The project B1 'Allometry and space sequestration of herbaceous and woody plants' is part of the collaborative research centre SFB 607 “Growth and Parasite Defense” financed by the German Research Foundation DFG. The SFB started in 1998 and is currently in phase IV.
During the past three phases project B1 was occupied with research on allometry as a result of the plant-internal allocation control. The allometry and its modification for different tree species and ontogenetic phases were studied at the individual tree level. At the stand level the self-thinning rules of Reineke and Yoda were analysed for herbaceous and woody plants. Present allometry studies indeed supplied the evidence of similar dimensions for these species but also distinctive differences. These differences are reflected in specific strategies of space occupation and space exploitation. In phase IV, these separated investigations should lead in an overlapping analysis of allometry (different species, ontogenetic stages, competition effects, disturbances) at plant and stand level.