Adjustment of foliage structure and function to a canopy light gradient in two co-existing deciduous trees. Variability in leaf inclination angles in relation to petiole morphology

Abstract

 Foliar inclination angles, petiole morphology and dry matter partitioning between assimilative and support biomass were studied in shade-intolerant Populus tremula L. and shade-tolerant Tilia cordata Mill. along a natural light gradient across the canopy. The leaves of sub-canopy species T. cordata were on average exposed to lower irradiances, and they were also more horizontal with greater blade inclination angles (ϕ_B, defined as the angle between the leaf fall-line and the horizon; ϕ_B was positive for the leaves inclined upwards, and negative for the leaves inclined downwards) than those in P. tremula. Seasonal average daily integrated quantum flux density (Q _int, mol m^–2 day^–1) and ϕ_B were not related in T. cordata, and only a weak negative effect of Q _int on ϕ_B was detected in P. tremula. Nevertheless, when both species were pooled, there was a strong negative relationship between Q _int and ϕ_B, implying that the leaves became progressively vertical with increasing height in the canopy. Interspecific differences in foliage inclination were mainly related to petiole morphology, in particular to petiole length, rather than to contrasting biomass investment patterns between assimilative and support tissues within the leaf. It was suggested that more horizontal leaves, resulting from the species-specific structure of petioles, partly explain the superior performance of shade-tolerant T. cordata in the understory and the sub-canopy.