Leaf arrangement in layers sets which light regime favors a tree species

Evidence

Horn’s (1971) monograph on the relationship between leaf display and the successional status of trees is perhaps the most widely cited work on the ecological significance of leaf display in woody plants. He argued that trees with sparsely packed leaves on many layers of branches should have higher rates of total canopy photosynthesis at high light levels than trees with uniformly packed leaves in one or a few layers (Horn, 1971). The converse should be true at low light levels. In general, late successional temperate trees show lower numbers of effective layers of leaves, whereas species characteristically found in high light regimes following large disturbances have higher numbers of layers of leaves. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1318

Categorization

• XREF: Pays into gap-size partitioning claims already in ch5 and the architectural-signature material in ch12. — connects to: Moss leaf shape optimizes for water where trees optimize for light — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 191; Tree species differ sharply in shade tolerance for seedling establishment — Vinson Brown, Reading the Woods: Seeing More in…, 129; Cellular lenslike facets let Schistostega focus scarce light onto one chloroplast — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 632

Broader Connections

• Tree species differ sharply in shade tolerance for seedling establishment #expands (0.85) — Vinson Brown, Reading the Woods, 129
• Moss leaf shape optimizes for water where trees optimize for light #exemplifies (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 191