Allometric models for leaf area estimation across different leaf-age groups of evergreen broadleaved trees in a subtropical forest

Abstract

The accurate and nondestructive determination of individual leaf area (LA) of plants, by using leaf length (L) and width (W) measurement or combinations of them, is important for many experimental comparisons. Here, we propose reliable and simple regressions for estimating LA across different leaf-age groups of eight common evergreen broadleaved trees in a subtropical forest in Gutianshan Natural Reserve, eastern China. During July 2007, the L, W, and LA of 2,923 leaves (202 to 476 leaves for each species) were measured for model construction and the respective measurements on 1,299 leaves were used for model validation. Mean L, W, LA and leaf shape (L:W ratio) differed significantly between current and older leaves in four out of the eight species. The coefficients of one-dimension LA models were affected by leaf age for most species while those incorporating both leaf dimensions (L and W) were independent of leaf age for all the species. Therefore, the regressions encompassing both L and W (LA = a L W + b), which were independent of leaf age and also allowed reliable LA estimations, were developed. Comparison between observed and predicted LA using these equations in another dataset, conducted for model validation, exhibited a high degree of correlation (R2 = 0.96−0.99). Accordingly, these models can accurately estimate the LA of different age groups for the eight evergreen tree species without using instruments.