Comparison of Two Nondestructive Methods of Leaf Area Estimation

We compared two nondestructive methods for leaf area estimation using leaves of 16 common plant species classified into six types depending on leaf shape. Relatively good linear relationships between actual leaf area (LA) and leaf length (L), width (W), or the product of length and width (LW) were found for ordinary leaves with lanceolate, oblanceolate, linear and sagitttate shapes with entire margins, serrate margins, mixed margins with a entire form and shallow lobes, and ordinary incised margins. LA was better correlated with LW than L or W, with $R^2$ > 0.91. However, for deeply incised lobes, LA estimation using LW showed low correlation coefficient values, indicating low accuracy. On the other hand, a method using photographic paper showed a good correlation between estimates of area based on the mass of a cut-out leaf image on a photographic sheet (PW) and actual leaf area for all types of leaf shape. Thus, the PW method for LA estimation can be applied to all shapes of leaf with high accuracy. The PW method takes a little more time and has a higher cost than leaf estimation methods using LW based on leaf dimensions. These results indicate that researchers should choose their nondestructive LA estimation method according to their research goals.