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A new method to measure leaf age: Leaf measuring‐interval index
Author(s) -
Chen ChyiChuann,
Chen Hung,
Chen Yungreui
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.3732/ajb.0800303
Subject(s) - biology , interval (graph theory) , regression , measure (data warehouse) , statistics , mathematics , botany , computer science , combinatorics , database
We propose a new method, the leaf measuring‐interval index (LMI), to estimate leaf age in morphological and physiological studies of leaves. When the plastochron, the interval between the initiation of successive leaves, is constant, the well‐known leaf plastochron index (LPI) provides a robust measure of leaf age. When the duration of the plastochron is not uniform, however, we show that the LPI can (in simulations) and does (with actual data) turn variation in duration of the plastochron into variance about the regression estimates of leaf growth curves. The method we present in this paper, the LMI, is plastochron independent. This new method is particularly suited, therefore, for studies of plants growing in natural environments rather than in controlled growth facilities where the assumptions of the LPI method can be met.