Dynamic Scaling in the Growth of a Non-Branching Plant,Cardiocrinum cordatum
|
| |
| Authors: | Kohei Koyama Yoshiki Hidaka Masayuki Ushio |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Environmental Science, Ishikawa Prefectural University, Nonoichi, Ishikawa, Japan.; 2. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, Japan.; 3. Department of Applied Quantum Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.; University of Zurich, Switzerland, |
| |
| Abstract: | We investigated whole-plant leaf area in relation to ontogenetic variation in leaf-size for a forest perennial herb, Cardiocrinum cordatum. The 200-fold ontogenetic variability in C. cordatum leaf area followed a power-law dependence on total leaf number, a measure of developmental stage. When we normalized for plant size, the function describing the size of single leaves along the stem was similar among different-sized plants, implying that the different-sized canopies observed at different times in the growth trajectory were fundamentally similar to each other. We conclude that the growth trajectory of a population of C. cordatum plant leaves obeyed a dynamic scaling law, the first reported for a growth trajectory at the whole-plant level. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
