Abstract
Abstract. We studied canopy structure, shoot architecture and light harvesting efficiencies of the species (photon flux captured per unit above-ground plant mass) in a series of exclosures of different age (up to 4.5 yr) in originally heavily grazed grassland in N Japan.Vegetation height and Leaf Area Index (LAI) increased in the series and Zoysia japonica, the dominant in the beginning, was replaced by the much taller Miscanthus sinensis. We showed how this displacement in dominance can be explained by inherent constraints on the above-ground architecture of these two species. In all stands light capture of plants increased with their above-ground biomass but taller species were not necessarily more efficient in light harvesting. Some subordinate species grew disproportionally large leaf areas and persisted in the shady undergrowth. Some other species first grew taller and managed to stay in the better-lit parts of the canopy, but ultimately failed to match the height growth of their neighbours in this early successional series. Their light harvesting efficiencies declined and this probably led to their exclusion. By contrast, species that maintained their position high in the canopy managed to persist in the vegetation despite their relatively low light harvesting efficiencies. In the tallest stands ‘later successional’ species had higher light harvesting efficiencies for the same plant height than ‘early successional’ species which was mostly the result of the greater area to mass ratio (specific leaf area, SLA) of their leaves. This shows how plant stature, plasticity in above-ground biomass partitioning, and architectural constraints determine the ability of plants to efficiently capture light, which helps to explain species replacement in this early successional series.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 13
Claim · model-written summary
Vegetation height and Leaf Area Index increased along the series of exclosures of increasing age.
Verbatim
t0“early successional grasslands”
e1“Vegetation height and Leaf Area Index (LAI) increased in the series”
Claim · model-written summary
Zoysia japonica, dominant at the start, was replaced by the much taller Miscanthus sinensis.
- Taxon
- Zoysia japonica
Zoysia japonicae1 - Outcome
- replaced by the much taller Miscanthus sinensise1
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Zoysia japonica, the dominant in the beginning, was replaced by the much taller Miscanthus sinensis”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors state that the displacement in dominance can be explained by inherent constraints on the above-ground architecture of the two species.
- Taxon
- Zoysia japonicaZoysia japonicae1
- Outcome
- displacement in dominancee2
- Qualifier
- inherent constraints on the above-ground architecturee2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Zoysia japonica, the dominant in the beginning, was replaced by the much taller Miscanthus sinensis”
e2“this displacement in dominance can be explained by inherent constraints on the above-ground architecture of these two species”
Claim · model-written summary
In all stands, light capture of plants increased with their above-ground biomass.
Verbatim
e1“In all stands light capture of plants increased with their above-ground biomass but taller species were not necessarily more efficient in light harvesting”
Claim · model-written summary
Taller species were not necessarily more efficient in light harvesting.
Verbatim
e1“In all stands light capture of plants increased with their above-ground biomass but taller species were not necessarily more efficient in light harvesting”
Claim · model-written summary
Some subordinate species grew disproportionally large leaf areas and persisted in the shady undergrowth.
- Taxon
- subordinate speciese1
- Outcome
- grew disproportionally large leaf areas and persisted in the shady undergrowthe1
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e1“Some subordinate species grew disproportionally large leaf areas and persisted in the shady undergrowth”
Claim · model-written summary
Some other species first grew taller and stayed in the better-lit canopy but ultimately failed to match the height growth of their neighbours.
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e1“Some other species first grew taller and managed to stay in the better-lit parts of the canopy, but ultimately failed to match the height growth of their neighbours”
Claim · model-written summary
The light harvesting efficiencies of those species declined.
Verbatim
e1“Some other species first grew taller”
e2“Their light harvesting efficiencies declined”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest that the decline in light harvesting efficiency probably led to the exclusion of those species.
Verbatim
e1“Some other species first grew taller”
e2“Their light harvesting efficiencies declined and this probably led to their exclusion”
Claim · model-written summary
Species that kept their position high in the canopy persisted in the vegetation despite relatively low light harvesting efficiencies.
- Taxon
- speciese1
- Outcome
- persist in the vegetatione1
- Qualifier
- relatively low light harvesting efficienciese1
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e1“species that maintained their position high in the canopy managed to persist in the vegetation despite their relatively low light harvesting efficiencies”
Claim · model-written summary
In the tallest stands, later successional species had higher light harvesting efficiencies than early successional species at the same plant height.
Verbatim
e1“In the tallest stands ‘later successional’ species had higher light harvesting efficiencies for the same plant height than ‘early successional’ species”
Claim · model-written summary
The higher light harvesting efficiency of later successional species was mostly the result of the greater specific leaf area of their leaves.
Verbatim
e1“In the tallest stands ‘later successional’ species had higher light harvesting efficiencies for the same plant height than ‘early successional’ species”
e2“which was mostly the result of the greater area to mass ratio (specific leaf area, SLA) of their leaves”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude that plant stature, plasticity in above-ground biomass partitioning and architectural constraints determine the ability of plants to capture light efficiently.
- Taxon
- plantsViridiplantaee1
- Outcome
- ability of plants to efficiently capture lighte1
- Qualifier
- plant stature, plasticity in above-ground biomass partitioning, and architectural constraintse1
Verbatim
e1“plant stature, plasticity in above-ground biomass partitioning, and architectural constraints determine the ability of plants to efficiently capture light”