, Gehring, Catherine, Gilbert, Gregory, Gratzer, Georg, Greenberg, Cathryn H, Guignabert, Arthur ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1512-6760, Guo, Qinfeng, Hacket-Pain, Andrew, Hampe, Arndt, Han, Qingmin, Hanley, Mick E, Lambers, Janneke Hille Ris, Holík, Jan, Hoshizaki, Kazuhiko, Ibanez, Ines, Johnstone, Jill F, Knops, Johannes MH ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9647-9209, Kobe, Richard K, Kurokawa, Hiroko ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8778-8045, Lageard, Jonathan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8971-0444, LaMontagne, Jalene ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7713-8591, Ledwon, Mateusz, Lefèvre, François ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2242-7251, Leininger, Theodor, Limousin, Jean-Marc, Lutz, James ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2560-0710, Macias, Diana, Mårell, Anders ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3328-4834, McIntire, Eliot ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6914-8316, Moran, Emily V, Motta, Renzo, Myers, Jonathan, Nagel, Thomas A, Naoe, Shoji ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0605-4187, Noguchi, Mahoko, Norghauer, Julian, Oguro, Michio, Ourcival, Jean-Marc, Parmenter, Robert, Pearse, Ian, Pérez-Ramos, Ignacio M, Piechnik, Łukasz, Podgórski, Tomasz, Poulsen, John, Redmond, Miranda D, Reid, Chantal D, Samonil, Pavel, Scher, C Lane ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3689-5769, Schlesinger, William H, Seget, Barbara, Sharma, Shubhi, Shibata, Mitsue, Silman, Miles, Steele, Michael, Stephenson, Nathan, Straub, Jacob, Sutton, Samantha, Swenson, Jennifer J, Swift, Margaret, Thomas, Peter A, Uriarte, Maria ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0484-0758, Vacchiano, Giorgio, Whipple, Amy, Whitham, Thomas, Wright, S Joseph ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4260-5676, Zhu, Kai ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1587-3317, Zimmerman, Jess, Żywiec, Magdalena ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5992-4051 and Clark, James S (2024) The Relationship Between Maturation Size and Maximum Tree Size From Tropical to Boreal Climates. Ecology Letters, 27 (9). e14500. ISSN 1461-023X

Preview

Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (9MB) | Preview

Abstract

The fundamental trade-off between current and future reproduction has long been considered to result in a tendency for species that can grow large to begin reproduction at a larger size. Due to the prolonged time required to reach maturity, estimates of tree maturation size remain very rare and we lack a global view on the generality and the shape of this trade-off. Using seed production from five continents, we estimate tree maturation sizes for 486 tree species spanning tropical to boreal climates. Results show that a species' maturation size increases with maximum size, but in a non-proportional way: the largest species begin reproduction at smaller sizes than would be expected if maturation were simply proportional to maximum size. Furthermore, the decrease in relative maturation size is steepest in cold climates. These findings on maturation size drivers are key to accurately represent forests' responses to disturbance and climate change.