ISHS Acta Horticulturae 56: Symposium on Juvenility in Woody Perennials
DIFFERENCES IN SHOOT GROWTH PATTERNS BETWEEN JUVENILE AND ADULT TREES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION BASED ON SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF TREES |
| Author: | R. Borchert |
| Abstract:
With increasing age and size, the vigor of individual shoots of woody plants declines and the annual shoot growth increment becomes progressively smaller. Whereas juvenile trees may grow continuously throughout the growing season or pass through several repeated growth flushes, adult trees grow for much shorter periods and display only a single seasonal flush of shoot growth. Predictions based on an earlier model of rhythmic shoot growth and experimental data suggest that a reduction in shoot growth can be the consequence of (1) increased complexity as resulting from a larger number of shoots per tree, (2) limitations imposed on root growth under natural and experimental conditions, and (3) depletion of soil water reserves. Increasing size and complexity which accompany aging in trees will adversely affect both the correlations within a tree and its interaction with the environment, and reduced shoot growth should be expected to occur during aging. | |
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