Abstract
The relationship between spatial density and size of plants is an important topic in plant ecology. The self-thinning rule suggests a -3/2 power between average biomass and density or a -1/2 power between stand yield and density. However, the self-thinning rule based on total leaf area per plant and density of plants has been neglected presumably because of the lack of a method that can accurately estimate the total leaf area per plant. We aimed to find the relationship between spatial density of plants and total leaf area per plant. We also attempted to provide a novel model for accurately describing the leaf shape of bamboos. We proposed a simplified Gielis equation with only two parameters to describe the leaf shape of bamboos one model parameter represented the overall ratio of leaf width to leaf length. Using this method, we compared some leaf parameters (leaf shape, number of leaves per plant, ratio of total leaf weight to aboveground weight per plant, and total leaf area per plant) of four bamboo species of genus Indocalamus Nakai (I.pedalis (Keng) P.C. Keng, I.pumilus Q.H. Dai and C.F. Keng, I.barbatus McClure, and I.victorialis P.C. Keng). We also explored the possible correlation between spatial density and total leaf area per plant using log-linear regression. We found that the simplified Gielis equation fit the leaf shape of four bamboo species very well. Although all these four species belonged to the same genus, there were still significant differences in leaf shape. Significant differences also existed in leaf area per plant, ratio of leaf weight to aboveground weight per plant, and leaf length. In addition, we found that the total leaf area per plant decreased with increased spatial density. Therefore, we directly demonstrated the self-thinning rule to improve light interception.
Highlights
Bamboos of Indocalamus, or dwarf bamboos are common wild plants in the rural areas of southern China. Bai et al (2011) report that Indocalamus longiauritus can dominate forest understory and function as an ecological filter
We proposed a simplified Gielis equation to fit the leaf-shape data of these four species, and compared the difference in an important parameter in this simplified Gielis equation that could reflect the overall ratio of leaf width to leaf length
In order to compare the overall ratios of leaf width to leaf length among four species, we proposed a simplified Gielis equation based on the original (Gielis 2003): r
Summary
Bamboos of Indocalamus, or dwarf bamboos are common wild plants in the rural areas of southern China. Bai et al (2011) report that Indocalamus longiauritus can dominate forest understory and function as an ecological filter. Bamboos of Indocalamus, or dwarf bamboos are common wild plants in the rural areas of southern China. Chinese bamboo partridge (Bambusicola thoracica) is often observed to act around these bamboos (Liu et al 2012), and its Chinese name exactly reflects the apparent relationship between this species and the bamboos. The planting of these dwarf bamboos is extended to parks, campus, and other public places in cities of southern China. Dwarf bamboos are highly resistant to cold (Tian et al 2006), some species of Indocalamus have been introduced to the 40°N parks,
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