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AOBPreview published online on November 13, 2002
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcg008
© 2002 by Annals of Botany Company
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Submitted on May 10, 2002
Revised on June 18, 2002
Accepted on October 3, 2002

Branch Architecture, Light Interception and Crown Development in Saplings of a Plagiotropically Branching Tropical Tree, Polyalthia jenkinsii (Annonaceae)

NORIYUKI OSADA1* and HIROSHI TAKEDA1

Affiliation of the authors: 1 Laboratory of Forest Ecology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ss29326{at}mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp.

To investigate crown development patterns, branch architecture, branch-level light interception, and leaf and branch dynamics were studied in saplings of a plagiotropically branching tree species, Polyalthia jenkinsii Hk. f. & Thoms. (Annonaceae) in a Malaysian rain forest. Lengths of branches and parts of the branches lacking leaves ('bare‘ branches) were smaller in upper branches than in lower branches within crowns, whereas lengths of 'leafy‘ parts and the number of leaves per branch were larger in intermediate than in upper and lower branches. Maximum diffuse light absorption (DLA) of individual leaves was not related to sapling height or branch position within crowns, whereas minimum DLA was lower in tall saplings. Accordingly, branch-level light interception was higher in intermediate than in upper and lower branches. The leaf production rate was higher and leaf loss rate was smaller in upper than in intermediate and lower branches. Moreover, the branch production rate of new first-order branches was larger in the upper crowns. Thus, leaf and branch dynamics do not correspond to branch-level light interception in the different canopy zones. As a result of architectural constraints, branches at different vertical positions experience predictable light microenvironments in plagiotropic species. Accordingly, this pattern of carbon allocation among branches might be particularly important for growth and crown development in plagiotropic species.
Key words: Annonaceae, branch-level light interception, crown development, leaf dynamics, Malaysia, Pasoh Forest Reserve, plagiotropic species, Polyalthia jenkinsii.


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