5 Conclusion
Overall, we proved that in Masson pine forests, tree performance relates to architectural traits. We found tree performance relates to the scaling exponent at both individual and branch levels, that is trees with a higherH -D scaling exponent grow better, whereas trees with lower branch L -d scaling exponent perform better in competition. In addition to the decrease of L -d scaling exponent as the position of branches deepens within crown, we also found that the linkage betweenL -d scaling exponent and tree performance is determined by the intermediate branches. The linkage between scaling exponent and tree performance improves our understanding of tree competitive strategies and mechanisms of tree mortality. This research also highlights that the interspecific variation of morphological traits should not be ignored. More species should be considered in future research.
Funding: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 31330010)
Acknowledgments: We thank Prof. Yuanqiu Liu, and Wei Jin as well as Rong Huang (Jiangxi Agricultural University) for their help in the fieldwork. We also acknowledge Prof. Xin Chen (Zhejiang University) for providing the scanner. We are also grateful to Dr. Jun Liu (Jiangxi Agricultural University) and Dr. María N. Umaña (University of Michigan) for their useful suggestion.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Data Accessibility Statement: data used in the analysis will be available through Dryad until acceptance of this manuscript.