Relative plant growth revisited: Towards a mathematical standardisation of separate approaches

Relative growth rates are key characteristics for assessing growth performance and growth efficiency. Recently they have gained importance for diagnosing and modelling mortality and reproduction processes and they potentially play a crucial role in reconstructing growth processes in dendrochronology, climate change and forest decline research. From a technical point of view, relative growth rates are more straightforward to model than absolute growth rates and more emphasis should be devoted to model development.