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BRANCHING PATTERNS IN FOREST SHRUBS AND UNDERSTORY TREES IN RELATION TO HABITAT
Author(s) -
PICKETT S. T. A.,
KEMPF J. S.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1980.tb03191.x
Subject(s) - understory , canopy , biology , shrub , branching (polymer chemistry) , botany , tree canopy , crown (dentistry) , ramification , ecology , mathematics , medicine , dentistry , materials science , combinatorics , composite material
SUMMARY We investigated the branching and leaf display of dominant forest shrubs and understory trees in central New Jersey to determine (1) whether branching differentiation occurs in shrubs which reach optimum development in different successional environments, (2) the contrast in branching of small trees between field and forest and (3) the nature of within‐crown branching plasticity in a mature canopy tree. We discovered that shrubs do not differ in gross branching structure (ratio of terminal to supporting branches) and propose that branch angle, length and alteration of leaf orientation may be significant display characters. Small trees exhibit markedly variable response to open ν . closed habitats, confirming the expected increase in branching ratio in open environments. Within, but not outside, the forest, earlier successional species were more variable in branching. A single canopy tree crown also demonstrated alteration of leaf display components, including increased length and wider angle of branches, but not branch ratio in the shaded, lower crown. We suggest some of the fine‐scale morphological traits of shrub branching which may be important in determining their leaf display. Finally, we discuss differences in shrub and tree habit, such as cloning and the presumably reduced costs of support in shrubs, which may explain the failure of shrubs to exploit the same component of branching strategy as trees.