Spatial Variation In Growing Season Heat Sums Within Northern Hardwood Forest Canopy Gaps

When a gap forms in a forest canopy, the first and most immediate effect on the exposed area is an increase in radiative exchange near the ground. More sunlight reaches the ground during the daytime, and at nighttime the ground is more exposed to longwave radiation influences from the sky. These changes in radiation lead directly to a different near-ground temperature climate than what existed previously. Furthermore, spatial gradients in radiation and temperature now exist within the gap region that did not exist before the gap formed.