Chin J Plan Ecolo ›› 1995, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (1): 43-54.

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Horizontal and Vertical Fluctuation of Number and Longevity of Leaf Populations in Henry Pine (Pinus henryi) Forest

Xiao Yu   

  • Published:1995-01-10
  • Contact: Lü De-zi

Abstract: I analyzed the horizontal and vertical dynamic characteristics, fluctuating trends and the demography of leaf populations of Henry pine stands, and obtained the following results:(1) The leaf number per tree and number of leaves of varying ages increased with stem diameter, but decreased with stand density. The percentage of current-year leaves increased with stem diameter, but the opposite was true for 2-year-old leaves. The ratio of 1-year-old leaves to 3-year-old leaves kept stable.(2) The stem diameter was negatively correlated to the leaf life expectancy. The lire expectancy of the leaves in the inferior trees were the shortest, and the average trees the longest, while the dominant trees fell in between.(3) Generally, the number of leaves of varying age classes was highest in the middle part of the canopy, but difference existed in the structure of leaf populations among tree types. This could be ascribed to the light conditions in the canopy.(4) The intrinsic rate of increase of the leaf populations increased with stem diameter, tree height and relative light intensity in the canopy. The life expectancy of leaves in different branch cohorts decreased with tree height. It was inferred that the life expectancy of leaves in the same branch cohort would increase with branch age.