Kc. Dendubbelden et Jmh. Knops, THE EFFECT OF COMPETITION AND SLOPE INCLINATION ON ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS ALLOCATION OF UNDERSTOREY FERNS IN SUBTROPICAL FOREST, Oikos, 67(2), 1993, pp. 285-290
The effects of competition for light and slope inclination on abovegro
und biomass allocation were studied for 6 fern species from herbaceous
understoreys from subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest in the Peo
ple's Republic of China.Plants from dense herbaceous understoreys had
taller petioles and allocated significantly more biomass to supporting
tissue relative to photosynthetically active leaf tissue than plants
from open stands. The relative amount of biomass allocated to veins wa
s not significantly affected by stand-density. In dense stands the inc
lination of the slope had no significant additional effect on the patt
ern of aboveground biomass allocation nor on the petiole length of the
ferns.