How to fit nonlinear plant growth models and calculate growth rates: an update for ecologists
University of Zurich · University of Oxford · +2 more institutions
Abstract
Summary 1. Plant growth is a fundamental ecological process, integrating across scales from physiology to community dynamics and ecosystem properties. Recent improvements in plant growth modelling have allowed deeper understanding and more accurate predictions for a wide range of ecological issues, including competition among plants, plant–herbivore interactions and ecosystem functioning. 2. One challenge in modelling plant growth is that, for a variety of reasons, relative growth rate (RGR) almost universally decreases with increasing size, although traditional calculations assume that RGR is constant. Nonlinear growth models are flexible enough to account for varying growth rates. 3. We demonstrate a variety…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 18.85
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 61
Authors
7Topics & keywords
- Ecology
- Plant growth
- Nonlinear system
- Growth rate
- Ecosystem
- Econometrics
- Function (biology)
- Herbivore
- Life in Land