The age structure of a striped maple population

Cohort and population age structure analysis showed that, after the initially high mortality rates of the 1st year (87.5%), striped maple seedlings (Acerpensylvanicum L.) underwent practically no mortality until the age of 15. Annual mortality was up (3.8%) between the ages of 16 and 40, then dropped to a lower level (1.6%). Mortality was age dependent and generally density independent. The survivorship curve agrees well with a pattern that could be expected of a species whose strategy is gap phase replacement.