Prediction of crown leaf mass per area for young Larix olgensis plantation

Abstract

Leaf mass per area (LMA) is an important parameter in the construction of the ecosystem process models. Accurate prediction of the dynamic validation of canopy LMA is of significance to improve the accuracy of ecosystem process models. We conducted vertical whorl-by-whorl sampling and analyzed LMA in different seasons for Larix olgensis plantation in Maoershan in Shangzhi, Heilongjiang Province, China. We analyzed the vertical and developmental variations of LMA and their main effective factors, established the dynamic prediction model of LMA for young L. olgensis plantation. The results showed that the LMA decreased with the increases of relative depth into crown (RDINC) in the vertical direction of the crown. The range of LMA in the vertical direction after leaf expanded was significantly larger than that during leaf expanding. During the different development periods of leaves, LMAs increased first and then remained stable, and this trend gra-dually weakened with the increases of crown depth. The Ra2 values were lower than 0.6 when RDINC or DOY were used as the single variable to model LMA, but were increased by 0.19 when both of them being used, and the model performed well in validation (ME=0.54 g·m-2, MAE=5.74 g·m-2). LMA varied across different crown whorls and different leaf development periods. The LMA model constructed with RDINC and DOY could well describe the vertical and temporal variations of LMA. The simulation of crown LMA provided a basis for clarifying crown development and a foundation for the establishment of ecological process model.