Retrospective analysis of competition in a forest remnant: A case study of Podocarpus lambertii in the Araucaria Forest

The understanding of tree growth pattern under competition in natural forests is important to support strategies and actions of forest management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the retrospective growth and competition among trees of Araucaria Forest remnants in south Brazil. Dendrochronology was applied to recover growth information of Podocarpus lambertii Klotzsch ex Endl. from different strata. Rouvenien and Kuuluvainen 2 was the selected index to analyze retrospective competition between trees. It was possible to adjust an equation relating competition and diameter increments. Trees that had reached the forest upper canopy were less subject to competition in the last 30 years and probably throughout their lives. Competition variation of trees from lower strata is much larger, showing greater growth fluctuation in trees that fought for light during their lifetime. We tested this procedure on P. lambertii from Araucaria Forest, but we believe that it will be also useful to analyze growth and competition interactions among other species. Modeling individual trees' growth with such competition analysis tools will enable the improvement of silvicultural treatments for natural forests management under specific criteria.