The Importance of Comparative Growth Rates in Determining the Canopy Composition of Tasmanian Rainforest

Abstract

Growth rates of the rainforest canopy species Atherosperma moschatum Labill., Eucryphia lucida (Labill.) Baill., Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst., Athrotaxis selaginoides D.Don and Phyllocladus aspleniifolius (Labill.) Hook.f. were measured in naturally-occurring seedlings and in seedlings grown in glasshouse pot trials. The highest field growth rates were recorded in N. cunninghamii on lowland sites on fertile, well-drained soils. On poorer soils, growth rates of N. cunninghamii were lower and there was little difference in growth rates between species. On the most acidic and probably infertile soil, the growth rate of P. aspleniifolius was 1.4 times higher than that of N. cunninghamii, although not significantly different at the 95% level. Similar trends in growth rates were recorded in pot trials. High growth rates were recorded in N. cunninghamii and E. lucida on fertile, well-drained soils, with generally lower growth rates in A. moschatum, P. aspleniifolius and A. selaginoides. No significant difference in growth rate was recorded among N. cunninghamii, E. lucida, A. moschatum and P. aspleniifolius when grown in poor soils or in low nutrient treatments. The trends in comparative growth rates correlate with the measured canopy composition of the study sites. Nothofagus cunninghamii dominates forest stands on sites where it has a clearly superior growth rate compared with co-occurring light-demanding species. Mixed canopies occur on sites where there is little or no difference between species' growth rates. However, not all patterns of canopy dominance can be explained by comparative growth rates alone. For example, P. aspleniifolius commonly dominates forest stands at low to mid-altitude where growth rates of all species are very low, but without necessarily a higher growth rate in P. aspleniifolius than in co-occurring species. The results of the growth rate studies are integrated with some other aspects of the biology of these species in a discussion of the mechanisms determining canopy composition of Tasmanian rainforests.