Differential growth responses in seedlings of ten species of Dipterocarpaceae to experimental shading and defoliation

The responses of plants to shade and foliar herbivory jointly affect growth rates and community assem- bly. We grew 600 seedlings of ten species of the economically important Dipterocarpaceae in experi- mental gradients of shading (0.3%–47.0% of full sunlight) and defoliation (0, 25%, 50% or 75% of leaf area removed). We assessed stem diameters initially, after 2 and 4 mo, and calculated relative growth rates (RGR) with a linear model. Shading interacted with defoliation, reducing RGR by 21.6% in shaded conditions and 8.9% in well-lit conditions. We tested three hypotheses for interspecific tr... Mehr ...