Tree surface temperature in a primary tropical rain forest

Abstract

As one of the important factors affecting plant productivity and plant distribution, temperature also affects the physiological and ecological characteristics of plants to a large extent. We report canopy leaf temperature distribution over a 36 m tall primary tropical rain forest and samplings of 28 tree species in SW China by means of two high resolution thermal cameras (P25, Flir systems, Wilsonville, OR, USA). The leaf temperature of dominant tree Species Pometia tomentosa was the highest (31.8 °C), 10.2 °C higher than that of tree species Mezzettipsis creaghii (21.6 °C). The mean leaf to air temperature difference (Tc-Ta) of Pometia tomentosa was the highest (6.4 K), the second highest was Barringtonia pendula (6.1 K), and Mezzettipsis creaghii had the lowest (Tc-Ta) (1.9K). (Tc-Ta) of tree species with smaller leaves and larger stomatal conductance was lowly sensitive to climate factors. Leaf size and stomatal conductance together decided the effect of climate change to (Tc-Ta) of the different tree species. We have shown that the composition of tree species in tropical rain forest areas is important to the climate through our research.