Abstract
Descriptions of canopy structure are essential to achieving an understanding of plant processes because of the profound influence that structure has on plant-environment interactions. The vegetation architecture not only affects exchanges of mass and energy between the plant and its environment, but it also may reveal a strategy of the plant for dealing with long-lasting evolutionary processes, such as adaptation to physical, chemical or biotic factors, by reflecting the organism’s vital activity or peculiarities in growth and development. Plant morphological studies, which are mostly qualitative, have long recognized this fact. Unfortunately quantitative descriptions of geometric features of canopies, plants or individual organs are difficult because canopies are spatially and temporally variable.
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Norman, J.M., Campbell, G.S. (1989). Canopy structure. In: Pearcy, R.W., Ehleringer, J.R., Mooney, H.A., Rundel, P.W. (eds) Plant Physiological Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2221-1_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2221-1_14
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