IMPACTS OF ROOT COMPETITION IN FORESTS AND WOODLANDS: A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND REVIEW OF EXPERIMENTS.

DAVID A. COOMES [1,3]

PETER J. GRUBB [2]

Abstract. Light is widely considered to be the most important factor limiting the performance of plants on the floors of forests and woodlands, but the roles of nutrient availability and water supply remain poorly defined. We seek to predict the types of forest in which root competition affects seedling performance, and the types of plants that respond most strongly to release from root competition. We then test our predictions by reviewing experiments in which tree seedlings and forest herbs are released from belowground competition, usually by cutting trenches to sever the roots of surrounding trees.

First, we provide a ...

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