Abstract:

The density effect on the growth and yield of Daemonorops margaritae plantation has been analyzed on the basis of experiment of planting density including 3 m×3 m(A), 2 m×3 m(B), 1 m×3 m? and 1 m×2 m (D) 4 density levels. The result showed that suckering ability, mean length of mother stem and mean total length of the clump all increased with the age but decreased with planting density; suckering abilities among different density levels were different respectively at the 0.05 and 0.01 level when the stand was 6 and 14_year_old; plant density had no significant effect on mean length of mother stem in all ages but highly significant effect on mean length of rattan clump at the age of 14. The self-thinning rate of 14-year-old stand increased with the density, gaining highly significant difference among density levels; the stand diameter descended with the density approximately and was different at 0.05 level among density treatments but they didn't exert significant effect on diameter when the density increased or decreased to some extent. The clump output reduced with planting density which caused significant or highly significant difference to the clump output under the different density levels one another except level A to level B and level C to level D, indicating the most effect of density on the stand diameter; by comparison, the stand output increased first and then decreased gradually with the density with no significant difference among different treatments but a peak value under the density of 3 333 individuals per hm². Based on these results, the spacing of 3 m×1 m or 3 m×2 m should be recommended for the purpose of both higher output and better management of Daemonorops margaritae plantation according to practical situation.

Key words: Daemonorops margaritae, planting density, suckering ability, diameter, stem length