  Tree-size distribution is one of the most investigated subjects in plant
population biology. The forestry literature reports that tree-size distribution
trajectories vary across different stands and/or species, while the metabolic
scaling theory suggests that the tree number scales universally as -2 power of
diameter. Here, we propose a simple functional scaling model in which these two
opposing results are reconciled. Basic principles related to crown shape,
energy optimization and the finite size scaling approach were used to define a
set of relationships based on a single parameter, which allows us to predict
the slope of the tree-size distributions in a steady state condition. We tested
the model predictions on four temperate mountain forests. Plots (4 ha each,
fully mapped) were selected with different degrees of human disturbance
(semi-natural stands vs. formerly managed). Results showed that the size
distribution range successfully fitted by the model is related to the degree of
forest disturbance: in semi-natural forests the range is wide, while in
formerly managed forests, the agreement with the model is confined to a very
restricted range. We argue that simple allometric relationships, at individual
level, shape the structure of the whole forest community.
