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Tropical MorphologyHow Plants Adapt Rain Forest
The University of GeorgiaCollege of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
LeafStructures
Light Management Strategies
About The Author
• Dr. Paul A. Thomas– Professor of Floriculture– Department of Horticulture– The University of Georgia– Extension Specialist – Really into Photography!
Learning Objectives
• 1. Be able to decribe the ways plants manage light within their own canopy zone to enhance their own survival in low light conditions within the rainforest
• 2. Describe what a typical rain forest tree canopy looks like in cross section, and explain why this is so.
Allowing light to pass through otherwise large leaves is how Philodendron shares light with leaves lower down on its stem.
Perforated Leaves
Summary
We have seen that there are many different ways plant leaves can adapt to the relative lack of light under the forest canopy, or to the hot, intense tropical sunlight at the canopy. Leaf staggering, or light-sharing is a common approach to forest floor plants and vines that must collect every scrap of light that makes it down to the forest floor.
Assessment Opportunity • Explain how leaf orientation can help increase or
decrease light being received by the plant.
• How does having leaflets with the ability to bend towards light help forest floor plants?
• Which do you think is a more successful strategy? Being an epiphyte or eventually growing up to being a tall canopy tree? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both strategies?
For Future Exploration
• http://reocities.com/RainForest/5798/levels.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllotaxis