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SURFACE AREA RELATIONS OF WOODY PLANTS AND FOREST COMMUNITIES
Author(s) -
Whittaker R. H.,
Woodwell G. M.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1967.tb10717.x
Subject(s) - basal area , bark (sound) , botany , deciduous , biology , woody plant , temperate climate , circumference , temperate rainforest , diameter at breast height , horticulture , ecology , mathematics , geometry , ecosystem
Surface area of wood and bark is an important dimension of forests, with implications for respiration rate, energy exchange, and water and mineral budgets. Surface area of stem wood and bark can be estimated effectively from linear regressions on conic surface (one‐half basal circumference times tree height) or from regressions of the logarithm of area on the logarithm of diameter at breast height. Branch surface can be estimated from a formula using branch basal diameter, length, and number of current twigs, and from logarithmic regressions of branch bark surface on basal diameter of branches and breast‐height diameter of trees. In temperate deciduous forests several square meters of plant surface occur above each square meter of ground surface; these plant surfaces include 0.3–0.6 m 2 of stem bark, 1.2–2.2 m 2 of branch bark, and 3.0–6.0 m 2 of leaf blades. Branch bark surface increases more rapidly than leaf surface with increasing size of branches and trees. Growth and aging of trees, and maturation of forests, imply increasing ratios of bark (and wood) surface to the photosynthetic leaf surface which supports its growth and respiration.