Self-thinning and Community Persistence in a Simple Size-structured Dynamical Model of Plant Growth
Abstract
This paper presents a size-structured dynamical model of plant growth. The model takes the form of a partial differential-integral equation and includes the effects of self-shading by leaves. Closed form solutions are presented for the equilibrium size density distribution. Analytic conditions are derived for community persistence, and the self-thinning exponent is obtained as a function of species characteristics and environmental conditions.