Canopy dynamics and the morphological development of Abies balsamea: effects of foliage age on specific leaf area and secondary vascular development.

Data were collected from two branches from each whorl of nine open-grown Abies balsamea (L.) Miller trees to test the hypothesis that specific leaf area (SLA, m(2) projected fresh leaf area kg(-1) oven-dry foliage) is constant among five foliage age classes (current-year, 1-year-old, 2-year-old, 3-year-old and 4-year-old-plus). Between-tree variation in SLA was greater than within-tree variation. Differences in SLA among the foliage age classes were small, but statistically significant, showing a trend of decreasing SLA with increasing foliage age. Using data from two previous biomass studies, we found that three different methods of calculating SLA of individual trees produced the same projected leaf area estimates. To test the hypothesis that foliage mass increases with foliage age as a result of secondary xylem or phloem development, we examined the secondary vascular development of foliage collected from five age classes and three crown sections in an open-grown A. balsamea. The number of rows of xylem cells was not constant among foliage age classes, but the differences were small and showed no consistent pattern of change with foliage age. Total number of rows of phloem cells increased, number of living rows of phloem cells decreased, and the number of rows of nonliving crushed phloem cells increased with foliage age.