XVI International Botanical Congess

Populations of Allaria petiolata were collected from both intact canopy understory and gap locations in a Midwestern temperate forest to determine population size hierarchy patterns. Individuals of both first-year seedlings and second-year growth stages of this biennial plant were collected, above biomass measured, and Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient analyses were applied. Seedling populations had relatively equal size structure at the beginning of the growing season, and size inequality increased over time. Conversely, second-year growth stage populations had highly unequal size distributions at the beginning of the growing season, becoming more evenly distributed over time. Forest light environment, understory and gaps, did not alter size hierarchy for first-year seedling populations. However, gap populations were more unequal in size as compared to understory populations for second-year growth.