ТОЧНОСТЬ ИЗМЕРЕНИЯ И НАПРАВЛЕННАЯ АСИММЕТРИЯ В ЛИСТОВЫХ ПЛАСТИНАХ BETULA PENDULA ROTH

Abstract

The directional asymmetry in the birch leaf plates was studied. For this purpose, ten randomly selected populations were used in the Vladimir region (Russia). The leaf plates were photographed twice, 5 pairs of bilateral-symmetric labels were used and Procrustes analysis of variance carried out. Directional asymmetry testing was carried out at three biosystemic levels (population, individual and leaf plate level). The totality of all populations did not show the presence of directional asymmetry. Biosystemic level – “tree” had a statistically significant directional asymmetry in 4 populations. At the level of “leaf plate” biosystem, directional asymmetry was found in 9 populations among 10. Thus, only one population had a fluctuating asymmetry at all biosystemic levels (p <0.0001). The directional asymmetry of the linear features was checked in the t-test and was statistically significant only in two populations. Thus, directional asymmetry is the usual kind of asymmetry, present in the form of birch leaf plates which are pendant under conditions of normal variability. The described fact related specifically to the leaf plate, as to the unit of measurement. Therefore, in determining the FA and HA of leaf plates, one must keep in mind the possible presence of directional asymmetry as a population characteristic.