Each regrowth phase has a readable architectural signature in crown and height form

Evidence

Gap, building, and mature phases in large gaps display distinctive architectures (Ashton, 1978; Halle et al, 1978; Oldeman, 1978; Torquebiau, 1981). In the first years of the gap phase, it is difficult to walk through the dense tangle of saplings, lianas, and debris. But thinning and the decomposition of debris clear the understo­ ry within 3-4 years. In the building phase differential growth produces a range in height distribution (Crow, 1980), height growth dominates diameter increment (Baur, 1964; Whitmore, 1975; del Amo and Nieto de Pascual, 1981), and trees develop deep conical crowns (Whitmore, 1978). As trees attain the canopy, diame­ ter growth predominates, lower branches die, and tree crowns become wider than deep. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 470

Categorization

• XREF: Directly usable field-reading device: phase can be told from crown shape, height spread, and understory openness.
• SEED: Angle: a ‘reading forest time’ piece on how crown architecture ages a recovering gap — mergeable into the landscape course pedagogy.