Allometric scaling relationships of Picea seedlings

In the present paper, some indices of eight Picea species seedlings were measured which included aboveground, underground respiration rate, annual net primary productivity, leaves and whole-plant biomass. The allometric scaling relationships between these measured traits were also analyzed. For alienation, the average aboveground and underground respiration rates corresponding to biomass per plant after temperature-corrected was 0.876, 0.817, respectively. For assimilation, the average annual net primary productivity per plant corresponding to average leaves biomass per plant was 1.191. The average leaves biomass per plant corresponding to average whole-plant biomass per plant was allometric scaling at 0.940. Both of the above allometric exponents were close to theoretical prediction value of 1 for small plants. Interestingly, the scaling exponents of average aboveground biomass per plant corresponding to underground biomass per plant (1.090) and temperature-corrected aboveground respiration per plant corresponding to underground respiration per plant (1.168) were consistent with the theoretical predictions value of 1.