 | | | |
Learn more about "Liana"
|
|
|
Liana
The '''liana''' is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy (forest)|canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest.[Schnitzer S.A., Bongers F. (2002) The ecology of lianas and their role in forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17 (5):223-230.] There are also temperate lianas, however, for example the members of the genus ''Clematis''. Well-known lianas include Monkey Ladder, Water Vine and Pothos.
Lianas play an ecological role in providing access routes in the forest canopy for arboreal species such as lemurs. For example, in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar, many prosimians achieve higher mobility from the web of lianas draped amongst the vertical tree species. Many lemurs prefer trees with lianas for their roost sites.[Rendigs, A., U. Radespiel, D. Wrogemann and E. Zimmermann. 2003. Relationship between microhabitat structure and distribution of mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) in northwestern Madagascar. Int. J. Primatol. 24 (1): 47–64.] Some lianas are strong enough to support the weight of an adult human.
Note that "liana" is not a taxonomy|taxonomic grouping, but rather a description of the way the plant grows, and lianas may be found in many different plant family (biology)|families.
References
Category:Plant morphology
Related Images- A canopy that has formed over Monkey Ladder Vine
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
 |
Welcome to Start Learning Now.
Explore to your heart's content, and we hope you enjoy reading the material we
have assembled for you here! |
 |
| | | | |
Related News
|
|
Further Resources
|
|
Related Resources
search
|
|
