Physiological basis of spacing effects on tree growth and form in Eucalyptus globulus

We examine the effects of spacing and layout on the growth and form of 3- to 4-year-old Eucalyptus globulus in a farm forestry context. Four planting layouts were chosen. These represented the range commonly in use in farm forestry: block plantings (2×4 m), triple rows (2×4 m) at 10-m intervals, single rows (2×10 m) and isolated trees (10×10 m). The physiological significance of key results is interpreted in terms of changes in the parameters of a simple plantation growth model. Under conditions where levels of direct light are high, for example during summer, block-planted trees intercepted only 38% of the light intercepted by isolated trees. On a stand basis, however, the combination of incident radiation and ground coverage declined with lower stand densities. While stand leaf area index declined from around 6 to 1 with increased spacing, individual tree leaf areas rose from around 50 m2 in block plantings to 150 m2 in isolated trees. The proportion of above-ground biomass found in stems declined with increasing spacing as the mass in foliage and branches increased. Stems accounted for 65% of above-ground biomass in block-planted trees but only 35% in isolated trees. The contributions of leaves and branches correspondingly rose from 19% to 35% and from 16% to 29%, respectively. Changes in biomass distribution were accompanied by increasing branch number, branch thickness, flatter branch angles and the longer retention of lower branches with greater spacing. These changes have implications for the merchantability of the timber. The efficiency of above-ground radiation conversion was constant at 0.67 g MJ–1 irrespective of spacing. We estimated that foliar maintenance respiration (Rm) accounted for about 90% of above-ground Rm. On a stand basis Rm costs block plantings 23.90 t DM ha–1 year–1 (50% annual above-ground photosynthetic production) compared with 6.22 t DM ha–1 year–1 (40% annual above-ground photosynthetic production) in stands of isolated trees.