Responses to light in individual growth and reproduction of two Acer species and the long‐term consequences

Abstract

AbstractDespite widespread interest in plant responses to light, few studies have addressed the lifetime consequences of the responses. We have addressed this issue by studying Acer mono and Acer amoenum trees in a cool temperate forest in northern Japan. By analyzing field data, it was detected that growth and flowering rates increased with light availability for each species. A stochastic individual‐based model consisting of growth, flowering, and survival processes was used to estimate lifetime reproductive outputs under three treatments of light conditions. These analyses indicated that A. mono had high variation in lifetime reproductive output under different light conditions, and that the variation was mainly caused by the growth response and not by the flowering response. In contrast, A. amoenum showed stable lifetime reproductive outputs across all light conditions. Our results demonstrated that responses detected by data analyses do not always lead to changes in lifetime reproductive output. This result highlights the importance of lifetime integration for the evaluation of the long‐term impact of performance responses. These results also revealed some of the ways in which individuals of the two Acer species may contribute to overall population regulation.