Abstract:

The leaf eco-anatomical characteristics of eight tree species were studied from the shrub and mixed forest in Xiangshan mountain, Huaibei, Anhui Province. The results showed that the dominant species had more anatomic plasticity than subdominant species. The characters such as thickness of leaves, thickness of bundle, thickness of spongy tissue, stoma density, thickness ratio of xylem to phloem, thickness of palisade tissue, and thickness ratio of spongy to palisade tissue (S/P), were called the key anatomical characters in that they had great variation among species and habitats. Compared to the shrub community in which trees had sun leaves, the trees in mixed forest had shade-enduring leaves characterized as thinner leaf blade, thinner epidermis and cuticle, undeveloped palisade tissue, larger S/P, and thinner mid-rib as well. According to principle component analysis ordination on leaf anatomical characteristics, the 8 species from Xiangshan were divided into three groups: sun xerophyte, sun mesophyte, and shade-enduring mesophyte. This indicated that these trees had diversity ways in leaf structure to adapt the environment, and most of the dominant species in early successional stage were sun plants.

Key words: leaf, eco-anatomical characteristics, phenotypic plasticity, multivariate analysis