<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jian Zhou</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yu, Kailiang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lin, Guanghui</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wang, Zhiheng</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Variance in tree growth rates provides a key link for completing the theory of forest size structure formation</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Journal of Theoretical BiologyJournal of Theoretical Biology</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Demographic equilibrium theory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Foerster equation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Forest size structure</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kolmogorov forward equation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Metabolic scaling theory</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Variance in tree growth rates</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Variance propagation</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2021</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2021/11/21/</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">529</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">110857</style></pages><isbn><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">0022-5193</style></isbn><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">In natural forests at a demographic equilibrium state, the size frequency distribution (SFD) of trees is linked with their size-dependent growth and mortality rates. While the mean growth rate (MGR) of each size class is generally used for determining the SFD, the variance in the growth rate (VGR) has always been ignored. Here, based on the analyses with Kolmogorov forward equation, we show that in general, the VGR can flatten the slope of the SFD and, in particular, can address the contradiction between the size-dependent MGR and the −2 power-law SFD in the metabolic scaling theory. We traced the origin of the VGR to the intrinsic stochasticity in the allometric growth coefficients of trees and deduced its functional form based on variance propagation. Using the forest censuses data from Barro Colorado Island, we verified the prediction of the VGR and indicated its indispensability in the theory of forest size-structure formation.</style></abstract></record></records></xml>