Tree height-diameter allometry reflects the response of specific species to above and belowground resource allocation patterns. However, traditional methods (e.g. stepwise regression (SR)) may ignore model uncertainty during the variable selection process. In this study, 450 trees of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) grown at five spacings were used. We explored the height-diameter allometry in relation to stand and climate variables through Bayesian model averaging (BMA) and identifying the contributions of these variables to the allometry, as well as comparing with the SR method. Results showed the SR model was equal to the model with the third highest posterior probability of the BMA models. Although parameter estimates from the SR method were similar to BMA, BMA produced estimates with slightly narrower 95% intervals. Heights increased with increasing planting density, dominant height, and mean annual temperature, but decreased with increasing stand basal area and summer mean maximum temperature. The results indicated that temperature was the dominant climate variable shaping the height-diameter allometry for Chinese fir plantations. While the SR model included the mean coldest month temperature and winter mean minimum temperature, these variables were excluded in BMA, which indicated that redundant variables can be removed through BMA.
The reach of different tree species’ crowns and the velocity of gap closure during the occupation of canopy gaps resulting from mortality and thinning during stand development determine species-specific competition and productivity within forest stands. However, classical dendrometric methods are rather inaccurate or even incapable of time- and cost-effectively measuring 3D tree structure, crown dynamics and space occupation non-destructively. Therefore, we applied terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) in order to measure the structural dynamics at tree and stand level from gap cutting in 2006 until 2012 in pure and mixed stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). In conclusion, our results suggest that Norway spruce invests newly available above-ground resources primarily into DBH as well as biomass growth and indicate a stronger resilience against loss of crown mass induced by mechanical damage. European beech showed a vastly different reaction, investing gains from additional above-ground resources primarily into faster occupation of canopy space. Whether our sample trees were located in pure or mixed groups around the gaps had no significant impact on their behavior during the years after gap cutting.