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JXB Advance Access published online on August 14, 2006
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erl079
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© 2006 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received February 22, 2006
Accepted June 13, 2006

RESEARCH PAPER

Reducing stem bending increases the height growth of tall pines

Shawn X. Meng 1 *, Victor J. Lieffers 1, Douglas E. B. Reid 2, Mark Rudnicki 3, Uldis Silins 1, and Ming Jin 4

1 Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H1
2 Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H1; Present address: Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Lakehead University Campus, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada P7B 5E1
3 Department of Natural Resources Management and Engineering, University of Connecticut, 1376 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
4 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2W2

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Shawn X. Meng, E-mail: xianfa{at}ualberta.ca


  Abstract

The hypothesis was tested that upper limits to height growth in trees are the result of the increasing bending moment of trees as they grow in height. The increasing bending moment of tall trees demands increased radial growth at the expense of height growth to maintain mechanical stability. In this study, the bending moment of large lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. Ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) was reduced by tethering trees at 10 m height to counter the wind load. Average bending moment of tethered trees was reduced to 38% of control trees. Six years of tethering resulted in a 40% increase in height growth relative to the period before tethering. By contrast, control trees showed decreased height growth in the period after tethering treatment. Average radial growth along the bole, relative to height growth, was reduced in tethered trees. This strongly suggests that mechanical constraints play a crucial role in limiting the height growth of tall trees. Analysis of bending moment and basal area increment at both 10 m and 1.3 m showed that the amount of wood added to the stem was closely related to the bending moment produced at these heights, in both control and tethered trees. The tethering treatment also resulted in an increase in the proportion of latewood at the tethering height, relative to 1.3 m height. For untethered control trees, the ratio of bending stresses at 10 m versus 1.3 m height was close to 1 in both 1998 and 2003, suggesting a uniform stress distribution along the outer surface of the bole.

Keywords: Bending moment; mechanical constraints; proportion of latewood; tethering; uniform stress; wind load.
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