Laurel forests in Tenerife, Canary Islands

Abstract

 Branching pattern, leaf distribution (area, dry weight, number) and allometric relations on individual trees from a Canarian laurel forest have been analyzed. The following species were studied: Persea indica (L.) Spreng., Laurus azorica (Seub.) Franco, and Erica arborea L. Crown architecture was similar in all study species and corresponded to Rauhs’s model. In all species, leaf area was highly correlated to stem diameter. The vertical distribution of foliage was largely symmetrical and was roughly approximated by a Gaussian-like pattern which shifted upwards in dominant tree and downwards in suppressed tree. When radially viewed, most of the foliage area occurred roughly half the distance between the stem axis and the edge of the crown. However, radial leaf area indices, calculated for different areas of annulus around stems, showed a maximum closer to the stem.