Plant Ecology

Although other factors influence tree growth, the amount of light receive by a tree has a large effect on growth. Because the amount of sunlight can be limiting to tree growth, the different slopes should have some effect on tree growth on mountains. It is known that the south facing slope in the northern hemisphere receives more direct sunlight due to the Earth’s tilted axis. If sunlight is the only direct factor that determines tree growth, trees on a southern slope of a mountain should grow larger than trees on the northern slope. Sunlight, however, is not the only factor that determines tree growth. Nutrients and water availablity have a significant impact. Plant require abundant amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen. These nutrients are not always readily available in soil. These nutrients come in different forms. Trees can only take up a couple of these different forms. Therefore, bacteria can be necessary to convert the bacteria to useable forms.