Leaf area index (LAI) map of a protected area within the caldera of Vico Lake (Italy)

ABSTRACT

Structural traits of the vegetation types and plantations occurring in a protected area within the caldera of Vico Lake (Italy) were analysed. There were significant correlations among structural traits, at leaf and stand level. Leaf area index (LAI) and specific leaf area (SLA) were the most significantly correlated traits. LAI rose according to stand plant density, tree size and SLA; the highest LAI value monitored in the Fagus sylvatica L. forest was justified by the largest tree size (28.9±2.8 m height and 53±15 cm diameter) and the highest SLA (212±23 cm² g^-1). The main traits determining the variations in leaf structure among species were analysed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The LAI values were used to realise a map allowing us to delimit high LAI values (4.1–5.0), corresponding to the F. sylvatica forest and to the F. sylvatica forest with the sporadic presence of Quercus cerris L. and Castanea sativa Miller, mean LAI values (classes 3.1–4.0) corresponding to Corylus avellana L. plantations and to the Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. vegetation type, low LAI values (classes 2.6–3.0) corresponding to Q. cerris forests and C. sativa plantations.     

海岸带复合梨园的光能分布与利用规律

采用方格法和分层法相结合的技术对江苏省如东县棉花原种场林网保护区内13年生梨园的树冠结构特征和光能分布与利用规律进行了系统研究。结果表明:梨树叶幕光能分布状况直接受叶面积系数、树冠结构、太阳位置及光强的影响。各层叶幕中的光合有效辐射(PAR)分布随自然光照条件的变化而改变,其日平均透光率大小和PAR日变化范围均从叶幕外围向内膛随累积叶面积系数(LAI)的增加而减弱;不同生长时期及不同天气变化下树冠光能分布存在明显的差异性;树冠结构与累积LAI对PAR的分布及利用率具有决定性的影响。在生产实践中,通过密度调控、整形修剪等农业技术措施,维持成年梨园盛果期高效光合生产的叶幕厚度在2.5m以上,有效LAI为4左右,是增强梨树光合生产能力、提高产量和品质的有效措施。     

三种人工林分的冠层结构参数与林下光照条件

以样方法为基础,用半球面影像技术测定了桉树林、湿地松林和混交林（木荷+青冈+银木荷）3种人工林分的冠层结构(叶面积指数LAI和林冠孔隙度CO)和林下光照条件(林下直射光TransDir和林下散射光TransDif),并分析了冠层结构与林下光照条件之间的关系.测定结果表明,桉树林、湿地松林和混交林的LAI平均值分别是1....     

Implications of shoot structure on the rate of photosynthesis at different levels in a coniferous canopy using a model incorporating grouping and penumbra

1. The connection between high leaf area index (LAI) and photosynthetic production with two attributes of coniferous canopy structure: small leaf size and grouping of needles on shoots, was analysed using a simulation model.
2. The small size of conifer needles gives rise to penumbras, which even out the distribution of direct sunlight on the leaf area and thereby act to increase the rate of canopy photosynthesis per unit of LAI.
3. Grouping, by producing a non-uniform distribution of leaf area, causes a decrease in total canopy light interception at any given LAI, but improves the photosynthetic light capture by shoots in the lower canopy.
4. Application of the model on a case study showed that: (a) grouping had a negative effect on the rate of photosynthesis in the upper canopy, but deeper down in the canopy the situation was reversed; (b) in the lower canopy, photosynthetic rates were up to 10 times higher as a result from the combined effect of grouping and penumbra; (c) grouping did not improve the rate of canopy photosynthesis per unit of LAI, however, it can have a positive effect on the total photosynthetic production by allowing a higher productive LAI to be maintained; (d) penumbra, on the other hand, increased the rate of canopy photosynthesis by as much as 40% for moderate values of the LAI.     

Effects of selective logging on the arboreal ants of a Bornean rainforest

We examined the effect of selective logging and corresponding forest canopy loss on arboreal ant diversity in a tropical rainforest. Arboreal ants were collected from an unlogged forest plot and from forest plots selectively logged 14 years and 24 years earlier in Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia, using a canopy fogging method. Selective logging was associated with a significant decrease in canopy cover and an increase in understory vegetation density relative to unlogged forest. Our study showed that selective logging in primary forest might not dramatically decrease total species number and overall abundance of arboreal ants; however, it may influence the species composition and dominance structure of the ant community, accompanied by an increase in abundance of shrub‐layer species and trophobiotic species. In view of the results of this study, management techniques that minimize logging impact on understory vegetation structure are likely to help maintain the conservation value of logged forests for arboreal ants. Our results also suggest that accurate assessment of the impacts on biodiversity should not be based only on measurement of species number and overall abundance, but also on analysis of species composition and community structure.     

西双版纳高峭蛛新属新种描述(蜘蛛目,蟹蛛科)

描述了采自云南西双版纳热带雨林的蟹蛛1新属高峭蛛属及1新种胶高峭蛛Acrotmarus gummosus gen.et sp.nov..新种模式标本保存在中国科学院动物研究所.高峭蛛属,新属Acrotmarus gen.nov.与蟹蛛科蟹蛛亚科峭腹蛛族中的其它属的主要区别在于:后侧眼眼丘大而隆起,雄蛛触肢插入器呈薄片状,基部有宽缘,其端部具1凹陷,末端呈钩状.本属近似于非洲的Pherecydes O.P.-Cambridge,1883,但有以下不同:前者仅后侧眼在隆起的眼丘上,后者的前侧眼、后侧眼均在隆起的眼丘上;前者雌蛛的后侧眼间距/头胸部宽为0.93,后者为1.29;前者雌蛛前中眼间距/前中、侧眼间距为0.97,后者为1.52.本属的生殖器官结构与Pherecydes差异明显:前者雄蛛触肢有VTA而后者缺乏,前者插入器扁平片状而后者丝状;前者外雌器有兜而后者无.词源:新属属名由于标本系从高层雨林冠层采集而来,且与峭腹蛛族的属在外形上有相似性.胶高峭蛛,新种Acrotmarus gummosus sp.nov.(图1～3,6～21)正模♂.副模:24 ♂ ♂,15♀ ♀,云南省西双版纳国家自然保护区勐仑保护区的热带雨林及橡胶林,2007年7～8月间,郑国采;1 ♂,西双版纳勐仑镇绿石林森林公园,2009年11月15日,唐果、姚志远采.词源:新种种名源自新种部分标本采于橡胶林冠层.     

An exceptional role for flowering plant physiology in the expansion of tropical rainforests and biodiversity

Movement of water from soil to atmosphere by plant transpiration can feed precipitation, but is limited by the hydraulic capacities of plants, which have not been uniform through time. The flowering plants that dominate modern vegetation possess transpiration capacities that are dramatically higher than any other plants, living or extinct. Transpiration operates at the level of the leaf, however, and how the impact of this physiological revolution scales up to the landscape and larger environment remains unclear. Here, climate modelling demonstrates that angiosperms help ensure aseasonally high levels of precipitation in the modern tropics. Most strikingly, replacement of angiosperm with non-angiosperm vegetation would result in a hotter, drier and more seasonal Amazon basin, decreasing the overall area of ever-wet rainforest by 80 per cent. Thus, flowering plant ecological dominance has strongly altered climate and the global hydrological cycle. Because tropical biodiversity is closely tied to precipitation and rainforest area, angiosperm climate modification may have promoted diversification of the angiosperms themselves, as well as radiations of diverse vertebrate and invertebrate animal lineages and of epiphytic plants. Their exceptional potential for environmental modification may have contributed to divergent responses to similar climates and global perturbations, like mass extinctions, before and after angiosperm evolution.     

Late-stage canopy tree species with extremely low δ13C and high stomatal sensitivity to seasonal soil drought in the tropical rainforest of French Guiana

We assessed the daily time‐courses of CO₂ assimilation rate (A), leaf transpiration rate (E), stomatal conductance for water vapour (g_s), leaf water potential ( Ψ _w) and tree transpiration in a wet and a dry season for three late‐stage canopy rainforest tree species in French Guiana differing in leaf carbon isotope composition ( δ ¹³C). The lower sunlit leaf δ ¹³C values found in Virola surinamensis ( ? 29·9‰) and in Diplotropis purpurea ( ? 30·9‰), two light‐demanding species, as compared to Eperua falcata ( ? 28·6‰), a shade‐semi‐tolerant species, were clearly associated with higher maximum g_s values of sunlit leaves in the two former species. These two species were also characterized by a high sensitivity of g_s, sap flow density (Ju) and canopy conductance (g_c) to seasonal soil drought, allowing maintenance of high midday Ψ _w values in the dry season. The data for Diplotropis provided an original picture of increasing midday Ψ _w with increasing soil drought. In Virola, stomata were extremely sensitive to seasonal soil drought, leading to a dramatic decrease in leaf and tree transpiration in the dry season, whereas midday Ψ _w remained close to ? 0·3 MPa. The mechanisms underlying such an extremely high sensitivity of stomata to soil drought remain unknown. In Eperua, g_s of sunlit leaves was non‐responsive to seasonal drought, whereas Ju and g_c were lower in the dry season. This suggests a higher stomatal sensitivity to seasonal drought in shaded leaves than in sunlit ones in this species.     

Above-ground biomass investments and light interception of tropical forest trees and lianas early in succession

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Crown structure and above-ground biomass investment was studied in relation to light interception of trees and lianas growing in a 6-month-old regenerating forest. METHODS: The vertical distribution of total above-ground biomass, height, diameter, stem density, leaf angles and crown depth were measured for individual plants of three short-lived pioneers (SLPs), four long-lived pioneers (LLPs) and three lianas. Daily light interception per individual Phi(d) was calculated with a canopy model. The model was then used to estimate light interception per unit of leaf mass (Phi(leaf mass)), total above-ground mass (Phi(mass)) and crown structure efficiency (E(a), the ratio of absorbed vs. available light). KEY RESULTS: The SLPs Trema and Ochroma intercepted higher amounts of light per unit leaf mass (Phi(leaf mass)) because they had shallower crowns, resulting in higher crown use efficiency (E(a)) than the other species. These SLPs (but not Cecropia) were also taller and intercepted more light per unit leaf area (Phi(area)). LLPs and lianas had considerably higher amounts of leaf mass and area per unit above-ground mass (LMR and LAR, respectively) and thus attained Phi(mass) values similar to the SLPs (Phi(mass)=Phi(area)xLAR). Lianas, which were mostly self-supporting, had light interception efficiencies similar to those of the trees. CONCLUSIONS: These results show how, due to the trade-off between crown structure and biomass allocation, SLPs, and LLPs and lianas intercept similar amount of light per unit mass which may contribute to the ability of the latter two groups to persist.     

Biodiversity hanging by a thread: the importance of fungal litter-trapping systems in tropical rainforests

The exceptionally high species richness of arthropods in tropical rainforests hinges on the complexity of the forest itself: that is, on features such as the high plant diversity, the layered nature of the canopy and the abundance and the diversity of epiphytes and litter. We here report on one important, but almost completely neglected, piece of this complex jigsaw-the intricate network of rhizomorph-forming fungi that ramify through the vegetation of the lower canopy and intercept falling leaf litter. We show that this litter-trapping network is abundant and intercepts substantial amounts of litter (257.3 kg ha(-1)): this exceeds the amount of material recorded in any other rainforest litter-trapping system. Experimental removal of this fungal network resulted in a dramatic reduction in both the abundance (decreased by 70.2 ± 4.1%) and morphospecies richness (decreased by 57.4 ± 5.1%) of arthropods. Since the lower canopy levels can contain the highest densities of arthropods, the proportion of the rainforest fauna dependent on the fungal networks is likely to be substantial. Fungal litter-trapping systems are therefore a crucial component of habitat complexity, providing a vital resource that contributes significantly to rainforest biodiversity.