Mechanical Abrasion and Intercrown Spacing

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Abstract
The crowns of neighboring trees of similar height do not interdigitate but rather are generally separated by spaces called crown shyness gaps. In a black mangrove (Avicennai germinans) forest in Costa Rica, the width of crown shyness gaps was positively correlated with the distance pairs of trees or branches adjacent to the gap swayed in the wind (n = 22; P < 0.01). Abrasion of buds, leaves and branches due to trees knocking into one another seems to create and maintain the spaces around each tree crown.