Leaf area estimation for Psychotria carthagenensis and Psychotria hoffmannseggiana as a function of linear leaf dimensions

Determining leaf area is important for studies involving plant growth and development. The aim of the present study was to obtain models for estimating leaf area of Psychotria carthagenensis and Psychotria hoffmannseggiana using linear measurements of leaf blades (length and width). Two hundred leaf blades of each species were collected in Parque Estadual Mata do Pau-Ferro in the municipality of Areia, Paraíba, Northeast Brazil. The equations evaluated for producing potential models included the following: linear, quadratic, potential and exponential. The criteria used to determine the best model(s) were as follows: high coefficient of determination (R²), low root-mean-square error (RMSE), low Akaike information criterion (AIC), high Willmott concordance index (d) and a BIAS ratio close to zero. All evaluated models satisfactorily estimated leaf area for the two species, but the equation ŷ = 0.6373 * LW0.9804 was the most appropriate for P. carthagenensis, while ŷ = 0.6235 * LW0.9712 was the most appropriate for P. hoffmannseggiana.

Neighbourhood structure and light availability influence the variations in plant design of shrubs in two cloud forests of different successional status.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Plant design refers to the construction of the plant body or its constituent parts in terms of form and function. Although neighbourhood structure is recognized as a factor that limits plant survival and species coexistence, its relative importance in plant design is not well understood. We conducted field research to analyse how the surrounding environment of neighbourhood structure and related effects on light availability are associated with changes in plant design in two understorey plants (Palicourea padifolia and Psychotria elata) within two successional stages of a cloud forest in Costa Rica. METHODS: Features of plant neighbourhood physical structure and light availability, estimated using hemispherical photographs, were used as variables that reflect the surrounding environment. Measures of plant biomechanics, allometry, branching and plant slenderness were used as functional plant attributes that reflect plant design. We propose a framework using a partial least squares path model and used it to test this association. KEY RESULTS: The multidimensional response of plant design of these species suggests that decreases in the height-based factor of safety and increases in mechanical load and developmental stability are influenced by increases in maximum height of neighbours and a distance-dependence interference index more than neighbourhood plant density or neighbour aggregation. Changes in plant branching and slenderness are associated positively with light availability and negatively with canopy cover. CONCLUSIONS: Although it has been proposed that plant design varies according to plant density and light availability, we found that neighbour size and distance-dependence interference are associated with changes in biomechanics, allometry and branching, and they must be considered as key factors that contribute to the adaptation and coexistence of these plants in this highly diverse forest community.

Breeding system and floral morphometry of distylous Psychotria L. species in the Atlantic rain forest, SE Brazil.

General patterns of floral morphology and incompatibility mechanisms have been described for many distylous plants. The absence of these patterns in typically distylous groups, as observed especially in tropical environments, is interpreted as atypical distyly, or as a new reproductive strategy derived from it. Data are presented here on the morphological and compatibility relations between floral morphs of four Psychotria dimorphic species in the Atlantic rain forest in SE Brazil: Psychotria jasminoides, P. birotula, P. mapourioides, and P. pubigera. When significant differences were found, floral parts were larger in thrum flowers. Results of controlled crosses showed that most incompatible pollen tubes were arrested in the stigma, and only in a low proportion in the upper parts of the style. We conclude that, at the study site, the majority and most important morphological and mating features of typical distyly seem to be conserved in P. jasminoides and P. mapourioides, which presented reciprocal herkogamy, self and intramorph incompatibility, and a balanced morph ratio in the population. Typical distyly in P. birotula is supported by floral morphology, pollen tube data and morph ratio and, in P. pubigera, only by floral morphology and pollen tube data.