The symmetry of competition. A battle crown-to-crown or roots-to-roots?

Forests rich in tree species are not only known for providing higher levels of ecosystem services but also to be prompter to cope with unexpected disturbances and climatic changes. However, the mechanisms of competitions in multi-species forests are all but clear. Scientists are still puzzled about which combinations of tree species grow better in a particular environment or what factors promote or reduce a positive growth complementarity in secondary forests and/or plantations. A recently published JVS paper (Mina et al. 2018, Journal of Vegetation Science 29 775-787) tackled this question for the three economically most important species growing in Central Europe: Norway spruce (Picea abies), silver fir (Abies alba) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica).

The post is published in the Vegetation Science Blog

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