What is the difference between leaf area and leaf area index?

The definition “half the total leaf area per unit horizontal ground surface area” is suitable for all kinds of leaves and flat or sloping surfaces. A leaf area index (LAI) expresses the leaf area per unit ground or trunk surface area of a plant and is commonly used as an indicator of the growth rate of a plant.

What is leaf area density?

The leaf area density (LAD) distribution is a key index for characterizing the vertical and horizontal crown structures and is defined as the total one-sided leaf area per unit volume. Various ground-based indirect methods for measuring LAD distribution have been developed.

How is LAI calculated?

Leaf Area Index (LAI), which is used as a measure in hundreds of studies on forests, crops, climate and the environment, is calculated as half the area of all leaves per unit area of ground. It is measured as the leaf area (m2 ) per ground area (m–2) and is unit-less.

What is the relationship between light transmission through the canopy and leaf area index LAI?

LAI can be an indicator of canopy health or development because it can affect how light moves through the canopy. In addition, LAI can affect the canopy surrounding microclimate. Radiation from the sun or lamps is intercepted by leaves affecting transpiration and by consequence latent heat.

What does specific leaf area tell you?

Specific leaf area is a ratio indicating how much leaf area a plant builds with a given amount of leaf biomass: where A is the area of a given leaf or all leaves of a plant, and ML is the dry mass of those leaves.

What does Leaf Area Index tell you?

Importance. The leaf area index (LAI) is an important parameter in plant ecology. Because it tells how much foliage there is, it is a measure of the photosynthetic active area, and at the same time of the area subjected to transpiration. It is also the area which becomes in contact with air pollutants.

What is lad in a plant?

The Leaf angle distribution (or LAD) of a plant canopy refers to the mathematical description of the angular orientation of the leaves in the vegetation. The LAD describes the statistical distribution of these angles.

What is plant area volume density?

Plant area volume density (PAVD) dynamics indicate the percentage change of canopy volume for the bottom (0-10 m canopy height, closed circles), middle (10-20 m canopy height, open circles) and top strata (20-35 m canopy height, crosses) detected by VEGNET B (filtered data, robust LOESS smoothed with 3-month interval).

How do you calculate leaf area?

Leaf area (A) can be simply calculated by multiplying the product of leaf length (L) and width (W) by a constant (i.e., the Montgomery parameter; MP).

How do you calculate the area of a leaf?

Actual leaf area (individual or whole of the oil palm plantation) were calculated from leaf dry weight by following linear and non-linear regression equation: Actual Leaf Area=78.89 x Leaf Mass (R2=0.97) Actual Leaf Area=80.926 (Leaf Mass)0.977 (R2=0.98) Its also found that the calculated leaf area and measured leaf …

What is Lai in remote sensing?

The ability to accurately and rapidly acquire leaf area index (LAI) is an indispensable component of process-based ecological research facilitating the understanding of gas-vegetation exchange phenomenon at an array of spatial scales from the leaf to the landscape.

What is optimum leaf area index?

The optimum leaf area index (LAI) at beginning bloom to reach the yield potential is between 3.6 (indeterminate stem termination) and 4.5 (determinate stem termination). The optimum LAI maximum to reach the yield potential is between 6.0 and 6.5 for indeterminate and determined cultivars.

How accurate is the leaf area index (LAI) approximation?

A good χ value improves the accuracy of this leaf area index (LAI) approximation. But even with a less accurate χ value, leaf area index approximations will probably be fairly accurate depending on other conditions (see Figure 1). To approximate a χ value for a canopy, find a representative clump of canopy of equal depth and width.

How to estimate the percent of light transmitted horizontally through canopy?

Imagine dissecting the clump into a cube. To estimate τ, use the backdrop to form the back side of the cube, and position yourself at the front side to make your estimate of the percent of light that is transmitted horizontally through that cubic section of canopy.

Is Lai the most useful parameter in your application?

It is important to evaluate whether LAI is the most useful parameter in a particular application. It is sometimes more straightforward and usually more accurate to simply measure intercepted PAR and use that data directly in an appropriate model.

Why do mathematical models use Lai instead of par?

That’s because many of these mathematical models use LAI to predict PAR in their internal equations. Sometimes researchers use PAR to predict LAI, then unwittingly put the LAI number in a model that goes back the other way.