THE EFFECT OF COMPETITION AND SLOPE INCLINATION ON ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS ALLOCATION OF UNDERSTOREY FERNS IN SUBTROPICAL FOREST

The effects of competition for light and slope inclination on aboveground biomass allocation were studied for 6 fern species from herbaceous understoreys from subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest in the People'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 was not significantly affected by stand-density. In dense stands the inclination of the slope had no significant additional effect on the pattern of aboveground biomass allocation nor on the petiole length of the ferns.