Salinization is an important and increasingly prevalent issue which has broad and profound effects on plant survival and distribution pattern. To understand the patterns and potential drivers of leaf traits in saline environments, we determined the soil properties, leaf morphological traits (specific leaf area, SLA, and leaf dry matter content, LDMC), leaf chemical traits (leaf carbon, C, nitro...

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key structural characteristic of forest ecosystems because of the role of green leaves in controlling many biological and physical processes in plant canopies. Accurate LA1 estimates are required in studies of ecophysiology, atmosphere-ecosystem interactions, and global change. The objective of this paper is to evaluate LA1 values obtained by several research teams us...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Corner's rule states that thicker twigs bear larger leaves. The exact nature of this relationship and why it should occur has been the subject of numerous studies. It is obvious that thicker twigs should support greater total leaf area ([Formula: see text]) for hydraulical and mechanical reasons. But it is not obvious why mean leaf size ([Formula: see text]) should scale pos...

A description and analysis is given of a wetness duration experiment, carried out in a potato field in the centre of the Netherlands in September 2005. The observations are used to design and evaluate a within-canopy dew model which provides the leaf wetness distribution within the canopy caused by dew processes and by precipitation. This withincanopy dew model consists of three layers (bottom,...

In monocarpic species, during the reproductive stage the growing grains represent a strong sink for nitrogen (N) and trigger N remobilization from the vegetative organs, which decreases canopy photosynthesis and accelerates leaf senescence. The spatiotemporal distribution of N in a reproductive canopy has not been described in detail. Here, we investigated the role of the local light environmen...

The ability to simulate the surface energy balance and microclimate within a plant canopy is contingent upon accurate simulation of radiation exchange within the canopy. Accurate radiation simulations require some assumption of leaf angle distribution to compute transmissivity, reflection and scattering of radiation. The ellipsoidal leaf angle density function can very closely approximate real ...

Leaf area is an important plant canopy structure parameter with important ecological significance. Light detection and ranging technology (LiDAR) with the application of a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) is an appealing method for accurately estimating leaf area; however, the actual utility of this scanner depends largely on the efficacy of point cloud data (PCD) analysis. In this paper, we pre...

In this research, to evaluate the effect of superabsorbent polymer and drought stress on the number and leaf area of Lettuce, experimental  research was conducted in a completely randomized design factorial with two treatments of irrigation regime at three levels (60, 80 and 100 percent of crop water requirement) and four superabsorbent hydrogel application (0, 4, 6 and 8 g per kg of soil) in t...

Roots comprise the lesselknown part of the soil-plantatmosphere continuum and yet are essential to the supply of sufficient water and nutrients to ensure u successt'ul crop. By understanding the growth and distribution of sugarcane roots. yields can be optiniiscd through improved strategic decisions. 'This paper addresses root growth and rclationships to above ground biomass. lssues discussed i...

The aim of this study is to understand the parameters regulating calcium ion distribution in leaves. Accumulation of ions in leaf tissue is in part dependent on import from the xylem. This import via the transpiration stream is more important for ions such as calcium that are xylem but not phloem mobile and cannot therefore be retranslocated. Accumulation of calcium was measured on bulk coriand...