PJB-2023-146
COMPARISON OF LEAF SIZE OF COMMON PLANTS BETWEEN FIELD MEASUREMENTS AND SCIENTIFIC FLORA RECORDS
Shanshan Yang
Abstract
Plant trait data from scientific floras are frequently utilized in analyzing the geographical distribution and functional characteristics of plant species. Leaf area is an important functional trait of plants and can be estimated using the formula, Area = Length × Width × K, with the length and width values obtained from scientific flora recordings. Since the data recorded in floras typically represents a range of values, estimating leaf area using this data requires making a reasonable choice. In this study, we concurrently collected data by accurately measuring over 1600 leaves from 39 common plants with entire (or finely serrated) leaves, including the leaf length, width, and area of each leaf. Simultaneously, we also collected data on leaf length and width of these plants from Flora of China. We compared the differences between the two sets of data and investigated whether the information recorded in the floras could be used to estimate leaf area. We also evaluated the appropriate value of the parameter K that could be used in the formula. Our findings indicate that the data recorded in scientific floras are consistent with field measurements, suggesting that they can be used to estimate leaf area. We found that the median values of leaf length and width from flora recordings provided the most accurate estimates of leaf area. Additionally, we determined that the appropriate value for the parameter K in the formula is π/4 for leaves that are entire or finely serrated. This study provides insights into how data recorded in scientific floras can be applied in large-scale geographical studies of plant functional traits.
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