How Did the Swiss Cheese Plant Get Its Holes?
@article{Muir2012HowDT, title={How Did the Swiss Cheese Plant Get Its Holes?}, author={Christopher D. Muir}, journal={The American Naturalist}, year={2012}, volume={181}, pages={273 - 281} }
Adult leaf fenestration in “Swiss cheese” plants (Monstera Adans.) is an unusual leaf shape trait lacking a convincing evolutionary explanation. Monstera are secondary hemiepiphytes that inhabit the understory of tropical rainforests, where photosynthesis from sunflecks often makes up a large proportion of daily carbon assimilation. Here I present a simple model of leaf-level photosynthesis and whole-plant canopy dynamics in a stochastic light environment. The model demonstrates that leaf…
31 Citations
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