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FOREST CANOPIES: Methods, Hypotheses, and Future Directions
Forest canopies contain a major portion of the diversity of organisms on Earth and constitute the bulk of photosynthetically active foliage and biomass in forest ecosystems. For these reasons, canopy research has become integral to the management of forest ecosystems, and to our better understanding...
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Published in: | Annual review of ecology and systematics 1996-01, Vol.27 (1), p.55-81 |
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Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Forest canopies contain a major portion of the diversity of organisms on
Earth and constitute the bulk of photosynthetically active foliage and biomass
in forest ecosystems. For these reasons, canopy research has become integral to
the management of forest ecosystems, and to our better understanding of global
change. Ecological research in forest canopies is relatively recent and has
been primarily descriptive in scope. The development of new methods of canopy
access has enabled scientists to conduct more quantified research in tree
crowns. Studies of sessile organisms, mobile organisms, and canopy interactions
and processes have emerged as subdisciplines of canopy biology, each requiring
different methods for collecting data. Canopy biology is beginning to shift
from a descriptive autecology of individuals to a more complex ecosystem
approach, although some types of field work are still limited by access.
Questions currently addressed in canopy research are extremely diverse but
emphasize comparisons with respect to spatial and temporal variation. Spatial
scales range from leaves (e.g. quantifying the number of mites on individual
phylloplanes) to trees (e.g. measuring photosynthesis between sun and shade
leaves), to forest stands (e.g. measuring turbulence above the canopy), and
entire landscapes (e.g. comparing mammals between different forest types).
Temporal variation is of particular significance in tropical forest canopies,
where populations of organisms and their resources have diurnal, seasonal, or
even annual periodicity. As the methods for canopy access improve, more
rigorous hypotheses-driven field studies remain a future priority of this newly
coalesced discipline. |
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ISSN: | 0066-4162 2330-1902 |
DOI: | 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.1.55 |