Southern Research Station

Title: Vertical leaf area distribution, light transmittance, and application of the Beer-Lambert Law in four mature hardwood stands in the southern Appalachians

Author: Vose, James M.; Sullivan, Neal H.; Clinton, Barton D.; Bolstad, Paul V.

Date: 1995

Source: Can. J. For. Res. 25:1036-1043 (1995).

Description: We quantified stand leaf area index and vertical leaf area distribution, and developed canopy extinction coefficients (k), in four mature hardwood stands. Leaf area index, calculated from litter fall and specific leaf area (cm²·g^-1), ranged from 4.3 to 5.4 m²·m^-2. In three of the four stands, leaf area was distributed in the upper canopy. In the other stand, leaf area was uniformly distributed throughout the canopy. Variation in vertical leaf area distribution was related to the size and density of upper and lower canopy trees. Light transmittance through the canopies followed the Beer-Lambert Law, and k values ranged from 0.53 to 0.67. Application of these k values to an independent set of five hardwood stands with validation data for light transmittance and litter-fall leaf area index yielded variable results. For example, at k = 0.53, calculated leaf area index was within ±10% of litter-fall estimates for three of the five sites, but from -35 to +85% different for two other sites. Averaged across all validation sites, litter-fall leaf area index and Beer-Lambert leaf area index predictions were in much closer agreement (±7 to ±15%).

Keywords: 

View and Print this Publication (242 KB)

Pristine Version:  An uncaptured or "pristine" version of this publication is available. It has not been subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and therefore does not have any errors in the text. However it is a larger file size and some people may experience long download times. The "pristine" version of this publication is available here:

View and Print the PRISTINE copy of this Publication (1018 KB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Vose, James M.; Sullivan, Neal H.; Clinton, Barton D.; Bolstad, Paul V.  1995.  Vertical leaf area distribution, light transmittance, and application of the Beer-Lambert Law in four mature hardwood stands in the southern Appalachians.   Can. J. For. Res. 25:1036-1043 (1995).