Cazimir Kowalski

Bachelor of Science in Ecology

Academic Advisor: Dr. Kim Landsbergen
Co-op Advisor: Beth Bridgeman

Co-ops: Dayton Water, UNDERC
Additional Campus Involvement: ComCil

Languages: Spanish

City:  Minneapolis

Email: cazimirkowalski@gmail.com

Web: cazimirkowalski.com

Utilizing tree architecture and predictive crown trait modeling to inform models of growth

Effectively modeling tree growth based on traits has long been sought after by functional trait ecologists. Theoretically, but not always in practice, traits and growth ought to have an explicit relationship. The amount of data necessary to utilize traits is often prohibitive to study. Predictive trait growth models were developed to solidify the trait - growth relationship and develop a new methodology to increase the accessibility of trait growth modeling. Trait and architecture data from ~30 individuals of 5 prominent northern forest species was collected, and a regression of each trait against DBH was created. This model was used to predict the crown traits of ~15,000 individuals in a neighboring forest for which architecture and growth data was available. Further Acer saccharum individuals were measured in Ohio and an additional model was created. The resultant models show correlation between predicted crown traits and growth rates. This study shows that rather than having to collect individual trait data, it is possible to use linear models of crown structure to predict the crown of a tree based on its architecture, and then to predict growth. This novel methodology forms the foundation for future research on trait predictive modeling and tree growth models.