Provenance variation in height development of Albizia falcataria under three levels of spacing in East Java, Indonesia

Nine provenances of Albizia falcataria were planted at three square spacing levels (2, 3, and 4 m) in a split-plot design at Jember in East Java, Indonesia and measured annually for six years, which is three quarters of its rotation age. The effect of spacing on mean height development became progressively evident, due to the decline in growth at closer spacing caused by intensified competition, in six provenances, i.e., three provenances each from Java and East Indonesia, which were considered better adapted to the site because of their better growth and higher survival. On the contrary, the height growth curves of two provenances from New Guinea were almost identical, irrespective of spacing, indicating a lack of plasticity to the favorable environment at wider spacing. Dominant height was defined as the average of the five tallest trees per sub-plot (350 stems/ha), the growth curves at the three spacing levels were similar in the above-mentioned six provenances and were regarded as a single curve according to AIC-values. In contrast, dominant height growth curves of the New Guinea provenances were differentiated in the order of 2, 3, and 4 m spacing, approximately proportional to the intensity of choosing dominant trees per sub-plot. These results suggest that provenance variation exists for mean and dominant height and their response to different spacing. The cause of this variation was presumably attributable to the difference in competitive ability as well as the plasticity to the given environment. The use of dominant height for growth modeling of A. falcataria was found to be the most suitable for the adapted provenances.