Simplifying data acquisition in plant canopies- Measurements of leaf angles with a cell phone

Dorado Martin, Gabriel Antonio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4515-1884, Escribano Rocafort, Adrián, Ventre Lespiaucq, Agustina, Granado Yela, Carlos, López Pintor, Antonio, Delgado, Juan, Muñoz, Vicente and Balaguer, Luis (2014). Simplifying data acquisition in plant canopies- Measurements of leaf angles with a cell phone. "Methods in Ecology and Evolution", v. 5 (n. 2); pp. 132-140. ISSN 2041-210X. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12141.

Description

Title: Simplifying data acquisition in plant canopies- Measurements of leaf angles with a cell phone
Author/s:
  • Dorado Martin, Gabriel Antonio https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4515-1884
  • Escribano Rocafort, Adrián
  • Ventre Lespiaucq, Agustina
  • Granado Yela, Carlos
  • López Pintor, Antonio
  • Delgado, Juan
  • Muñoz, Vicente
  • Balaguer, Luis
Item Type: Article
Título de Revista/Publicación: Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Date: February 2014
ISSN: 2041-210X
Volume: 5
Subjects:
Freetext Keywords: copas arbóreas, exposición solar, dispositivos celulares
Faculty: E.U.I.T. Forestal (UPM)
Department: Proyectos y Planificación Rural [hasta 2014]
Creative Commons Licenses: Recognition - No derivative works - Non commercial

Full text

[thumbnail of INVE_MEM_2014_156377.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer, such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

1. Canopies are complex multilayered structures comprising individual plant crowns exposing a multifaceted surface area to sunlight. Foliage arrangement and properties are the main mediators of canopy functions. The leaves act as light traps whose exposure to sunlight varies with time of the day, date and latitude in a trade-off between photosynthetic light harvesting and excessive or photoinhibitory light avoidance. To date, ecological research based upon leaf sampling has been limited by the available echnology, with which data acquisition becomes labour intensive and time-consuming, given the verwhelming number of leaves involved. 2. In the present study, our goal involved developing a tool capable of easuring a sufficient number of leaves to enable analysis of leaf populations, tree crowns and canopies.We specifically tested whether a cell phone working as a 3Dpointer could yield reliable, repeatable and valid leaf anglemeasurements with a simple gesture. We evaluated the accuracy of this method under controlled conditions, using a 3D digitizer, and we compared performance in the field with the methods commonly used. We presented an equation to estimate the potential proportion of the leaf exposed to direct sunlight (SAL) at any given time and compared the results with those obtained bymeans of a graphicalmethod. 3. We found a strong and highly significant correlation between the graphical methods and the equation presented. The calibration process showed a strong correlation between the results derived from the two methods with amean relative difference below 10%. Themean relative difference in calculation of instantaneous exposure was below 5%. Our device performed equally well in diverse locations, in which we characterized over 700 leaves in a single day. 4. The newmethod, involving the use of a cell phone, ismuchmore effective than the traditionalmethods or digitizers when the goal is to scale up from leaf position to performance of leaf populations, tree crowns or canopies. Our methodology constitutes an affordable and valuable tool within which to frame a wide range of ecological hypotheses and to support canopy modelling approaches.

More information

Item ID: 22611
DC Identifier: https://oa.upm.es/22611/
OAI Identifier: oai:oa.upm.es:22611
DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12141
Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-21...
Deposited by: Memoria Investigacion
Deposited on: 18 Mar 2014 13:55
Last Modified: 08 Nov 2017 08:35
  • Logo InvestigaM (UPM)
  • Logo GEOUP4
  • Logo Open Access
  • Open Access
  • Logo Sherpa/Romeo
    Check whether the anglo-saxon journal in which you have published an article allows you to also publish it under open access.
  • Logo Dulcinea
    Check whether the spanish journal in which you have published an article allows you to also publish it under open access.
  • Logo de Recolecta
  • Logo del Observatorio I+D+i UPM
  • Logo de OpenCourseWare UPM