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Asymmetric competition increases leaf inclination effect on light absorption in mixed canopies

  • Original Paper
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Abstract

• Context

The effects of leaf inclination on plant light capture, growth, and water balance of monospecific canopies are well documented, but we still lack information on such effects in the case of multispecific canopies.

• Aims

We investigated the effects of leaf inclination on the absorption of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) of a mixed forest.

• Methods

We ran a 3D mechanistic radiation transfer model for a Mediterranean forest where Pinus halepensis makes the upper strata while Quercus ilex occupies the lower strata. As factors, we included (1) the distributions of leaf inclinations that ranged from vertical to horizontal (including the actual inclinations), (2) the fraction of diffuse light, sun position, and leaf area index (LAI), and (3) the Pinus/Quercus LAI ratio.

• Results

Simulated PAR absorption was more than twice as sensitive to leaf inclination in oaks than in pines because oaks depended on PAR transmitted below the pine layer. The extent of the effect depended on season, fraction of diffuse light, LAI, and vegetation spatial structure. None of the observed inclinations maximized PAR absorption, suggesting a trade-off with water economy.

• Conclusion

Erroneous assumptions about leaf inclination lead to larger errors when modelling heterogeneous, mixed canopies. This also highlights potential caveats when using models that do not account for the spatial structure of canopies.

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Acknowledgments

We thank D Gounelle and A Jouineau (INRA-URFM) for their contributions to field measurements. We thank Dr H Davi (INRA-URFM) for providing leaf inclination data on Q. ilex. We thank an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript.

Funding

The project was supported by an innovative research grant from INRA. Simulations were performed using HPC resources from GENCI-CINES (grant 2011-c2011016613).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes, INRA UR 629, Domaine Saint Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914, Avignon Cedex 9, France

    Guillaume Simioni, Marion Durand-Gillmann & Roland Huc

Authors
  1. Guillaume Simioni
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  2. Marion Durand-Gillmann
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  3. Roland Huc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guillaume Simioni.

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Handling Editor: Erwin Dreyer

Contribution of the co-authors

G. Simioni supervised the field measurements, did all the modelling work (setting up simulations, running the model and analysing model outputs), made the figures and wrote the article. M. Gillmann, as part of her bachelor project, conducted the leaf inclination measurements on Pinus halepensis, did part of the literature review on leaf orientation, and contributed to the interpretation of the results. R. Huc contributed to the overall experimental design and to the interpretation of the results.

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Simioni, G., Durand-Gillmann, M. & Huc, R. Asymmetric competition increases leaf inclination effect on light absorption in mixed canopies. Annals of Forest Science 70, 123–131 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-012-0246-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-012-0246-8

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