Open AccessChanging methodology results in operational drift in the meaning of leaf area index, necessitating implementation of foliage layer index
Author(s) -
Rapson Gillian L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.3662
Subject(s) - leaf area index , monoculture , index (typography) , habit , cover (algebra) , repetition (rhetorical device) , remote sensing , mosaic , environmental science , mathematics , ecology , computer science , geography , biology , linguistics , mechanical engineering , psychology , philosophy , world wide web , engineering , psychotherapist , archaeology
Leaf area index ( LAI ) was developed to describe the number of layers of foliage in a monoculture. Subsequent expansion into measurement by remote‐sensing methods has resulted in misrepresentation of LAI . The new name foliage layer index ( FLI ) is applied to a more simply estimated version of Goodall's “cover repetition,” that is, the number of layers of foliage a single species has, either within a community or in monoculture. The relationship of FLI with cover is demonstrated in model communities, and some potential relationships between FLI and species’ habit are suggested. FLI comm is a new formulation for the number of layers of foliage in a mixed‐species’ community. LAI should now be reserved for remote‐sensing applications in mixed communities, where it is probably a nonlinear measure of the density of light‐absorbing pigments.