Structure is more important than physiology for estimating intracanopy distributions of leaf temperatures.

ABSTRACT: Estimating leaf temperature distributions (LTDs) in canopies is crucial in forest ecology. Leaf temperature affects the exchange of heat, water, and gases, and it alters the performance of leaf-dwelling species such as arthropods, including pests and invaders. LTDs provide spatial variation that may allow arthropods to thermoregulate in the face of long-term changes in mean temperature or incidence of extreme temperatures. Yet, recording LTDs for entire canopies remains challenging. Here, we use an energy-exchange model (RATP) to examine the relative roles of climatic, structural, and physiological factors in influencing three-dimensional LTDs in tree canopies. A Morris sensitivity analysis of 13 parameters showed, not surprisingly, that climatic factors had the greatest overall effect on

SUBMITTER: Woods HA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5980536 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature