A compilation of canopy leaf inclination angle measurements across plant species and biome types

The inclination angle of leaves in plant canopies is important for a range
of land ecosystem processes, including radiation absorption from
vegetation, land surface reflectance, microclimate, and photosynthetic CO2
uptake. While inclination angles of leaves have been measured for decades,
such measurements remain scattered in the scientific literature, and the
actual variation of leaf inclination angles across land ecosystems remains
poorly understood and quantified. We compiled a dataset of previously
published field measurements of mean canopy leaf angles, gathering 531
records from 48 publications, including data from single-species and
multi-species canopies from most major biomes. Only data from field-grown
plants were included. When studies presented data on seasonal variation on
mean canopy leaf angles from the same species/locations, the data were
averaged and considered as a single record. The records were originally
measured using several techniques, including clinometers and protractor
measurements of individual leaves throughout the canopy, leveled
photographs and digital measurement of individual leaves on image
processing software, canopy hemispheric photographs, canopy analyzers
(e.g. LAI-2000 and LAI-2200), and LIDAR. We believe this dataset is a
valuable resource to inform studies and models that require information on
the actual variation of this vegetation attribute.