To live fast or not: Growth, vigor and longevity of old-growth ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine trees

Old trees of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm.) were studied to determine volume growth patterns in relation to leaf area. Ponderosa pine trees varied in age from 166 to 432 years and were about 77 cm in diameter; lodgepole pine trees varied in age from 250 to 296 years and were about 31 cm in diameter. With the exception of several ponderosa pine trees less than 200 years old, trees of both species had flattened tops, heavy branches, and foliage distribution characteristically found only in the oldest trees. After trees were felled, annual volume increments were determined from crossdated radial increments measured on discs at 4-m height intervals, and leaf areas were determined based on leaf area/branch sapwood area ratios for 1/5 sections of the crown for each tree. In ponderosa pine, three distinct volume growth patterns occurred: (1) a gradual increase in annual volume growth until felling; (2) a more rapid increase in growth to a plateau that persisted for a century or more; and (3) a rapid increase in growth followed by a generally sudden decrease in growth to less than half the earlier rates, and persisting at these lower rates for as long as seven decades. In lodgepole pine, fewer trees exhibited the sudden growth decline observed in ponderosa pine. Most short-term growth variations in ponderosa pine were synchronized among all trees, suggesting a common climatic signal. In lodgepole pine, annual variations in volume growth were slight. Volume growth in the most recent years before felling was weakly correlated with leaf area at the time of felling (r(2) = 0.45 for both species). However, in both species, trees having a high volume growth rate and leaf area at the time of felling had grown slowly when young, whereas trees having low volume growth rate and leaf area at felling grew rapidly when young. Thus a wide range of early and late growth patterns can lead to old-growth conditions in these species. Growth efficiencies (grams of dry matter per m(2) total leaf area) were generally higher for trees having the lowest leaf areas, and in almost all cases were below 100 g m(-2).