Timeline for Why do trees grow closer together and lower near the tops of moutains?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
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| Oct 16 at 2:07 | history | edited | bob1 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added IDs from Eonema and fixed wording.
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| Oct 16 at 1:54 | comment | added | bob1 | ... mostly because of the low chance of a seed finding a good microenvironment (warmth, free water, not too windy etc.) suitable for growth of young tender shoots at altitude. Once the mat has formed. it might be suitable for growth from other individuals though, so you might get localized patches of high stem abundance all within one krummholz mat. | |
| Oct 16 at 1:52 | comment | added | bob1 | @have_beard_will_ski I think a procumbent/scrambling form of the plant there - basically leaning over with the trunk more or less parallel to the ground and branches radiating from that, or a lack of an obvious trunk, more lots of branches from one spot. The branches etc might touch the ground and root themselves in spots, which would make it hard to tell, but I don't know how much conifers do this. Basically one plant forming the mat rather than lots of plants, so actually low stem density... | |
| Oct 16 at 0:20 | comment | added | have_beard_will_ski | So at ~5000 ft Picea mariana is growing only ~12 inches tall with only a few inches between individuals. In lowlands, the same species usually grows much taller and more spaced out. High wind, cold, weaker sun, more snow/ice: these factors likely cause the ~5000 ft individuals to remain short. Shortness correlates with lower width. And low width causes a higher density, due to less competition between individuals for light and water. Is that a reasonable summary? | |
| Oct 15 at 0:39 | comment | added | bob1 | @Eonema Thanks. I'm not good at North American trees. Didn't spot the Ash in the 4000 ft photo. | |
| Oct 15 at 0:06 | comment | added | Eonema | 2,000 ft photo is Acer rubrum, A. saccharum, and Picea rubens; 4,000 ft is Abies balsamea and Sorbus americana; and 5,000 ft is Picea mariana :) | |
| Oct 14 at 22:38 | history | answered | bob1 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |