Growth strategies of clonal palms (Arecaceae) in a neotropical rainforest, Yasuni, Ecuador

2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens-Christian Svenning

Growth strategies of clonal palms were studied in old-growth tropical rainforest in Yasuní, Amazonian Ecuador. Genet structure, clonal and sexual fecundity, and light availability were investigated for 188 genets totalling 1256 ramets and 10 species. Negative relationships between risk of stem bending and stem diameter and between stem diameter and number of large ramets per genet were found. Recruitment of thick-stemmed species occurred in better-lit microsites than where the smaller species occurred. The three most common species were studied in more detail. Clonal and sexual fecundity were only related to light availability in one species each. No general trade-off between sexual and clonal reproduction was found. Sexual fecundity was related to size in all three species, while clonal fecundity was so only in one species. Overall, the results suggest that light availability poses a strong constraint on the evolution of growth strategies in clonal understorey palms, while the resource cost of sexual reproduction is not high enough to result in a general trade-off between sexual and clonal reproduction. It is also concluded that in understorey palms clonal growth is more a growth strategy than a dispersion-propagation strategy.

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 1852
Author(s):  
Xueyan Ma ◽  
Guangsheng Zhou ◽  
Gen Li ◽  
Qiuling Wang

The leaf is one of the most drought-sensitive plant organs. Investigating how leaf traits change and their trade-off growth during a drought would contribute to developing targeted drought-resistance measures. We investigated changes in five key maize leaf traits (leaf area, dry mass, effective number, water content, and specific weight) and their trade-off growth based on a drought simulation experiment. We also developed an indicator (0, 1) to quantitatively evaluate drought severity. The results showed a trade-off growth between different leaf traits of maize plants under drought conditions. Maize maintained relatively high leaf water content to maintain high leaf metabolic activity until drought severity was greater than 0. When drought severity was (0, 0.48), maize tended to adopt rapid growth strategy by maintaining regular leafing intensity and investing more energy into leaf area rather than specific leaf weight so that more energy could be absorbed. When the drought severity exceeded 0.48, maize conserved its resources for survival by maintaining relatively lower metabolic activity and thicker leaves to minimize water loss. The results provide an insight into the acclimation strategies of maize under drought, and contribute to targeted drought prevention and relief measures to reduce drought-induced risks to food security.


2019 ◽  
Vol IV (III) ◽  
pp. 71-79
Author(s):  
Adnan Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Ilyas ◽  
Muhammad Nisar Khan

This study reviews the growth strategies and their effect on the efficiency and productivity of the microfinance sector of Pakistan. The sector needs to have adopted intensive growth strategy instead of extensive strategies of wide expansion in term of physical infrastructure and human resources, which had increased the financial sustainability risks for the credit constrain institutions. The sixdimension model of outreach used in this study also shows that the sector does not achieve the targets set forth for these micro finance institutes with respect to its active borrowers’ outreach. The sector has mainly focused the big cities and urban areas whereas the poverty levels are higher in rural areas. The government has also shown its interest by launching two different types of loan schemes. Among the three different types of institution, the microfinance banks dominate the sector.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanshan Yang ◽  
Frank J. Sterck ◽  
Ute Sass-Klaassen ◽  
J. Hans C. Cornelissen ◽  
Richard S.P. van Logtestijn ◽  
...  

Abstract A central paradigm in comparative ecology is that species sort out along a global economic strategy spectrum, ranging from slow to fast growth. Many studies evaluated plant strategy spectra for leaf traits, b u t few studies evaluated stem strategy spectra using a comprehensive set of anatomical, chemical and morphological traits, addressing key stem functions of different stem compartments (inner wood, outer wood and bark). This study evaluates how stem traits vary in the wood and bark of temperate tree species, and whether a slow-fast growth strategy spectrum exists and what traits make up this plant strategy spectrum. For 14 temperate gymnosperm and angiosperm species, 20 traits belonging to six key stem functions were measured for three stem compartments. Both across and within gymnosperms and angiosperms, a slow-fast stem strategy spectrum is found. Gymnosperms have slow traits and showed converging stem strategies because of their uniform tracheids. Angiosperms have fast traits and showed diverging stem strategies because of a wider array of tissues (vessels, parenchyma and fibers) and vessel size and arrangements (ring-porous versus diffuse porous). Gymnosperms showed a main trade-off between hydraulic efficiency and safety, and angiosperms showed a main trade-off between ‘slow’ diffuse porous species and ‘fast’ ring porous species. The slow traits of gymnosperms allow for a high hydraulic safety, an evergreen leaf habit and steady but slow growth makes them successful in unproductive habitats whereas the fast traits of angiosperms allow for high conductivity, a deciduous leaf habit and fast growth which makes them successful in productive habitats.


Author(s):  
William Fung ◽  
David Hsieh ◽  
Narayan Naik ◽  
Melvyn Teo

We investigate the growth strategies of hedge fund firms. We find that firms with successful first funds are able to launch follow-on funds that charge higher performance fees, set more onerous redemption terms, and attract greater inflows. Motivated by the aforementioned spillover effects, first funds outperform follow-on funds, after adjusting for risk. Consistent with the agency view, greater incentive alignment moderates the performance differential between first and follow-on funds. Moreover, multiple-product firms underperform single-product firms but harvest greater fee revenues, thereby hurting investors while benefitting firm partners. Investors respond to this growth strategy by redeeming from first funds of firms with follow-on funds that do poorly. Empirically, the multiple-product firm has become the dominant business model for the hedge fund industry. This paper was accepted by Tyler Shumway, finance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Wagner ◽  
Vivien Rossi ◽  
Christopher Baraloto ◽  
Damien Bonal ◽  
Clément Stahl ◽  
...  

Climate models predict significant rainfall reduction in Amazonia, reducing water availability for trees. We present how functional traits modulate the tree growth response to climate. We used data from 3 years of bimestrial growth measurements for 204 trees of 53 species in the forest of Paracou, French Guiana. We integrated climate variables from an eddy covariance tower and functional trait values describing life history, leaf, and stem economics. Our results indicated that the measured functional traits are to some extent linked to the response of trees to climate but they are poor predictors of the tree climate-induced growth variation. Tree growth was affected by water availability for most of the species with different species growth strategies in drought conditions. These strategies were linked to some functional traits, especially maximum height and wood density. These results suggest that (i) trees seem adapted to the dry season at Paracou but they show different growth responses to drought, (ii) drought response is linked to growth strategy and is partly explained by functional traits, and (iii) the limited part of the variation of tree growth explained by functional traits may be a strong limiting factor for the prediction of tree growth response to climate.


2009 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Coutand ◽  
M. Chevolot ◽  
A. Lacointe ◽  
N. Rowe ◽  
I. Scotti

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1140-1150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alec S. Baird ◽  
Leander D.L. Anderegg ◽  
Melissa E. Lacey ◽  
Janneke HilleRisLambers ◽  
Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 818-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raghda El Ebrashi

Purpose Building on the resource-based view of the firm the purpose of this paper is to study the intangible resources available for social ventures, and presents a typology of growth strategies based on the intangible resources possessed by those enterprises. Design/methodology/approach This research applies a multiple case study technique for ten social enterprises in Egypt listed on Ashoka and Schwab Foundation websites. The research employs a purposive sampling technique. Data triangulation is used based on reports, websites, and interviews with social entrepreneurs and employees. Findings The study has three main findings: describing the intangible resources needed by social ventures to grow; detailing the growth strategies adopted by social ventures and corresponding funding mechanisms; explaining how intangible resources affect the selection of growth strategies, and how these interact with the context to produce expected outcomes. Overall, a typology for growth strategies of social ventures is presented. Research limitations/implications This paper is an original attempt to advance research on social enterprises in relation to the RBV and the domain of venture growth and impact scale-up. Practical implications This research is beneficial for social ventures and venture philanthropists who wish to learn about the specific resources important for venture growth, and understand the suitable strategies and context for organizational growth and impact scale-up. Originality/value This research is one of the few attempts to study and explain the types of intangible resources in social ventures and the role of different resource bundles in deciding social venture growth strategy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyoti Kainth ◽  
Gautam Kainth

Subject area Product Management, Marketing Strategy, Growth Strategies. Study level/applicability Bachelor of Business Studies, MBA, Executive MBA. Case overview The case documents the humble beginning of Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL) in 1981 to its current position as a leading fashion apparel brand in India. However, competition from new national players, emergence of global players in India, private labels of retailers and dawn of Internet retailing has created significant growth challenges for the firm. Mr Jain, the Managing Director of KKCL, is contemplating the growth strategies for the firm and possible changes in the business model, as he is developing the 2014-2015 strategic plan for KKCL. This is imperative to reach the ambitious sales target of INR 10 billion by 2018-2019. The students are expected to assess the performance of KKCL on multiple quantitative and qualitative data points given in the case and exhibits. It encourages them to come up with possible growth strategies for the firm. Expected learning outcomes The case is expected to guide students in comprehending the multi-thronged challenges pertaining to fashion apparel industry; in Situational Analysis of the firm, which includes assessing internal and external factors; and in recommending the best possible growth strategy after due evaluation and deliberation using Ansoff's Matrix. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kento Tominaga ◽  
Nana Ogawa-Haruki ◽  
Yosuke Nishimura ◽  
Hiroyasu Watai ◽  
Keigo Yamamoto ◽  
...  

Viruses infecting marine prokaryotes have large impacts on the diversity and dynamics of their hosts. Model systems suggest viral infection is frequency-dependent and constrained by the virus-host encounter rate. However, it is unclear whether the frequency-dependent infection is pervasive among the abundant prokaryotic populations with different growth strategies (i.e. r-strategy and K-strategy). To address this question, we performed a comparison of prokaryotic and viral communities using 16S rRNA amplicon and virome sequencing based on samples collected monthly for two years at a Japanese coastal site, Osaka Bay. Concurrent seasonal shifts observed in prokaryotic and viral community dynamics indicated that abundances of viruses correlated with that of their predicted host phyla (or classes). Co-occurrence network analysis between abundant prokaryotes and viruses revealed 6 423 co-occurring pairs, suggesting a tight coupling of host and viral abundances and their 'one to many' correspondence. Although dominant K-strategist like species, such as SAR11, showed few co-occurring viruses, a fast succession of their viruses suggests viruses infecting these populations changed continuously. Our results suggest the frequency-dependent viral infection prevailed in coastal marine prokaryotes regardless of host taxa and growth strategy.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document