Record ID No. |
1360 |
Author(s) |
Nalini M. Nadkarni, Mark C. Merwin, Jurgen Nieder , 2013 |
Affiliation |
The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, USA |
Title |
Forest Canopies, Plant Diversity |
Source. Vol.(no):Page |
Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (Second Edition), 516–527p. |
Categories |
Mycorrhiza General |
Subjects |
Ecology |
Sub-subjects |
Biodiversity |
Host |
Plants, Trees |
Organism |
Vertebrates, Invertebrates, MIcrobes |
Country |
USA, N. America |
Abstracts |
The importance of the plants that dwell in forest canopies is becoming increasingly recognized in relation to understanding biodiversity. The upper tree canopy of many forest ecosystems fosters extremely diverse plant communities, which include vascular and nonvascular epiphytes, hemiepiphytes, and parasites. Canopy-dwelling plants contribute substantially to overall forest biodiversity and biocomplexity by providing resources for arboreal vertebrates, invertebrates, and microbes, and by participating in nutrient and water cycling and gas and energy exchanges.
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