A thorough synthesis of current knowledge about the ways canopies grow, develop, and function. Only recently have advances in simulation modeling in plants begun to emphasize the structural and functional properties of plant canopies in addition to those of the individual constituent leaves. The book considers these properties in terms of the processes--such as transpiration and photosynthesis--by which the canopy and its aerial environment interact. Topics discussed include the meaning of canopy structure, interception of solar radiation, exchange processes, nitrogen nutrition, leaf...

The focus of leaf development modeling in the last two decades has been on predicting commercial crop yields and identifying the constraints on them. The weakness of this approach: the implicit belief in the existence of a "global brain" deciding which parts of the plant are deficient and directing remedial action. Leaf Development and Canopy Growth presents an alternative view based on "local rules" - the simple results of metabolic processes within each cell. These rules and the interconnections between them provide the means for self-organization within the plant and emergent global...