Structural and nutritional differences between climbers and their supporting trees in a montane rainforest in South-Ecuador [Elektronische Ressource] / Jörg Salzer

Structural and nutritional differences between climbers and their supporting trees in a montane rainforest in South-Ecuador Dissertation Thesis Department of Systematic Botany and Ecology, University of Ulm Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades Dr. rer. nat an der Fakultät für Naturwissenschaften der Universität Ulm 2004 Dipl.-Biol. Jörg Salzer Amtierender Dekan: Prof. Dr. R. J. Behm 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Marian Kazda 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Kalko Vorgelegt am 01.10.2003 Tag der Promotion: 05.02.2004 CONTENTS Acknowledgments IV Summary V Zusammenfassung VII Resumen IX 1. Introduction 1 2. Material and Methods 10 2.1. Geographical location of the research area 10 2.2. Climatic conditions 11 2.3. Geology, geomorphology and soils 12 2.4. Vegetation 13 2.5. The investigation plots 15 2.5.1. Soil properties and vegetation types 16 2.6. Sampling procedure and processing of the plant material 20 2.6.1. Measuring leaf area index (LAI) and canopy gap fraction (DIFN) 21 2.6.2. Measuring relative photon flux density (PFD ) 22 rel2.6.3.