Table 1.
Relevant characteristics of five tree species studied for vertical leaf and light distribution
| Species |
Successional status |
Branch orientation |
N |
Height (m) |
Crown depth (m) |
Crown radius (m) |
Leaf contacts |
Leaf angle (°) |
Leaf absorptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anacardium excelsum | Early–late | Orthotropic | 4 (71) | 22·6–28·9 | 7·0 (4·6) | 8·61 (2·92) | 5·0ab | 50·6a | 0·89bc |
| Luehea seemannii | Early–late | Plagiotropic | 4 (41) | 18·4–26·2 | 6·3 (4·3) | 3·96 (1·75) | 3·9b | 31·5b | 0·91a |
| Antirrhoea trichantha | Early | Orthotropic | 3 (33) | 12·0–18·4 | 4·8 (2·3) | 2·64 (1·04) | 5·9a | 22·8c | 0·87d |
| Castilla elastica | Early | Plagiotropic | 5 (45) | 13·8–19·1 | 1·8 (1·1) | 3·40 (1·65) | 1·8c | 33·6b | 0·88cd |
| Cecropia longipes | Pioneer | Orthotropic | 4 (56) | 16·3–23·3 | 1·1 (0·7) | 3·24 (2·36) | 0·3d | 27·7bc | 0·90ab |
N is the number of trees sampled followed by the total number of vertical transects in parentheses. Height is the range of height among study trees. All others are means followed by standard deviation in parentheses or letters indicating significant difference between species (Tukey–HSD, P < 0·05).
Leaf contacts, the total number of leaf contact per vertical transects; leaf angle, the angle from the horizontal plane; leaf absorptance, PFD absorptance for individual leaf lamina.