A tree’s typical mode of death determines the size of gap it creates.

Evidence

Species-specific modes of death affect gap size. For example, in the Ituri forest, Zaire, Gilbertiodendron dewevrai typically dies standing, gradually drops limbs, and forms only small gaps (Hart, personal communication). By contrast, Brachystegia laurentii is generally uprooted, producing large gaps. On BCI, the emergent Ceiba pentandra sheds its limbs, failing to produce a gap commensurate with tree size (Brokaw, personal observation). — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 388

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Microclimate inside a forest gap depends on gap diameter relative to tree height. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 164; Soil infertility shifts tree death mode away from uprooting and blocks pioneers — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 477; Patch size is set by distance between surviving regenerators, tracking mortality — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 887

Broader Connections

• Soil infertility shifts tree death mode away from uprooting and blocks pioneers #expands (0.86) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 477