In "CROWN SHYNESS" the uppermost part of the trees do not touches where branches grown out from the main trunk. And this phenomenon first observed in 1920's. Crown Shyness also know as canopy shyness, canopy disengagement and intercrown spacing.
The physiological reasons that crown shyness occurs is not definitely known but various hypotheses exist as to the casue of this phenomenon.
INSECTS AND DISEASE - If one tree has "cooties" then the spread of harmful insects is little more difficult without a "bridge" to get to next tree. Another hypothesis is that crown shyness prevents the spread of some fungal or bacterial diseases.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS - photosynthesis is facilitated by allowing optimal ligth levels to penetrate the canopy through the empty spaces around each crown. Tress grow in the direction of light and when they sense the shade from neighboring tree branches, their growth is inhibited in that direction
TREE INJURY - Twigs and branches get broken the during collisions and creating gaps around each crown, crown shyness allows tress to minimize or avoid injury.
Examples of tress which shows crown shyness,
1-Eucalyptus
2-Sitka spruce
3-Camphor
No comments:
Post a Comment