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Article discussing the understory of an Andean cloud forest in the Sierra Nevada National Park, Venezuela.
Physical Description
10 p.
Notes
Abstract: The understory of an Andean cloud forest in the Sierra Nevada National Park, Venezuela, was characterized describing the stand and canopy structures, and the spectral composition of light. Tree density and basal area (BA) were used as stand variables; leaf area index (IAF) and percent of canopy area in openings (PAA) and in reflecting leaves (AFR) were used for canopy variables; peaks in the green (PV) and red (PR), PV/PR and the integral over the visible band were used for spectral variables. The characterization was performed horizontally at 8m intervals in a grid of 40m on the side, 1m above ground. The spectral measurements were conducted in cloudy conditions representative of the cloud forest and were also conducted vertically up to a height of 6.6m at four points of the grid. The stand showed a clustered spatial pattern, tree density decreased with diameter and very few large individuals were found. Horizontally, all the variables (stand, canopy and spectra) yielded low spatial correlation between grid points at all distances at the scale of the study. IAF resulted low and relatively constant with a maximum where BA reached higher values. AFR was related to PAA, especially for points with low PAA. Many points of the horizontal grid yielded transmittance spectra typical of shaded areas, with low values in the visible range and high PR. For those points with very low PAA, a relationship was found between spectral and stand variables, as well as between spectral and canopy variables; in particular, PV/PR was explained by IAF. The vertical gradient of the spectra revealed a heterogeneous vertical structure of the canopy; an important change was detected at about 4-5m indicating a denser canopy layer up to this height, possibly due to the high density of small trees.
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Acevedo, Miguel F.; Ataroff, Michele; Monteleone, Susan & Estrada, Carlos A.Heterogeneidad estructural y lumínica del sotobosque de una selva nublada andina de Venezuela,
article,
July 2003;
[Caracas, Venezuela].
(https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc303211/:
accessed March 19, 2024),
University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu;
crediting UNT College of Engineering.