Leaf length-to-width ratio links non-destructive area estimation to functional trait variation in the pachymorph bamboo Neosinocalamus affinis across subtropical China.

Authors

Miao Liu, Chunju Cai, Guanglu Liu, Xiaopeng Shi, Shuguang Li, Shaohui Fan

Published in

Scientific reports. Volume 16. Issue 1. Aug 07, 2026. Epub Aug 07, 2026.

Abstract

The leaf length-to-width (L/W) ratio is a simple morphological descriptor that may integrate information about leaf allometry, hydraulic architecture and resource-use strategy, yet its potential to simultaneously improve non-destructive leaf-area estimation and diagnose leaf economics spectrum (LES) position within a single species is rarely tested. We investigated whether L/W ratio captures coordinated variation in leaf morphology, chemistry and photosynthetic performance in Neosinocalamus affinis (Rendle) Keng f. (N. affinis), a sympodial pachymorph bamboo with notably narrow, lanceolate leaves that is economically and ecologically important in subtropical China. We analysed 162 site-level observations of 14 leaf functional traits - leaf area (LA), leaf length (L), leaf width (W), leaf thickness (LT), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), SPAD chlorophyll index, maximum photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm), and leaf carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations with their stoichiometric ratios - collected from 38 county-level sites in seven provinces of southern China. k-means cluster analysis on L/W identified three data-driven shape classes - broader (L/W ≤ 6.05, n = 65), elliptic (6.05 < L/W ≤ 7.18, n = 58) and slender (L/W > 7.18, n = 39) - and a class-specific multiple linear regression (MLR) model had the best predictive performance (R² = 0.937, RMSE = 1.72 cm², AIC = 196.6), outperforming pooled Montgomery, pooled MLR and class-specific Montgomery models. The Montgomery proportionality coefficient (k) increased monotonically from broader (0.598) through elliptic (0.636) to slender leaves (0.663). One-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD detected significant differences among shape classes for LA, L, W, LT, LDMC, TC, TN and TP (all p < 0.05), but not for SLA, SPAD or Fv/Fm. A strong SLA-LDMC trade-off (r = - 0.850, p < 0.001) and N-P coordination (r = 0.590, p < 0.001) were observed, whereas L/W and LA were only weakly related to chemical traits. Environmental variables explained limited trait variation (multiple-regression R² ≤ 0.15), and variance partitioning showed that 30-64% of trait variance occurred within sites. L/W-based classification provides a parsimonious framework that improves non-destructive leaf-area estimation in N. affinis while capturing part - but not all - of the intraspecific LES. Structural and dry-matter traits align with leaf shape, whereas SLA and photosynthetic performance are largely decoupled from morphology. The combined morphological and functional framework offers a practical tool for bamboo ecosystem assessment and clarifies how the LES manifests within a single morphologically plastic species.

PMID:
42562817
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Aug 2026.

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