Leaf Area Estimation Model for Small Fruits from Linear Measurements

Abstract

<jats:p>Accurate and nondestructive methods to determine individual leaf areas of plants are a useful tool in physiological and agronomic research. Determining the individual leaf area (LA) of small fruit like raspberry (<jats:italic>Rubus idaeus</jats:italic> L.), redcurrant (<jats:italic>Ribes rubrum</jats:italic> L.), blackberry (<jats:italic>Rubus fruticosus</jats:italic> L.), gooseberry (<jats:italic>Ribes grossularia</jats:italic> L.), and highbush blueberry (<jats:italic>Vaccinium corymbosum</jats:italic> L.) involves measurements of leaf parameters such as length (L) and width (W) or some combinations of these parameters. A 2-year investigation was carried out during 2006 (on seven raspberry, seven redcurrant, six blackberry, five gooseberry, and two highbush blueberry cultivars) and 2007 (on one cultivar per species) under open field conditions to test whether a model could be developed to estimate LA of small fruits across cultivars. Regression analysis of LA versus L and W revealed several models that could be used for estimating the area of individual small fruit leaves. A linear model having LW as the independent variable provided the most accurate estimate (highest <jats:italic>R</jats:italic> <jats:sup>2</jats:sup>, smallest mean square error, and the smallest predicted residual error sum of squares) of LA in all small fruit berries. Validation of the model having LW of leaves measured in the 2007 experiment coming from other cultivars of small fruit berries showed that the correlation between calculated and measured small fruit berries LAs was very high. Therefore, these models can estimate accurately and in large quantities the LA of small fruit plants in many experimental comparisons without the use of any expensive instruments.</jats:p>

Analysis of Cultivar-Specific Variability in Size-Related Leaf Traits and Modeling of Single Leaf Area in Three Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Ocimum basilicum L., Mentha Spp., and Salvia Spp.

“…3) based on the product of L × W, that was able to provide accurate predictions of the single LA both for all the three species and for each cultivar during the calibration and validation phases. This result is consistent also with previous studies on LA estimation in several fruits and horticultural crops ( [18,36,[47][48][49]).…”

“…In this respect, there is an increasing interest in using computer-assisted imaging systems [8] for producing reliable biometric measurements [9] and analyzing phenotypic traits related to plant architecture and leaf characteristics [10]. For instance, data on leaf characteristics can be incorporated into databases [11,12] and employed to validate time-series quantification of leaf morphology (e.g., [13,14]) and to determine the performance of computer-assisted imaging systems and machine learning algorithms used to classify/recognize phenotypic traits of specific genotypes [15].Leaf area is generally measured with destructive or non-destructive methods [16], the latter often preferred as they are faster, cheaper, and non-invasive (i.e., no excision of leaves is required), therefore, permitting repeated and simultaneous measurements of LA and other physiological parameters (e.g., leaf gas exchange or fluorescence) on the same leaves.Collected information, such as leaf blade length (L) and width (W) [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] or the shape ratio of the leaf (L:W) [26], can be useful for characterizing leaf functions and structure, based only on proxy variables. In particular, the leaf shape ratio is of particular importance in horticultural sciences as it is regulated by several genetic factors and mutations [27], whose diversity can be analyzed in functional [28] and evolutionary terms [29].Thus far, numerous models have been proposed and applied with respect to both leaf (e.g., [20,30,31]) and shoot level [31-41] morphology of several fruit, vegetable, ornamental, medicinal, and aromatic crops [42].…”

“…Collected information, such as leaf blade length (L) and width (W) [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] or the shape ratio of the leaf (L:W) [26], can be useful for characterizing leaf functions and structure, based only on proxy variables. In particular, the leaf shape ratio is of particular importance in horticultural sciences as it is regulated by several genetic factors and mutations [27], whose diversity can be analyzed in functional [28] and evolutionary terms [29].…”

Amending Sandy Soil with Biochar Promotes Plant Growth and Root Colonization by Mycorrhizal Fungi in Highbush Blueberry

“…Leaf area was estimated weekly during the experiments by measuring the length and width of every leaf on the plants using a standard 30-cm-length ruler. Each measurement was converted to leaf area using linear model developed for highbush blueberry (Follovo et al, 2008).…”

Application of linear models for estimation of leaf area in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr]

“…For the VIF values higher than 10 or TV values smaller than 0.10, then collinearity may have more than a trivial impact on the estimates of the parameters and consequently one of them should be excluded from the model (Cristofori et al 2007, Fallovo et al 2008, Rouphael et al 2010. The models proposed by Wiersma and Bailey (1975) were evaluated for their accuracy in LA prediction in the present study: LE = 0.624 + 0.723 LW T = 0.411 + 2.008 LW TLA = 6.532 + 2.045 ΣLW (summed product of L and W of terminal leaflets per plant).…”