To include competitive interactions in a physiologically-based model of mixed growth-form plant communities presents a major methodological problem. This paper outlines a two-step solution: (1) a spatial framework for calculating a continuous surface that depicts the magnitude of influences of crowns, roots, and stems on resource availability, termed ECOLOGICAL FIELD THEORY (EFT), and (2) a mathematical technique for coupling water, light, and nutrients into a single growth equation using a physiologically-based continuous-time Markov approach, termed the CTM METHOD. Assumptions, limitations, and an application of the methodology to plant growth in a semiarid woodland community in Australia are presented.
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Sharpe et al. (1986) studied this question.
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