Abstract
Two recent papers (Martel et al. 1999, Lempa et al. 2000), linked rapid leaf growth in birches with high level of developmental instability, measured by leaf fluctuating asymmetry (FA). I discuss methodological approaches used in the referred papers and conclude that none of them provided incontrovertible support for the hypothesis on positive correlation between FA and leaf growth rate. A field study designed to test this hypothesis by an independent data set revealed no correlation between FA and either relative or absolute leaf growth rate in mountain birch either in within‐tree or in between‐tree comparisons. Character of the relationships between FA and growth may change with the index used to quantify developmental instability.
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