Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T11:33:09.948Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Canopy dynamics and light climates in a tropical moist deciduous forest in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

David W. Lee
David W. Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The canopy dynamics and light climates within a 20 by 60 m quadrat were studied in a disturbed moist deciduous forest near Bombay, India. A map was drawn of individual trees within the quadrat, the taxa were identified, and their phenology was followed from November 1984 to July 1985. The quadrat contained 14 species, the most common being Tectona grandis, Terminalia tomentosa, Butea monosperma, Mitragyne parviflora and Albizia procera. Some individuals were in leaf at all times, more so at the moister east end of the quadrat. In November at the end of the rainy season, light measurements documented percentages of total daily photosynthetic photon fluence (PPF) at 10.0% of full sunlight; 44% of this flux was due to sun-flecks whose duration was approximately 17% of the daytime hours. Values for six sites were similar to mid-day measurements along a 40 m transect, and consistent with the 94% canopy cover of the sites, photographed with a fish-eye lens. The March dry season measurements revealed a more intense radiation environment (54% of solar PPF), and 59% of the photosynthetic photon flux density at mid-day along the transect. Canopy openings were increased to a mean of 59.4%. Light in the understorey in November was spectrally altered, with typical R:FR ratios of 0.30, compared to March values identical to those of sunlight, at 1.10.

Keywords

Indiamonsoonphenologyphotosynthetic photon flux densityspectral qualitytropical deciduous forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , February 1989 , pp. 65 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Anonymous. 1984. Ninth annual report, 1982–1983. Aspee Foundation, Bombay, India.Google Scholar
Anonymous. 1985. Tenth annual report, 1983–1984. Aspee Foundation, Bombay, India.Google Scholar
Billore, K. V. 1972. Studies on the vegetation and flora of Thana District, Maharashtra State, vol. 1. Ph.D. Thesis, Vikram University, Ujian, M.P.597 pp.Google Scholar
Björkman, O. & Ludlow, M. M. 1972. Characterization of the light climate on the floor of a Queensland rainforest. Carnegie Institution Yearbook 71:85–94.Google Scholar
Brandis, D. 1921. Indian trees. Constable & Co., London. 767 pp.Google Scholar
Brokaw, N. V. L. 1985. Gap-phase regeneration in a tropical forest. Ecology 66:682–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Champion, H. G. & Seth, S. K. 1968. A revised survey of the forest types of India. Manager of Publications, Delhi. 404 pp.Google Scholar
Chazdon, R. L. & Fetcher, N. 1984. Photosynthetic light environments in a lowland tropical rain forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology 72:553–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Das, R. B. 1954. Study of plant succession in Kanheri National Park, Bombay. Indian Forester 80:90–95.Google Scholar
Desh, B. 1970. A study of the productive structure of northern tropical dry deciduous forests near Varanasi. I. Stand structure and non-photosynthetic biomass. Tropical Ecology 11:90–104.Google Scholar
Frankie, G. F., Baker, H. G. & Opler, P. A. 1974. Comparative phenological studies of trees in tropical wet and dry forests in the lowlands of Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology 62:881–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaussen, H., Legris, P., Labroue, L., Meher-Homji, V. M. & Viart, M. 1966. Notice de la feuille Bombay. Travaux de la Section Scientifique et Technique de L'Jnstitut Francois de Pondichery No. 8, 101 pp.Google Scholar
Herbert, T. J. 1987. Area projections of fisheye photographic lenses: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 39:215–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horn, H. 1971. The adaptive geometry of trees. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 144 pp.Google Scholar
Hutchison, B. A & Matt, D. R. 1977. The distribution of solar radiation within a deciduous forest. Ecological Monographs 47:185–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. W. 1987. The spectral distribution of radiation in two neotropical rainforests. Biotropica 19:161–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. W. 1988. Simulating forest shade to study the developmental ecology of tropical plants: juvenile growth in three vines in India. Journal of Tropical Ecology 4:281–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. W., Paliwal, K., Patel, K. A. & Sen, D. N. 1986. Optical properties of leaves of some Indian plants. Current Science, Bangalore 55:923–925.Google Scholar
Lee, D. W. & Paliwal, K. 1988. The light climate of a South Indian evergreen forest. Geo Bios 15:3–6.Google Scholar
Legris, P. & Meher-Homji, V. M. 1978. The Deccan trap country and its vegetation patterns. Bulletin INSA 45:108–126.Google Scholar
Lieberman, D. 1982. Seasonality and phenology in a dry tropical forest in Ghana. Journal of Ecology 70:791–806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meher-Homji, V. M. 1979. A biometeorological assessment of climate, case studies of Bombay and Mercara. Indian Geographical Journal 54:43–54.Google Scholar
Misra, R. 1972. A comparative study of net primary productivity of dry deciduous forest and grassland of Varanasi. In Golley, F. B., Medina, E. (eds). Tropical ecological systems. Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Murphy, P. G. & Lugo, A. E. 1986. Ecology of tropical dry forest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17:67–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearcy, R. W. 1983. The light environment and growth of C3 and C4 species in the understory of a Hawaiian forest. Oecologia 58:19–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pinker, R. 1980. The microclimate of a dry tropical forest. Agricultural Meteorology 22:249–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puri, G. S., Meher-Homji, V. M., Gupta, R. K. & Puri, S. 1983. Forest ecology, 2nd ed., vol. 1. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi. 549 pp.Google Scholar
Reifsnyder, W. E., Furnival, G. M. & Horowitz, J. C. 1970. Spatial and temporal distribution of solar radiation beneath forest canopies. Agricultural Meteorology 9:21–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, M. S., Flanagan, L. B. & La Roi, G. H. 1986. Seasonal and successional change in light quality and quantity in the understory of boreal forest ecosystems. Canadian Journal of Botany 64:2792–2799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santapau, H. & Randeria, A. J. 1955. The botanical exploration of the Krishnagiri National Park, Borivli, near Bombay. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 53:185–200.Google Scholar
Satyanarayan, Y. 1955. Etude ecologique d'‘Elephanta Island’. Institut Francois de Pondichery, Travaux de la Section Scientifique et Technique 1:99–116.Google Scholar
Seth, S. K. & Kaul, O. N. 1978. Tropical forest ecosystems of India: the teak forests. Pp. 628–640 In Tropical forest ecosystems. UNESCO/ENEP/FAO, Paris.Google Scholar
Singh, R. P. 1975. Biomass, nutrient and productivity structure of a stand of dry deciduous forest of Varanasi. Tropical Ecology 16:104–109.Google Scholar
Smith, H. 1982. Light quality, photoreception and plant strategy. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 33:481–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talbot, W. A. 1909. Forest flora of the Bombay Presidency and Sind, 2 vol. Government Press, Poona. 1082 pp.Google Scholar
Tasker, R. & Smith, H. 1977. The function of phytochrome in the natural environment. V. Seasonal changes in radiant energy quality. Photochemistry &Photobiology 26:487–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vyas, L. N., Garg, R. K. & Vyas, N. L. 1977. Stand structure and aboveground biomass in dry deciduous forests of the Aravalli Hills at Udaipur (Rajasthan), India. Biologia, Bratislava 32:265–270.Google Scholar
Yoda, K. 1974. Three-dimensional distribution of light intensity in a tropical rain forest of West Malaysia. Japanese Journal of Ecology 24:247–254.Google Scholar
Zapata, T. R. & Arrayo, M. T. K. 1978. Plant Reproductive Ecology Of A Secondary Deciduous Tropical Forest In Venezuela. Biotropica 10:221–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar