Cambridge University Press SEBS 31 Plant Canopies: Their Growth, Form and Function (Society for Experimental Biology Seminar Series, Series Number 31)

This volume is a synthesis of current knowledge about the growth, development and functioning of plant canopies. The term canopy is taken to include not only the upper surface of woodland, as in the original definition, but also analogous surfaces of other plant communities. Although much research has been carried out on single leaves, canopies are much more than just a collection of individual leaves, and so exhibit properties of their own. It can be argued that it is primarily at the canopy rather than the leaf level that solutions to many practical problems about the growth of plants in the field can be found. In this volume, canopy properties are considered in terms of the processes, such as transpiration and photosynthesis, by which the canopy and its environment interact. Topics discussed include the meaning of canopy structure, interception of solar radiation, exchange processes, nitrogen nutrition, leaf demography and heliotropism. Key principles are illustrated by examples from a wide range of plant community types and geographical locations. This book will be of interest to advanced students and research workers in agriculture, botany, crop sciences, ecology and forestry.