Abstract
A combination of optical measurements of leaf heights and observations on litterfall provided a vertical and temporal description of the leaf community structure in a tall, Liriodendron forest on the Maryland coastal plain. Leaf area, mass, and number were bimodally distributed with height. Median leaf number occurs far below (7–8 m) and median leaf mass far above (22–23 m) the median leaf area (18–19 m). Tree species exhibited leaf stratification into 3 height levels: understory (0–10 m), mid canopy (10–25 m), and overstory (25–37 m). Species leaf area in litterfall was related to the species basal area, although representation of leaf number in litterfall was not correlated with stem numbers for species in the stand. Species also showed a clear phenological sequence of leaf fall.
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