Branching Patterns of Castanopsis fargesii as Affected by Growth and Developmental Phases

Castanopsis fargesii,an evergreen broad-leaved tree species,commonly dominates in subtropical forests in China.The branching patterns of C.fargesii in different growth and deve-lopmental phases located at Tiantong National Forest Park (TNFP),Zhejiang Province are exa- mined.The results show that bifurcation ratio vary significantly among C.fargesii seedling,sapling and mature phases.The bifurcation ratio in the seedling and sampling phases are significantly lower than that in the mature phase (P<0 05).The first-order branch length,branch angle to horizon and branch length in sampling phase are significantly different between seedling and mature phases,it is shown that samplings has relatively higher phenotypic plasticity.The leaves display also difference among three phases.The leaves are distributed at the first-order branch to the third-order branch,but most of them are distributed at the first-order and second-order branch in the three different phases.The leaf size increases with growth and development.The differences in branching patterns suggest that C.fargesii have different adaptive strategy during different growth and developmental phases.