Light Heterogeneity and Plants: from Ecophysiology to Species Coexistence and Biodiversity

Valladares, Fernando

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-55819-1_17

Cited by 130 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 174 publications

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“…However, the size of this light differential is relatively small, supporting the idea that plant adaptations to shade may be less important in TDF than in wet forests (Gerhardt 1996, Swaine et al 1990). In TDF it may be more useful to study plant adaptations to shade in relation to edaphic-and atmospheric drought (Poorter 2009, Valladares 2003.…”

Section: Potential Implications For Species Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental changes during secondary succession in a tropical dry forest in Mexico

et al. 2011

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Vegetation and environment change mutually during secondary succession, yet the idiosyncrasies of the vegetation effect on the understorey environment are poorly understood. To test whether the successional understorey environment changes predictably and is shaped by the structure and seasonality of tropical dry forests, we estimated basal area and vegetation cover, and measured understorey temperature, light and moisture conditions, in 17 plots forming a 60-y chronosequence and a mature forest. Light and air and soil temperature decreased with time (75−15% of open-sky radiation, 31.7−29.3 • C, and +2.5 • C to −0.5 • C relative to ambient, respectively), whereas relative humidity increased (67−74%). Soil water availability increased with early-successional development (−45 to −1 kPa) but decreased afterwards (to −18 kPa). The first axis of a PCA of the rainy-season environment explained 60% of the variation and was strongly related to air temperature and relative humidity. During tropical dry-forest succession, such factors may be more important than light, the reduction in which is not extreme compared with taller and more vertically stratified wet forests. Seasonality significantly affected the successional environmental gradients, which were marked mainly during the wet season. Environmental heterogeneity was higher in the wet than in the dry season, and larger for resources (light and water) than for conditions (temperature and humidity). The wet-season increase in environmental heterogeneity potentially creates differential growing scenarios; the environmental harshness of the dry season would mostly challenge seedling survival.

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Section: Potential Implications For Species Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental changes during secondary succession in a tropical dry forest in Mexico

et al. 2011

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“…Species' inherent differences in light requirement underlie the major changes in vegetation composition during succession (Sack & Grubb 2001;Valladares 2003). Because light availability in established plant communities is often very low, in the order of 0.5-2% of above-canopy light, shade tolerance has traditionally been thought to depend on traits that enhance light harvesting efficiency (Bazzaz 1979;Givnish 1988).…”

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confidence: 99%

The controversy over traits conferring shade‐tolerance in trees: ontogenetic changes revisited

2006

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Summary1 Successional replacement of intolerant species by shade tolerators along gapunderstorey gradients is commonly associated with increasingly higher low-light carbon acquisition capacities of more tolerant species. This doctrine has recently been challenged because of evidence demonstrating larger leaf dry mass per unit area ( M A ), lower photosynthetic capacities and inferior whole plant relative growth rates (RGR) in both high and low irradiance in seedlings of shade-tolerators. However, as the individuals of shade-tolerant species often need to endure canopy shade for many years before gap formation, testing of the carbon gain hypothesis of shade tolerance requires examination of species carbon gain potentials during the entire plant ontogeny. 2 Light vs. M A relationships throughout ontogeny demonstrate that saplings and canopy individuals of shade tolerators do have lower M A than intolerant species, and moderately higher photosynthetic capacities in low light, resulting in greater whole plant carbon gain capacities at lower light. The apparent discrepancy between results from studies on seedlings vs. saplings/trees is due to M A increasing at a faster rate in shade intolerators during ontogeny. A strong positive linkage between seed size and species shade tolerance further implies that shade tolerators have larger initial size, absolute growth rate and survivorship in low light despite their lower RGR. 3 The evidence reviewed collectively suggests that the carbon balance concept of species' successional position is valid for both seedlings and saplings, and that the apparent discrepancies in species rankings on the basis of structural and physiological characteristics are driven by variations in initial size and rate of ontogeny. Analyses of species shade tolerance potentials should therefore consider how any suite of adaptive traits varies with ontogeny.

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“…However, using categorical variables to quantify leaf position does not sufficiently capture the differences in microenvironments experienced by leaves throughout the entire three-dimensional space of a canopy. For example, leaves on the exterior of canopies alter both the quantity and quality of light received by leaves on the interior of canopies (Le Roux et al, 2001;Baldocchi et al, 2002;Valladares, 2003). Although multiple methods exist for quantifying leaf position within a canopy, they are often challenging to implement due to both financial and/or logistical constraints in the field.…”

Section: Applications In Plant Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing Adaptive Plasticity to Uv: Costs and Benefits of Stem Elongation and Light-Induced Phenolics

Weinig

Gravuer

Kane

et al. 2004

Evol

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Light Heterogeneity and Plants: from Ecophysiology to Species Coexistence and Biodiversity

Cited by 130 publications

References 174 publications

Environmental changes during secondary succession in a tropical dry forest in Mexico

Environmental changes during secondary succession in a tropical dry forest in Mexico

The controversy over traits conferring shade‐tolerance in trees: ontogenetic changes revisited

Testing Adaptive Plasticity to Uv: Costs and Benefits of Stem Elongation and Light-Induced Phenolics

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