Study on light utilization characteristics and LAI response to soil nutriments of Ficus tikoua

The light utilization characteristics and LAI response to soil nutriments of Ficus tikoua were studied. The results indicated that 1) the light saturation point (LSP) and light compensation point (LCP) were 1 124 and 0 mol/(m2s) respectively, which implied that it could grow in a wide light condition; 2) the water use efficiency (WUE) ranged from 1.45 to 15.8 and reached the maximum value while PAR reached 500 mol/(m2s), this suggested that it could consume less water in daily management; 3) the mean LAI was 1.507 (ranged from 0.664 5 to 2.671 7), which was lower than that of other ground cover species; 4) LAI was sensitive to soil water and nitrogen content, but not sensitive to soil organic C, P and K.