Respiration rates predict differences in growth of coast redwood |
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| Authors: | T. S. ANEKONDA R. S. CRIDDLE W. J. LIBBY R. W. BREIDENBACH L. D. HANSEN |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA;Department of Forestry and Resource Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA;Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA;Department of Chemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA |
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| Abstract: | The relation between growth rate traits (height, basal diameter, stem volume and branch diameter) and two measures of respiration rate [metabolic heat rate (q) and CO2 production rate (Rco2)] and their ratio (q/Rco2) was examined on a collection of 192 different genotypes of coast redwoods [Sequoia sempervirens (D.Don) Endl.]. Branch diameter was not correlated with any of the respiratory measures, but the other three growth traits gave highly significant (P < 0.001) correlations with positive slopes. Combining the four growth traits and the three respiratory variables (q, RCo2 and q/Rco2) to give two canonical variates, one representing growth and one representing respiration, gives an even stronger linear correlation (r= 0–85). These data suggest that simultaneous assay of multiple respiratory measures on juvenile trees can be used to predict their longer-term growth rates. |
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| Keywords: | calorimetry coast redwood respiration Sequoia sempervirens |
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