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Treatments that reduce neighbour density are widely applied in the belief they will improve conifer growth in mixed forests. However, our understanding of stand composition and age effects on competition is poor. We used neighbourhood analysis for 748 target conifer trees to examine interspecific competition within 11-, 25-, and 50-year-old mixed, even-aged stands of paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco), western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don), and western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) in southern interior British Columbia. Critical neighbourhood height and distance were identified where competition accounted for the greatest variation in target conifer diameter. Competition processes were emperically examined using relative height indices. We found that critical neighbourhood distance increased with stand age and was greater for larch than for cedar. Critical neighbourhood height was higher for cedar than for Douglas-fir or larch in the 11-year-old stands but lower in the older stands. The most important competitors in the 11-year-old stands were tall neighbours, whereas those in the older stands were short neighbours. We found asymmetrical relationships between target conifers and neighbours for all species and age-classes, indicating a resource preemption mode of competition. To be useful in developing prescriptions for competition management in mixed species stands, competition indices should consider neighbour identity and critical height for each target species. Assessment radius must also be sufficiently large to adequately characterize competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have characterized canopy geometry and light transmission by the nine dominant conifer and broad-leaved tree species of the interior cedar-hemlock (ICH) forests of northern British Columbia. Our field data were used to parameterize a spatially explicit model of light transmission through mixed-species forests. That model, a component of the forest dynamics simulator SORTIE, was developed for eastern deciduous forests, and this paper presents a test of that model in a very different ecosystem. Our results show that individual crowns of the ICHforests intercepted much more light than species of eastern deciduous forests but that the canopy as a whole allowed greater light penetration, largely because of openings between the relatively narrow, conical crowns of the western conifers. Light transmission by individualcrowns was correlated with shade tolerance among the conifers (as ineastern deciduous species), but crown depth was not (in contrast with eastern species). Despite the fundamental differences in the natureof light transmission in the two ecosystems, the SORTIE light model developed for eastern deciduous forests was effective at predicting spatial variation in understory light levels in these western coniferous forests. The goodness of fit of such a simple model suggests that the most important factors regulating spatial variation in understorylight levels in these forests are simply the sizes and distribution of nearby trees, and the local sky brightness distribution. Discrete canopy gaps represent a special case in which a region of the canopy is not occupied by crowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insights into field-planted conifer seedling growth were gained by fitting height and diameter growth to relative irradiance over the growing season using Michaelis-Menten functions. There was little difference among tree species (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt., Picea glauca(Moench) Voss x Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr., Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud., Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don, Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) in response to ambient light. No significant differences in whole-plant compensation points were observed among species but the ranking of species' compensation points was consistent with their shade-tolerance ranking. Five years after planting, total size and recent growth rates varied little among species from low to high light, implying an absence of trade-offs in low- and high-light growth strategies. Thuja plicata had the greatest response to increased light under deep shade (<20% relative irradiance). All species increased growth above 40% relative irradiance, with no clear whole-plant light saturation point evident under field conditions. Growth rates at high light were broadly overlapping and varied considerably within species. As expected,Pinus contorta growth exceeded that of other species above 70% relative irradiance, but it also exhibited high growth rates at low light. Greatest variability among species was at intermediate light levels (30-70% relative irradiance) where careful matching of tree species to light environment can maximize growth rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]